When Will You Do Something About It?

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

You know, I love how kids relate to the bible and I love how they give theology a fresh viewpoint. Most of us know the first part of the Jonah story and especially the part where Jonah was vomited onto the beach after three days in the belly of the big fish. Here is what some kids learned from that part of the story: 10 year-old Samantha says that she learned that people make whales sick. 8-year-old Robert learned that it’s better to travel by air. And 10 year-old Mark learned that you just can’t keep a good man down. Now these are interesting points of view but when you take the Jonah story as a whole it becomes evident that Jonah was a reluctant prophet. Unlike the disciples of today’s gospel lesson (Mark 1:14-20), Jonah did not immediately get up and obey God’s call. [In fact he was disobedient to the point where he made a mess of others peoples lives as well.] I think this story can also be a parable for our reluctance to be called as ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

Lets look at the story from the beginning. If you would like to follow along you can find this in your pew bibles on page 844. Chapter 1 starts out with God calling to Jonah to preach against the city of Nineveh because of its wickedness. As we know Jonah turns and runs away. He wants no part of this. The question is why. Nineveh, which is located in modern day Iraq, was the capital of Assyria. This was the nation that destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and considered the southern kingdom of Judah as a servant to it for almost one hundred years. Assyria was more than an enemy; it was a brutal occupying force that forever changed Israel's fortunes. For God to ask Jonah to go into this city would be like asking one of you to go preach against Al-Quida in Afghanistan. This is the source of Jonah’s reluctance. So Jonah takes off running in the opposite direction of Nineveh, hops a ship bound for Tarshish, which then becomes involved in a storm of epic proportions. The crew, determining that Jonah is the cause of this calamity, throws Jonah overboard. Jonah is immediately swallowed by a great fish, which is provided by God. It is after Jonah’s prayer to God that the fish then expels Jonah unto dry land.

It is at this point then we pick up today’s lesson where the Word of the Lord comes to Jonah a second time. God again tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach against it. And so Jonah goes. Verse 3 says that Nineveh was an exceedingly large city and that it would take three days to walk the width and breadth of it. It would be like one of us trying to walk through the city of Chicago. Nineveh is that large. Does Jonah walk the whole length? No. He goes a third of the way in and then cries out, “In forty days Nineveh will be no more.” I don’t know what you think about this proclamation but I think that it sounds really lame. Can you imagine walking into St Paul, camping yourself on a street corner, and begin telling people that in 40 days the city would be destroyed? I am not sure that many people would pay attention. [Maybe that was Jonah’s plan as well.] Seriously, if a person nowadays is to make a proclamation like that, you’d want to buy some radio or television time, or call a press conference, or at least stand in front of the XCEL Energy Center during a hockey game to get your message out. Looking at this I really don’t think that Jonah was giving it his all. As noted earlier Nineveh was the center of this evil empire. I’m not sure that I can fully blame him for being a little hesitant.

In many ways, I can relate to Jonah. My own call narrative has been somewhat similar. As you know, after my conversion experience in 1994 I became more involved in the church. I began to usher, read the lessons, run the soundboard, and teach Sunday school (believe me this was not as easy it sounds as I was biblically illiterate). It wasn’t that I thought God was calling me, but rather if I saw a need that could be filled I would meet that need. As time wore on I became involved with and then headed up the confirmation program. I served on the church council. I became a discussion leader in a bible study. And although there were people telling me that I would be a good pastor, or a good teacher, or that they appreciated my leadership, I dismissed those accolades thinking that these people really didn’t know what they were talking about. Something strange happened in the summer of 2001 that changed me though. One Sunday afternoon, I was involved in an ecumenical service. As I was watching the pastors distribute communion, a thought passed through my brain that said, “You can do that”. It was sort of like a light bulb coming on. Two weeks later I happened to be in a meeting with our associate pastor and I told her of that moment. Her response surprised me. She said, “You know Bob, we’ve been talking about this for the last five years. When are you going to do something about it?” Needless to say I was floored. I didn’t and still do not remember any of those conversations. However I also knew that she was right. 3 months later I received confirmation of that call during a visit to Luther Seminary.

Now I have no idea what God is going to do with this call. I will leave that to him. But look at what happened when Jonah gave his half-hearted proclamation. In verse 5 the people of Nineveh repented. Not just one or two. It was everyone, great and small. Even the king of Nineveh repents! In verses 7-10, he issues a proclamation telling everyone to turn from their evil ways, that in doing so God might “relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish”. Notice on whom they believed. It wasn’t Jonah. It was God! Even though Jonah said nothing about God in his proclamation, the people of Nineveh knew whom Jonah was speaking for. So they change. And it is in their turning that God also turns. He has compassion for them, changes his mind and lets Nineveh off the hook. And what about Jonah? Jonah should be ecstatic; he is the greatest prophet of all! With a couple of words, he turns a whole nation to God. He should be doing an end zone dance and telling the world that he is going to Disneyland! He should be headed for the evangelism hall of fame. But no. He instead becomes angry with God for changing his mind. He wanted Nineveh to be destroyed, just like Sodom and Gomorrah. He did not want to see this evil empire live on. He did not want to believe that God would be consistent with God’s self, that is: being gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. So he goes out into the desert and has himself a pity party. Even though God tries to console him, he turns away from the One who called him.

Do you see yourself in this story? Maybe you too have been called in some way to go and proclaim God’s love and forgiveness. I know that many of you already have. Pastor Wayne last week gave many examples of this faith community of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We have all been called in our baptism to go and make disciples of all nations. And making disciples takes as many different forms as there are people. We all have different gifts and abilities to do this. But I would be willing to bet that there are some of you who have felt the tug to do or say something, yet have been reluctant to follow up on that tug. Or you might see a need that needs to be met and thought, “well someone else can get that.” Please do not get me wrong! I am not trying to guilt anybody into doing anything! However, I would ask what is the source of that reluctance? Is it that you’re afraid? Fear can paralyze and yet God repeatedly tells us not to be afraid. Is it that there will be too much asked of you? Or is it that you do not have the talent or expertise? God does not call the equipped but equips those he calls. Do you really trust God’s will in whatever venture he asks you to do? In other words, are you looking out for your own self-interest rather than God’s? And in that process, are you possibly disrupting God’s will or plans for other people’s lives? Just as Jonah knew that God’s ways are not our ways, we all should remember that, every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.

We have, in the last two weeks, heard 4 different call narratives. We have heard the call of Samuel, who at first was not sure who was calling him. We have heard the call of two of the first disciples in the book of John, where Nathaniel was skeptical of the call. Today we heard a second call narrative of the disciples where they immediately left everything to follow Jesus. We have looked at the call of a reluctant Jonah. And there are other call stories in the bible. There is the call and conversion of Paul in the book of Acts, where Jesus comes to him in a blinding light. There is the call of Isaiah who declares himself unclean before the lord. There is Jeremiah who claims to be too young for such a task. And of course there is the granddaddy of them all, the call of Moses at the burning bush. Even he was reluctant and put up a slew of excuses before God in effect tells him get over it, I will be with you. When you look at all of these accounts it is evident that all of these people were eventually faithful to God’s call, even Jonah. They were folks like you and I who, with God’s help, and trusting in God’s promises did amazing things. And here in this faith community called Peace Lutheran, there are those of you who have responded to God’s call in a variety of ways. However I still believe that this question needs to be asked: Is God calling you? And if so, when are you going to do something about it? [Amen.]

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.