A Tale of Two Locusts
April 28, 2013 | Patrick Preheim | Joel 1:1-10; 2:12-13; 2:21-29
As I looked at Joel these last weeks the locust loomed large for me. They constitute the Lord’s army as land, people, and animals are laid waste. Biblical scholars disagree on whether the locusts of Joel were real or if they represented foreign armies. Several news reports from earlier this year make me believe the winged destroyers were real. March was a very bad month for locusts in parts of Africa. While you watch a clip from the Discovery Channel I will read an excerpt from last month’s BBC World News Service. [Show clip on sanctuary projector; clip is from the Discovery Channel]
A severe plague of locusts has infested about half of Madagascar, threatening crops and raising concerns about food shortages, a UN agency says. The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said billions of the plant-devouring insects could cause hunger for 60% of the population. It is the worst plague to hit the island since the 1950s... "Currently, about half the country is infested by hoppers and flying swarms - each swarm made up of billions of plant-devouring insects," the FAO said in a statement. FAO estimates that about two-thirds of the island country will be affected by the locust plague by September 2013 if no action is taken. (Via BBC world news service posted on Club of Mozambique)
The second March news report involving locusts came from Egypt, the Palestinian Territories and Israel. They, too, have been dealing with the plague.
Locust destruction, however, is only part of the story within Joel. Joel is a wonderfully crafted book with numerous parallels between the front and back halves of the prophecy. In the short sections Renata read earlier you will notice several examples in which the grim scenes of judgment from the early chapters become themes of promise in the later chapters. In 1:9 the cereal offering and the drink offerings are cut off, but in 2:24 we hear that grain and wine shall be in abundance. In chapter one aged men, children, virgins, in fact all inhabitants are adversely affected by the plague of locusts. In the glorious promise of 2.28 we hear of God’s spirit being poured out on sons, daughters, old, young, and in fact all flesh. And naturally in both sections we have the locusts. The fulcrum upon which the similar and yet different prophecies rest is found in 2:12-13.
Repentance is a thoroughly prophetic theme, and yet there is something quite unique about Joel’s call to turn. It appears that Joel is mute on the reasons for a God ordained plague. “It may be that he detects a general malaise in the land”, but “Joel does not speak of profaning the sanctuary, or syncretism, of the oppression of the poor, orphan or widow”. (David Zucker, Israel’s Prophets: An Introduction for Christian and Jews, p. 172). We simply don’t know why this terrible event has befallen the people.
It is like that sometimes, isn’t it? We find ourselves in a car accident or someone we love receives a brutal diagnoses or bombs at a marathon detonate or a garment factory in Bangladesh collapses and we wonder what on earth we have done to deserve such affliction. Joel’s approach hardly feels a comfort. While he clearly believes in a cause / effect relationship when disaster strikes, he isn’t troubled by a shortage of details or lack of understanding. Repentance, Joel implies, is the answer to what ails us even if we don’t know the source of the problem.
I am guessing that more than a few of us might balk at such an approach to matters. It feels too much like blaming the victim. Most of us would seek to place blame. We would find someone to blame, and if we couldn’t find someone to blame we might content ourselves with blaming God. In the face of a personal or national tragedy not many of us would begin to make meaning of the event through an initial call to repentance. How different, however, might the world have been if the U.S. in 2001 founded its quest for justice in an authentic prayer of repentance. The day after the Boston Marathon bombings Patty and I were listening to the news. She commented to me that the rhetoric from city and national leaders was nearly identical to what we heard 12 years earlier. I would agree that indeed someone is to blame for these bombs and that such persons need to be held accountable, and yet maybe there is something deeply wise about rooting our pursuit of justice in the discipline of confession. Maybe my American culture too readily celebrates violent revolution. Maybe my American culture too eagerly extols the right to bear arms and the corollary of armed resistance.
And consider the disaster in Bangladesh. Part of me, like the grieving rioters, wants the cheap skate owner and construction company held liable. If not them, we wouldn’t mind seeing the government inspectors held accountable. But then I turn my recently purchased high end outdoor wear inside out and look at the label. Sure enough, made in Bangladesh, it reads. Does it matter that I purchased it at the thrift store? I don’t think so. As I pursue justice in this and nearly every case I would do well to root my quest in confession and repentance. Sometimes I will be repenting for sins of commission, sometimes sins of omission, and sometimes on behalf of the sin which thoroughly infect our economies and human condition. I find Joel’s prophetic call to repentance provocative medicine for the shock we feel at the time of disaster. And Joel is not alone in asking confession and repentance of us.
I find some of these same themes echoed in the New Testament stories drawing most heavily from the book of Joel. The only Gospel reference to locusts is when John the Baptist appeared in the desert eating them. Like the prophet Joel, John`s message linked a call to repentance with God`s Spirit. It might even be significant that in this story the Baptist devours the devouring creatures, but that is a sermon for another day. And then we have Joel being quoted in Acts. It was the day of Pentecost.. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Peter stood and preached a sermon not unlike John the Baptist. Peter told those gathered they had crucified and killed Jesus. He told them to repent. He told them, like John, to get baptized as a sign of their remorse. Listen to Peter’s words: (Excerpts of Acts 2:14-29)
‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o’clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel: “In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. Even upon my slaves, both men and women, in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy...Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power...
Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?’ Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.’
Did those present really kill and crucify Jesus? Not according to our gospel accounts. One could make a strong case that it was the Romans who crucified Jesus. Or one could argue that it was the religious leadership that killed Jesus. In political terms it is a bit of stretch to suggest that the individual Jew or even the community of Israelites should be held responsible for the death of Jesus. And yet this is what Peter asserted. Almost more surprising, however, is that the three thousand converts of that day accepted their portion of the blame. They took on responsibility for their part within a broken and sinful system. Joel, John, Jesus, Peter—they all understood confession as a pre-requisite to the Divine Spirit being poured forth on all flesh.
Troy Watson is a regular columnist in the Canadian Mennonite. Recently he quoted 20th century theologian Karl Rahner as writing, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist at all”. Watson affirms this statement through his own life. “I know the primary reason I’m still a Christians is my personal experience of the mystical reality of God. Once a person has tasted, glimpsed and partaken of the divine presence it is hard to ignore the “really real” and the soul’s longing for deeper communion with the Spirit of truth and love. I think Rahner is right that the Christians of the future will be people who have encountered God’s Spirit personally” (Troy Watson, “Life in the Postmodern Shift: The ‘Age of the Spirit’, Canadian Mennonite (vol 17; No. 7), p. 17)
If Troy Watson and Karl Rahner are correct that committed Christians of the present require an encounter of the Holy Spirit, and if our biblical text implies that regular repentance is necessary to receive the Holy Spirit, then confession needs to be part of our spiritual lives. It is part of the religious routine which makes spiritual renewal possible. When we are full of ourselves there simply isn’t room for God’s Spirit which is poured forth on us. It rolls off, like water in a full rain barrel. Humility, awareness of the world’s brokenness, acknowledgement of our weakness carve out a space within us which can be filled with God’s Spirit. This rhythm of confession and re-anointing serves our spiritual lives in several ways. We are reminded that there is something greater than the wrongs we have done, the wrongs done to us, and the wrongs done through systems larger than any one person. We are reminded that God is greater than the sin of the world. Secondly, we are set on a path to offer healing to the brokenness around us. And finally, if our confession has been authentic we will pursue justice and righteousness with the humility necessary to restore others rather simply punish them (restorative vs. distributive justice).
The Holy Spirit of Joel and Acts wants to flow from God, through us, and into the world. It is our task to facilitate this renewal in our lives and the communities around us. So I conclude my reflections for today with three spiritual disciplines from church history that help us participate in a Pentecost style renewal. I am guessing that for many this will not be new stuff, but a refresher can encourage us on the good path.
The Ignatian Examen has become one of the most popular forms of spiritual reflection in recent decades. About the time of the Protestant Reformation in central Europe, Ignatius of Loyola was in Southern Europe reforming the church from within. The nine men who came together in 1534 dedicated themselves to attention of the spiritual life, charity, and poverty. When they applied to become a congregation, the pope named them the Society of Jesus. We probably know them better by their nickname—the Jesuits. Ignatius believed confession and repentance were critical to being liberated from the harmful attachments that plague us like locusts, to use the metaphor of today’s scripture. The Examen is often practiced last thing of the day and follows several steps. (Tony Jones, The Sacred Way: Spiritual Practices for Everyday Life, 91)
- To give thanks to God, our Lord, for all that has been good this day.
- To ask for God’s grace in knowing and releasing our sins.
- To examine hour by hour the words, thoughts, and actions of the day making us aware of the sins of commission and the sins of omission.
- To ask forgiveness of the faults committed.
- To seek forgiveness of God and when appropriate others.
Once a person has internalized the steps it is a practice which can be done anywhere anytime. Families can do this around the table. Snow birds can do this south. Cottage dwellers can do this in the north. It is a practice that can go with us anywhere.
Within Christian tradition there is also a system of fixed hour prayer which is called the Daily Office. The Psalmist wrote of praising God seven times a day (119.164) and we know that in Acts Peter paused for prayer at both the sixth (3.1) and ninth hours (10.9). Catholic orders typically follow Psalm 119 and gather for prayer seven times a day. Many Protestant traditions have adopted a liturgy to be prayed two or three times a day. I am currently using this Mennonite prayer book as part of my devotional life (Take our Moments and our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book) which has a morning and evening section. In addition to guided sections for contemplation on scripture and intercessory prayer there is also space for confession in the evening devotion. A bit like the Examin, I have opportunity near the close of the day to consider the good as well as the not so good. This time of reflection and repentance create space for God to renew me with the Holy Spirit before I sleep. It is a good habit.
The Lord’s Prayer is an easily accessed guide to prayer. And we know that a line within that prayer goes, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”. Other translations of Jesus’ prayer use terms like sins or debts. An early Church training manual called the Didache counsels those studying to become Christian to recite the Lord’s Prayer three times a day (8.3). If one were to meditate upon the phrases of the Lord’s Prayer rather than scramble through it and if one actually took the Didache’s advice by entering into this prayer three times a day, a person would find themselves in holy space where Pentecost like anointing happens.
Joel, John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter—each of these testified to the God who wishes to pour out the Holy Spirit upon us and in fact upon all flesh. This movement begins with God but is tied to our willingness to be a reservoir and channel of this Spirit. That means we honestly and regularly address the clutter that fills us which limits the Spirit’s flow through us. As we follow this holy rhythm we become eaters of the locust rather than those eaten by the locust; we become like John the Baptist and Peter who point others toward the grace of Jesus Christ—grace we have experienced. May God grant us courage and strength in this endeavour. Amen.
