Sunday
School Lessons
Commentary by Walter Albritton
August 10
In Times of Trouble We Do Well to Repent and Turn to the Lord
Joel 1 and 2
Key Verses: 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. –
Joel
It
matters not that the scholars have little to tell us about the prophet Joel.
Exactly when he lived remains a mystery. What matters is his message, and what
a message Joel gives us!
Joel
paints an awesome picture of the Sovereign God. His image is not of a kindly
grandfather God who rocks in the heavens; the God of whom Joel speaks is the
Mighty God who rules heaven and earth and holds his children accountable for
their behavior.
Joel’s
God is the God of judgment. He is in charge of everything. Displeased by the
sins of his people, he will use the locusts to get the attention of the
Israelites. Fruitful lands will become a desolate wilderness as the judgment of
God descends upon the land and the people.
The
God of Joel, however, is not merely a doomsayer. His message is a wake-up call
to the people, like the blowing of a trumpet, sounding an alarm to repent or
face the devastating judgment of God. Mercy is available through genuine
repentance.
Repentance
must be more than feeling sorry that our sins “have found us out.” Tears are
not enough. Ripping our clothes may impress our friends, but not God. He
requires that we rend our hearts, as David did, so that our hearts are broken
with the pain of having sinned against God. True repentance results in “a
broken and a contrite heart.”
Since
I am a sports enthusiast, I love to find an illustration in athletics that
helps us understand principles of the Kingdom. Lloyd M. Pelfrey, in his
commentary, offers one of the best I have found:
“Early
in the 1989 basketball season,
“Robinson
felt awful about costing his team the game, but his sorrow went beyond
feelings. He changed his behavior, adding one hundred extra foul shots after
each practice for the rest of the season.
“Months
later Rumeal Robinson stepped to the foul line again. There were just three
seconds left in overtime in the game that would decide the national
championship. This time he was ready. Swish
went the first shot. Swish went the
second. Two made free throws made
“Rumeal
Robinson demonstrated an important element of genuine repentance. Repentance is
not just regret. It is a change of mind and heart that leads to a change in
behavior. Genuine sorrow motivated him to work so that he would never make that
mistake again.”
This
story helps us to explain true repentance, but we must add to it the insight of
Joel. Will power is not enough. Only the Spirit of God can make us new people
who are pleasing to God.
When
we are willing to stand before God, naked in our sins, and having no merit of
own, then he mercifully accepts us, redeems us, and empowers us to live in
obedience. Joel helps us to see that the great desire of God is to bless us,
not punish us.
We
need so much to help people see that God as Joel saw Him: “gracious and
merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness….” Many people feel that their
sin is too great for God to forgive them, that they have no hope of receiving
God’s mercy. For such people, we have Good News!
It
is never too late to turn to the Lord and be bathed in his forgiveness. No one
is ever so “dirty” that the blood of Jesus cannot wash away the stain of sin.
The
way to forgiveness remains the same as when Joel sounded the trumpet: There
must be genuine repentance coupled with a wholehearted desire for God’s mercy.
The key is in the words, “with all
your heart.”
When,
with all our heart, we desire nothing
more than to be forgiven so that we may serve God faithfully, then God
still stands ready to “pour out” His Spirit upon us and welcome us home.
Such
mercy is too great to be ignored. We who teach and preach the precious Gospel
must blow the trumpet where we live and serve, and invite the hopeless to find
grace instead of everlasting punishment. May this be our prayer:
“Gracious,
loving Father, pour out your Spirit upon me this very moment. Guide me to help
some person to truly repent of sin, embrace your mercy, and find sweet
forgiveness by trusting Christ as Savior. In His dear Name, Amen.” + + +
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