Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 (NRSV)
Read Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 2Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming, it is near- Verse 2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come.
Verse 12Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; Verse 13rend 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. Verse 14Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord, your God? Verse 15Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; Verse 16gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged; gather the children, even infants at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her canopy. Verse 17Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, "Spare your people, O Lord, and do not make your heritage a mockery, a byword among the nations. Why should it be said among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'"
Devotion
Having left the mountain and the thin place of the Transfiguration, we now focus our attention on our Lenten journey. The prophet Joel gives us two verbs to shape our first steps: Return and Gather. Return: turn, rip open your hearts. Wherever we are, wherever we’ve been we can always make a move towards the Lord. Because the “heart” in Hebrew is not so much the seat of emotions but rather the place of thinking and reflection, from whence we make decisions to take action. And since the Lord is “gracious and merciful,” we are free to re-turn over and over and over. And Gather: Seven times we are invited to gather (including the blowing of the trumpet/shofar)! While Joel was gathering the people in response to a plague of locusts, we know the power, encouragement, and healing that occurs when we gather as the church, Christ’s body. Gather. Return to the Lord. Lent is almost here.
Prayer
Gathering God, turn us to you, that your grace and mercy would sink deep into our hearts and minds. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Interested in digging deeper into today’s text?
Read more here.