Are We Resting On the Dregs?

Zephaniah 1:7-13
Revelation 14:1-13
Luke 12:49-59
The prophet Zephaniah uses an interesting turn of phrase in today’s reading. “…I will punish the people who rest complacently on their dregs, those who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm’” (Zephaniah 1:12). According to Elizabeth Achtemeier the expression, “to rest on one’s dregs,” comes from the process of making wine. New wine that is left to sit too long will become “thick and syrupy and too sweet and subject to mold” (Achtemeier, Nahum—Malachi, John Knox Press, 1986, p. 69.). In other words, such wine becomes good for nothing, as do the people who produce it. The prophet condemns this apathy among God’s people as growing out of the belief that “The Lord will not do good, nor will he do harm” (Zephaniah 1:12), or that God is apathetic, inactive, and “good for nothing” as well.

But our other two readings today give us a much different view of God. “Fear God and give him glory,” says the writer of Revelation, “for the hour of his judgment has come…” (Revelation 14:7). Jesus says, “I came to bring fire to the earth.…Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!” (Luke 12:49, 51). God is anything put apathetic. God is anything but inactive. God is anything but worthless. We may be tempted to “rest on our dregs” with complacency, but God’s will is that we get up and get to work preparing for the coming kingdom, meeting the needs of the world, reaching out in God’s name to cure and to comfort and to console. God is holding us accountable so there is no time to waste.

What can we do today that will demonstrate active participation in the will of God? We can care for the hurting, we can give to the poor, we can share the good news with those who sit in darkness. We can pray for the church and for one another. In these ways we produce good fruit, wine suitable for its purpose, lives in tune with the will of God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to remain active in service to you and to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.