NOTES for Joe 3:16

The Lord’s judgment will end with the establishment of justice, but at first it is difficult to understand: for whom will He establish justice—only for the sons of Judah and Israel? Why will other nations come to the valley of judgment—is it only to be condemned?

Yet we already know the prophetic words about the sons and daughters of different nations who will come to the God of Israel. Those who persist in their sins will reap their fruits, as the Jewish sinners denounced by the prophets have reaped them more than once. But those who repent and abandon their former way of life will become an integral part of God’s people and will therefore no longer be foreigners unworthy to pass through Jerusalem, which has once again become an undefiled sanctuary.

A girl of about seven went to Sunday school. She listened to stories about how Jesus was rejected, how He was not recognized and was killed. She cried and did not sleep for several days, and then she decided to ask a question of the teacher who led the classes. "Tell me," the girl asked, "what will we do when He comes a second time and we do not recognize Him again? What if we miss Him again?" "Oh no," the teacher answered, "the second time it will be impossible not to notice. He will come in glory."

The girl was so glad. When she grew up, she said that the longer she lived, the more she met people who do not see when the mountains drip with wine, the hills flow with milk, and deserts turn into streams of water. It would not even have surprised her if there had been people who failed to notice that the sun and moon had grown dark and that there were no more stars. Then she understood for herself that these signs alone are not enough for a person; for the sake of preserving one's delusions and refusing to acknowledge one's mistakes, a person can reject any facts. From then on, evangelization became her main work. "The harvest is so great," she says now.

Father Alexander Schmemann writes in his "Journals" (October 12, 1976, p. 297): "The beginning of 'false religion' is the inability to rejoice, or rather, the refusal of joy. Yet joy is so absolutely important because it is the unmistakable fruit of the sense of God's presence. One cannot know that God is and not rejoice. And only in relation to joy are the fear of God, repentance, and humility correct, genuine, and fruitful. Outside this joy they easily become 'demonic,' a distortion in the very depth of religious experience. A religion of fear. A religion of pseudo-humility. A religion of guilt: all these are temptations, all these are spiritual delusion. [...] Fear of sin does not save from sin. Joy in the Lord saves."

But this is exactly what the prophet Joel calls us to remember today. Yes, he speaks of "fasting, weeping, and mourning." But for what purpose? Why does such a great man as Theophan the Recluse, in his word for today, not want to see the words that follow these tragic ones? What makes him break off his reflections on such a hopeless note: "The priests do not stop crying out: 'Spare us, Lord!' But from the Lord there surely comes the stern answer: 'I will not spare, for there are none seeking mercy.' Everyone stands with his back to the Lord; they have turned away from Him and forgotten Him."

All this is true, but not the whole truth, not the whole truth. Yes, the world has become corrupt; we see this with our own eyes. But if we allow ourselves to stop at such heartrending notes, then our whole faith will become neurasthenia. And for most believers it already is neurasthenia, and 90% of them should be referred to psychiatrists - sadly.

But one need only hear at least what the prophet says today: "And in that day the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with milk", and immediately remember what the Apostle answers: "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Heb 11:1). For people may tell us that the prophet is only promising us that this will happen someday, and that the fulfillment of the promise is being delayed. But precisely the assurance of things hoped for is our faith. This we must without fail remember, and somehow see and do in our own life.