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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
November 13, 2024
Reading: Joel 2:12-19
Yet even now, says the Lord,
return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
and relents from punishing.
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?
Blow the trumpet in Zion;
sanctify a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Sanctify the congregation;
assemble the aged;
gather the children,
even infants at the breast.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her canopy.
Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep.
Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord,
and do not make your heritage a mockery,
a byword among the nations.
Why should it be said among the peoples,
“Where is their God?” ’
Then the Lord became jealous for his land,
and had pity on his people.
In response to his people the Lord said:
I am sending you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a mockery among the nations.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
In each of our Sunday services here at Redeemer, there is a time for each of us to make our confession to God and then to receive absolution of our sins. And this is just a reminder of one stark feature of being human - that we are prone to sin. It can be startling how quickly after receiving absolution one may have committed yet another sin. No wonder the prophet reminds us of human behavior and notes the path to take to forgiveness: return, rend, return, blow, sanctify, call, sanctify, assemble, gather. But first one must reorient oneself, not just in terms of direction but internally. within. The first actions are what God calls for in terms of a human response: repentance, a reorientation towards God that takes place internally. No matter what the specifics of the sins for which repentance is sought, note that one has wandered away from God. There is a distance between the human and the Holy One.
Since Joel is speaking to the people, we are reminded that we too in our worship are confronting our sinful nature and the actions/behaviors that arise therefrom and that we need to be assembled together to take part in that religious gathering. Like the ancient Israelites we in our own community are to come together, infants to elderly.
Why must the community gather together for this penitential moment? Why can not each member seek forgiveness individually? It is an important aspect of worship to acknowledge God’s forgiving nature: “for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Who knows what individual might trip to appropriate God’s forgiveness for himself? Think of the division, quarreling, appropriation of God and God’s forgiveness that might occur, with disastrous results for any worshiping community!
It is vitally important to remember that mercy is not a characteristic God suddenly takes on in the New Testament, Rather, mercy is an ongoing feature of God’s nature throughout Scripture. Often one wonders whether God will forgive. This is human nature, for it is entirely impossible to wrap one’s head around the astounding gift of God’s forgiveness - even for the worst that human behavior can be.
Yet in any of the cases that might come to mind, God’s deliverance from catastrophe is not described as a guarantee. It would require profound hubris to say that one knows the mind of God or that one can ever be completely sure of what action God will take. Nevertheless, God’s merciful nature is known, and in this passage, the prophet Joel boldly testifies to it. His hope is that God, too, will turn, and that the relationship between God and the people can be made whole. Gathering together for personal and communal repentance at any time is an act of hope. The very act of coming together and publicly renouncing our sin testifies to our confidence in God’s mercy. We live in a state of communal, systemic sinfulness that wreaks powerful consequences. We also know that God has the power to avert those disasters and to help us to change our ways, and so we come together to pray and to hope.
A Prayer of Self-Dedication
Almighty and eternal God, so draw our hearts to thee, so guide our minds, so fill our imaginations, so control our wills, that we may be wholly thine, utterly dedicated unto thee: and then use us, we pray thee, as thou wilt, and always to thy glory and the welfare of thy people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
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