Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

Read

Joel 2:23-32 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

O children of Zion, be glad
and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
he has poured down for you abundant rain,
the early and the later rain, as before.

The threshing floors shall be full of grain,
the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
my great army, which I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
and praise the name of the Lord your God,
who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

Then afterward
I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.

Even on the male and female slaves,
in those days, I will pour out my spirit.
I will show portents in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls.

Reflect

The world of the Bible was predominantly male-oriented and male- dominated. However, there were competing views from the beginning. The two creation stories in Genesis pose the problem: One account reveals woman in a subordinating role as created from man’s rib (Genesis 2). The other shows male and female created together in the image of God and both given dominion over all else in creation (Genesis 1).

Joel prophesied of a time when God’s spirit would be poured out on all flesh saying, “your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”
Jesus built upon this prophecy of Joel in his liberating stance. Jesus’ gentle life and tender teachings gave women dignity, freedom, and responsibility in sharing the good news. In the Gospel accounts of Jesus, woman was first at the cradle and last at the cross.

The Gospel of Luke (8:1-4) reports that Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many other women shared with Jesus in the preaching of the good news of the kingdom of God through the cities and villages.

The more we are open to God’s kindness revealed in Joel’s prophecy and in Jesus’ gentle teachings, the more we will be open to affirming all persons called to ministry by God.

Pray

God help us to always show a love that accepts all people as precious children of God with talents to share for your glory.

Go with God!