Sunday, December 8, 2024:
Joel 2.1-17
Who knows? As Walter Brueggemann notes, this is a common phrase in Hebrew (mi yodea) scriptures, including in Joel 2.14, used to express the finitude of our existence.
We look around, both at the natural world and at our social world, and there is so much we don’t understand. Sometimes, we are filled with wonder and awe. At other times, we are perplexed and full of doubt. So much lies beyond our comprehension.
And for many, this state of affairs brings great anxiety, for as Brueggemann observes, “the human quest for certitude is unquenchable.”
The American response to our human finitude, Brueggemann argues, is denial – and a quest to overcome our limitations by putting faith in education and expertise. He calls this an “epistemology of privilege,” by which he means that the “privileged know best.”
Brueggemann argues that “the Bible is essentially a revolution in epistemology that challenges the top down assumption of an epistemology of privilege.”
In our text, Joel brings a message of apocalyptic judgment. But a word of mercy and grace comes in verses 12-13:
And now, …turn back to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger and abounding in kindness
And relenting over evil.
The comes the kicker (verse 14):
Who knows? He may once more relent.
The question for us today is whether we will continue to cling to our privilege and try to save ourselves – or whether we will turn back to the LORD and find peace in his grace and mercy.
Who knows what we will do?
But we can be confident in our God.
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