COMING IN FROM THE COLD

I will gather those who grieve about the appointed feasts--
They came from you, O Zion;
The reproach of exile is a burden on them.
Behold, I am going to deal at that time
With all your oppressors,
I will save the lame
And gather the outcast,
And I will turn their shame into praise and renown
In all the earth.
At that time I will bring you in,
Even at the time when I gather you together;
Indeed, I will give you renown and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I restore your fortunes before your eyes,
Says the Lord.
(Zephaniah 3: 18-20)

Zephaniah tells us that the Lord will go out and gather in those who are grieving, those who are oppressed, who are out there wandering around alone.

I have had the benefit this last week of feeling that I have been drawn in to a sheltering place. But I also know many who are struggling to get by, who are feeling isolated and alone, who feel they are stuck out in the cold with not opportunity for getting into warm shelter. It all makes me wish there was some way I could by my own power pull them out of the loneliness and cold and get them into shelter (physical or psychological). But I am a limited creature.

The Lord, however, is not bound by such limits. And He promises that He will seek out those who are without shelter. And He will do more than just bringing them in out of the cold. Zephaniah mentions those who grieve at being left out and those who carry a burden of reproach for being "on the outside", and then adds that the Lord will address those feelings as well. He will turn shame into praise.

It made me think of the man I saw, sitting at the head of a freeway off-ramp on a cold, wet Sunday night. Our society is not kind to those who are reduced to begging. "The reproach of exile" as Zephaniah calls it. We start thinking, "What did you do or fail to do that has brought you to this?" And we do this in spite of knowing full well how uncertain the economy is at present, how easily anyone can fall victim to lost jobs, unexpected expenses, or simple bad luck. Perhaps it is fear that creates that scorn - when we are on the inside, we start taking it for granted. We start thinking that anyone on the "outside" could change that state by their own endeavors, if they just tried.

But some people are oppressed. Some people are lame (that is, rendered incapable of easy movement). Some people really have been cast out from their former shelters. And I have just come through a period where my own endeavors were not able to change the situation I was in. No matter what I tried, things didn't come through. I felt like I was watching the water of my life circle the sink and slowly drain away. But God stepped in, working through the helping hands of my friends, and turned that around.

The promise in Advent is that the Lord will gather us in. That He will shield us from oppression, that everything that drags us down will be driven away.

But not only will we be brought into the warmth, Zephaniah says that we will be lifted up. Renown and praise, and restoration of fortune. It seems that God doesn't bother with half-measures.

Okay, I admit it. From where I am right this minute, I view that promise with a cautious eye. God has pulled me back from the brink. He has provided for my immediate needs. I feel as if I am in a warmer shelter. But I still have to be careful of what has been given to me. I have enough for now, but it isn't yet what I would consider a "restoration of fortune." Make no mistake, I am not ungrateful. I am overwhelmed with gratitude that the anxieties that had been eating me for weeks have been washed away by the generousity the Lord has inspired. But I have seen the beginning of His promise come into existence. That makes it easier to believe that the rest will follow.

And what about that "praise and renown" matter?

Again, that takes time. What the Lord promises in that is not that we become headliners in popular culture (isn't that more a case of infamy, anyway?), but rather something better and more lasting. Renown -- to be known and honored. Isn't that something we want when we are outcast? To be remembered, to be respected as a human being? Again, this is how God works things together. When my friends reached out to help me, so many of them expressed their respect and appreciation of me. It took my breath away. This is renown. To receive praise on top of that is just frosting on the cake. But I've even had some drops of that. Perhaps they are the mere beginning drops of a shower. But even if they aren't, praise is like water to the thirst plant, the assurance that work you have done has been effective.

In Advent, as we prepare for the coming of the Christ Child, we need to be reminded that this gift of shelter from the Lord is part of what comes with Christ. More intimately, more intensely, Jesus brings God the Father close to us. With the touch of a human hand we are reminded that God's touch is far more powerful, far more encompassing than anything we can experience in our daily lives.

The Lord brings us in from the cold. All we need do is come with Him.