Every Moment Is a Jehoshaphat Moment
How can Christians live in this sinful world without throwing up their hands in despair? In Joel 3:12-16, we are encouraged to see the big picture and be patient, knowing that "Every Moment Is a Jehoshaphat Moment."July 14, 2011.
Home prices drop again, London riots, mom slain in front of boy, Wall Street “flash panic,” debt ceiling debate, State Fair melees produce 11 injuries and 31 arrests, 38 killed in Afghanistan. Those are just a few of the headlines lately. Makes you wonder, “What next?” From the viewpoint of the angels, our globe probably looks like an oversized beach ball with evil popping out all over. How can we Christians live in this world without hunkering down or throwing our hands up in hopeless despair? Two things. See the big picture, and be patient. But both are easy to say yet hard to do.
So, how do we get better at seeing the big picture and developing patience? Pay attention to the prophet Joel! He turns our attention to a king named Jehoshaphat, who in his younger days had gone through schooling, military training, sword-play, and statesmanship coaching—all geared to help him make right decisions. Young Jehoshaphat might ask, “What school should I attend?” “You decide.” “What branch of military should I enlist in?” “You decide.” “What day should I practice chariot riding?” “You decide.” “What girl should I marry?” “You decide.” But the wisdom and courage to make decisions were not his alone. The Lord stood behind him. In fact, his name, Jehoshaphat, means “the Lord decides.”
From the Savior’s story of weeds among wheat in today’s Gospel, we know that we are surrounded by evil, and we have to make decisions every day on how to react and deal with what goes on “out there” and in our own heart, decisions every bit as significant as those made by Jehoshaphat. That’s what makes the prophet Joel’s message in chapter three of his book so alive. He helps us realize that Every Moment Is a Jehoshaphat Moment. Joel proclaims a fascinating message about:
Decisions that are right
“Oh, King Jehoshaphat! My neighbor’s ox trampled my barley field. How do I get repayment?” “Oh, King Jehoshaphat! Should we reinforce the forts near the coast or on the hills?” “Oh, King Jehoshaphat! What am I to do with my over-the-top tax bill?” Case after case, situation after situation, decision after decision, Jehoshaphat surely tried to be as wise as Solomon. But some of his decisions turned out as muddled as that of the Casey Anthony jury, and some were just plain wrong. Yet, Jehoshaphat learned what the prophet Joel later proclaimed. There is one whose decisions are always right, even when our senses want to scream, “What are you doing, Lord!” Joel pointed to a locust plague, sent by God, not randomly but as a call for the wicked, rebellious people of Israel to clamp their hands over their mouths, realizing, “God is God, and we are not. This is his world, not ours, and if he wants to get our attention so that we listen to his words to find what really counts and what really lasts beyond this messed-up world, then we’re all ears. For God’s decisions are always right.” People who reacted in that way to the locust plague were demonstrating that they learned what Jehoshaphat had learned and were living in a Jehoshaphat moment.
One of the hardest things to answer when we see messes in our world and when we feel like a wheat stalk with weeds growing up all around, across town, and across the street is the Job-like question, “Why, Lord?” Jesus’ disciples asked him the same question when they saw tragedy and destruction. “Is this God’s judgment on the bad guys? Did someone sin really badly, and God is going after them?” Jesus’ reply matched what we learn from King Jehoshaphat, who took a big-picture view and learned patience, and from the prophet Joel, who called people to repent. God’s decisions are always right. In his own time and in his own way, God will decide what to do and when. “There I will sit to judge.” Put your hand over your mouth, let God be God, and you will be living in a Jehoshaphat moment.
A harvest that is ripe
What images come to mind when you think of harvest time? Bushels of freshly picked corn ready to be shucked, seared on the grill, and slathered in butter. Crisp, red apples, crunchy on that first bite with a little juice running down the corner of your mouth. Wheat fields waving white in the wind ready for reaping. Potatoes and tomatoes, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, carrots and kohlrabi, all ripe and ready to enjoy. But what if weeds are mixed in with the wheat? What if thorns, thistles, chickweed, milkweed, ragweed seem to be taking over? What if everything is tainted with sin? “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the valley called ‘The Lord Decides’), for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side. Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow—so great is their wickedness! Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision!”
There are two ways to look at a world of wickedness ripe for harvest—“Oh, no!” or “Oh, yes!” Lack of trust in God’s decisions in his time and in his way leads to “Oh, no! What will we do?” Trust in God’s decisions leads us to look at the world ripe for harvest as a world of opportunity and aligns us with the Savior’s plea, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest…to send…workers”(Matthew 9:37-38), after which he sent out his disciples, and he sends out you and me. See the world of sinners and the messes they cause as opportunities to share the soothing, healing love of Jesus, which alone can miraculously turn weeds into wheat, and you’ll be living in a Jehoshaphat moment. Look not only “out there,” but in here, recognizing that the winepress of your heart is full of sin, that the harvest of your dirty deeds and careless thoughts and ego-centered attitudes is ripe, and you’ll be living in a Jehoshaphat moment.
A roar
The people of Judah who took Joel’s message to heart knew what they deserved. They knew that the Lord had a perfect right to judge them for being ripe with sin, and they knew what his decision ought to be. Whether God would bring judgment on them by blackening the sky with a cloud of locusts or whether God would call an end to their evil at the ultimate Judgment Day, they expected to see and hear, “The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine. The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble.” They expected and they deserved God’s roar.
When we see the world “out there” as God sees it, and when we see the worm of in-born wickedness inside as God sees it, what would we expect to see and hear next? As predictable as fall following summer, as September follows August, when we see ourselves and our world ripe with sin, we expect the Lord to decide against us and to hear Jesus roar, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”(Matthew 25:41). Take Joel’s message to heart, expecting God’s roar, and you’ll be living in a Jehoshaphat moment.
A refuge
A locust plague is not a few extra bugs hopping around the backyard. It is a swarm of five trillion locusts, 12 miles long and three miles wide, devouring 10,000 tons of vegetation per day. They land on the lawn, hop on the roof, cling to the walls of every house or apartment, and hang from every plant and tree. And if a door is open a crack or if a window screen has a tiny rip, they’ll get in there, too. Where could the people of Judah hide? A better question, knowing that a locust plague is nothing compared to the Lord’s roar on the Judgment Day, “Where can sinners hide?”
Joel has the answer. “The Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.”Sinners who live in a Jehoshaphat moment know that each and every moment of their lives the Lord ought to roar, “Guilty!” But sinners who live in a Jehoshaphat moment also know that the same Lord roared, “It is finished!” Joel puts it this way, “Their bloodguilt…I will pardon.” Jesus spread out his arms on the cross to take on the condemning verdict that we should have received, and now he spreads out his arms in blessing to make sure that in the midst of a world gone wild with sin, and in spite of the weaknesses and failures that plague our lives, we are living in the stronghold of his love. That makes every moment a Jehoshaphat moment, because just like Jehoshaphat, we know that that Lord has rendered his decision, “Not guilty!”
A vast army of bad guys “came to make war on Jehoshaphat” (2 Chronicles 20:1). What to do? Jehoshaphat prayed to the Lord and then said, “Listen to me…people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the Lord your God and you will be upheld” (20).Do you know what he did next? He led the people in singing praise to the Lord. The Bible writer then tells us, “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab…When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground”(22,24). The next time you read headlines and feel like a wheat stalk among weeds, look at the big picture, remembering that you don’t have to decide for God. He has decided for you. That’s why you and I can take a deep breath and be patient because every moment is a Jehoshaphat moment. Amen.
Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on August 14, 2011.
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