Seventh Sunday of Easter · Cantata Sunday

21:29 in your sight, O Lord, our strength and redeemer. Amen. Hear now the word of God as it echoes to us from Zephaniah chapter 3, starting with the 14th verse. Sing aloud, O daughter Zion. Shout, O Israel.

22:41 This is the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Our passage opens with four exhortations. Sing, shout, rejoice, exult. Who does this?

23:05 I would offer those who are, oh, so happy. How about those in love? You know those people so obliviously deep in love that it makes them cringy. And it makes you feel to borrow from the Germans, friend shaman. This word describes the distinct feeling of shame or embarrassment felt on behalf of another person who doesn't realize they are acting embarrassingly. Right? But you know what? I once acted like that. On a sunny autumn day back in 2008, I took Jennifer to Cassena Park in Flushing, Queens for a lovely picnic.

24:01 I added to my W-Riz by pulling out a guitar and serenading her with Frankie Valli's 1967 hit, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You. You're just too good to be true. And as I crooned, she totally melted. And reaching the crescendo, I blared, I love you baby. And someone in the park screamed, hey, shut the bleep! up! To my to my recollection I kept composed, finished a song, and thankfully walked away with a yes to my inquiry of whether she'd marry me. That was a long time ago, don't worry, thank you, that's awesome. Like it was yesterday. No, you know who else acts like this? People who experience deliverance or salvation, people who faced peril, judgment, and doom, and then they get a reprieve or a rescue, they sing, they shout, they praise and exult. In this short three-chapter book of Zephaniah, the central motif is the concept of the day of the Lord.

25:35 The day of the Lord could be one of judgment or one of salvation. The prophet leans heavily toward the judgment aspect. In fact, of the nine oracles that comprise the book, Seven of them, in some form or another, judge Jerusalem, Judah, and the nations.

26:02 In his commentary in the New Interpreter's Bible, Robert Bennett observes, These oracles are motivated out of a belief that a universal or natural law of justice is at work, which no nation can violate without punishment. And he goes on to say, The oracle was in essence a sentence of judgment handed down in the heavenly court where God was judge and the prophet, an officer of the court, announcing its decrees of guilt or innocence, of sentencing to death or imprisonment or release. so while the prophet gives instructions to sing God's people are also inspired to sing because God took away the judgments against them and also turned away their enemies this means that prior to divine deliverance the people were going through challenging times let's be clear God's favor does not necessitate immunity from difficulties.

27:20 Yeah, when we read the good book, we will find that tribulation can be a direct result of disobedience and rebellion. But we will also observe it as a tool used to strengthen the faith of God's people and to demonstrate God's faithfulness and might. today's scripture is the last oracle in zephaniah rather than being one of judgment it is an oracle of salvation it emphasizes that god is in the midst of the people in contrast to being a distant and an aloof God. God dwells among them. The prophet uses familiar Old Testament imagery in describing God as a warrior who fights on behalf of the people, bringing victory.

28:19 Whether the enemy is a nation that threatens the people of God, a natural disaster, or personification of individual battles we face, such as addiction, anxiety, workplace competition, or physical ailments, God is our champion who fights on our behalf.

28:43 And it's funny, it's easy to accept the military imagery because violence is unfortunately embedded in the fabric of human life. The book Metaphors We Live By proposes that metaphors can deeply shape our thinking. Argument is war. For example, you can take a position, defend a position, your point can be attacked, you can have different strategies and win or lose an argument. But the authors George Lakoff and Mark Johnson also imagine what might change if there were a society where instead of war, argument is structured as dance. The participants are seen as performers, and the goal is to perform in a balanced and aesthetically pleasing way.

29:50 Perhaps the most neutral way of describing this difference between their culture and ours would be to say that we have a discourse form structured in terms of battle and they have one structured in terms of dance. Harvey is now at an age where he puts on his own equipment and ties his own skates. Even if I offer to help, he shoes me off saying, I got it. But he has no qualms about asking me to carry his equipment bag. I'll tell you, I miss the age. I miss the age when it was me strapping each piece of gear onto his body. It always felt like, I don't know, holy.

30:45 Like I was dressing my little samurai in preparation for battle. I don't know why. I'm not even Japanese, but you know. But I know why. It's because the game is a battle and we need to win at all costs. The other hockey family sort of picked up on my formerly angry hockey dad vibes and saw Harvey in a certain light. I imagine that is why they all seemed baffled when we shared the news that once we shared the news that we would be late to a hockey game because Harvey had a piano recital. And when we sent a video clip from the event to the WhatsApp team chat room, they expressed awe and disbelief. It was amusing to witness one of the bigger defensemen performing and making such beautiful music.

31:48 It was unexpected. Perhaps that's what God's people must have felt to learn that God, the warrior, not only fights for them, but exalts over them with loud singing. God is a singer. On the bulletin cover is a painting called Christ with Singing and Music-Making Angels by Hans Memling. It consists of three panels, so to fit it on our cover, we place the left and right sections under the center section. The aptly named triptych depicts a serene, almost meditative Jesus surrounded by angels singing and making melodies. He is after all soaking in the beautiful music for him, making the same expression that many of us wear when our choir sings.

32:52 I think we're used to the idea that God is worthy of our praise. We offer hymns and psalms for God's glory, but the prophet tells the people that the warrior God rejoices over us, that God sings for us. What if we imagine, looking at this picture, that this work of art captures Jesus getting psyched right before he breaks into song. Right? I'm just looking at, you know, sometimes you see singers and they go, and then they break and they sing and they're like, whoa, what if, what if that's Jesus? What would it even be like? How good would his voice be? Back in 2019, the reality series America's Got Talent created a spin-off called America's Got Talent, The Champions.

33:57 They gathered the winners, finalists, live round participants, and other notable entries from previous seasons of AGT and other Got Talent franchises to find the champion within Got Talent. Marcelito Pomoy, winner of Filipinas Got Talent Season 2, was a contestant. The song he chose was The Prayer, the famous duet by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. The thing is, he had no partner. He sang both parts, soprano and tenor, and sang them beautifully. It was unreal.

34:51 I along with everyone that I saw on the screen in the audience were flipping out hit the gold buzzer You guys gotta check it out. I mean it's playing in my head I'm going nuts, but coach dude, you know Google it Marcelito put more you'll be amazed anyhow we were flipping out and talk about unexpected. But that got me in a headspace where I could imagine Jesus singing all four parts of the choir. The bass, the tenor, the alto, and soprano magnificently.

35:31 It also helped to break God out of the militaristic metaphor mold as being the only violent, combative, powerful warrior. That image. God is a singer. God sings over us. God shouts about us. Rejoices and exalts in us with all God's heart. Because God is head over heels in love with us. God sings us love songs. And when the world tries to stop it by screaming, Hey, shut the beep up! God keeps on singing, making us fall in love until we say yes to God. So as ones who are saved and ones who are loved, we too should sing, shout, rejoice, and exult with all our hearts.