Locusts Happen
Sermon
Show-and-Tell
First Lesson Cycle A Sermons for Lent and Easter
Object:
It was never this bad; not in their lifetime, not in any-body's lifetime. It was so terrible that children would tell their children who would then tell their children about this time of thick clouds, darkness, and destruction. All the fields were devastated and the grain was ruined. Herds of cattle and sheep were dying of starvation. Fruit-bearing trees were splintered and drying up, withering away like the people's joy. It seemed like the whole world was coming to a terrible end. Everyone was lamenting and mourning. Everything seemed out of control.
What was going on here? Amilitary invasion? The results of a nuclear blast? A plague? Well, yes and no. This is the setting for today's scripture text, described in the first chapter of Joel. It was an invading army of locusts -- common enough in Old Testament times -- but this may have been the worst ever -- maybe even as bad as the locust horde that God visited upon Egypt as the eighth of ten Exodus "plague persuaders" (Exodus 10:3-20).
Nothing seemed able to stop the locust onslaught. Each locust seemed larger than life to an overwhelmed people. "Its teeth are lion's teeth and it has the fangs of a lioness" (Joel 1:6). Thousands, probably millions of these creatures blackened the sky and devoured almost everything in sight. It was hopeless, helpless misery. Locusts happen!
What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
-- Joel 1:4
Locusts happen! Now we can understand the alarm Joel calls for. Now we can see what Joel means by clouds and thick darkness crawling closer and spreading everywhere. Nothing has ever been this bad before. Nothing will ever be this bad again (2:2). Locusts happen! Where could the people turn when there was nowhere to turn?
Where are the locusts in your life on this Ash Wednesday? What seems to be chaotic and out of control? Where are those fragile and tender places in your hearts? For some, financial burdens have become as devastating as a horde of locusts. For others, family crises fill every thought and dream just like swarming locusts. Persisting sorrow and grief can drain energy reserves just like the cutting locusts slice through strong grape vines in the most fertile vineyard. Locusts happen! Where can you turn when there is nowhere to turn?
It was Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. It was a time to prepare for Lent with a youth-sponsored pancake supper and an outdoor worship service that featured the burning of palm fronds from last year's Palm Sunday in order to make ashes that would be used in tomorrow's Ash Wednesday service.
Everything was in order and the people were gathered around a charcoal grill in the church parking lot. Dried palm fronds were in the grill. The lector began reading from Psalm 80:3-8.
You turn us back to dust and say, "Turn back, you mortals... for we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed."
Meanwhile, Pastor Andy was unable to light the palms
-- so he poured on more charcoal lighter; then more and more, and... WHOOSH! Flames shot up from the grill into overhanging branches of an apple tree... from which they spread into another and still another fruit tree. Fortunately, firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the blaze with minimal damage and no injuries... except to Pastor Andy's pride, that is. From that day on throughout his ministry, Pastor Andy's Shrove Tuesday "show and tell" became a living memory in that congregation's story... a story "like has never been from of old nor will be again... for ages to come" (Joel 2:3). Locusts happen!
Where do you turn when there's nowhere to turn? Where do you turn when locusts happen? Who can extinguish the pain in your hearts that just won't go away? Who can rewrite the story of your own shame and failure? Who can stop the locusts from crawling into every corner of your soul? Where do you turn when your best efforts turn into an all-consuming mess?
When everything that can go wrong is going wrong for God's people in our text and for God's people on this Ash Wednesday, Joel proclaims God's message:
Yes even now, says the Lord; return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.
-- Joel 2:12-13
So... where do we turn when there's nowhere to turn? To the Lord. How do we do this? Most Christians are taught to do this through Lenten spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, mourning, and meditating. Isn't that what Lent is all about? A time for renewing faith through spiritual discipline... time sort of like spring training for professional baseball or spring practice for college football. Doesn't the word "Lent" actually have its origin in the Anglo Saxon word meaning "springtime"? Isn't Lent like spring training for people who want to learn how to cope with or even avoid all problems of life? Hmm...
Wouldn't it be wonderful if resolving problems in life could be handled by a little spiritual coaching during spring break? How great would it be if getting rid of life's locusts were as easy as following the dots in a child's puzzle book? Don't you wish your life was more like a movie or television program in which the good always wins in the end? Every story should have a happy ending. Every life should be filled with joyous music and dancing. Every cloud should have a silver lining. Every sour lemon that comes our way should be squeezed into lemonade by a couple of spiritual disciplines. Right?
Well, sadly, it isn't that simplistic. Trumpet blowing, lamenting, fasting, and garment tearing did not drive away every locust horde in Old Testament times. Outward acts of piety were not necessarily guarantors of faithful relationships with the Lord... not then, not now. Our best efforts and intentions often fail. Evil exists. Locust happens!
So where do we turn when there is nowhere to turn?
Well, obviously, to the Lord. Not because the Lord guarantees to make the locusts disappear forever; not because the Lord promises that we will never be ashamed or sad or guilty again. So, why bother to return to the Lord anyway? We can turn to the Lord because the Lord has already turned toward us.
Here is Joel's answer... "for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (Joel 2:13). In the midst of life's overwhelming locust swarms, the overflowing love of the Lord comforts and strengthens us for the daily journey. The ashes of shame placed on our foreheads today reveal the cross of victory that God has placed into our hearts. In Jesus Christ, the cross of ashes placed on our foreheads today will disappear in a little while. Nevertheless, the water poured and the cross made on our foreheads at baptism are marks of God's steadfast and forever love. The cross of ashes on our foreheads today will disappear soon. The body and blood of the crucified Christ will strengthen our hearts forever. Amen.
What was going on here? Amilitary invasion? The results of a nuclear blast? A plague? Well, yes and no. This is the setting for today's scripture text, described in the first chapter of Joel. It was an invading army of locusts -- common enough in Old Testament times -- but this may have been the worst ever -- maybe even as bad as the locust horde that God visited upon Egypt as the eighth of ten Exodus "plague persuaders" (Exodus 10:3-20).
Nothing seemed able to stop the locust onslaught. Each locust seemed larger than life to an overwhelmed people. "Its teeth are lion's teeth and it has the fangs of a lioness" (Joel 1:6). Thousands, probably millions of these creatures blackened the sky and devoured almost everything in sight. It was hopeless, helpless misery. Locusts happen!
What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.
-- Joel 1:4
Locusts happen! Now we can understand the alarm Joel calls for. Now we can see what Joel means by clouds and thick darkness crawling closer and spreading everywhere. Nothing has ever been this bad before. Nothing will ever be this bad again (2:2). Locusts happen! Where could the people turn when there was nowhere to turn?
Where are the locusts in your life on this Ash Wednesday? What seems to be chaotic and out of control? Where are those fragile and tender places in your hearts? For some, financial burdens have become as devastating as a horde of locusts. For others, family crises fill every thought and dream just like swarming locusts. Persisting sorrow and grief can drain energy reserves just like the cutting locusts slice through strong grape vines in the most fertile vineyard. Locusts happen! Where can you turn when there is nowhere to turn?
It was Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. It was a time to prepare for Lent with a youth-sponsored pancake supper and an outdoor worship service that featured the burning of palm fronds from last year's Palm Sunday in order to make ashes that would be used in tomorrow's Ash Wednesday service.
Everything was in order and the people were gathered around a charcoal grill in the church parking lot. Dried palm fronds were in the grill. The lector began reading from Psalm 80:3-8.
You turn us back to dust and say, "Turn back, you mortals... for we are consumed by your anger; by your wrath we are overwhelmed."
Meanwhile, Pastor Andy was unable to light the palms
-- so he poured on more charcoal lighter; then more and more, and... WHOOSH! Flames shot up from the grill into overhanging branches of an apple tree... from which they spread into another and still another fruit tree. Fortunately, firefighters arrived quickly and extinguished the blaze with minimal damage and no injuries... except to Pastor Andy's pride, that is. From that day on throughout his ministry, Pastor Andy's Shrove Tuesday "show and tell" became a living memory in that congregation's story... a story "like has never been from of old nor will be again... for ages to come" (Joel 2:3). Locusts happen!
Where do you turn when there's nowhere to turn? Where do you turn when locusts happen? Who can extinguish the pain in your hearts that just won't go away? Who can rewrite the story of your own shame and failure? Who can stop the locusts from crawling into every corner of your soul? Where do you turn when your best efforts turn into an all-consuming mess?
When everything that can go wrong is going wrong for God's people in our text and for God's people on this Ash Wednesday, Joel proclaims God's message:
Yes even now, says the Lord; return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing.
-- Joel 2:12-13
So... where do we turn when there's nowhere to turn? To the Lord. How do we do this? Most Christians are taught to do this through Lenten spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, mourning, and meditating. Isn't that what Lent is all about? A time for renewing faith through spiritual discipline... time sort of like spring training for professional baseball or spring practice for college football. Doesn't the word "Lent" actually have its origin in the Anglo Saxon word meaning "springtime"? Isn't Lent like spring training for people who want to learn how to cope with or even avoid all problems of life? Hmm...
Wouldn't it be wonderful if resolving problems in life could be handled by a little spiritual coaching during spring break? How great would it be if getting rid of life's locusts were as easy as following the dots in a child's puzzle book? Don't you wish your life was more like a movie or television program in which the good always wins in the end? Every story should have a happy ending. Every life should be filled with joyous music and dancing. Every cloud should have a silver lining. Every sour lemon that comes our way should be squeezed into lemonade by a couple of spiritual disciplines. Right?
Well, sadly, it isn't that simplistic. Trumpet blowing, lamenting, fasting, and garment tearing did not drive away every locust horde in Old Testament times. Outward acts of piety were not necessarily guarantors of faithful relationships with the Lord... not then, not now. Our best efforts and intentions often fail. Evil exists. Locust happens!
So where do we turn when there is nowhere to turn?
Well, obviously, to the Lord. Not because the Lord guarantees to make the locusts disappear forever; not because the Lord promises that we will never be ashamed or sad or guilty again. So, why bother to return to the Lord anyway? We can turn to the Lord because the Lord has already turned toward us.
Here is Joel's answer... "for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (Joel 2:13). In the midst of life's overwhelming locust swarms, the overflowing love of the Lord comforts and strengthens us for the daily journey. The ashes of shame placed on our foreheads today reveal the cross of victory that God has placed into our hearts. In Jesus Christ, the cross of ashes placed on our foreheads today will disappear in a little while. Nevertheless, the water poured and the cross made on our foreheads at baptism are marks of God's steadfast and forever love. The cross of ashes on our foreheads today will disappear soon. The body and blood of the crucified Christ will strengthen our hearts forever. Amen.
