Sermon – Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Solemn Assembly

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Joel 2:1-2, 12-17  Solemn Assembly

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2015

 

            Tonight we have gathered in a solemn assembly for the imposition of ashes.  Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of forty days, excluding Sundays leading up to Easter.  It begins be reminding us that we are dust, from dust we came to dust we shall return.  Ashes are a sign of our own mortality.  They help us to remember our sin and desire for forgiveness.   And so tonight we gather for repentance and prayer and begin a period of fasting and self-denial.

            Tonight we have received a warning from the Prophet Joel.  I'll tell you what he has to say, but first let's pray.

            Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen. (John Calvin)

            Let's look at some of today's headlines.  Islamic extremist in Libya kidnapped 21 Egyptian Christians and beheaded them.  Egypt bombed ISIS in response.  Last weekend a gunman attacked a synagogue in Copenhagen.  In response to this and other acts of hostility, the prime minister of Israel urged Jews to flee Europe.   A cease fire is holding in Ukraine after a million people have been displaced and over 5000 have died in the ten-month war.

            Are these signs that God is about to do something?   I hope so.  I pray every day that Jesus will return and put everything right.  But do we really want this?  Do we really want the Day of the Lord to fix the world?  We turn to the Book of Joel for some guidance.

            Sometime, four hundred years before the birth of Christ, a giant swarm of locusts and grasshoppers descended on the farms around Jerusalem.  The devoured all the barley and wheat growing in the fields.  They ate all the leaves on grape vines and olive trees.  When the holocaust ended God sent the Prophet Joel to deliver some bad news.

            Joel first went to see the alcoholics.  He told the drunks the bad news.  Locusts had eaten all the grapes and there would be no grape harvest and no wine this year.  They would not have the wine they needed to stay drunk.

            Then Joel went to see the priests.  He told the religious people in the temple the bad news.  Locusts had eaten all the grain growing in the field and the grapes on the vine.  There would be no grain offerings or drink offerings this year.  The people would not have the offerings they needed to bring into the temple as symbols of their relationship with God.

            Finally Joel went to see the farmers.  He told them the bad news.  Locusts had eaten their crops and vineyards.  There would be no joyful harvest this year. 

            Joel realized that the disaster was bad, but they would survive.  He also realized that one day, maybe one day soon, there would be a more complete, more terrible disaster.  This would come on judgment day when God comes to judge the earth.  The locusts were just a warning that the Day of the Lord was coming.  This is what the prophet Joel said.

             

            Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill.  Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand— 2  a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.  Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was in ancient times  nor ever will be in ages to come.

 

            Joel's warning is that God is coming.  He will come with the angelic army, the heavenly hosts, with power to destroy all the he has made.  This will be a day of judgment when all people must account for their sin.  And God will punish us for what we have done. 

            This is my warning to you.  God is coming.  He may come soon.  And we will all be judged.  God will not come to judge an individual or a group of people.  God will come to judge everyone.  All of us should be afraid, literally scared to death of this judgment, because none of us is righteous.  None of us is good enough.  None of us can stand before God with pure hearts and clean hands.

            So what are we to do?  Is there no hope?  Let's go back to the prophet.

 

            12 “(But)  Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”  13 Rend your heart  and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14 Who knows? He may turn and relent
 and leave behind a blessing—grain offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.

           

            Joel has told the people that it is now time to repent:  to stop worshiping false gods, to stop ignoring the needs of your neighbor, to stop your sinful behavior.  Now is the time to change your ways and become obedient to God not because God is a fearful judge, but because God is gracious, kind, loving, and wants to forgive you and give you everything you need for a good life.  So, what should we do?  Let's go back to the prophet and find out.

 

            15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, declare a holy fast, call a sacred assembly. 16 Gather the people, consecrate the assembly; bring together the elders, gather the children, those nursing at the breast.  Let the bridegroom leave his room and the bride her chamber.

            So, we are to come together in this a sacred assembly.  We are to confess our sins, and ask God for forgiveness.  And no one should be left out.  This assembly is for everyone, men and women, old and young, rich and poor, everyone.  Everyone needs to repent, turn away from sin and turn to God in prayer.  The prophet Joel then told the priests how they should pray in this assembly.

 

17 Let the priests, who minister before the Lord, weep between the portico and the altar.
Let them say, “Spare your people, Lord. Do not make your inheritance an object of scorn,
 a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples,  ‘Where is their God?’”

 

            So my job as your pastor tonight is to ask God to forgive you.  I am to remind God of his love and faithfulness.  And give him the opportunity to forgive us and love us as a sign to the world of his character and power.

 

            The Prophet Joel leaves us tonight with a promise.  If we turn from our evil ways and turn back to our creator then we will be blessed.  Let's listen.

 

                Joel 3:17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill.  Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.  18 “In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water.  A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.

 

            If we turn from sin and turn to God, God will forgive us and bless us as his children.  This is the good news, the promise of scripture.

 

            So when will this happen?  When can we expect the Day of the Lord when God will come to Earth.  Joel tells us.

 

            Joel 2:28-29  I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.  29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.

 

            And so the Day of the Lord, when God comes to judge and forgives all who repents is when the Holy Spirit comes to earth.  This has already happened.  Listen to this from the Book of Acts.

 

            Acts 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

 

            According to the Apostle Peter this was the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy.  The Day of the Lord has come.  And in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our sins are washed away and we are made new.           So in gratitude for what God has done for you repent, turn away from sin, and turn toward your savior, Jesus Christ, with obedience.  Let's pray.

            O Lord, your people have assembled.  Spare us your judgment.  For all who believe grant us forgiveness.  Fill us with your Spirit.  This we pray in your son's name.  Amen.