Friday, December 3, 2004 Nativity Fast
The Holy Prophet Zephaniah
Kellia: Zephaniah 3:8-18 Epistle: 2 Timothy 1:1-2, 8-18 Gospel: St. Luke 19:12-28
Zephaniah 3:8-18, especially vss. 16, 17: "On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: 'Do not
fear, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a Warrior who gives victory; He will
rejoice over you with gladness, He will renew you in His love; He will exult over you with loud singing....'" In these two
verses the Lord disclosed to the Prophet Zephaniah a wonderful future age when the entire constitution of the People of
God would be transformed by a sweeping Divine intervention. That fundamental change has occurred already, the result of
the Incarnation of God the Son. The Lord Jesus' birth from the Virgin Mary, His life, ministry, and sacrificial death on the
Cross culminated in His glorious Resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and these transforming events set in
motion the age of the Church, the wonderful present age in which we are living.
What a blessing to read Zephaniah's prophecy and know that we are actually living in that new era with all its potential
immediately available to us! So many who call themselves Christians fail to realize what is open before them, what is ours
in Christ right now. The failure to grasp this incredible opportunity open before us prompted St. Paul to ask, "do you not
know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death....that our old man was crucified
with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin?" (Rom. 6:3,6). Let us
reflect on seven aspects of the life in Christ which the Prophet Zephaniah described long ago, so that we "may lay hold of
that for which Christ Jesus has laid hold of [us]" (Phil. 3:12).
First, God promised that in the age of the Church He would "change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech" (Zeph.
3:9). In offering the Gospel to all nations, the Church extends to all peoples the pure Word of God, the Incarnate Lord.
Being human in all respects, He is a pure Word Whom all may take upon their lips and call, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn.
20:28).
God revealed that all peoples would be able to "serve Him with one accord" (Zeph. 3:9), or, as the Hebrew idiom has it,
"with one shoulder." All over the world, Orthodox Christians stand shoulder to shoulder, serving the Lord as one holy
People, offering the divided nations the only true way to international harmony - the life in Christ.
As Zephaniah foresaw, God is removing the "proudly exultant ones" (vs. 11) to leave instead, "a people humble and lowly"
(vs. 12). In Christ, we are called not to be troubled when we are wronged, not to say anything to justify ourselves against
injustice, not to reject slander as truth, nor to attempt to persuade men that we are calumniated, but, instead, to beg
forgiveness!
Attaining a humble life is open to all who "seek refuge in the Name of the Lord" (vs. 12). Let us pray that each of us may
"fulfill those things which are well pleasing unto [God]."
Hence, if we follow what the Church teaches, by the grace of God, we "shall do no wrong" (vs. 13), but walk in God's
commandments, finding life in them.
Being fed with both the truth and the life of God in the Church, the Faithful are equipped to "utter no lies" so that there
shall not "be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue" (vs. 13).
In this way, all the terrors of this world are removed for each Christian who becomes fully united to the Lord Jesus,
because, in His pasture, "none shall make them afraid" (vs. 13). Beloved of God, Christ Jesus "has taken away the
judgments against you, He has cast out your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst" (vs. 15). Let us so
walk!
O Lord, look upon Thy servants, prove us, search us and root out of us every operation of the Devil and give us victory
over him, that we may be worthy of Thy heavenly Mysteries.
