Please read this passage before reading this homily.
God sent Zephaniah to pronounce doom on all the peoples and cities who did not fear God and who perpetrated crime and sin. God wiped out the nations who had belittled God’s people. This is a synopsis of the first two chapters of the prophet’s book. Chapter three ends with the return of the exiles.
Our passage comes from the third chapter. It is a call to rejoice because the Lord is in midst of the people. Luke (1:39-45) sees this prophecy fulfilled Mary, pregnant with Jesus, when she visited her cousin Elizabeth. It was a visit in which the Lord was present to Mary, Elizabeth, Zachariah, and John. When God visits us, there is joy spread throughout the land.
God is in our midst, no matter how dire the day’s news may seem, no matter how downtrodden we seem. No matter what happens to us. God stays with us. We need not fear, we need not be discouraged. God is in our midst, a mighty champion.
Now, it is possible for us to forget that is God with us. It is possible for us to lose hope and joy. It is possible for us to look only at the negatives in our lives and live in fear and trembling. On the other hand, God wants to be with us. God wants to be, and is, with us. God is a mighty Savior, and God looks upon us with gladness.
If God had not wanted to be with us, would God have walked in the garden with us in the cool of the evening? Would God have sent the rainbow if God had not wanted to be with us.? Would God have rescued the people from Egypt had God not desired to be with us? Would God have sent Jesus had God not wanted to be with us? Would Jesus have promised to be with us always even to the end of the age had God not wanted to be with us? Accordingly, let us let God sing joyfully because of us, as people do at festivals.