- Have you ever been really desperate about something?
o Maybe you lost your job and didn’t have any way to pay your bills or didn’t have any place to go.
o Maybe you lost your home or your insurance and you didn’t know what you were going to do.
- I think the most helplessly desperate feeling you can have is when you have a spouse or a child who is suffering.
o You desperately want whatever is wrong with them to go away—but you’re absolutely helpless to do anything about it.
- In those desperate times, you’d do anything in your power to make it better.
- When I was studying this passage that we’re looking at this morning, the phrase came to mind—
o “Desperate times call for desperate measures.”
- When we’re confronted with desperate times, we can’t just do things the way we’ve always been doing them, can we?
o When things get really desperate, we need to start acting like it.
- The people in Joel’s day were experiencing some desperate times.
o I doubt that anybody in here has experienced a locust invasion.
o But look at how Joel describes it in verses 1-4:
JOEL 1:1-4
- This kind of devastation hadn’t ever happened in Israel before.
o Joel starts off by saying that this locust invasion was the kind of thing that they were going to tell their great-grandkids about.
o Kind of the way that a Londoner would tell stories about Hitler’s air raids in WWII.
- As Americans, we hear WWII stories of heroism and valor that was on display in Europe and the Pacific.
o Londoners lived through the personal devastation and destruction of nightly bombings.
o They would come out of their shelters to rubble and destruction.
- They tell their stories different than we do.
o And Joel knew that the people of Israel were going to tell their stories about the devastation that had happened around them.
- And those three phrases in verse 4 don’t come close to describing the absolute devastation they experienced.
o Most scholars think Joel is describing four stages of locust growth.
- If you are using an Old King James Bible, it looks like it’s talking about four different kinds of critters.
o It’s not—it’s one critter, in four developmental stages.
- Here’s the terrible thing about locusts—each stage of development destroys crops in a different way.
o The larvae consume differently than “hoppers” or “fliers” do.
- The bottom line is that the destruction is total and complete.
o Locust swarms are estimated to contain up to 120 million insects per square mile.
o And each locust consumes its own body weight every day it’s alive.
- During an unchecked locust invasion, every living plant is completely consumed.
o But not only that, when the swarms finally die, millions of dead locust quickly rot and spread typhus and other diseases which kill the animals.
- Locust plagues are so scary that today, there are international satellites that monitor for them and immediately send out aircraft with pesticides to kill them before they can get started.
- Just imagine living in an agricultural society after a locust invasion.
o They were probably still cleaning locusts out of their houses and sweeping them up in piles on their streets to be burned.
o And nothing green was left in sight.
- Can you imagine? Now what?
o Those were pretty desperate times, weren’t they?
- Well, here where we sit at the start of 2016 in America, we might not feel as desperate as those folks did.
o But we probably should.
o Because, I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but we live in desperate times.
- Take a few minutes to look at this video recap of 2015:
VIDEO [Charlie Hebdo, Paris attacks, San Bernardino, Ferguson, Baltimore, Hands Up Don’t Shoot, Black Lives Matter, Charleston, tornados, floods, earthquakes]
- Folks, we might not be experiencing the aftermath of a locust invasion—but we’re living in far more desperate times than most of us would care to admit.
- In the Western world, we’re in the last stage of the downward spiral of sin that Romans 1 talks about.
o Heterosexual sin is the commonplace norm—to the point that if somebody lets it be known that they plan to stay a virgin until marriage, they’re treated like a freak of nature.
- And now on top of that, homosexual sin is not just accepted and tolerated—it’s celebrated and encouraged.
o And now, as you could see in the video, the seeds of complete and total anarchy are being sown throughout our land.
o When you think about it, the aftermath of Ferguson and Baltimore and San Bernardino probably felt like a locust invasion.
- We live in desperate times.
o And these desperate times that we live in are marked by being drunken times.
o Look at verses 5-7:
JOEL 1:5-7
- There is no mistaking the fact that these times in America and the Western World are drunken times.
o A study that was published in August by the Journal of the American Medical Association said that in the past year, 32 million Americans experienced “alcohol use disorder”.
- By the way—that’s a completely new category.
o Alcohol use disorder is characterized by severe drunkenness, extreme binge drinking, and things like multiple DUIs or public intoxication arrests.
- And that 32 million people is just in the past year.
o When you look over people’s lifetimes, the number of people in America who have had alcohol use disorder jumps to over 102 million people—that’s nearly a third of Americans.
- And the number is skyrocketing.
o So much so that the American Medical Association calls it an urgent epidemic.
- And that’s just alcohol.
o The number of pot smokers has doubled in the past 10 years—that adds up to over 30 million people.
- Add to that the heroin epidemic, crystal meth and other drugs.
o And then there’s the prescription pill problem.
- West Virginia has the highest rate of prescription drug overdose deaths of any state in the nation.
o And if Southwest Virginia was its own state, there’d probably be a tie.
- But notice that Joel isn’t just talking about people being chemically intoxicated.
o In verse 8, the people had been intoxicated by their national security.
o In verse 9, they’d been intoxicated by their prosperity.
o Now both of them were gone.
- In our nation, we’re not only physically intoxicated, we’re intoxicated with the economy.
o It doesn’t matter what a politician stands for—just as long as they promise jobs.
- And that brings up the next point—we’re intoxicated with politics.
o So much so, that talking about issues and candidates ends up looking more like a bar fight than rational public discourse.
- There’s no doubt that these desperate times are drunken times in America.
o But these desperate times are also mournful times.
o Look at verses 8-10:
JOEL 1:8-10
- How should we mourn during these desperate times?
o Like a young bride whose fiancée was killed on the way to the church to get married.
- Imagine the heartbreak.
o Imagine the sense of loss and grieving.
o That’s how we’re supposed to feel about the state of our worship in America.
- Are you burdened for the state of the church in America?
o Do you lament over it?
o Does it break your heart?
- Last year’s massive Pew Research Study showed an exponential increase in people who self-identify as atheists or agnostics.
o And on top of that, nearly one-quarter of Americans consider themselves completely religiously unaffiliated.
- That should break our hearts—but what should cause us to mourn even more is the state of local churches in America.
- Let me give you a statistic that should shock you—Between 80 and 90 percent of all evangelical churches in America are in decline.
o With all of the emphasis on church planting over the past few years, far more churches close their doors than are planted.
- Just look at church attendance in our area alone.
o There are church buildings on almost every corner.
o But how many of them are growing?
o How many of them are showing any signs of life at all? Not many.
- But here’s what should really cause us to mourn—the state of worship INSIDE our churches.
o One of my jobs when I was with the WV State Convention was to work with over 100 churches.
- One of the questions I’d ask churches was, “What would you refuse to change in your church—even if it meant that your children or grandchildren would come if you changed it.”
o There is a right answer—the right answer, and the answer that I pray that we would say, is that we would never change the clear preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
o But very few churches say that.
- Do you know what the number one answer to that question is?
o Music style. Not theological content—style.
- And a close second is any number of things that have to do with personal preference.
o Things like choir robes, video screens, the way the facility is decorated.
- Why should we lament and mourn?
o Because we have completely changed the meaning of church in America.
- It’s become a place where we come to be comfortable.
o …Where we come to be pampered.
o …Where we come to have our felt needs met.
- Not too long ago, I saw a church marquee that said, “We exist to meet the needs of people.”
o Really?
- No—Ephesians 3:10 tells us why the local church exists.
o We exist “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
- The local church exists as a training ground to train up believers to spread the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.
o In other words, we exist to bring new life to our neighbors and the nations.
- And by and large, the church in America isn’t doing that.
o Because by and large, the church in America is teaching us to worship ourselves and our preferences more than we’re being taught to worship Jesus.
- And the result is just like it was in Joel’s day.
o The worship offerings are cut off.
o They’re dried up. They languish.
- Yes—these are certainly mournful times for the state of the church in America.
- These desperate times we live in are drunken times and they’re mournful times.
o They’re also shameful times.
o Look at verses 11-12:
JOEL 1:11-12
- The word that’s translated “be ashamed” in verse 11 carries a lot of meaning in the original language.
o It combines the ideas of shame and confusion—but it also carries the idea of unfulfillment and downright frustration.
- Think about it—can you imagine how frustrating it would be to see everything you’ve worked your whole life for being eaten by bugs in just a matter of hours?
- Do you see how Joel describes that kind of frustration at the end of verse 12?
o He says that the people’s “gladness has dried up.”
- But here’s the reality—you CAN imagine that kind of frustration.
o Because we see it all around us, don’t we?
- Back in the early 1900’s, people were predicting that the biggest problem for the future was to figure out what to do with all the free time we were going to have.
o Because they were predicting that with all the modern conveniences, the average work week per working family was going to be 20 hours or less.
- Not even close! Today, the average work week per working family is close to 90 hours.
o And what do we have to show for it?
- I love the description in Haggai 1:6:
o “You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”
- Sounds like 21st century America, doesn’t it?
o Did you know that in 2015, the average American paid around 43% of his total income back to the government in taxes, hidden taxes, and fees?
- And then think about the interest that most people pay.
o Over a lifetime, the average American will pay out over 280,000 dollars in debt.
- On top of that, a recent survey said that more than 8 out of 10 employed Americans are stressed-out at work.
- So we’re working longer.
o We’re working harder.
o We’re stressed out at work.
o And MOST of what we earn is going for NOTHING.
- And then there is the fact that nearly 93 million employable people in this country aren’t even working at all.
o That’s nearly 4 out of every 10 working age adults who have opted out of the American labor force.
- We ought to be ashamed.
o These times that we live in are drunken times, they’re mournful times, and they’re shameful times.
- These are desperate times that we live in.
o And desperate times call for desperate measures.
o Look at verses 14-20:
JOEL 1:13-20
- I think we all can recognize how desperate these times that we live in are.
o But the hard part is knowing what to do about it.
- Should we just complain?
o Should we rant and scream and vent about it?
- Should the first thing we do is become activists and lobbyists and political organizers?
o Well, let me ask you—did Joel tell the people to start replanting first?
- No—because ultimately, the bugs weren’t the problem.
o The heart of the people was the problem.
- And the reality is, the problem with our nation isn’t ultimately a drug and alcohol problem.
o It isn’t primarily a local church problem.
o And it isn’t primarily an economic problem.
- Our problem is a heart problem.
o And who’s the only one who can change a heart? Jesus is.
- But before Jesus will change our nation’s heart—
o or before He will change our region’s heart—
o or before He will change our community’s heart… He has to change our heart.
- In 1 Peter 2, the Holy Spirit through Peter calls believers a “royal priesthood.”
o And in Ephesians 4, Paul says that all believers are to do “the work of the ministry.”
- So, here in verse 13, when Joel tells the priests and ministers to put on sackcloth and lament—who is he talking to?
o If you’re a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ here this morning, he’s talking to you.
- And as believers, we’re not called to vent and complain about the sins of our nation.
o We’re called to “own” them.
- Do you remember how Nehemiah prayed for Jerusalem when he was still hundreds of miles away back in Susa?
o Nehemiah had probably never even been to Jerusalem before.
- But in Nehemiah 1:6-7, he still confessed his nation’s sins like this:
o “let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father’s house have sinned. We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses.”
- Did you catch that?
o Even though Nehemiah didn’t personally have anything to do with Israel’s sin, he confessed it as his own.
- Desperate times call for desperate measures.
o The desperate times we find ourselves in call for us to wake up to the spiritual state of our nation, our region, and our community.
- All of the sins we see in the nation are happening right here in our community.
o We need to wake up.
- We also need to lament and mourn the state of the church in our nation, our region, and our community.
o Lament and mourn the selfish, inward focus.
o Lament and mourn the complacency.
o Lament and mourn the lack of fear of God and the lack of concern for the lost.
- We need to lament and mourn.
o And we also need to be ashamed of the way we look to an improved economy or a new job or the lottery as our salvation.
o We need to be ashamed.
- But here’s the bottom line for us here this morning.
o When we begin to see our nation, our region, and our community’s sin as our own—we desperately need to cry out to God.
o If we won’t—then who will?
- You and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, have been given the awesome privilege of bold prayer.
o Why do we limit our prayer to a sick list and place our hope for our country in an election?
- Do you see how insane that is?
o The only hope for our nation, our region and our community is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- So, my brothers and sisters—we can all see that we live in desperate times.
o Are you ready to take the only desperate measure we can really take?
- If you are, then let’s do what Hebrews 4:16 tells us to do:
o “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
- This week—this month—this year—let’s confidently cry out to God on behalf of our nation, our region and our community.
o Let’s confess their sins as our own.
o And let’s call on Him to do a work of awakening and revival the likes of which we’ve never seen or heard of before.
- Are you desperate enough to do that? I am.
