After Covid...Now What?

Introduction:

67 weeks into a pandemic…and counting. Is there hope?

67 WEEKS AGO, I TOOK US TO THE BOOK OF JOEL AS A WAY OF HELPING US MAKE SENSE; I WANT TO TAKE US THERE AGAIN THIS MORNING.

I) The “Already, Not-Yet”

A. Our Natural World Displays the fallout of Spiritual Rebellion

i. The Material Consequences … (1:1:1-7)

1. Joel speaks during a season of a natural disaster: Locusts!

2. Eden reversed – the locusts would “undo” creation into decay

ii. … of Spiritual Rebellion: (Joel 1:13-14)

1. They asked what We’ve asked: Where is God?

2. The material world exposed a spiritual condition of sin

B. Our Spiritual Vulnerability Calls for Trust in God

i. A disaster exposes the root of sin

1. Joel calls the people to repent of the deeper issue of their sin: (2:12-18)

2. The limits of a science-based approach (c.f. Bertrand Russell: Science can teach us, … no longer to invent allies in the sky, but rather to look to our own efforts here below to make this world a fit place to live in, instead of the sort of place that the Churches in all these centuries have made it."):

a. Refusers who punch a flight attendant

b. Angry mobs that destroy cities in the name of justice

c. Racial tensions, conflicts, violence

d. The vaccinated from being harsh with those who don’t…

ii. The disaster calls for repentance

1. Cause & Effect? No; a reminder of reality that we live in a fallen world

2. Our vulnerabilities point to our need for humble trust in God

C. God Gives Hope for Temporal Restoration (2:18-25)

i. God promises restoration for his people

1. Much has – & had – been lost, but God would restore what had been taken

2. EXAMPLE: a 1-1 equation? No; but with eyes to see – we’ll observe

ii. An eternal message in a temporal time

1. The pandemic is still going on – as was the locust plague;

2. God gives a greater hope than temporal solutions for our problems

THE HOPE THAT GOD GIVES HAS TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO CARRY US THROUGH ANY OF THESE CHALLENGES. SO WHAT IS THAT?

II) Hope for the Not Yet

A. A Holy Dwelling Place

i. “God dwells there.” (vv. 17a, 21b)

1. God’s presence, seen only by faith today, will be sight in the future

2. God’s presence will be a source of safety

ii. A Holy City (vs. 17b)

1. BECAUSE God is present, the city is made holy, pure from sin

2. Social programs, moral reform can play a part – but only God’s presence can make the city holy

B. The Hope of a Future in a Renewed Creation

i. Flourishing: (vs. 18)

1. The curse is reversed: Eden is restored’ a flourishing & prospering land

2. EXAMPLE: one day, this world (that still groans) will be made whole

ii. Justice (vs. 19)

1. Edom & Egypt – the type of evil – would receive justice

2. Good news & Judgment? Depends on your point of view.

iii. God’s Holy dwelling

1. Because God came present in Jesus, he endured the darkest night of judgment

2. Therefore, God’s promise remains: He has been with us, and will be, through a pandemic, a wildfire, an icestorm, through illness, and even, ultimately, through death.

Transition:

Conclusion

Living in Hope

· "Such people forgot that often it is just such an exceptionally difficult external situation which gives man the opportunity to grow spiritually beyond himself. Instead of taking the camp's difficulties as a test of their inner strength, they did not take their life seriously and despised it as something of no consequence. They preferred to close their eyes and to live in the past. Life for such people became meaningless.