Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament Lesson just read, from Joel 2. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- We have often noted that much of life is superficial, and designed to be that way. Often we would much prefer a socially polite nod rather than the truth. We say “How’s it going,” but don’t really want to hear, at least not in great depth and detail.
- Commercials are the same way – we’d prefer to be convinced to feel a certain way about a product rather than to become truly informed about it. We have become cynical – how can we really know all that much about a product; we’re not experts, and we don’t have the time or energy to become experts about everything that we use, eat, or drink. Perceptions are short cuts to “being real,” and we’ve become accustomed to them.
- Because of our sinful nature, we’re more interested in comfort, pleasure, ease, and fun than we are in learning more about the serious things of human life and being. Besides, much of what we learn about ourselves and serious stuff doesn’t make us feel very good about ourselves. So we tend to hope that perhaps God can be dealt with through “perceptions,” through making a quick impression, and that we won’t have to go into too great of depth and detail.
- This was a chronic problem in ancient Israel, and it remains a problem within the church today. We’d prefer to just go through some fairly simple “motions” and not really get too serious, and hope that this is okay with God, that it will suffice God. But God is love – and He knows that such superficiality and hypocrisy is cheating Him and cheating ourselves. He wants better for us – and in our text we see that He desires reality and not mere perception.
- As we consider our text we must ask: “HOW REAL CAN YOU GET” in regard to yourself, your relationship with God, and your own love! To begin:
I. Note The Distinction, As God Does, Between Superficial Repentance And Integrity, Between Rending Garments Versus Rending One’s Heart
Text: “Yet even now, declares the LORD, return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Statement: I don’t need to tell you how compelling images can be – you have felt the force in pictures, in printed advertisements, and even more powerfully in moving images. And we don’t seem to care much that these things are staged. Sometimes we don’t even think about how unrealistic and absurd they are – driving a Jeep to the edge of a cliff, or through a river; or splashing and laughing in the surf of a tropical isle in tuxedo and formal dress, looking like David Beckham or some magazine model.
Application: And people treat religion the same way – projecting an image, an ideal, that is supposed to be compelling – but which is not only “skin deep” but heartless. People may be fooled by this, and often are, but we can be sure that God is not. In fact, He is insulted and offended by such nonsense – it is truly sacrilegious!
Worse, it cheats us and denudes of us the real blessings of love that God desires for us. And so God invites us and encourages to “be real,” by revealing Himself to us. In our text He assures us that:
II. God Is Sincere And Real, Providing Real Blessing to Those Who are Genuinely Repentant
Text: “Return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and He relents over disaster.”
Statement: There is disaster – and it is well deserved and merited each and every day. We do foul things, and say foul things, and we treat others – even our loved ones – in foul, mean, and hurtful ways. We deserve – as Luther noted in the Catechism – “nothing but punishment.” But this is not what God wills for us – and part of being changed and renewed is going through the process of repentance, sorrow and contrition for our grievous sins. Superficiality will not do – God is not looking for a performance from us, an act! This does nothing – not for us and not for Him.
Application: Such repentance as is genuine, heartfelt, and sincere does indeed “rend” our hearts – but the result is the experience of God’s healing, His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and abounding love for us. He averts the disasters, and with His love He softens our hearts and heals us for greater love. But this cannot be superficial – it has to do with us, with our heart, with the very depth of our being. And I’m afraid that this takes time, attention, thought, and some effort. It is not like the once a week, 30 minute workout that dissolves all your fat and makes you look like Arnold Schwarzennegger in only a month. It is the real deal, and it involves a lifetime – but also a lifetime and all of eternity in the blessedness of God’s real love for us!
Transition: And since so much depends on this, and there are so many people who are settling for superficiality in their relationship with God:
III. Let Us Join The Ministers Of The Lord In Crying “Spare Your People”
Text: “Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, spare Your people, O Lord, and make not Your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the people, ‘Where is their God?’”
Statement: You see what happens if superficiality prevails? God allows scorn and shame to afflict those who insist on “acting” pious without genuine repentance and faith. This is dismal – and we should be certain of this, that our sinful human nature is such that many “congregations” have simply succumbed to this. Nothing is more pathetic than a spiritually dead congregation – or the spiritually dead among a congregation of God’s people!
Application: So let us take heed to ourselves – and also raise the prayer for all people, especially those within the visible external church who are yet to truly repent and experience the warmth and richness of God’s gracious mercy and love!
Transition: In so doing we are involved in the greatest good, for our text assures us that:
IV. In The End, God And His People [The Real People Of God] Shall Prevail
Text: “Then the Lord became jealous for His land and had pity on His people. The Lord answered and said to His people, ‘Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and will no more make you a reproach among the nations.’”
Statement: Though repentance starts out low, painful, and seemingly demeaning, the end result is forgiveness, blessings, and vindication for God’s people. This may not always be evident in the affairs of this fallen world of sin, but it will be abundantly demonstrated on the Day of Judgment. And often great earthly blessings flow into the lives of those who are truly repentant and responsive to God’s Word.
Application: Regardless, the greatest blessing is inward, and of the heart – when the warm assurances of God’s great love for us soften and warm our own hearts, reshaping and refashioning them like His own heart. The peace and joy that ensues is worth more than all the grain, wine, oil, gold and silver in all the world! And these spiritual blessings of heart and being endure forever!
Conclusion: So the question remains: “How Real Can You Get?” There is no question as to God’s good and gracious will for us, His real and genuine love for us. May His “real-ness” move us to greater integrity and connection to God and His love. Yes, such a life is a bit heavier, but it is also filled with much greater joy and blessedness. May God graciously continue to bless us with His love. Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.