Let It Rain

Audio podcast of sermon

On this day, I scrapped my sermon based upon Joel 2: 23-32 at the last minute and preached a somewhat awkward sermon from an outline because I kept hearing an little voice say, “if they can’t see God’s faithfulness in their own lives, then they won’t be able to see or connect to it in people from such a different context and time.”

Hearing that enough made me realize that the act of integrity was to go way out of my comfort zone and produce the following outline that can be found in it’s entirety in the audio file. The audio file is from the first time I preached it. Personally, I was so far out of my comfort zone that I felt like it was horrid. But people from both services said it was precisely what they needed to hear. So, I trust that God used the words well even if I felt like I stammered.

Also, folks didn’t share as openly in the first service about God’s faithfulness but they were more interactive in the second service. Nevertheless, I could see the wheels turning inside people. Many people were crying tears of remembrance, joy, and longing as they remembered God’s presence in their lives.

Sermon Outline
What does God’s faithfulness look like?
• The history, context, broader understanding of the book of Joel
Characteristics of God’s faithfulness
• Covenant, promise (there’s a whole history of God making good on covenant/promises)
• Presence (in good times and especially in tragedy)
• Nurture (gifts, healing, comfort)
• Love
• Guidance
• Justice
• Relationship
Invite people to share their experiences of God’s faithfulness




text of original sermon 101024 - Ordinary 30C – Let It Rain

Good morning. As always, it’s a delight to share with you in this time of worship and today is no exception. Today is UN Sunday. It is a day to recognize Presbyterian involvement in the UN’s global advocacy and work for justice, helping the poor, and making peace a reality.

The two scripture texts this morning have something in common… they both tell us of God’s grace and faithfulness that is bigger than our ability to comprehend or understand. When we look at the text from Joel specifically, it would be easy to break out into a chorus of “Great is thy Faithfulness.” We are hearing about how God is with them. But it’s not naive praises of an ideal life that God has in store for them. No, this is the praise of a people who found honor for and relationship with God in the midst of famine. They found their deepest connection with God during the times of unknown, strife, and challenge.

See, when we read the lectionary text from Joel, we’re taking a sneak peek at the uplifting part. We’ve bypassed a famine and the loss of their livelihood and hope. Truly, it’s hard to understand Joel unless you read the whole book. But it’s a short one so let me summarize.

This is still in the period of exile for the Jewish people that we discussed the other week and you may recall how I said that being in exile was a fragile state. The passage we studied that week reminded them that their welfare was wrapped up in the welfare of others. Well, this text is picking up on what happens when disaster strikes.

Joel is writing in response to drought and famine that have left people starving. Even their seed for a new harvest has been destroyed and locusts have decimated the land. In a time when life was so fragile, this famine could not have been more painful. It must have been wretched to watch the people they loved die because of the earth shriveling up.

But at this dark time is when Joel calls the people of God to be most faithful. Joel knows that for most people, nothing motivates and focuses us on what we need to fix or change so much as pain and discomfort do. Joel points out that part of why they are experiencing the bleak, joyless life is because they had stopped caring about God and doing what is important to live righteously. Through God, Joel calls them to repent and live faithful lives even in the midst of all this heartache because he is sure that God’s faithfulness will see them through.

This is where our passage picks up. Joel is delighted that the early rain has come. He writes:
O children of Zion, be glad and rejoice in the LORD your God; for he has given the early rain for your vindication, he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the later rain, as before. The threshing floors shall be full of grain, the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will repay you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent against you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I, the LORD, am your God and there is no other. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
To people who had lost their children to starvation and their hope had been eaten away like the locusts ate their land, this must have been sweet music to their ears.

But there are 2 things we need to recognize about what’s going on here. First of all, this is part of an interactive encounter with God. Throughout this book, not just this passage, Joel and God are speaking in an exchange. God invites the repentance of the Israelites and promises salvation. I point this out because when disasters happen in our own lives, our fears and feelings of unworthiness often go to the place of asking “Why did God do this to me?” or “What have I done to deserve this?” Likewise, when something good happens, we can quickly slide into the thinking that we earned God’s favor by being better than or good enough. So when we read a passage like this, it’s not a farfetched connection to say, “well, they earned the rain so if I do enough good things, God will help me get a better job.” But friends, that kind of thinking really isn’t how God interacts with us nor is it what’s going on here.

This really is a direct dialog where God has something bigger going on. The reasons for sending rain are not in exchange for salvation but something else. This brings me to the second thing I want to point out about this passage. It talks of the rains being given as vindication and so that they will never be put to shame. This dialog is not about them being good enough to deserve rain. God has been with them and faithful throughout. The rain and healing of shame is about proving to non-believers the power of God and a healing salve to their faithfulness for enduring persecution.

Remember, they are living in exile amongst people of many different beliefs. What was most striking about the Jewish people is that they were the only monotheistic religion at that time. They had the one God, not many gods. They worshiped a God of covenant, love, and ever presence while others worshiped fickle gods demanding obedience in exchange for their favor. So, the idea of a one all-powerful God was very odd during that time and so the Jewish people were mocked and treated badly. But God sends these rains as a balm for their spirits, to not only restore the land but to vindicate them in the eyes of others.

Now, we’ve walked down this road of looking at the background story for some very important reasons. We need to know the bigger story to get what was going on here. And more importantly, we need to know what’s not going on here. There is no bargaining for favor with God and the people did not earn God’s rewards. God was with them and would continue to do so. God had promised them restoration and God was delivering. So, ultimately we go through the background story to help us make sense of what it means here and now.

See, even though we’re not really going into the whole text of God’s spirit coming down upon them and an apocalyptic day of the Lord (I’ll save those for another day), there is still a lot here for us. I think our take aways from this passage are 1) God is faithful 2) God’s restoration meets our whole needs, and 3) our involvement matters to God.

Okay, God is faithful. What does that mean? Well, it means that God always makes good on God’s promises. If there is one thing that is clear from studying this book (hold up the bible), it is that God holds fast to what covenant relationship means. Presence, nurture, love, guidance… all these things are part of how God reveals and abundant faithfulness. So, when we have turned our backs on God, God is still knocking at our doors nudging and calling us back. When we feel in the darkness of sorrow, God is still there with support along the way and a light to guide us toward healing. When we are in the good times, God is still there nurturing a bigger love in us by opening our eyes to the ones that aren’t so privileged. God is faithful to creation by never leaving us and never letting us be. Faithful relationship always calls us to more.

Next, God’s restoration meets our whole needs. What does that mean? In this passage God’s rains restore their physical world full crops and plenty of harvest but it also restores their spirits. You see, God’s restoration does not just seek to put a quick fix on it or offer a hand out to make it better for the moment. God’s healing in creation is for our whole selves. So when we are suffering, God is working to heal all the parts of us. We can experience both a relief in our emotions and a healing of our spirit. We can find healing for both our bodies and our minds. No part of us is too damaged or unworthy of God’s healing and restoration.

Finally, our involvement matters to God. Just like God went to the people in this passage calling them back to faith, God calls us back every time we turn away. This is kind of part of God’s faithfulness but the part we often need to hear the most. God has not made a creation to tend to like a garden and control what is in it and prune it to look a particular way. God set in motion a world of relationships and calls us to relationship with God. Whether it’s because God delights in our relationship as a creator or the way we live out being God’s hands and feet in the world, God is always calling us to interact. Whether we’re being healed or doing the healing, God is reaching to and through us. God acts for the betterment of us. God acts to make creations whole. God acts to get us to interact. Calling us, holding us, reaching for us, teaching us, healing us… God’s actions are extended in hopes of our response.

So, here we find ourselves at the center of a relationship where God’s faithfulness is bigger than our ability to earn favor. It’s full of love and hope for us. How will we respond? How will we interact with God? In the places where we’ve gone astray will we turn and face God? When disasters in life strike, will we receive the hand of God as it’s extended to us? When we see others who suffer, will we be God’s hand extended in the world?

Sisters and brothers, we are a beautiful, loving, and creative people who are also broken and fragile. But we are not alone. We are the children of God made for relationship with both God and each other. God’s faithfulness precedes and will extend long after us. The rain that we need to heal the brokenness is in God. The rain that we need to cultivate the love is in God. God wants to drench us in love and relationship. So today I ask you, what rain does God want to pour out on you?

Amen