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 Read Zephaniah 3:14-20.
“The Lord, your God, . . . will rejoice over you with gladness, he will renew you in his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17 NRSV).
Each year, I buy one or two Christmas CDs. I love Christmas music (with the glaring exception of “The Little Drummer Boy”). This year I was drawn to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. Much of my attraction to this story came from what I learned about the making of the Christmas classic, “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”
Charles Schulz and his “Peanuts” comic strip were at their peak in popularity. The year was 1965. Schulz and Lee Mendelson teamed up to do a Christmas special for CBS TV. Mendelson decided to use “untrained” children to play the voices of the characters and not “professional child actors.” He also chose a little known jazz musician, Vince Guaraldi, to provide the soundtrack for the show. CBS almost didn’t air the special. In fact, Mendelson remembers that the executives at CBS “hated it.” They objected to the soundtrack. They were also concerned about the “adult themes” such as materialism, alienation, redemption, and faith. In reality, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” became a classic. In the age of the three broadcast giants, this “children’s show” gained a 50% share of all those watching TV the evening it first aired. As the cliche goes, the rest is history.*
Zephaniah was a bit of a Charlie Brown. When he went to the temple, he didn’t feel much like worshiping Yahweh. By the themes and clues from the text, we can assume that he was writing immediately before Babylon swept down from the north and conquered Judah. More specifically, his ministry occurred between the reigns of Hezekiah (715-687 B.C.) and Josiah. He was upset by the blending of local religions with temple worship. He warned of the dire consequences of divine judgement and the military threat to the north. The language is classic Old Testament prophet, “The great day of the Lord is near–very near and coming fast! That day will be bitter, for even the bravest soldiers will cry out in despair!” (Zephaniah 1:14 TEV). Zephaniah paid special attention to the sins of the political and religious leaders and declared that the days of Jerusalem are numbered.
The only hope Zephaniah gave to the people of Judea was to be a humble people who were willing to confess their ways and change their hearts. Zephaniah called on them to seek after God and God alone. He said that God would remove the haughty who have refused to seek God from their midst. The humble and lowly people who were willing to seek God would be all that would remain.
For this remnant, Zephaniah offered the song of hope which is the text for the third week of Advent, 3:14-20. It is a song of joy, hope, and redemption. We are told that God will “sing loudly” over his people who are humble and lowly and who seek after him with pure hearts.
I believe that this is our invitation as well. This Advent Season, we are to be a people of humble and lowly hearts. We are not measured by the value of the gifts we give. We will not be applauded for singing the best solo in the Christmas cantata. We will not gain a special place in heaven because we preach the best Christmas sermon ever. Nor will those who get all their baking and shopping done. Not even those rare people who get all their Christmas cards mailed by December 20th. We will be measured by the condition of our heart. The Advent Season reminds us that God is seeking those whose hearts are humble and lowly.
Prayer: Lord, as we listen to the music of the season, guard our hearts from those things that seek to distract us from you this Advent Season. May our lives tell the story of hope and joy. May we walk humbly in your presence. Amen.
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* Contreras, Felix, “Behind Guaraldi’s Timeless Holiday Soundtrack, National Public Radio. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6545283
Mike Oldham
Ministry and Mission Coach
Southeast CO/NM and Western Slope
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