Yancey's story of Jessye Norman out-doing gunsN roses --and the thirst for grace

Bill Moyers' documentary film on the hymn "Amazing Grace" includes a scene filmed in Wembley Stadium in London. Various musical groups, mostly rock bands, had gathered together in celebration of the changes in South Africa, and for some reason the promoters scheduled an opera singer, Jessye Norman, as the closing act.

The film cuts back and forth between scenes of the unruly crowd in the stadium and Jessye Norman being interviewed. For twelve hours groups like Guns 'n Roses have blasted the crowd through banks of speakers, riling up fans already high on booze and dope. The crowd yells for more curtain calls, and the rock groups oblige. Meanwhile, Jessye Norman sits in her dressing room discussing "Amazing Grace" with Moyers.

Finally, the time comes for her to sing. A single circle of light follows Norman, a majestic African-American woman wearing a flowing African dashiki, as she strolls on stage. No backup band, no musical instruments, just Jessye. The crowd stirs, restless. Few recognize the opera diva. A voice yells for more Guns 'n Roses. Others take up the cry. The scene is getting ugly.

Alone, a cappella, Jessye Norman begins to sing, very slowly:
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found --
Was blind, but now I see.

A remarkable thing happens in Wembley Stadium that night. Seventy- thousand raucous fans fall silent before her aria of grace.

By the time Norman reaches the second verse, "'Twas grace that taught my

heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved ...," the soprano has the crowd in her hands.

By the time she reaches the third verse, "'Tis grace has brought me safe this far, And grace will lead me home," several thousand fans are singing along, digging far back in nearly lost memories for words they heard long ago.

When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun.

Jessye Norman later confessed she had no idea what power descended on Wembley Stadium that night. I think I know. The world thirsts for grace. When grace descends, the world falls silent before it.

Originally from Phillip Yancy's "What's So Amazing about Grace?"

Jessye Singing Amazing Grace in Wembley Stadium

Beautiful Day

Need to write longer later---but thinking of Zeph 3 and having jogged to U2 y'day i find 3 songs summarizing this section of scripture
1.) All because of you
Zeph 3:9 couldn't be clearer
I WILL change the speech of the nations (i.e. convert them)
Just look at how often God says,
"I WILL." in zeph 3:9-20

2.) Beautiful Day
Prophet wants us to dream of who we will be in New Heavens & New Earth--- a people who don't lie, who don't fear, who know no shame---boggles the mind. 'twill be a beautiful day-- and it shall never end

3.) I still haven't found what i'm looking for
The longing for the beautiful Day makes the pain that is here more bearable, yes. But also, meditating on how good it SHALL be also reveals how incomplete the work IS RIGHT NOW.
This is already/not yet. and so we groan, with hope!

See the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colours came out
It was a beautiful day
A beautiful day
Don't let it get away


Touch me, take me to that other place
Reach me, I know Iím not a hopeless case

God finds joy

of zeph 3:17 C.H. Spurgeon said: “I can understand a minister rejoicing over a soul that he has brought to Christ; I can also understand believers rejoicing to see others saved from sin and hell; but what shall I say of the infinitely happy and eternally-blessed God finding, as it were, a new joy in souls redeemed? This is another of those great wonders that cluster around the work of divine grace! … The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, imperfect though they be. He sees them as they are to be, and so he rejoices over them, even when they cannot rejoice in themselves. When your face is blurred with tears, your eyes red with weeping, and your heart heavy with sorrow for sin, the great Father is rejoicing over you. The prodigal son wept in his Father’s bosom, but the Father rejoiced over his son. We are questioning, doubting, sorrowing, trembling; and all the while he who sees the end from the beginning knows what will come out of the present disquietude, and therefore rejoices. Let us rise in faith to share the joy of God.”

Those Who Sing

I'm thinking about all the singing and rejoicing in Zeph 3---

Elizabeth Achtemeier offered the whimsical suggestion that at least one of the reasons why God made this world is because God is a music lover. She said: "Biblical faith has always been a faith filled with the sound of song. From the song of Miriam at the time of the Exodus, through the songs of the Psalter, to the hymn Jesus and the disciples are reported to have sung at the Last Supper, to the singing of Paul and Silas in prison, and ultimately to the singing of the Hallelujah Chorus in the kingdom of God anticipated in the book of Revelation; throughout the Bible those who trust in God are consistently portrayed as
those
who
sing
songs of praise to God. The Westminster Shorter Catechism affirms that our chief end as human beings is to glorify God and to enjoy God forever. The Scriptures and the Confessions alike affirm that we were made to glorify God’s name in songs of praise and thanksgiving.

Pish Posh on all talk of sin?

Zeph 3 says God has taken away our judgment---and we say, "So?" Good thoughts on this---

"We think we are rather decent people who do a lot of good things and who therefore have a lot of healthy goodness in us. To hear, as the people of God heard in Zephaniah's time, that God has removed His judgment from us does not square either with our notions of God or with our assessments of our own character. Why should we rejoice over the fact that God has stilled His warfare against us? As far as we're concerned, He need not and He has not declared war against us in the first place."

--Elizabeth Achtemeier

Global Impact of God's Grace

Zephaniah 3:10 talks about offerings brought by Yahweh worshippers from "beyond the rivers of Cush."

The sovereign grace of God will reach beyond the rivers of Cush in its converting of the nations . Past the southernmost branches of the Nile , deep into the continent of Africa , shall come prayers for salvation addressed to Yahweh alone . (Cf . J . M . P . Smith , p . 249 , who identifies the " rivers " of Cush with the most distant branches of the Nile .)

Earlier Isaiah had characterized Cush as a " land divided by rivers " ( Isa . 18 : 2 , 7 ), which sent " envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water " ( 18 : 2 ). He also depicted these distant people as bringing gifts to the Lord Al- mighty ( 18 : 7 ).

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
O. Palmer Robertson. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990). Page 329.

Only God

Only God can take away our shame.
Zeph 3:11, "On that day you shall not be put to same."

This great Day shall include the purging of sin from the remnant of Israel as well as the destruction of the wicked . The city will not be ashamed , but not because its inhabitants have no guilt . This city which now is free from all shame is the same city that earlier had been rebuked because it knew no shame ( 3 : 5 ; cf . 2 : 1 ). How great will be that day in which all shame will be removed from the community of God ' s people . Not only will guilt be eliminated ; all the crippling psychological effects of sin shall be wiped away . Each person will attain his full potential in service to God because a guilty conscience will not render him incapable of functioning freely in service to God . Even to the last day , the great day of judgment , the entire community of God ' s people will be freed from shame ( cf . Rom . 9 : 33 ; 1 Pet . 2 : 6 ).
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
O. Palmer Robertson. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990). Page 330.

Shore to Shore

Zeph 2 and 3 speak of universal reign of God. which reminds me of a Watts hymn:

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Blessings abound wherever He reigns;
The prisoner leaps to lose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blessed.
--Isaac Watts

What humility looks like

Seek humility --Zeph 2:3

Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call 'humble' nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him. If you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all. --CS Lewis

The Great Sin

So, in Zephaniah 2 the prophet--speaking for God--comes down quite hard on PRIDE. This made me think of CS Lewis famous chapter in Mere Christianity, entitled "The Great Sin"
here's the intro:
There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else; and of which hardly any people, except Christians, ever imagine that they are guilty themselves. I have heard people admit that they are bad-tempered, or that they cannot keep their heads about girls or drink, or even that they are cowards. I do not think I have ever heard anyone who was not a Christian accuse himself of this vice. And at the same time I have very seldom met anyone, who was not a Christian, who showed the slightest mercy to it in others. There is no fault which makes a man more unpopular, and no fault which we are more unconscious of in ourselves. And the more we have it ourselves, the more we dislike it in others.

The vice I am talking of is Pride or Self-Conceit: and the virtue opposite to it, in Christian morals, is called Humility. You may remember, when I was talking about sexual morality, I warned you that the centre of Christian morals did not lie there. Well, now, we have come to the centre. According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.

All Hail

we might be singing this sunday. regardless it is good to read&pray through:

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.

[John Rippon add­ed this verse in 1787]

O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!

Thinking of Idolatry and Zephaniah

I (RP) copied this from a guy named Justin:

Jesus Christ is the only and all-sufficient Savior. However, sometimes (most of the time?) we look to other things to satisfy and fulfill us.

Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington help us identify our functional saviors with these questions (The Bookends of the Christian Life, p. 73):

-I am preoccupied with __________.
-If only _________, then I would be happy.
-I get my sense of significance from ____________.
-I would protect and preserve __________ at any cost.
-I fear losing _________.
-The thing that gives me the greatest pleasure is _________.
-When I lose ______ I get angry, resentful, frusturated, anxious, or depressed.
-For me, life depends on ____________.
-The thing I value more than anything in the world is _________.
-When I daydream, my mind goes to ___________.
-The best thing I can think of is __________.
-The thing that makes me want to get out of bed in the morning is ________.

You would be wise to spend some time filling in the blanks and repenting of these idols and false saviors.

RP adds: And we would do well to remember that Jesus saves sinners, like you and me! (For every 1 look at your sin take 10 looks at the cross!)

Zephaniah 1

Palmer Robertson commenting on verse 6 of chptr 1

"Both words (seek and inquire) refer essentially to a concentration of devotion directed toward their God . The combination of terms underscores the fact that worshiping the true God requires a conscious and directed effort . This intensity in devotion cannot be regarded as an option reserved for a pious minority . Failure to seek after the Lord is a sin which shall bring an exterminating judgment."*

OK, incredibly serious words.  Let me make a recommendation... because I certainly believe--and have seen--and have experienced(!)... that followers of Christ can fall into not seeking God with an intensity of devotion.

#1.) Remember, YOUR intensity doesn't save you!  CHRIST'S does!

#2.) Not seeking him is a sin, grieves him, and harms your own soul.  We become malnourished, because WE NEED what we find when we seek him.... namely HIM.

#3.) John Piper's book "When I Don't Desire God" is excellent.  Before you dismiss it because you think of Piper only as the ever-happy and joyous dude......Piper has had dark and apathetic seasons.  You can tell by the way he writes about it.  It is worth the cash, but you can read it NOW as a pdf here.  

*COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL

O. Palmer Robertson. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990). Pages 265-266. 

When I copy and paste from my PURCHASED digital copy of his commentary it automatically gives him his props..which i like.

Notes on Zephaniah 1 from O. Palmer Robertson's Commentary

The finality of cosmic overthrow associated with the coming of Yahweh ' s Day in the fullest sense never came in the context of events as- sociated with the old covenant . It is not surprising , therefore , to find in the NT both passages which suggest an arrival of the Day of Yahweh in events current in NT times as well as passages looking to a future arrival of the great Day . Both of these perspectives must be kept in mind for a proper under- standing of the contemporary significance of the coming of the Day .
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL Page 271.

In a certain sense , the Day of Yahweh has come . But distinctive to the Day is the characteristic of finality . In a sense the Day came in associa- tion with certain events surrounding the advent of Jesus Christ . But in another sense the Day is yet to come . And as Zephaniah prophesied , it is near . The old covenant Scriptures manifest a variety of phrases by which the coming Day of Yahweh may be designated . Zephaniah speaks in terms of " the Day ," " that Day ," " the great Day ," " the Day of Yahweh ," and " the Day of the overflowing wrath of Yahweh " ( 1 : 7-10 , 14-15 , 18 ). In similar fashion , the new covenant Scriptures employ a variety of phrases in referring essentially to the same phenomenon . The Day of Yahweh may be designated as the " day of judgment " ( Matt . 10 : 15 ; 11 : 22 , 24 ; 12 : 36 ; John 12 : 48 ; 2 Pet . 3 : 7 ), the " last day " ( John 6 : 39 , 40 , 44 , 54 ; 11 : 24 ; 12 : 48 ), the " day of the Lord " ( Acts 2 : 20 ; 1 Cor . 5 : 5 ; 2 Cor . 1 : 14 ; 1 Thess . 5 : 2 ; 2 Thess . 2 : 2 ; 2 Pet . 3 : 10 ), the " day of the Lord Jesus Christ " ( 1 Cor . 1 : 8 ), " the day " or " that day " ( Matt . 7 : 22 ; Luke 10 : 12 ; 21 : 34 ; 1 Cor . 3 : 13 ; 1 Thess . 5 : 4 ; Heb . 10 : 25 ), the " day of Christ Jesus " ( Phil . 1 : 6 ), the " day of Christ " ( Phil . 1 : 10 ; 2 : 16 ), the " day of God " ( 2 Pet . 3 : 12 ), the " eternal day " ( 2 Pet . 3 : 18 ), the " great day " ( Jude 6 ), the " great day of their wrath " ( Rev . 6 : 17 ), and the " great day of God the Al- mighty " ( Rev . 16 : 14 ). All of these passages deserve careful consideration when attempting to determine matters related to the consummate fulfillment of the Day of Yah- weh as prophesied by Zephaniah . Suffice it to say that the cosmic judgment associated with a dramatic theophany now may be understood in terms of the glorious return of Jesus Christ . On the day appointed he shall consummate all things.

COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
O. Palmer Robertson. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990). Page 272and273
footnote on page 271:
The signs mentioned in Acts 2 : 20 that were to precede the coming of the " great and glorious Day of the Lord " include the items listed beginning at v . 17 and running through v . 21 . Peter specifically declares that " wonders and signs " have oc- curred , starting with the ministry of Jesus ( v . 22 ). The " coming " of the " Day " there- fore does not await the arrival of a day associated with " wonders " and " signs ." Some might propose that it is necessary to have a literal turning of the moon into blood before the arrival of the Day . Yet the fulfillment of the other signs in connection with the coming of Christ in his birth , ministry , death , resurrection , ascension , and out- pouring of the Spirit would suggest strongly that at least the first phase of the arrival of the day has been realized .
COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
O. Palmer Robertson. The Books of Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah (New International Commentary on the Old Testament). (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990). Page 272.