I will pour out my Spirit on all people
Joel 2:28-32
Joel is a short book with a powerful message. We began, “Return to me says the Lord. Even Now. Rend your heart, not your garments. For I am gentle and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love.” Last week, we looked at God’s promise to Joel and us, “I will repay you the years the locusts have eaten.” Today, we hear God say, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.”
Joel was speaking in an age of draught. No rain, no water. The land was parched – ravaged by locusts. An environmental disaster, leading to a humanitarian disaster. During a hot, dry summer, the ground becomes hard; so hard, you can’t get your shovel into the earth. It’s impossible to plant. That’s bad for now, but even more disastrous for the future. Have you ever had a season of life when you felt dry and hard; hard towards others; hard on yourself; hard towards God? Maybe that’s yu, right now.
Joel says, “God has given you the autumn rains” (Joel 2:23). The much needed rain is coming! Autumn rains soften up the land, making it possible once again to plant. Now your shovel can easily enter the earth. Autumn rain is not just about blessing now, it’s also about enabling future blessing too. 
But Joel goes further. God says, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” (Joel 2:28). Joel was speaking into an age of temples, religion, ritual, traditions, superstitions… He was speaking at a time when people thought God was only present to specific people at specific times in specific places. (Coincidentally, these specific people were always.. men – and men of a certain. Just saying!)
God says, “I will pout out my SPIRIT on all people.” Not His traditions, religious rules… My Spirit. Whose? Not Joel’s spirit. Instead, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ. The Bible often links the Holy Spirit with water. For example, Jesus said, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” (John 7:38).
Water is crucial to life and living. It’s bottom-line Maslow. We can’t survive long without water – 3 days? (But don’t try this at home!) Not just a one-off/momentary light rain shower - living off an historic outpouring, isn’t enough.
God says, I will POUR out my Spirit on all people. With God, there is an abundance, soaking of / in the Holy Spirit. Have you ever come home after a hot day and soaked under the shower? The relentless outpouring of refreshing water somehow helps to revive you. So it is with the Holy Spirit. You and I need to be soaked in the Holy Spirit; not just once ‘back in the day’, but continually – every day. “I will pour out my Spirt on all people.”
Radically, no longer just for the specific people - who, coincidentally, were always assumed to be men. Joel was speaking in an age of male-rule, patriarchy. When men thought God only spoke to/used them. They presumed, because they were, that God must be too - male!
Joel’s message was radical, even shocking. Women, as well as men:
v.28: Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
v.29: Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people – all sexes, gender.
Young, as well as old:
v.28: Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
    your old men will dream dreams,
    your young men will see visions.
I will pour out my Spirit on all people – all ages.
Poor as well as rich:
v.29: Even on my servants, (implying there are also ‘masters’)
I will pour out my Spirit on all people – whatever socio-economic position.
What’s more, translators are being polite. These are not just ‘servants’, they are slaves. No-one who falls on hard times, who needs a bit of extra cash, says I’ll take a job as a slave. This is not about accepting a humbler, less glamourous job. 
People were taken against their will, trafficked, oppressed. Again, this only becomes possible after years of de-humanising language that, in our heads, helps to turn people beautifully/ wonderfully made in the image of God, into ‘swarms’ of immigrants. This also means they were people from other cultures, countries, colours. They were ‘others’ (you didn’t enslave ‘your own’). 
At a time when the Hebrews thought God only blessed ‘people like us’ i.e. men, God said, “I will pour out my Spirit on ALL people”: women and men; young and old; rich & poor; black, white, brown…
This wasn’t an exhaustive, definitive list of all, and only, groups of people that pours His Spirit out on. These are just examples. Today, we’re aware of many glorious and diverse ways different people identify by: women and men; young and old; rich & poor; black, white, brown..; gay, straight; neuro-typical, neuro-diverse… etc etc.. God is still doing this.
Back then in Joel’s time some struggled with ALL. They wanted some, many but not ALL. They would have preferred God say, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people like us.”  Today, a few still struggle with ALL. Whatever your age, ethnicity, gender, neuro-pathways, sexuality… God says I will pour out my Spirit on ALL people. When it rains, it rains on all people, not just specific people.
Joel’s vision didn’t come overnight. It was fulfilled hundreds of years later on the Day of Pentecost. Jerusalem, the city, was full of all sorts of people: ages, gender, cultures, ethnicities, colours etc… We too are in a city – full of ALL kinds of people. We are hoping and praying for God’s Spirit to be poured out on all people across our city - within 5 miles and beyond. Heaven is the Kingdom of God - and we get a taste of it now, with more to come. So, we pray, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, here on earth as it is in Heaven. Come Holy Spirit, come. Not sure how you feel about diversity. Still find yourself feeling slightly unsettled by the ALL in all? Get used to it now. You’ve got an eternity of it to come in Heaven!
Finally, when I was 14, I had a family holiday in America. As a reward for spending time in New Orleans to indulge my Dad and his love for ‘trad jazz’, we then had a few days in Disney World. On the last morning, just before we were due to leave for the airport, I went back up to our hotel room to do the ‘one last thing. I got into the lift and up I went. It was just me. The lift stopped but.. the doors didn’t open. I waited. Nothing. I pressed various buttons. Still, nothing. When I pressed the ‘help’ button, a calm voice spoke to me, took the details for both me and the lift, and told me ‘help was coming’. So, I waited. To kill time, I walked all around the lift. I sat down, I stood up. I didn’t have a watch but it felt it’d been a while, so I called the help button again. The same calm voice apologised for the delay but explained that they were also dealing for a lost child in the Park. That seemed more important than my predicament, so again, I waited. For how long, I do not know. But it certainly felt ages. Eventually, I heard some scraping and banging, and then the doors jerked open. The lift was between floors, with just a few feet visible of the next level. I saw a pair of boots and half a pair of legs with a voice. This security person reached down hands and pulled me. It turned out, the child who they had been looking for was.. ME! I was that lost child. I tell you this because, when God says, “I will pour our my Spirit on all people”, that is not just for other people, it’s for YOU too. Don’t miss out. Don’t deflect. Instead, receive. God says, I will pour out me Spirit on YOU too. With God, all means ALL.
07840 046020   DannyBrierley@ChesterRoadBaptist.org.uk