The prophet Zephaniah preached to the Israelite people in the latter half of the seventh century B.C.. He warned them that a day of doom and destruction was at hand, a day when Judah would be punished for her worship of false gods. The threat of chapter 1 in the book of Zephaniah is that the whole earth will be destroyed, nothing will be left. Creation has turned away from the Creator, and so the threat God offers here is to destroy everything, as if life is an experiment that has gone awry.

As you might expect, this message gets the people's attention. The threat offered is direct enough and overpowering enough that there is no way that people can think that it's not going to include them. The message that Zephaniah brings to the people of Judah, and the message that they hear, is that they face a very real and powerful danger, a danger that is the direct result of their unfaithfulness to God.

The people back then understood this message. Zephaniah and some of the other prophets set the tone for the religious reforms which took place under King Josiah, reforms which indeed brought the people back to God, and brought about a new era of faithfulness.

The Israelite people were much more open to hearing this kind of message, than we are today. For many of them, their theology was based on an approach that basically said - if good things happen to you you're being rewarded for your behavior, and if bad things happen to you, you're being punished for you behavior. So when Zephaniah came threatening something really bad - namely total destruction - and named the cause of that as the behavior of the people for being unfaithful to God, it was a message that they understood and were ready to believe.

We're a more cynical society today. If someone were to come and say that our society is in trouble and list problems like drugs, physical and sexual abuse, massive numbers of people in prison - to the extent that the prisons don't have enough room, the untrustworthiness of our political leaders, and a few other similar problems, we would probably agree 100%.

But if they started to tell us that we're the problem, that it's our behavior that has brought these punishments upon us, we'd say "no way". I've tried to live honestly and faithfully and to set a good example for others. After all, what can one person do in the face of all these massive problems? It's not my fault. The problem is something much bigger than me - and we would be right. What worked for the Israelite people was that they accepted responsibility for the problem, and after they realized that it was their behavior that was at fault, then the solution was clear. If the problem is caused by my behavior, then the solution is to change my behavior. If the problem is that I'm being unfaithful to God, then the solution is to start being faithful. That's exactly what they did - and it worked!

When thousands of people started trying to reform their lives, to live faithfully to God where before they had been unfaithful, suddenly a lot of things were changed. These changes had an impact on their whole society. Things operated differently, more justly, more openly, more honestly, more lovingly, because enough people changed. Even more important than the outward changes were the inward ones. People were different, because they changed inside. Their approach to life, their ability to withstand the problems and temptations of life, indeed who they were was different, because their goal was to trust in God, to live faithfully each day, and to know God's presence with them always.

Think about that, because I think that the Israelite people were on to something. No, I don't think that all of the problems of our society are some individual's fault. Most of them will take a lot of collective changes to get anywhere. I think that their way of assessing blame for the problems was simplistic and inadequate - and indeed that's why it changed over the years.

At the same time, I think that their solution to the problem was right on the mark, and that there is much to be said for us today finding the same solution. In the midst of problems that seem overwhelming and a society that we feel helpless to change, the answer is the same one that the Israelites found so many centuries ago. The answer is to turn to God, to seek to be faithful each and every moment of each and every day.

The cynics respond, but Bob, how will that change anything? How will that make the drug problem disappear? How will that bring peace to Iraq or feed the hungry or cure any of the other problems that we face?

The reality is that it may change none of them, but what it will change is far more important. Our turning to God and seeking to live faithfully may not change the world out there, but it will change what happens in here (point to chest). We will be changed dramatically, because the focus of our lives is no longer succeeding in the eyes of society, but faithfulness in the eyes of God. Our goal is no longer comfort for ourselves but complete trust in God. Our lives are built upon a totally different foundation, one that offers hope and peace and the knowledge that God walks with us through all that we experience in life.

The amazing thing is that when we trust in God, not only are our lives changed, but the world becomes a little different place. We start to effect that portion of it that we come in contact with and we start to touch and effect the lives of others differently than we did before. When just one person changes, the ripples are hardly noticed amidst the turbulence of our society, but when enough people are changed, then society itself is transformed.

By the third chapter of Zephaniah the message has changed. The message is no longer the total destruction of the whole world. Now we hear that people and nations will be changed. They will turn back to God and all will obey. Those who are proud and arrogant will be removed, and the humble and lowly will be lifted up. There will be reason to rejoice for God has stopped the punishment, removed the enemies and brought renewed hope to the people.

Their lives and even their very future were changed by their willingness to trust in God. The call and the challenge for us is the same. We too are to trust in God, and when we do so our lives and our very futures will be different, because of the new foundation we're laying for our lives.

One of the most powerful images of trust that I remembers is from almost two decades ago. Back before the winter Olympics in 1988, one of the television programs leading up tot he Olympics featured blind skiers. Think about that. Many of us don't even ski down slopes being able to see, while these people were totally blind. Each blind skier was paired with a sighted skier who would ski next to them and give them directions. They would call out left and the person would turn left, right and the person would turn right. The blind skiers could not see any of the hazards that lay before them - other skiers, trees, rocks, bumps in the hill or anything else. They trusted in their companions to guide them safely down the slopes - and it worked.

Think about that example, for that's the kind of trust that God is looking for from us. Yes, we argue, but I'm not blind. I can see for myself. But the reality is that we only see part of the truth, part of the reality, part of what life is all about. It is God who sees the whole picture. When God tells us to turn right, maybe instead of arguing or turning a deaf ear, we should be like one of the blind skiers and just turn, trusting that God is God, that God knows and wants what is best for us, and that our real task in life is to be faithful and to trust in God.

Amen.