Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come, Lord, join us here today.
Help us to be soft toward you.
Willing,
Open,
Expectant
Of the good you will bring.
Even with the changes
That are surely coming
With age
With family
With friends

Help us to be soft toward you
Help us to stop resisting
Help us to calm down
To rest a little
To loosen our grip
Knowing your hand offers us
Grace
Mercy
Gentleness
Affection which
We so need and
We so long for
In this world
As it is

Yes Lord,
Help us to be soft toward you
Thank you
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“Blast the ram’s horn in Zion,
pronounce a fast,
proclaim convocation” Joel 2:15

Intro: Thirty years ago Reba McEntire released a song, “If I Had Only Known”

It is a typically “country” tear jerker
If I had only known
It was the last walk in the rain
I’d keep you out for hours in the storm
I would hold your hand
Like a life line to my heart
Underneath the thunder we’d be warm
If I had only known
It was our last walk in the rain
If I had only known
I’d never hear your voice again
I’d memorize each thing you ever said . . . etcetera
– it hits a nerve, because we’ve all felt the regret it expresses
• things would be different not; would have been avoided; or would have turned out better
◦ if only we had known
– that’s the reason, for the second time, Joel says, “Blast the ram’s horn in Zion”
• the first time, in verse 1, it was to sound the alarm regarding the approaching invasion
◦ this time it is a call to action
• a terrible disaster is approaching Jerusalem,
◦ but something can be done – the city can be saved

Two activities are specified in these verses

16 Gather the people,
dedicate an assembly,
summon the elders,
gather the babes,
the sucklings at the breast.
Let the bridegroom come out from his chamber
and the bride from her wedding canopy.
17 Between the great hall and the altar
let the priests weep,
let the LORD’s ministrants say,
“Have pity, LORD, on Your people,
and do not let Your estate be disgraced
for nations to rule over them.
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’
18 And let the LORD be zealous for His land
and show mercy for His people” Joel 2:16-18

First, the entire community is instructed to gather in the temple
– though it’s obvious that everyone must respond,
• specific sections of the community are specified (people/elders)
◦ two groups are surprising: babies and bridal couples
• it seems like an exaggeration, but it serves a purpose
◦ people who might assume they would naturally be excluded
◦ and it intensifies the attention people give to the announcement
– the priests are mentioned last,
• and that transitions into the second activity specified:
• the specific work given to the priests: weep and pray
◦ and they’re also given a script for their prayer

I want to pause at that first task
What is the importance of weeping?
– I think it speaks to the depth of their personal awareness and involvement
• for any prayer to be effective, it must be meaningful
◦ this had always been an underlying requirement
“if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chr. 7:14)
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (De. 6:5)
• weeping signifies wholehearted involvement
– but there is another role that weeping plays
• there are serious inequities in human societies
◦ the strong exert their will over the weak, the rich oppress the poor
◦ before any change can occur, people have to care about others
• to weep over the suffering of others is necessary stage in change
◦ Walter Brueggemann – a beloved theologian and scholar of the prophets, used Egypt’s rule and oppression of Israel as an illustration of how a regime or empire oppresses the poor
Brueggemann, “I will urge that real criticism begins in the capacity to grieve. Only in the empire are we pressed and urged and invited to pretend that things are alright. . . . And as long as the empire can keep the pretense alive that things are alright, there will be no real grieving and no serious criticism.”
Jeremiah, at times referred to as “the weeping prophet,” lamented:
“Oh that my head were waters, / and my eyes a fountain of tears, / that I might weep day and night / for the daughter of my people!” (Jer. 9:1)
• this is why the priests must weep before any other action
◦ they had to sincerely grieve the suffering of the people
• it today’s political discourse, there’s much anger & insults,
◦ we need to listen more closely to those who grieve

The script for their prayer begins with the most critical request:
“Have pity, LORD, on Your people”
– it begins with God’s compassion
• then a petition: not disgraced and not ruled over
◦ a question is tagged on to the petition,
“Why should they say among the peoples,
‘where is their God?'”
◦ this is what would happen if the Lord did not come through for them
• the prayer concludes with a double request:
“And let the LORD be zealous for his land
and show mercy to his people”

God’s response came instantly
19 And the LORD answered and said to His people,
I am about to send to you
new grain and new wine and oil
and you will be sated with them.
And I will no more make you
disgraced among the nations.
20 And the northerner I will put far from you
and scatter him to a parched and desolate land,
his face to the eastern sea
and his end to the western sea.
And his stench shall go up
and his foul odor go up,
for he has done enormities Joel 2:19-20

God begins with the provisions he will supply his people
– they would eat their fill
– then a direct answer to their prayer re: “disgraced among nations”
– then the invading horde – “northerner”
• we take the compass points literally, as they appear on a map
◦ in the prophets, invasions frequently come from north,
even if the armies are obviously from the east
◦ it’s as if they descend from overhead
– the last word had to do with the damage locusts have done:
“for he has done enormities”
• I point this out, because the next verse uses the same word

Joel’s prophetic instructions in that moment
21 Do not fear, O land,
exult and rejoice,
for the LORD has done enormous things.
22 Do not fear, O beasts of the field,
for the wilderness meadows sprout grass,
for the tree yields its fruit,
the fig tree and vine put forth their wealth.
23 And children of Zion,
exult and rejoice
in the LORD your God.
For he has given you the early rain as bounty
and brought down the rain for you,
early rain and latter rain as before Joel 2:21-23

“Do not fear
exult and rejoice
for the LORD has done enormous things”
– the greatness of God’s intervention erases the greatness of the damage the locusts had done
• try to imagine the hope these people would feel!!
◦ Barb and I are trudging through a long and disturbing season
◦ for the time being, we cannot see an end to it
• what lifts me out of the distress of the “behind the scenes” callousness and deceit
is the hope God continually pours into me
◦ that however it turns out, God will still be with us,
◦ and we will still be living in his providence and care
• these people had been faced with starvation
◦ but now they have a promise from God
◦ their hearts are moved from despair to joy and excitement

Joel repeats the instruction, “Do not fear”
– now I want to look at who it is he is addressing:
“beasts of the field”
• and he moves to the wilderness and then domestic crops
• I’m not sure how to frame this,
◦ but others have referred to it as “Eco-theology” –
◦ or Ecological Theology – a biblical concern for care of the planet’s well-being and the safety of its not human population of living things
– God cares about his creation – all of it, not just humans
• we tend to think that we are all that really matters,
◦ but in Genesis, at stages of creation we are told repeatedly,
“And God saw that it was good”
◦ and that was spoken prior to the creation of the humans
• then there was the first assignment he gave to the humans:
“The LORD took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Gen. 2:15)
◦ when Israel entered the promised land, God warned them
◦ sin could pollute the land and it would no longer support them
– after addressing the “beasts of the field,” God turns to the
“children of Zion”
• his covenant people, on whom he bestowed his greatest blessings

God’s promises continue to flow
24 And the threshing floors shall fill with grain
and the vats overflow with new wine and oil.
25 And I will pay you back for the years
that the grasshopper ate,
the swarmer, the grub, and the locust,
My great force that I sent against you.
26 And you shall eat, be continuously sated,
and you shall praise the name of the LORD your God
Who has done wondrously for you,
and My people shall not be shamed evermore Joel 2:24-26‘

There would be payback and remuneration for their losses
“And you shall eat, be continuously sated,
and you shall praise the name of the LORD”
– I’m not going to make a big deal about this or lay down any rules
• in my home, we grew up giving thanks for every meal
◦ both of my parents were very aware of the Great Depression, and second World War, and the slender rations on which they were fed
◦ for most of my youth, we were poor
• so I understand how shame often accompanies poverty
◦ but God says, there will be no more of either poverty or shame for his people

Conclusion: The last verse reveals the best blessing of all
27 And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and I am the LORD your God, there is none else,
and My people shall not be shamed evermore Joel 2:27

If God is with us, regardless of our circumstances?
Yes. And is that enough?
He wants it to be enough – and I want it to be enough
I want to practice the “secret” Paul learned:
“I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me” (Php. 4:11-13)
I find myself at peace every morning,
and it has nothing to do with my “net worth” or what we own
It has everything for what I experience when I open my Bible,
and turn my attention to the Lord who is always here, always now
God is calling us and waiting for us to open up ourselves to his presence
He is our peace