Second Sunday of Advent
Sunday, December 6th, 2020click here for past entries
Loving God, you continue to bless your church with the gifts of the Spirit, and are always ready to give to those who ask. Teach us to listen deeply to your Holy Spirit, living out your vision for us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Joel is one of those prophets where we don’t know exactly what time period he lived in. Scholars believe that it was while the Persians were in charge of Jerusalem, but nobody knows for sure. What we do know is that there was a lot of lamenting going on. The crops had been ruined. The vines and fig trees and other fruit trees were shriveled up. There had been a veritable army of locusts that had eaten their way through the land – the cutters, the swarmers, the hoppers and the destroyers (Joel 1:4). Meanwhile, there was a drought, and wildfires were destroying trees and grasslands. (Does any of this sound familiar?) Even the animals were languishing, and there wasn’t even grain or wine to bring as offerings.
For Joel, all of this was a sign that the day of the Lord was coming soon. “Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). There was a sense that all of this tragedy could still be reversed. The people just needed to turn their attention toward God, praying with fasting and mourning and weeping, for God to deliver them, and to rescue the land from ruin.
As they do so, they are reminded that true worship and true repentance are a matter of the heart, and not just an outward ritual. They are told to “rend [their] hearts and not [their] clothing” (Joel 2:13). Rather than tearing their clothes as an outward sign of mourning, they are to have “a broken and contrite heart”, as the Psalmist writes (Ps. 51:17). They are to look to God in all that they do – the one who is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13).
The result of all of this lamenting and repenting and rending of hearts is that God’s word of promise and renewal is given to the people. The land will be restored, and the people will know that God is in their midst. Then afterward, we hear the promise of God’s spirit being poured out on all flesh, giving dreams and visions to young and old, male and female, Jews and Gentiles.
In some ways, we are taken from Ash Wednesday to Pentecost all in the same reading today. And, while many of us can probably relate to all of the weeping and lamenting that is going on at first, many of us would probably also say, “Amen. Come, Holy Spirit!” After all, when were you last able to spend time nurturing dreams and visions from the Holy Spirit?
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I find it hard to look too far ahead. I tend to focus on what’s right in front of me, and so the first kind of dreams and visions that come to mind are more immediate in nature. We dream of a time when it is okay to give and receive hugs again, and when we can gather together without posing a health risk to one another. We dream of a time when Covid-19 is no longer a threat in our world.
On a more basic level, when we’re tired, we dream of being able to lie down and rest, and when we’re hungry, we dream about a satisfying meal. When we’re ridiculously busy, we dream of being able to stop and rest, and when we’re lonely and bored, we dream of being able to feel alive again and be around other people.
Of course, there are also the really big dreams, like world peace or saving the environment. There are dreams of racial equality, and all people being treated with dignity and respect, articulated by people like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his famous “I have a dream” speech. There are dreams of the hungry being fed and the homeless having shelter and all people having access to clean drinking water. These really big dreams could also be described as part of God’s vision for our world.
This is a vision that was communicated most fully through Jesus, who dared to come among us in the flesh. God’s vision of salvation included sharing in our humanity – experiencing both the best and the worst that life in this world has to offer – yet doing so without sin. God’s vision included welcoming the outcasts, and healing the sick, and feeding the hungry. God’s vision included unbelievable love for all humanity, that through Jesus we might be reconciled with God and with one another.
This same vision guides and inspires God’s people today, who are called to continue both the ministry and the presence of Christ in our world. As we do this, we are challenged to listen to the nudges of the Spirit, even as we continue to dream – for God will not withhold the Holy Spirit from those who ask. Amen. Come, Holy Spirit. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Advent 2 (NL 3) Joel 2:12-13, 28-29
December 6, 2020 Luke 11:13
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison
© 2020 Lynne Hutchison All Rights Reserved
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