Yet Even Now: Return to Me
First B Jackson
2026-02-22

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Thank you, Yvonne. This week, we're gonna be in the book of Joel. So Joel, I think is the most optimistic of all of the minor prophets and I have been looking forward to him for some time. Okay? I have mentioned multiple times that there are dark clouds with bright silver linings.

Some of them just have a little bit of a silver lining, but Joel has probably the biggest one. And you know sometimes I don't know how to interpret for a twenty first century audience, something that was five centuries, six centuries, seven centuries before Christ and so, I think we can draw a lot of life application out of Joel but it's nice that the New Testament speaks on this one and I, you know, I mentioned last week, Jesus mentions Hosea, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, right? So, we'll get to that. That where it is but this is the whole book of Joel. It's three chapters long and we're going to go for it.

I attended this week with Tanya. It's one of our favorite services of the year. Ash Wednesday. Now, Baptist don't do Ash Wednesday but we get to go sit at the Episcopal Church, sometimes the Catholic Church and go through Ash Wednesday and it's a great time for us. We get to sit together.

Now, that doesn't happen often. But the sermon was moving, I think, and the penitential nature of the whole thing, the time of Lent is just beautiful, and I think Joel really speaks to this this week, first week of Lent. It speaks to that. So, here we go. It starts off like this.

The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel. It does not say who was king. It does not say when this happened. It doesn't say who is king in either kingdom. We think that that I think that this was written either during the latter part of the exile or probably more likely post exile.

So, after the Assyrian and the Babylonian exile is when I think it was written. There are plenty of theologians that will argue with me over that. Some of them think it was written as early as nine hundred years before Christ. I think it was on up four hundreds probably but I'm not sure. It's still the word of the Lord.

Whether we know when it came from, where it was, it speaks to all ages. Hear this, you elders And listen, all inhabitants of the land, has anything like this happened in your days or in your father's days? Tell your sons about it and have your sons tell their sons and their sons the next generation. So what's happened? Well, you gotta keep reading.

But it's not a good thing. What the gnawing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust has left, the creeping locust has eaten. And what the creeping locust has left, the stripping locust has eaten. Awake, you heavy drinkers, and weep.

And wail, all of you wine drinkers, because of the sweet wine for it has been eliminated from your mouth. Now, you're looking at that going, this is a baptist church. He's talking about Ash Wednesday and now he's talking about booze. Well, we do that. Joel is saying there has been a very destructive thing that has come to pass.

The very destructive thing is a locust swarm and it's happened in recent history. He's looking back on the day of the Lord is the way he's about to describe it. The day of the Lord in the past is this is a thorough, thorough depletion of all the vegetation and it's saying, there's not going to be any beer barley. There's not going to be any grape for wines. There's not going to be anything.

Wake up and lament even y'all. For a nation has invaded my land mighty and without number. Its teeth are the teeth of a lion. It has the laws, the jaws of a lioness. It has made my vine a waste and my fig tree just a stump.

It has stripped them bare and hurled them away. Their branches have become white because there's no vegetation on them. So this is a locust, whale like a virgin clothed with sackcloth for the groom of her youth. Whale, he's calling them into situation, sackcloth and ashes, you know, they put on when they were lamenting and the grain offering and the drink offering have been cut off from the house of the Lord. The priests mourn.

The ministers of the Lord. The field is absolutely ruined and the land itself mourns. For the grain is ruined. The new wine is dried up. Fresh oil has failed.

And this is something this is an illustration that all of these people would have been able to see. Can you imagine the locust and it just keeps on going? It keeps on getting worse? Be ashamed, you farm workers. Wail, you vinedressers, for the wheat and the barley because of the harvest of the field is destroyed.

The vine has dried up. The fig tree has withered. The pomegranate, the palm also, the apple tree. All the trees of the field have dried up. These locusts have taken everything.

Indeed, joy itself has dried up from the sons of mankind, dark cloud. Right? Has he mentioned sin yet? No. In fact, he doesn't.

I think this is why it's also hopeful. This is the only minor prophet that I know of that doesn't mention sin. He's not blasting them about their sin. I think that it's it's written a little later than these other books and he's expecting that you have read the other books. Okay?

He knows that. He quotes from a lot of the other major and minor prophets. Maybe they got it from him. If it was written early, maybe they got it from him. I think he's quoting from earlier prophets.

Put on sackcloth and mourn, you priest. Wail, you ministers of the altar. Come and spend the night in sackcloth, itchy sackcloth. Just say in sackcloth makes me want to just squirm. You're you ministers of my God for the grain offering and the drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God.

So, when I mentioned during the offering, thank you lord for what you've given to us so that we may give back a portion. What Joel is saying, God's portion doesn't even get to come back at it because we don't have anything. We've been stripped absolutely bare down to nothing and he's saying, ministers to wheat because they make their living off the people. The grain offering and the drink offering have been withheld from the house of your God. And so that was the situation.

It's bad. It's sort of a past day of the Lord. This has come to pass and there's nothing you can do about it now. Except he gives them some instruction. Consecrate a fast.

Take a specific time and consecrate, put it, set it apart as holy, proclaim a solemn assembly, gather the elders, gather all the inhabitants of the land, bring em into the house of the Lord, and y'all together cry out to the Lord. Woah. Woe, I mentioned, woe is me, I am undone. We we hear woe occasionally. It's almost always in the context of alas, woah.

And it's we think it's melodramatic but it's it's a funeral word and it's something where there's a finality to something that has happened and it's a deep sense of grief. Woe for the day. For the day of the Lord is near and it will come as destruction from the almighty. This past thing that has come to pass in the land that you all know about is a harbinger of the great and mighty day of the Lord which is a day of the Lord future. Has food not been cut off before our very eyes and joy and rejoicing cut off from the house of our God.

We're going through it. It's a difficult time. The seeds have dried up under the shovels. The storehouses have become desolate. The grain silos are all ruined because the grain has dried up.

How the animals have grown? It's not just people. It's extended to the animals too. It's a horrible thing. If you're taking care if you're a shepherd and you're taking care of sheep and they don't have anything to eat or horses or, you know, cattle or whatever, to be the ones who've been entrusted with these animals and then not be able to feed them.

The herds of cattle have wandered aimlessly because there's no pasture for them. Even the flocks of sheep have suffered. Sheep can eat all the way down to the roots, you know. Cows can't do that. So, it's bad.

To you, lord, I cry out. He's calling on the consecrated fast. He's calling on to come together and in unity call out for God. Over the calamity that has come to pass. To you, lord, I cry out for fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness and flame has burned up all the trees of the field.

Even the animals of the field are panting for you. For the stream beds of water are dried up and fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness. Blow a trumpet in Zion and sound an alarm on my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble for the day of the Lord is coming. Indeed, it is near a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds, and thick darkness.

A dawn is spread over the mountains. As dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people. There's never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations. So this is a terrible visitation. Forecasting that great and mighty day of the Lord, but he doesn't present it in triumphal.

Hey, everything's going to be great for us. They're going to get blasted. He's saying, it's solemn. It's a solemn occasion. A terrible visitation for the day of the Lord.

As fire consumes before them and behind them a flame destroys. The land is like the Garden of Eden before them but a desolate wilderness behind them. Now, this might be describing that same locust herd. If it if it's like the Garden Eden in front of them and then it's a desolate wilderness behind them, Nothing at all escapes them. There's nothing in text that says it's the Assyrians or it's the Babylonians or it's the Egyptians or it's the American, I mean, the whatever.

No. It's not a it's it's not that. But a desolate wilderness behind them and nothing at all escapes them. Their appearance is like the appearance of horses and like war horses so they run. With a noise as of chariots, they leap about on the tops of the mountains like a crackling of flame of fire consuming the stubble like a mighty people.

Since it says like a mighty people, people are thinking that's imagery. Could be like a mighty people. It could be people drawn up for battle. Before them, the people are in anguish. All of their faces turn pale and they run like warriors and they climb the wall like soldiers and each of them marches in line nor do they lose their way.

It's an onslaught that just keeps coming. They do not crowd each other. Every warrior of them marches in his path. When they burst through the defenses, they do not break ranks. It sounds really dreadful.

They storm the city, they run on the wall, they climb into the houses, they enter into the windows like a thief. Before them, the earthquakes, the heavens tremble. The sun and moon become dark. Stars lose their brightness. The Lord utters his voice before his army.

His camp is indeed very great. This is now saying that the Lord is behind this. Do you get that? It's speaking of the sovereignty of God in all situations Mighty is the one who carries out his word. The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome and who can endure it?

Well, answer that. If you answer it from the New Testament, no one is righteous. No, not one. And that's from the Old Testament too by the way. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Yep. So, who can endure it? What, how are they going to endure? It's probably a better question. If any of us are going to endure the great and mighty day of the Lord, it has to be on his terms.

Let's keep going. Yet even now. Here, y'all are just as solemn as you can possibly be. The text got you exactly where it wants you. Okay?

Y'all, yet even now declares the Lord. What's the proper response to all of this calamity? I think that we need to think in that way. Like, we look around and see something bad that has happened personally, corporately, nationally, and just in the world. We look around and we see things, and we're reminded of them 24 a day.

What is the proper response to this calamity? What is the proper response to that which the locusts have eaten? And locusts have what locusts have eaten is about like a fire, you know? There's a finality to something that has been devoured or burned with fire. So what's the proper response to all this calamity?

Yet, even now, return to me. God says, capital m. Return to me with all of your heart, with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning. Feel the feels. When you recognize what you have when you recognize what you have done.

Now, this has not called out anybody's sin, you know, and it's not like it's somebody bearing down on you saying, you did this. In the face of calamity, in the face of difficulty, whatever it is, God says, reach out to me. Anything that you face is an opportunity for you to reach out to me. Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your hearts is the poetic way that the old King James and the New King James, rend your hearts. Tear your heart and not merely your garments.

So, the old tradition, I should've done this but I didn't. Just rip the garments, right? Rip the garments off and it was a show of woe. It was a show of utter dependence on God but also of complete desperation. Rend what?

Your heart and not merely your garments. The outward show of rending your garments is not I mean, you just wear cheap clothes, honestly. You just wear cheap clothes and go and rent your garments. Do that. That's the that's the ritual, kind of meaningless unless you're tearing your heart, searching your own heart all the way deep down.

Now, return to the Lord your God. Now, that's gracious. He recognizes that the Lord is your God but you hadn't been looking to him, Joel, delivering the message. Return to the Lord your God. Why?

Because he is gracious and he is compassionate and if you read this and you go, well, it doesn't sound gracious and compassionate. He sent a whole storm of locust on him and then he burned everything up and he's threatening them with an army. No, no, no, no. Everything that the Lord does, he is reaching out to you. To be gracious to you.

And this is a very very hard truth but it is the truth. Reach out. Return to the Lord your God for he is gracious and he is compassionate. He is slow to anger and he's abounding in mercy. Mercy is when you do not get something bad that you do deserve and he is also relenting of catastrophe.

Yeah. Exodus 34, when Moses is asking God to show, show me who you are, lord. The Lord passed before Moses and he proclaimed this, the Lord, the Lord, a god merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love has said mercy, loving kindness, and faithfulness. Keeping steadfast love to the thousands generation. It's interesting Deb mentioned that, you know, the sins of the father visit on the kids to the third and fourth generation.

This says, the love of God is cast to the thousands generation. It is way more than ready to overcome all of those curses of the past and all the generational stuff. Forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. He has a plan for that. Nahum, we mentioned in a very bloody sermon a while back.

Nahum was pretty rough. The Lord has slowed anger. He's great in it says steadfast love in Exodus and in the one we're doing today, Joel. But he says power. And it's true.

The Lord by no means leave the guilty unpunished. But Joel, he's not speaking so much out of this is retribution for this sin. This is so that you will turn to me, so that you'll come to me. He's gracious, he's compassionate, so to anger, bounded in mercy, and relenting of catastrophe. For some reason, it's not clicking there, Josh.

There we go. Who knows? He might turn and relent. Call out to him. It's worth a try.

Who knows? He might turn and relent and he might leave a blessing behind him. And that blessing results in a grain offering, a drink offering for the Lord your God. God knows what you need even before you ask him for it. He knows what you need.

Do you know where those gifts come from? For the Lord your God. Again, it says, return to the Lord your God. That's not saying, you must not be saved. There's a lot of that in the church.

Well, if you disagree with me, you must not be saved. No. He's I recognize that the Lord is your God. He's saying, return to him. Blow a trumpet in Zion.

Consecrate a fast. Proclaim a solemn assembly. Unify over this. Gather the people. Sanctify the congregation.

Assemble the elders. Gather the children and the nursing infants. Have the groom come out of his room and the bride out of her bridal chambers. There's a couple here this morning that I get to marry on Tuesday. They just showed up for church.

They're doing this right now. Like all the preparations for everything else that's saying this is really really important. Gather the people together. No exceptions. Come on.

Bring em all together. Now, let the priest and let the Lord's ministers weep before the porch and the altar and let them say, spare your people, lord. Don't make your inheritance a disgrace with the nations jeering at them. Why should those among the people say, where is their God? Lord, help us.

We're calling out for it. Then, the Lord will be zealous for his land. He will have compassion for his people and the Lord will answer and he'll say to his people, behold, I'm going to send you grain and new wine and oil. Then you will be satisfied and you'll be full in them and I will never again make you a disgrace among the nations. God will take care of his own.

But I will remove the northern army away from you, and I'll drive it into a dry and desolate land. It's advanced guard into the Eastern Sea. It's rear guard in the Western Sea. People have tried for ages to figure out which army this is and where it's coming from, what's going. Can we have it be figurative language?

Is that alright with y'all? Yeah. It's advanced guard into the Eastern Sea. It's rear guard into the Western Sea and its stench will ascend and the odor of its decay will come up because it has done great things. Do not fear land, shout for joy, and rejoice.

Now, it's saying to do this after the locust have eaten everything. Do not fear land. Shout for joy and rejoice for the Lord has done great things. Do not fear. Animals of the field for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green for the tree has produced its fruit.

The fig tree and the vine have yielded in full. So y'all shout for joy, you sons of Zion. Rejoice in the Lord your God for he has given you the early rain for your vindication. What happens when we call out to God in unity, in humility is he blesses. He's given you the early rain for your vindication.

He's brought down for you the rain, the earlier, and the latter latter rain as before. The threshing floors will be full of grain, and the vats will overflow with new wine and oil. Then, I'll compensate you for the swarming what the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust, and the gnawing locust. My great army which I sent among you, God is sovereign. We are also responsible.

We have a way of responding to God where it's either absolute disgust, distrust, and we walk away from him when things get hard or we humble ourselves and we call out to him in humility and repentance. So, you'll have plenty to eat and be satisfied. You'll praise the name of the Lord your God who has dealt wondrously with you, then my people will never be put to shame. So, you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, my people, and that I am the Lord your God and there's no other and my people will never be put to shame. If God almighty is for you, who can be against you?

That's what this is saying. My people will never be put to shame. Now, it will come about after this that I will pour out my spirit on all mankind and on your sons and your daughters and they'll prophesy. Your old men will have dreams. Your young men will see visions and even on the male and female servants, I'll pour out my spirit in those days.

Does that sound familiar to you? Probably the most familiar passage in all of the book of Joel. I'll display wonders in the sky, on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness, the moon into blood before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes and it will come about that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Can I get a amen right there?

Amen. That is so hopeful. It is so good that everyone, the vilest sinner who truly believes that moment from Jesus, a pardon receives. Praise God. This is quoted in Acts two.

So, this is why this is so familiar to us because New Testament Christians, we spend a lot of time in the New Testament. So, Joel two twenty eight through 32 comes up on the day of Pentecost. Now, when the day of Pentecost has come, I'm going read through this as fast as I can without preaching all the way through it. Maybe I'll skip to some of this. Fast forward like I did last week.

Now, there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven and when this sound occurred, the crowd came together. This is the coming of the Holy Spirit. The disciples are supposed to stay in Jerusalem until they are imbued with power on high from God almighty and then that's in Acts one and Acts two. It says, there's a sound like a mighty rushing wind when the sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered because each one of them was hearing these Galileans speak in his own language. I shouldn't have skipped it.

There it is and when they were all filled with the Holy Spirit began to speak with different languages, different tongues. As the spirit was giving them an ability to speak out, this is my favorite paraphrase I think in the New Testament. They were confused because they understood. They were hearing it in their own language and they knew, I'm not supposed to be able to understand those guys. They were amazed and they were astonished and they were saying, why are not all, aren't all these guys Galileans?

I heard them yesterday. I didn't understand a word they were saying and now, I understand clearly in my own language. How is it that we each hear them in our own language? The one that we were born into. Parthians, Medes, Elamites, residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, Phreesia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, Jews, and Proselytes, Cretans, and Arabs.

We all hear him speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God. Now, this is post resurrection, post crucifixion, post life of Jesus, fifty days later, right? Pentecost, they're waiting expectantly, unified, in humility, and they're calling out to God and they are now seeing something happen. They all continued in amazement and great perplexity. They were confused because they understood.

Saying to one another, what does this mean? Josh, but others were jeering and saying, they are full of sweet wine. They must be drunk. Have you ever spoken another language when you got drunk? Intelligibly?

No, I don't think so. Peter taking his stand with the other 11 raised his voice and declared to them by the Holy Spirit. Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem know this and pay attention to my words for this, these people, they are not drunk as you assume. It's only 09:00 in the morning, people. Yeah.

But this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel. Here we are, he's saying, gather together in this upper room and 09:00 in the morning, it shall be in the last days, God says, that I will pour my spirit out on all mankind and your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions. Your old men will have dreams and even on my male and female servants. I will pour out my spirit in those days and they will prophesy and I will display wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth below.

Blood, fire, smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness. The moon into blood. Now, we know that happened at the at the cross, right? There's that darkness over the land and I don't know all of the imagery exactly how it works and when all this happens.

Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes, it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. First sermon, Acts two. Men of Israel, listen to these words. Jesus, he's proclaiming the gospel. The Nazarene, man, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through him in your midst just as you yourselves know, this man, this Jesus delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God.

Joel wrote five hundred years ago about this and he's saying it's happening right now. You nailed him to a cross by the hands of godless men and you put him to death but God raised him from the dead. Putting an end to the agony of death since it was impossible for him to be held in its power. David says this, this goes on. For the rest of this, I'm going to get down to this last, this 37 here.

Now, when they heard this, this sermon, they were pierced to the heart and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what are we to do? What do we do with this message? What are you going to do with Jesus? Right? What are you going to do when you're presented with, you are absolutely destitute, locust have destroyed everything.

There's nothing you can do about it. What must I do? Peter said to him, repent. Each one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you, for your children, for all who are far away, as many as the Lord is calling and with many other words, we're over we're over time, right? Got a good example I'm following right here.

So then those who had received his word were baptized and that day there were added about 3,000 souls. And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. I'm gonna come back to the rest of Joel. I'm not finishing that today. Sorry.

I'll do it next time. But I do wanna get to something else. We said the Lord's prayer together a few minutes ago and there's a lot of goodness there. Far as life application from Joel, rend your hearts is always good advice. Rend your hearts.

True repentance at a heart level is not just a religious ritual. I say that because we're about to go into a religious ritual which if you just say it and you don't mean it, that mean anything. Turn back to God with your whole heart. Any present calamity at all is a good reason to humble yourself before God. It's a good idea for God's people to unify in sincere repentance and pray for and pray for his mercy.

We can have hope in God's mercy. It's a part of his character towards the humble because God resists the proud but he gives grace to the humble. Our security should be found in God and not in material possessions or future yields. God's promise of the spirit that was promised in Joel. It was confirmed at Pentecost says that God empowers and indwells believers to live a godward life with meaning and purpose.

So, this is part of the service for Ash Wednesday and I know Baptist don't typically do that. If you don't mean it, don't say it. Okay. I'm going read the white part. We all read the green part.

That's the way this goes. Most holy and merciful father, we confess to you and to one another and to the whole communion of saints in heaven and on earth that we have sinned by our own fault, in thought, in word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart and mind and strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have not forgiven others as we have been forgiven.

Have mercy on us, lord. We have been deaf to your call to serve as Christ served us. We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved your Holy Spirit. Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness, the pride and the hypocrisy and impatience of our lives. We confess to you, Lord. Our self indulgent appetites and ways and our exploitation of other people. We confess to you, lord. Our anger at our own frustration and our envy of those more fortunate than ourselves.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts and our dishonesty in daily life and work. We confess to you, Our negligence and prayer and worship, our failure to commend the faith that is in us. We confess to you lord. Accept our repentance lord for the wrongs that we have done, for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty. Accept our repentance, lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, accept our repentance, Lord. For our waste and pollution of your creation and our lack of concern for those who've come after us. Restore us, good lord, and let your anger depart from us. Favorably hear us for your mercy is great. Accomplishing us the work of your salvation that we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your son, our lord, bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection. Amen. Amen. Would y'all stand? I'm going ask the band to come up and we'll sing Made For More.