Readings for today: Joel 1-3, Revelation 4
Joel is my favorite “minor prophet” of the Old Testament. Perhaps because I have witnessed firsthand the aftermath of a locust plague. I have been in areas suffering from tremendous drought. Seen the impact of famine. Talked with people whose “seeds shrivel under the clods” and whose “beasts groan” as they search in vain for food. I have prayed for them in their desperation. Cried out to God on their behalf. Fasted, wept, and mourned with them. I have also rejoiced with them when the rains finally came. When their crops flourished in the fields. Their herds grew sleek and fat. I have seen God restore the years the locusts had eaten and it is glorious.
Joel is talking about more than seedtime and harvest, of course. What he really is referring to is spiritual renewal and revival. Israel was languishing. She was struggling both physically and spiritually. The dry and barren wastelands that once were filled with so much life were simply an outward representation of what was taking place in their hearts. They had departed from God. They had left their source of life and were suffering as a result. Joel calls for revival. He calls for God’s people to return to the Lord with their whole hearts. He longs for the day when their spiritual life as a people will be renewed. We see some of the same dynamics in play today. There is a lot of talk in the American church about revival. A lot of prayers ascend asking God to bring renewal. To pour out His Spirit. To bless our nation. To awaken the slumbering hearts of God’s people across our great land. Why then does revival not come? Why does our culture continue it’s rapid descent into chaos? Why is there such a rise in hate and anger and rage? Why is God not answering our prayers?
According to Joel, the answer is quite clear. Repentance always precedes revival. We have not yet come to the end of ourselves. We have not yet exhausted our strength. We still believe on some level that it is up to us and our programs and our resources to bring this revival about. If we could just elect the right person. Just put the right programs in place. Just attend church more often. Just engage with more emotion in worship. We will seemingly do anything and everything to avoid falling on our faces, helpless before the Lord. We will do all we can to avoid acknowledging our failures, putting on sackcloth and ashes. We simply refuse to bow the knee, confess our sins both personal and corporate, and cry out to God. And this is why revival has not and will not come to the American church. We are too puffed up. Too prideful. Too divided. Too rich. Too comfortable. To consumer-driven. We spend more time complaining and arguing about worship styles like music than we do in heartfelt prayer. We spend far too much time guarding our hearts because we’ve been wounded rather than forgiving those who hurt us. We have such little faith and are not willing to put the time and effort into deepening our spiritual lives. I know these are broad generalizations but study after study confirms they are true.
Joel speaks prophetically to the American church. To our church. To my church. To my own heart.
“Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” (Joel 1:13-14)
“Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?” (Joel 2:12-14)
“Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, "Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?” (Joel 2:15-17)
These are challenging words. Joel is unafraid to get in our face. They leave us no room for equivocation. We either accept them or reject them and the consequences of our decision is clear. Reject them to our own peril or accept them and receive God’s promise.
“Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. "The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.” (Joel 2:23-25)
“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” (Joel 2:28)
Friends, the answer we keep avoiding is simply this...surrender. Relinquishment. Submission. To God’s will and God’s ways and most importantly, God’s love. Until we do this, we will not see revival come. Repentance is the precondition to revival. Surrender is the precondition to the pouring out of God’s Spirit. We cannot receive from God until we open our hearts and unclench our fists. And this is a process. It’s not something that happens easily. It is a daily decision we make to place ourselves before the Lord. Believe Him for who He is and what He has to say. Bow the knee and obey His commands.
Readings for tomorrow: Amos 1-3, Revelation 5