Good afternoon, everyone. Today's passage is Jephaniah chapter 2, verse 1 to 3. Chapter 2, verse 1 to 3. It is Church Pew Bible 789. Church Pew Bible 789, 789 page. I'll read it for you. Gather together, yes, gather, O shameless nation, before the decree takes effect, before the day passes away like chaff. before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord. Seek the Lord, O you humble of the land, who do his just commend. Seek righteousness, seek humility, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, may our hearts be humbled at this moment so that we may sincerely seek your grace. May the Holy Spirit open our hearts, ears, and eyes so that we may truly understand the will of God, so that we may obey it. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. People lose very precious opportunities over not so much important things. For example, one time I took my children to playground. I already gave them good dessert, which is their favorite, ice cream. And then it was nice weather, and then breeze, and all condition to play and have fun was ready. So, okay guys, I'm going to play, 30 minutes. And then they were exciting and screaming, yay! And then guess what? Within two minutes later, I heard that, come here right now! I don't want to play with you! They're arguing and they're fighting each other and later, And then there is a tension in between them was just growing, growing, just later. If just my son is playing, want to play with this one, and then just daughter is coming to there and just bothering him. And then just my daughter is playing with this one, and then just son is going, and they're just bothering each other. So within five minutes, I said, finally, the fury, angry of the fathers, they come. We go home now. no more play, so they only played five minutes and then they lost their chance to play and then had fun. And then there were so many opportunities they can have a play with. There was not just only one, it was pretty big size of the playground. Swings and monkey bars. Pretty soon, they turn back to God, not try to listen and obey, but became rebellious, and then became their heart and their hearts, which provoked God's anger. It ended up, they lost their chance to enjoy their freedom, and most above all, the privilege to worship their living God. Who has nations who worship living God? but because they provoke the anger of the God, they lose their chance to worship God. When the Israelites were taken as a captive to Babylon, they became an object of ridicule and laughter to Babylonians. Hey, you sing a song of your Lord. Hey, you sing. They are mocked by Babylonians. How upset it was when they heard that. Not just ridiculed way, but they laughing on it. Hey, can you sing one song for just your lore song? There is a Psalm that tells the story. It is Psalm 137. By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept. When we remembered Zion, on the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors recalled of us songs, our tormentors mirth sang, sing a one of songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill. Let my tongue stick the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. The author of the Psalm 137, they already being captive and they lost chance. And then they are just mocked by people and then they became the person, the object of the laughter. Children, the elderly, pregnant mothers alike were brutally killed and then only few of them were taken captive in the lands where they were taken. They remember the privilege and the freedom they enjoy, especially the privilege of being able to worship the Lord. Before we lose, this is the question, before we lose the precious opportunity or chance, what should we do? Conversely, if we are already staying in the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, how can we hold our faith and grace strongly and well? I desire for us to think about this question through the word of God has given us today. The nation Judah will be destroyed by Babylon within 50 years, and now within Ernie's heart, Prophet Jepaniah proclaimed what the nation should do. Verse one, gather together, yes gather, oh shameless nation. Hebrew verb, kashash, translated as gather in the text. The first time used in here as a reflexive form, and the other, the second time, when you say yes, gather, is a imperative form, is a command. So translate is, gather yourself. Just try to have your willingness. And then the second one is gather, just comment. So reflexive form, try to gather yourself and then just gather, just kind of awaken them. And shameless nation, translated as shameless in the Hebrew verb kasaf, also has a meaning of the yearning or long and eager in direct translation of people who do not know how to yearn. of people who do not know how to long for. What was the state of the mind of these people, Israelites, who did not know how to yearn, who do not know how to long? When my kids really want to watch TV, they listen very well. Father, what can I do for you? They did not have a yearn to God. to receive God's love. First, they had a dead conscience, conscience that destroyed, that they had no idea what was wrong with them. Second, they need to get together, hey guys, just come on here right now, just our God is really angry, upset with us. Hey, let us gather together, let us recognize. and then just our situation right now, and then let us throw away some things that it is not important. And then just let us really think about what is really important right now. But they didn't have this recognition. Jephaniah verse, chapter one, six. It is such a state of betraying the Lord and then not following the Lord, neither seeking the Lord or just question, inquiring of him. Hey guys, how are you? How was your week? Not just stop there. How was your spiritual life last week? They didn't think about, they didn't inquire of discussion in between them. Chapter one, verse 12. These are the one who say, the Lord will not do good, nor he will not do ill, this illness. So just do whatever you want. He will not listen to our prayers. He is not concerned about us. Have you ever seen a glass jar with water or wine? If you do not stir for a long time, there are sediments or sludge just piling up on the skins of the glass inside of the jar. kind of here is kind of the praya, kind of rebuke that your mind is like that. Their mind is kind of white tomb, there's sediments in the jar, so it just, it is sludge, it is hard to remove. Their heart became stone. They were insensitive indifference, indolence, indulging in spiritual negligence, thinking that God has no interest in any matter. Verse two, before the decrees take effect, before the day passes away like chaff, before there comes upon you but the burning anger of the Lord, before there comes upon you the day of anger of the Lord, The Hebrew word for before is batarem, combined with the be and the tarem is literally not yet. The English standard version, ESV, uses the word before four times, before, before, before, before. But in the Hebrew original script, batarem only appears three times. So literally, meaning is that before the decree is issued, the day passes away like chaff. So the meaning is unclear, therefore in the Bible, the scholars and then just translators, we see that it is divided into two groups. Before the decree takes effect, before the day passes away like chaff. Just let me read Isaiah 29, five, where a similar phrase, the same word is used. I think if I read it for you, then you will go, aha, then you can understand the picture. It is Isaiah 29, verse five. But the multitudes of your fallen foes shall be like small dust, and the multitudes of the ruthless like a passing chaff. And in an instant, and suddenly. So because chaff, it is kind of instantly. And then just, you cannot imagine where it comes and where it goes, but it is like a chaff. The foreign armies, like it's coming instantly, and then cover all Israelites, and then they're swiping off. It is kind of, you can imagine the picture right now here. The army of the Gentiles called by God, especially in the text, will be Babylonian army. The speed of their passing is like a chaff. When the prophet Jeremiah tried to sleep, he could not sleep properly because every night he was about to sleep, and then he hear the alarm of the trumpet, the war sound. Boo! And then above that, the sound of the horseshoes. I already explained to you. Every night that he about to sleep, then he hear the sound of the alarm of the war, and then the horse, like it's coming to you. How can you sleep? Every night, actually, just my area, I didn't know that my house nearby, there is a fire station. Just you imagine that every morning, at least once a night, you can hear the siren. And then I try to earplugs myself and then try to sleep. But in the middle of 3 a.m. that if you hear the sound, then you cannot go back to sleep. It is same thing that if somebody is right next to you and then you can hear keep banging sound and then a horseshoe sounds, how can you sleep? And then same thing, Zephaniah, he saw the vision of God, that just army of the Babylon, it is called by God. It's not just invasion, but it's called by God as an instrument, and it's swiping the Israelites, Judah, Haitians. So with urgent kinds of Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is crying out inside of Zephaniah, gather! and just kind of asking them to repent and then come back to the Lord. Verse three, seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility, perhaps you may be hidden on the day of the anger of the Lord. If the main verb in verse one and two is gather, kashish, and verse three, main verb is seek, vakash. The other meaning of this verb, vakash, is seek, and then including a beg, begging, and investigate, search, and pursue. So if I paraphrasing a lot in this verse, it's in short version, then like this. Begging to God to leave. Investigate, what does it mean about righteousness? Investigate what it means. And then pursue humility. That is literally meaning here, we can hear. One word I want us to pay attention to in the text is the word humble today. It has a various meaning. The noun anaw in here, the humble, is used in Old Testament means humble, but the word is also used extensively when referring to the poor, and a need of poverty, and a pitiable man, and it has a very pretty, just extensive meaning too. The root form of this noun, anao, is the verb ana, means to suffer or be in trouble. So central meaning of the verb ana and this noun, anao, is meaning that translator is is not just generously or kindness towards people that you're just showing kindness to people, the pity people or just poor people, but central meaning of this anao means that it refers to attitude of consciously believing in the work of God. Constantly emptying oneself of their hearts and relying on and entrusting God in everything, in every situation, whatever things happen. in suffering and pain. Not just humility is kind of, oh, I'm humble myself, and I will just treat you well. Not just doing that, it means biblical. Biblical meaning is that you keep emptying yourselves, and then just kind of, you concentrate on just, God, Lord, I'm in suffering and just in pain, but my eyes is fixed on you. That is humble. In this respect, we can gain a better understanding of what God is trying to say to humble people in verse three through the prophet Jephaniah. Those who seek justice and humility in all circumstances must be those who empty themselves and seek God constantly no matter what in their situations. Then we can understand a little deeper meaning of this passage. I will read it for you. It is Isaiah 61.1. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. Here we can translate as afflicted one. and then the humble one, and then also meek. Our Lord Jesus bring good news, not just poor, but to afflicted one, and then to humble one, the one who seek the Lord in whatever situation. If so, can we by any chance understand the deep meaning of this word of Jesus? This is from Matthew chapter five, three, five. Bless our the poor in spirit, for there is a kingdom of heaven. Verse five, bliss are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. You can see the poor and the meek is not just we understand as English level, but biblical understanding is that it is who has really empty heart, who really afflicted by the situations, and who are really humble themselves and consistently seeking God's grace. Conclusion, before we lose the precious opportunity or chance, what should we do? Conversely, if we are already staying in grace of God, grace of Jesus Christ, how can we hold our faith and grace well? Which answer can we infer from today's text as a pariah? Meaning that the Lord has concealed. Jethaniah, the one who hides his people. There is only one way. There is only one way to live is to be hidden by God. Gather and go to God to be saved. There is only one way. Here is a little story to share. I usually read a passage from the Gospels and the Proverbs to my children every morning before dropping them off at the school during the week. So I go to parking lot and then 10 or 15 minutes ago and just read the Proverbs and then just Book of Gospels. And as I read in Matthew 26, 69 to 75 that day, it is a scene where Peter denies Jesus three times. The Bible records that when Peter heard the sound of the rooster, and then he remembered that Jesus had said to him, you will deny me three times. So he went outside and wept bitterly. So after I read the passage to my children, I added a little explanation of the scenes from the movie. I think it is from The Passion of Christ. If it is wrong, then just don't watch it. Anyway, so that they could understand the context better. I just tried to give explanation to make them to understand the context. So personally, I think the director of the movie who made the film adapted this part well. In the movie, this is not from the Bible, in the movie, Peter continues to deny by saying, I don't know him. It's not just one, I don't know him, I don't know him. Cursed, I don't know him. And he three times really strongly denied Jesus Christ. When he spit it out this third, I don't know him, at that time, his eyes met Jesus' eyes. who was beaten by a priest, really brutally, and then spitted by the priest and the leaders. And then Jesus, looking his eyes, Peter's eyes, but did not say anything, just looking at his eyes. And then just Peter went outside and then wept bitterly. This is not the Bible, written in the Bible, but when I just saw the movie, I was really, could understand what was the situation. Guess what happened? As I was explaining the scene of the movie to my children, the message cut my heart. And in my conscience, in that morning, I burst into tears. Then the three of us, my son and daughter, had a time of shedding tears in the car, just right three minutes before they dropping off to school. And they just kind of, hey guys, we have to go to school, and they just call. It was then that I learned how to make myself more humble before the Lord, even though I'm consciously, we are consciously struggle with our own selfishness and an ego. Oh, I just confessed Jesus as my Lord in my heart, but now I need to practice to set my eyes on Jesus' eyes and try to meet his eyes every day. Today is the first Sunday of Advent. We rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ, who came on earth at the same time we wait eagerly his second coming. I hope that this season of joy will be a precious season to seek, begging Jesus, begging to God, just begging. Lord, I want to see you and then pursue And then investigate, what does it mean that? What does it mean gospel? What does it mean righteousness? What does it mean humility? Seek Jesus Christ, our only way to live, and consciously seek humility and righteousness. I hope it will be a precious season to get into habit of looking into eyes of Jesus Christ more before the day of the Lord. Let us pray. God the Father, thank you for giving us the only way to live in our lives, our Savior Jesus Christ, even though you invited us with grace. If our hearts have lost the initial gratitude and become arrogant and we are not longing for you, please forgive us as we ask for your forgiveness. Before our Lord comes again, before we are faced with any regret in our lives, before we lose the opportunity to read the Word, to praise the Lord before the opportunity to gather is gone. Let us be a community of the Lord who loves and longs for the Lord more and more each day. We pray in the name of our Savior, Jesus, amen.