Sing! Shout! Rejoice! Exult, you brood of vipers! God is in your midst!

Don Friesen
December 17, 2006
Ottawa Mennonite Church

www.ottawamennonite.ca

Once upon a time an intriguing meeting took place in one of the many rooms in God's celestial mansions. In the place where time is of no consequence and one century gets folded into another, four biblical characters sat near the window. Two of them were prophets: the seventh-century Zephaniah, and to his left, the eighth-century Isaiah. To his right sat a fellow who would be considered young by eternal standards. His name was Paul, the first-century zealot whose writings dominate the New Testament. Unlike the first three fellows, the fourth person was not a writer, and since arriving in the celestial neighbourhood he had foregone the usual heavenly wardrobe in favour of some hideous pull-over that looked like it was made out of road-kill!^-1- His name was John, though his heavenly host simply referred to him as The Baptist.

Paul had just taken his regular peek at earthly affairs, and his agitation at what he saw had attracted the attention of the other three, who until then had been enjoying a curling game, something quite impossible in the Other Place. They were peering intently at the figures below, who also seemed agitated, scurrying hither and yon and several other places.

"What are they doing?" asked Zephaniah.

"Well," replied Paul, "It looks like they are running! I think they are pressing on, racing for a prize! See there! They're not looking back at all; they're focussed on what lies ahead, straining forward...."^-2-

"Enough with the racing analogies already!" said the grumpy Baptist. "I've seen this all before. It's called ‘shopping' — you know, buying things!"

"Is there a famine," asked Zephaniah. "They look like they're in a panic! It must be important."

"No, no. It has to do with Messiah, the one we all predicted — well, all except young Dr. Paul here, who couldn't see the forest for the trees until one fell on him^-3- and then he suddenly became the expert on Messiah and has never stopped publishing!"

"But why the shopping?" asked Zephaniah.

"Oh," said the Baptist, "they buy themselves gifts in honour of Messiah, but it all has to be done before Messiah's birthday, so there's always a rush at the end and tempers flare and nasty things happen that do not honour Messiah."

"Look at those two!" said Paul. "They're fighting! Maybe it's a boxing match! See how their hands are beating the air!"^-4-

"Well," said the Baptist, "that's called Christmas Rage! I saw a bit of it in one of Messiah's churches last Sunday! I heard some awful words! Words not recommended by Messiah."

"Where was that?" asked the ever curious Zephaniah.

"Up there, in the northern hemisphere. See that place! I can't quite make out the sign — my eyesight isn't the same since the Angel Gabriel sewed my head back on — but I think it's a church called the Knights of Menno — they emphasize love, community, and peace."

"Unusual name for a peace group."

Isaiah had been quiet until now, but he'd had enough of the crabby Baptist and spoke up: "You know, John, I've been meaning to talk to you about your own unusual behaviour. When I envisioned the advent of Messiah I was ecstatic! Nothing could have been more welcome than the Messiah's coming! ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation,' I wrote.^-5- You, a desert fellow, know what scarcity of water means. To discover a well that is full of water is a treasure beyond measure. A discovery like that is cause for thanksgiving! Praising! Singing! Shouting! And to discover God in our very midst is cause for the same and then some!"

"And when Zeph here spoke of Messiah he too was ecstatic! ‘Sing aloud,' he wrote, words cherished to this very day! ‘Rejoice and exult with all your heart!' he said."^-6-

"And young Paul here — he writes beautifully and compellingly of walking with Messiah. ‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I ...say, Rejoice.'"^-7-

"Is this sermon almost over?" asked the Baptist.

"By no means," replied Isaiah. "My point is that joy is a very appropriate response to the promise of one who gives us hope and peace and love. That's why Zephaniah's words are so inspiring! That's why Paul's words are a tonic! But you — I don't understand you at all — you called those who were eager to hear good news a brood of vipers!^-8- You started with your own little Christmas rage-and-rant! This is what you call good news, John?^-9- Do you ever wonder, John, why no preacher wants to speak about you two Sundays in a row?"

"Oh, come on, Isaiah! You're getting a little sentimental after all these centuries. It's fine to say, "Rejoice. Rejoice. Rejoice. But that's a rather one-dimensional gospel! God isn't some Santa Claus who satisfies our every indulgence! Repentance! That's what it's all about. Repentance! Profound change. When a tree is diseased you take an ax to it! When a human body is cancerous, you do radical surgery! Isaiah, you're starting to sound like that guy James lampooned — you know, that guy who says to the person who is hungry or cold, ‘Be well! Keep warm! Eat well!'^-10- But does nothing! These are tough times we're living in, and they require tough love!"

Zephaniah and Paul had gone back to watching the people down below, Zephaniah transfixed with two shoppers fighting over a toy, and Paul trying to peer into a shop window and take in four sports channels all at once!

"John, John. I'm not going to let you get away with thinking you're the only tough guy and we're pulp writers. Let me tell you about tough times. When I wrote about joy and songs of joy, things looked dark to us. When I wrote about the Prince of Peace, we were in the midst of conflict, and when not dealing with the threat of war were up to our armpits in war itself! When I wrote of beating swords into ploughshares, my own king was full-tilt into arms production. And when Zephaniah exclaimed, ‘Sing! Shout! Rejoice! Exult!' his country was just emerging from a grim regime. Things were a mess! And you dare not accuse Zephaniah of sentimentality! He had harsh words for Judah's corrupt leaders, and tough words for those who didn't take their faith seriously. But... ... but he knew things would change with God in their midst. When God is in our midst, the tone around us changes remarkably, from anger and judgment to unfounded, unprecedented love and grace."

"But, Isaiah..."

"Just a minute, John. I also want you to consider Paul's situation. He wrote, ‘Rejoice in the Lord always' while sitting in a prison cell!'"

"Well," said the Baptist, "you can't cut down a tree with a pocketknife! Have you seen what they do down there? They tinker with their economic systems, yet the poor get poorer and the rich get richer! Something radical needs to be done! I may have spoken harshly. I don't have your aristocratic upbringing, Isaiah, or your eloquence, but something had to be done! And people listened! They took me seriously! They listened to me, and time and time again they asked, in response: "What then shall we do?"^-11- I like that! People want to see some action! And I told them what to do!^-12- Don't collect more than what's coming to you, I told them. Don't pad your accounts, I told them. Don't get greedy! And whoever has two coats must share with the one who has none! I'd say the same today! Except I'd probably have to change it to: Whoever has two Tickle-me-Elmos must share with the one who has none! Whoever has two Nintendo Wiis...."

Isaiah was quiet for a moment. "You know, John, you gave good advice, but it's a rather sad commentary that down there they've moved far beyond the need to share the necessities of life."

"Come over here," cried Paul. "Look at this! They call this game Hock - Key. See how they fight and then race from one end to the other, and then fight again!"

Zephaniah, unusually pensive, said, "There's got to be more to this game than we can figure out. It's very popular. Last Sunday there were a lot more people at these games than at the houses of Messiah! Maybe it's another religion!"

"No," said Isaiah, "true religion is not about fighting or fear; it's about freedom from fear. Zephaniah wrote about that.^-13- He said that Messiah will take away those things that make us fearful. ‘Messiah has taken away the judgments against you.... Messiah has turned away your enemies,' he wrote. Messiah removes disasters. Messiah deals with our oppressors. Messiah saves the lame and gathers the outcast! Messiah transforms our shame into praise! Messiah restores our fortunes! No wonder he wanted us to sing, shout, rejoice and exult!"

"That's a sure sign that Messiah is in our midst," added Paul. "When we can live free of anxiety and fear. I myself have learned to be content with whatever state I am in, even weakness, even insults and hardships."^-14-

The Baptist rolled his eyes, knowing Paul was quoting himself, but Zephaniah agreed: "It wasn't too long ago, by the reckoning of eternity, that one of the people down there said that joy — joy is the surest sign of the presence of God.^-15- I quite agree. Sometimes we call Messiah by his other name — Immanuel, which means God-with-us — and when he went down there, guess what? People starting singing! Shouting! Praising! When God is in your midst, you get hopeful! Faith gives you hope! And hope gives you strength and power! The strength to endure anything, and the power to overcome anything! And then you know, deep in your gut, that nothing can thwart the purposes of God."

Isaiah began to applaud. "Well said! Well said! Now it sounds like you're quoting Paul. Nothing can separate us from Messiah's love! Not hardship, not distress, not persecution, famine, or any other nastiness! Good words, those!"^-16-

Paul might have corrected Isaiah's paraphrase, but he was busy watching a basketball game.

And just then the Holy One came by, inviting them to yet another sumptuous messianic banquet.

"What about the people down there?" asked Zephaniah. "Shouldn't we keep an eye on them?"

"Oh, I'm down there all the time," said the Holy One. They don't always know it. It depends on whether or not they're looking for me. But I'm there. Always."^-17-

The shopping and fighting below were all but forgotten as they sauntered off to the banquet hall, strains of "I Know that my Redeemer Liveth" sounding from the speakers.

"Don't you ever get tired of Handel's Messiah?" asked Zephaniah.

"Never," said the Holy One. "Never!"

Even the curmudgeonly Baptist smiled. And if God can bring a smile to the lips of a curmudgeonly Baptist, imagine what joy God could bring forth from the lips of the Knights of Menno!