Propheting: Including Everyone = =20 Joel 2:1-14

Propheting: Including Everyo= ne---Joel 2:1-14

This morning, we begin a 12-week journey through the b= ooks of the Bible known as The Minor Pro= phets. If you’re thinking to yourse= lf, “We don’t go there very often,” you’re right. If you’re thinking, “Let’s go somewhere else,” well…I’m not surprised.

There’s a reason we don’t turn to these bo= oks much. They’re tough, challenging, = hard to read…and hard to preach! And it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking they have no relevance to our lives today. But, friends, God has them in His Book for a reason.&nbs= p;

Millions of people have seen a movie recently called 2012 which tries to give credence = to the belief that because the ancient Mayan calendar ends that year—in 2012= --this somehow predicts the end of the world as we know it. Well, even if it did foretell our = doom, the Mayan calendar offers nothing to help us prepare for the event, or to g= ive us any hope for life thereafter.

On the other hand, time spent with these Biblical prop= hecies will put us in touch with truths that can shape our lives and give us hope = in the Eternal God who holds all our futures in His hands. And this won’t change no mat= ter when the world ends.

So with that, let’s begin—and remember, I = warned you this wouldn’t be easy. So as we make this journey through the prophets, please try real hard not to a= sk “Are we there yet?”

We begin today with the prophet Joel. Joel spoke to the people of Judah a= t a time when it seemed as if their world was coming to an end. Their land had been devastated by = an army, but not the usual kind. We have to go back to chapter one for the details. Listen to verse 4:

“What the locust swar= m has left
       the great locusts have eaten;
       what the great locusts have left
       the young locusts have eaten;
       what the young locusts have left
       other locusts have eaten.

Who were these invaders? An army of locusts,= a type of swarming, migrating grasshopper.&n= bsp; Locusts had descended on Judah and left it a wasteland.

God then sent His pro= phet Joel to call His people to repentance (as Sam read earlier): “Rend yo= ur heart and not your garments. = Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger a= nd abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.” (Joel 2:13)=

Joel promised them that if they would repent of their = sin and return to God, His blessings would soon follow. This was Joel’s entire messa= ge: he announced God’s judgment, he called the people to repentance, and he = assured them that’s God’s blessing would return to them once they retur= ned to God.

Then, as he speaks of how God is going to bless them, = he makes a remarkable prediction. It’s a promise that sets this prophecy apart from any other. We find it in chapter 2, verses 28= -29: = =

“I will pour out my S= pirit on all people. Your sons and dau= ghters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visi= ons. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” (Joel 2:28-29)

How amazing is that?&= nbsp; Joel spoke these words hundreds of years before Jesus came. This had to be a word from God. It was way too radical for Joel to= come up with it on his own. I can = almost hear him questioning the Almighty: “You want me to say what? Your Spirit upon all the people—INCLUDING EVERYONE?!? <= /span>

“Have I got this right—men and women--prea= ching, prophesying? We all know that’s a man’s job, God! Why, they’ll call me a liberal. It’ll ruin my career. Do you think we can tone that down= a bit?”

“No, Joel. I’m God, remember? And I will pour out my Spirit on whomever I choose. I’m serious about this. Now, you tell them.”

Well, I don’t really know that Joel had this kin= d of conversation with God—it just makes sense that Joel would have struggled with this message. We still struggle wi= th it. In fact, we struggle with anything that proposes to include e= veryone.

Can’t you see this too? It’s one of our broken places. God is all about incl= uding everyone, but we struggle with doing it. After all, including everyone make= s all of us the same!

But, friends, God’s ways are different from ours—and thank God for that! <= /span>Joel was learning that God was about to do a new thing in His relationship with = His people. You see, in Old Testa= ment times, it was a rare person who received God’s Spirit.

The prophets did.&nbs= p; God’s Spirit got hold of their lives and emboldened them to be= His spokesmen. They told of God&#= 8217;s plans and desires. The average person, though, had no reason to expect this kind of personal relationship with God.

But this is what God said was going to change. It was not the first time the idea= had been mentioned either. Moses = said it first. He was God’s prophet too; and back when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness,= Moses suggested the same thing.

You may remember that Moses didn’t have an easy = go of it. Someone was always challe= nging his right to lead them. One d= ay, a couple of misguided fellows decided to declare themselves prophets. They were trying to compete with Moses.

Anyway, Moses was told what these two were doing, and everyone expected him to put a stop to it.= But Moses was too gracious for that. Instead, he asked, “Are you jealous for my sake? Then he = added, “I wish that all God’s people were prophets—that He would= put His Spirit on every one of them.”

(Numbers 11:29)

He said it impulsively, as if to make the point that b= eing a prophet was not all that it was cracked up to be. He really didn’t want the jo= b, you recall—tried his best to get out of it.

But there is no indication that Moses was proposing th= is, or expecting that one day everyone would really be a prophet. Still, it was a remarkable thing for him to say.

It’s even more striking when we jump ahead to th= e New Testament and read the story of the early church. Here’s why: at Pentecost, the Apostle Peter stood before a crowd of people and declared that the extraordinary thing that Joel had spoken of so long ago had now happened.

It was in that same holy city of Jerusalem, the place where Joel had fir= st prophesied it. By now, though= , most folks would have told you that Jerusalem’s best days were in the past. T= here were no more prophets. Religi= on was in retreat. This was a day of= small things, spiritually speaking.

But at Pentecost, this changed! People of all shapes and sizes were gathered there—most of them very ordinary, like the weather-beaten fisherman, Simon Peter.

But now they were united in a new fellowship, brought = about by this supernatural force that had come into their lives. There was such life and joy and celebration among them, it caused some bystanders to think they had been &#= 8220;hitting the bottle”—but Peter says “No way.”

He says that this is the work of God. God’s Spirit had come into t= heir lives in ways previously seen only in the prophets. But all the people were included n= ow, and there was a new bond between them that gave their lives meaning and pur= pose and great joy.

Finally, Peter procla= ims, “THIS…is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters = will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.&= #8221; (Acts 2:16-17)

So it happened. This knowledge of God and this personal relationship with Him was now available to all who would have it. But why had the Spirit come at this time? What had happened to bring it abou= t?

Well, we know. Jesus happened! WeR= 17;ve just celebrated His birth—but His arrival on Planet Earth set in moti= on a sequence of events that changed everything in our relationship with God.

Wherever Jesus went, people felt the Presence of God as never before. When Jesus spok= e, they knew they were hearing God’s voice. Through His miracles, they witness= ed God’s power. Through His ministry, = God became real for people in ways that they could now understand.

This threatened the status quo, however, so Jesus got = into trouble with the authorities. You know the story. He was condem= ned and crucified. But just three= days later, His followers discovered that death could not put an end to Jesus. He rose from the grave. He conquered death. He’s alive again.

And there’s still more. The Father did not plan for His So= n to stay on earth forever. After = forty days, Jesus, the Risen Savior, ascended to the Father; but just as He promi= sed, He did not leave his followers alone. He sent the Comforter—God’s powerful, living Presence in= us. The Holy Spirit sets up shop in the lives of all who follow Christ. He came as “God with us.R= 21; Now His Spirit comes as “Chr= ist in us!”

No longer would God’s Spirit be confined to the = lives of a few exceptional people. = Now He would come into the hearts of everyone who heard the message of the Gospel = and received Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord.

This is the difference Christ makes: the difference th= at Moses mentioned and Joel actually predicted. At Pentecost, Peter tells the crow= d that it’s true: that our whole relationship with God has changed forever b= ecause of what Jesus Christ did. Thi= s is the Gospel, friends.

But we can’t just leave it there, can we? We can’t just leave it as wh= at happened back then. Well̷= 0;actually…we can. Many people, in fact, do= . But not us. We won’t be guilty of doing = that, will we?

Fast-forward with me about 2,000 years—to the ve= ry first Sunday in the year of our Lord 2010. That’s today—right here, right now. It’s my life, and your life.= It’s First Baptist and Chari= ty Springs. What difference does= the coming of the Spirit make for us, NOW?

Well, let’s begin with this. What Joel talked about, and Jesus = did, became the wherewithal for you and me to have a personal, life-changing relationsh= ip with God.

It’s no longer about the prophet, the priest, or= the preacher. It’s not abou= t mom or dad or that godly grandmother of yours either. It’s about my life and yours= and who Jesus Christ is for us. Y= es, it really is that personal now.

Receive Christ, and we also receive His Spirit. He becomes our companion and guide= . He teaches us, comforts us, encour= ages us, and sometimes, when we need it, He disturbs us—lest we do somethi= ng we know we shouldn’t, or grow so complacent that we do nothing at all! Do you hear what I’= ;m saying?

Personal means personal. This isn’t a second-hand religion. It’s up close= and under our skin. It’s wonderfu= l, but listen: once we sign up for it, we will never be left alone again. We hear this as one of the promise= s of our faith—which it is. =

Just make sure you get the whole story. We need to know what we’re s= igning up for. Once the Holy Spirit = takes up residence in us—we’ll never be LEFT ALONE again.

We also may get devastated by a swarm of locusts or wh= atever, but we won’t need any prophet telling us why it happened. God’s Spirit who now abides = within us…will let us know.

No preacher will have to tell us to ‘rend our he= arts and return to the Lord’ either. Christ gives us a direct line. Both the problem, and what we need to do about it, will be clear eno= ugh…because of the Holy Spirit!

You know, the beginning of a new year provides a great opportunity to look over the past year and discover those places where we k= now a bit of “heart-rending” is in order. Resolutions about the future don&#= 8217;t stand a chance until we come clean about the past—so we can finally l= eave it where it belongs—in the past.&nbs= p;

Don’t carry old sins with you into the new year.= That’s just a recipe for more failure, along with lots of guilt. <= /span>We already know what needs to be confessed—the Holy Spirit keeps remindi= ng us. With that still, small vo= ice deep inside us, He says, “Confess this. Let this go. Rend your heart and get back to God.” So do it.

“If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just= to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9= ) Don’t drag that sin, that ba= d habit, that hurtful attitude, or whatever it is, into the new year…to mess i= t up too. Confess it! Let God forgive you, and cleanse y= ou and give your life a fresh start.

And with Joel’s prophecy in mind, along with Jes= us’ teaching, and the Holy Spirit’s work--while we’re all together = here today--why don’t we just go ahead and admit that we all need to confe= ss our sin of not “including everyone”—of thinking that we a= re somehow superior to someone else…and living as if it were true.

This sin affects our lives, our homes, our churches, s= chools and communities. Why, it even affects our economy, and our health care system—you name it! What has not been affected in some= way by our sin of “including some” while “excluding others,&#= 8221; even when it comes to the most basic needs and responsibilities of life? Don’t you think God expects = us to do better?

Joel’s prophecy makes it clear that God wants &#= 8220;everyone included.” “I wil= l pour out my Spirit on all people. = Your sons and daughters… your old men…your young men…. Even on my servants, both men and w= omen, I will pour out my Spirit…”

And when we trace this into the New Testament where we= find Joel’s prophecy fulfilled, we discover that God not only wants to include everyone= in His blessings. He also wants everyone included in His work. Oh, but we love to overlook this part!

Now that everyone shares in God’s Spirit, we are= all expected to share in His work as well.&nbs= p; Do you get this? Havin= g the Spirit is not just about us in relation to God. It’s also about God using us= , reaching out through us, to connect with other people.

The Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts He intends for = us to use to serve others. First Ba= ptist and Charity Springs, this is the only way our churches can function effectively—when all of us are using the gifts God has placed in our lives.

Your gift may be teaching—so teach a class—= ;not occasionally, but faithfully! This church is suffering because some of you who have this gift aren’t usi= ng it! You may have the gift of = music or the gift of service, the gift of hospitality or generosity. The point is, if Christ’s Sp= irit is in us, we are gifted to do something productive.

Charity Springs, you’ve got some gifted leaders = in Sam Stuart and Cecil Gray. But there’s no way they can accomplish what God has planned for your chur= ch to do this year without all of you using the gifts God has given you. And First Baptist, DITTO for us!

Why not let this be our fresh start—a new year in which we all resolve—by making a sacred pact together and holding each other accountable—to let God’s Spirit work through our lives to touch, and serve, and reach our community for Jesus Christ.

Neither church is going to reach everybody, of course.= But I challenge both churches to so reflect the love and grace of Christ that whoever comes through our doors w= ill know that, from our perspective, they are important, they are loved, and ar= ound here, they will always be included!

God’s grace, His salvation, His Spirit, His work—these blessings are for all—“including everyone!R= 21;.