Broadening Your Witness II

Joel 2:18-32

We now begin the “good news” portion of Joel. This first section prophesies the restoration of Israel. Verse 18 gives the theme: “Then the LORD will be jealous for his land and take pity on his people.” A reading through a concordance will show that the jealousy of God was a common theme for the prophets (Ezekiel, Joel, Nahum, Zechariah), but actually goes back to the early days of the desert wanderings (Exodus, Deuteronomy, Joshua). In fact, Exodus 34:14 reads, “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” The picture of God as the jilted lover is common throughout the Old Testament.

For the nation of Israel, this jealousy means abundant blessing. The land that has been so ravaged begins to respond again. My picture is of the land in The Lion King, which, under the leadership of Scar (the corrupt uncle), becomes desolate and barren. But when Simba becomes the rightful king, the land becomes green and lush again. A second picture is more true to life. The area around the Euphrates River in Iraq was once some of the richest and fertile land in the Middle East. It is now desolate, due to centuries upon centuries of conflict and misuse of the land. Could a restoration be in the future of Iraq? I think that’s part of what our young soldiers have been fighting for. The bottom line here is that while the locusts have been used by God for judgment and purification of the people, they do not win. The jealous love of God wins. So how do you feel about God’s jealousy? Is he really that way or have we just transferred that on to him because we are that way?

Verses 28-32 are preached by Peter in the first sermon of the Church at Pentecost in Acts 2. That would be a secondary fulfillment of this passage, for Joel sees it happening as the exiles return to their homeland and start over with God. The young prophesy again and the old dream new dreams again. They rediscover what they had forgotten in their time of sin and loss, that God does save His people. How might we have forgotten and what rediscovery needs to happen for us personally and as the Church?

Joel 3:1-21

Even though the invading nations were tools of God’s judgment, they were still accountable to God for what they did. Chapter 3:2-3 tells some of the things that were being done to the people in Judah. Another reading that gives more clues is Psalm 137. Every abuse of power was carried out against the men who were taken into exile: prostitution of the young men, child massacre, raping of their wives, and forced slavery of the soldiers. This raises an interesting question. The people thought that the awful things they were going through was a judgment of God against them and the prophets reinforced that concept. Was God complicit with these atrocities? Or did he just allow them? Maybe that's even worse!

A reading of the Bible as a whole becomes important here. God is just, holy and loving. But God consistently uses bad experiences for his glory and to grow us. The bad experiences are not God’s doing (though some Old Testament scriptures might question that), but he is able to take even the worst circumstances and bring good out of them. That is why it is completely just for God to hold these enemies accountable for what they did. Upon reading this prophecy, I would not want to be one of the enemies of God’s people.

Acts 2:1-21

I think we should probably read this passage about once a week for all of this year. It reminds where the power of the Church really is and where the power of our own individual ministries is. There are several insights for ministry in this passage. First, the greater part of ministry is outside the Church not within it. This is something USAmerican Christianity has had upside-down for too long. What happens inside the church walls is for refilling vessels (in worship, fellowship) that have become empty (through witness and faithful discipleship), for sharpening our knowledge of the gospel and in skills for sharing Christ (outside the walls), and for welcoming new persons who have been won for Christ. While I appreciate the Billy Graham model of emphasizing the altar as the place for evangelistic decision, I’m not sure that is the biblical design. Besides, you may have noticed that the Billy Graham crusades were not held in churches. The altar is a place of dedication and decision for greater discipleship for people who are already of faith. What do you think?

Second, the miracle of Pentecost allowed the people outside the walls to hear the good news of Jesus Christ “in their own tongue.” Are we ready to admit that our language in the church is about as foreign to people outside the church as Latin used to be in Roman Catholic services? The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, not classical Greek. Koine was the language of the common people. We are needing to rediscover how we can clearly communicate with people in our day so they hear it “in their own tongue.”

Third, Peter’s sermon was just the basic story of the gospel. It was our pleasure to hear Bruce Parks at Methodist Men this past Tuesday. What he shared was wonderful. It was the great story of our faith as shown in the hymns. There was nothing new in what he shared, except that in reality it was all new because it was presented in the power of the Spirit from his 85 years of following Christ.

Fourth, the response of the people was created by the Spirit, not by spectacular techniques. When we share Christ beyond the walls, it is not complicated. We go to where the people are and we build relationships. We speak to people in a way they can hear it and respond. We tell our story of faith in Christ as part of the great story of God’s love in Jesus. And we trust the results to the Holy Spirit. Sounds like a plan to me. How about you?