Major in Minors

Overcoming venial sins and maturing as Christians

12/15/2020

Zephaniah 3:1-2, 9-13 Thus says the LORD: Woe to the city, rebellious and polluted, to the tyrannical city! She hears no voice, accepts no correction; In the LORD she has not trusted, to her God she has not drawn near. For then I will change and purify the lips of the peoples, That they all may call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one accord; From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia and as far as the recesses of the North, they shall bring me offerings. On that day You need not be ashamed of all your deeds, your rebellious actions against me; For then will I remove from your midst the proud braggarts, And you shall no longer exalt yourself on my holy mountain. But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly, Who shall take refuge in the name of the LORD: the remnant of Israel. They shall do no wrong and speak no lies; Nor shall there be found in their mouths a deceitful tongue; They shall pasture and couch their flocks with none to disturb them.

Have you heard of the phrase “to major in the minors”? That is a criticism leveled at someone who spends the majority of their time on minor or unimportant matters. To major in the minors is typically a bad thing to do. But when that phrase is applied to scripture study, it suddenly becomes a very good thing. How so? In the Old Testament there are a total of 18 prophetic books: 6 are classified as “major prophets” and 12 are called “minor prophets.”

The major prophets are the longer prophetic books, like Isaiah which has 66 chapters. The minor prophets are the shorter prophetic books, like today’s first reading from Zephaniah, which only has 3 chapters. I would like us to “major in the minors” for a moment this morning by learning a little about the prophet Zephaniah. In spite of its relatively short length, it is nevertheless the inspired Word of God, and therefore has a major message for us, no matter how “minor” it may seem.

Zephaniah was written toward the end of the 7th century B.C., during the reign of King Josiah from 640 to 609 B.C. The first verses provide the setting for the book and introduces the prophetic author. We read in Zephaniah 1:1, “The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, the son of Gedeliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah, the son of Amon, king of Judah.” The prophets usually provide a little “ancestry.com” of their pedigree so you know their historical context. Why is that important? So we understand that even if we are reading a “minor prophet” we are still getting a “major message.”

Josiah was one of the last great “good kings” of the southern kingdom of Judah. Thanks to prophets like Zephaniah (and others) King Josiah implemented reforms in practicing the Jewish religion. Josiah was saying in effect, “Look, Zephaniah may be a minor prophet, but he has a major message for us!” But the people's hearts were too hard, and the catastrophe came in 587 B.C. when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and hauled the people off into the 70-year Babylonian Captivity. The people should have “majored in the minors,” especially in the minor prophets like Zephaniah, and perhaps they would have averted punishment.

My friends, I would suggest to you that mature Christian faith is all about how to “major in the minors.” We typically distinguish mortal and venial sins. But which ones do we put all our attention on? Clearly the mortal sins, the major sins. And that is why many (maybe most) Catholics do not go to confession regularly. They say dismissive things like: “I haven’t killed anyone,” “I haven’t robbed a bank,” “I haven’t committed adultery.” For them only the major mortal sins matter. But that is a very immature faith, spoken like the people in the time of Josiah and Zephaniah.’

Instead, when we examine our conscience, we should “major in the minors” and also take serious stock of our venial sins. One way to do that is by using the standard of the “seven deadly sins” or the “seven capital sins.” I developed a mnemonic device to help me remember them: the first letters of two words, “EGG SLAP” – envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, anger, pride. These vices are sadly dismissed as venial sins, but they start to collect like cholesterol in our arteries, and finally can cause a heart attack and ultimately death. The minor sins eventually grow into major sins that are spiritually fatal. We should examine our conscience and see both mortal and venial sins, major mistakes and minor ones. And then maybe more Catholics would go to confession.

A friend of mine likes to say “if you watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves.” He is a very successful businessman here in Fort Smith, because he knew how to major in the minors. May the “minor prophet” known as Zephaniah help us to do the same, so we can be spiritually successful.

Praised be Jesus Christ!