Sermon 21st January 2018
Today’s
Old Testament reading only gives us part of the story of Jonah’s call.
If
we didn’t know the whole story of Jonah we might believe that Jonah is an
exemplary servant of God who responds instantly to God’s call like Andrew,
Peter, James and John in our Gospel reading.
God
gave Jonah instructions to go preach to the people of Nineveh and we read, “So,
Jonah made ready and went to Nineveh.”
But
what we must remember is that this was the second time God called Jonah.
The
first time Jonah heard God’s call he resisted and fled by boat in the opposite
direction.
Nineveh
was an evil city as we hear in call of Jonah:
“Arise,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness
has come up before me.
No
wonder Jonah was hesitant.
When
Jonah resisted that first call, God caused a storm that terrified the sailors
on the boat Jonah fled on.
Wanting
to appease God they threw Jonah into the sea, where he was swallowed by a large
fish and, after three days, the fish spat him out on the shore near Nineveh.
There
was no escaping God’s call
Now
Jonah responds to God’s call to destroy the city.
If
Jonah wanted Nineveh to be destroyed then why didn’t he go the first time to
Nineveh when God sent him?
Hearing
Jonah’s message, the king, and then all the people and animals repented.
As
a result of their repentance God spared them.
Jonah
became very upset by God’s mercy towards his enemies.
And
by this we discover why Jonah fled from God’s first call.
Not
because he was frightened of Nineveh’s evil but because of God’s mercy that
Jonah feared God would show them.
He
tells God, “I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger,
rich in mercy, and abounding in love” (4:2).
That’s
our God!
Jonah
knew his God well and realized that God used him as an instrument of
forgiveness and mercy rather than destruction.
Jonah
went to great lengths to resist God’s first call and then expressed frustration
with God when the Ninevites heard Jonah’s preaching and repented.
What
I find interesting in Jonah’s call is that he didn’t want to be God’s voice of
forgiveness.
But
God used him anyway.
Maybe,
in Jonah, we might see a reflection of ourselves.
Maybe
there is someone we know who needs to hear a word from God but we don’t want to
do it.
We
can tend to classify certain individuals, or types of people, as outside God’s
loving embrace.
We
can’t imagine God loving them with their ungodly ways.
What
have they done to deserve God’s mercy?
Nothing,
but God offers it to them anyway.
If
we ever begin to think that way let us remember what St Paul says about us:
God
demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For
some reason that we may not know – that only God knows why - we might be the
very ones God needs to reach out to a person.
Jonah’s
story shows to what lengths God will go to welcome home the sinner and
outsider.
We
need to put aside our negative feelings for them and make the journey Jonah did
to be God’s messengers of peace to them.
The
message of Jonah is a message of God’s true work coming through repentance.
First
of all there is the repentance of Jonah.
Even
though Jonah disobeyed God and went in the opposite direction – God chased him
down.
It’s
interesting that the opening of the book of Jonah says that Jonah arose to flee
from the presence of the Lord.
While
he might have fled from God’s presence, God’s presence never flees from us as
Jesus promised – I am with you always.
That’s
the first message we take from Jonah.
That
even when we go in the complete opposite direction to God’s will for us – God
is there on our heels working to turn us back to him through repentance.
You
cannot go too far away from God that he is not there with you.
A
good thing to remember when we are concerned about others who have seemingly
departed from God’s presence.
So
the 2nd lesson we learn from Jonah is from Nineveh.
We
learn that no one is “unsaveable”.
The
Ninevites were evil personified.
They
were Assyrians and responsible for great atrocities to God’s people.
Nineveh
today is known as Mosul – it used to be the headquarters of Islamic State when
they were causing so much death and destruction around the world through
terrorism.
Why
would God want to help them?
To
believe that God would want them to repent and be saved would be repugnant to
so many people today.
Just
read the Letters to the Editor today about what people want to happen to those
who drive their cars into innocent pedestrians – to Africans gangs causing so
much terror in our suburbs – to those who harm children – to suggest that God
wants us to go to them and show mercy and to save their souls would have a far
greater outcry than that of Jonah.
But
that is the nature of God - merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and
abounding with unfailing love (Jonah 4:2).
Unlike
Jonah, who responded to God’s call reluctantly, the first disciples accepted
Jesus’ invitation to follow him immediately.
Andrew,
Peter, James and John left their nets and followed him immediately.
Before
he invites his new followers, Jesus proclaims, “The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent
and believe the gospel.”
That
is how we too should respond when God calls - immediately.
Why?
St
Paul tells us why:
He
says - the appointed time has grown short;
Even
though it’s been around 2,000 years since Jesus promised to return – each day
we put off what God has called us to do is one less day we have available.
And
none of us know just how many days a person has left to hear the message of God
for their salvation.
The
3rd repentance is probably the most difficult to understand.
The
bible reading says that God also repented from the destruction he was going to
send:
God
changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them;
and he did not do it.
In
John 3:17 we hear what the mission of God is:
For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.
Sometimes
we believe that that mission is only to us.
That
the call to repentance is only for us to keep our relationship going with God.
But
through Jonah God teaches us that his concern is for the entire world including
the ungodly that we would rather see destroyed than saved.
In
fact St Paul was so anguished about the state of his people who were
unbelievers that he was happy to forgo his own salvation if it meant they could
be saved.
In
Romans 9 he said: I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I
could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my
people.
What
Paul is exampling here is the love of God the Father who allowed his own Son to
die so that we would not perish in eternal death.
That
should be our motivation also.
If
we don’t care what happens to someone’s eternal salvation then we really haven’t
understood God’s mission to the world.
God
was not prepared to have anyone perish so he allowed his own Son to be
sacrificed.
Despite
Nineveh’s wickedness God was prepared to change his mind in destroying them and
forgave their wickedness when they repented.
Do
we have the same heart as God or do we still show the same lack of care for
fellow human beings.
Jonah
was more concerned about a shrub he was sleeping under that died than the
thousands who were going to perish in Nineveh without God’s mercy.
The
Lord said, “You feel sorry about the plant. But Nineveh has more than 120,000
people living in spiritual darkness. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great
city?”
We
might disagree with people’s way of life.
We
might abhor the behaviour of certain people or groups of people.
We
may have been personally affected by a person’s actions.
But
regardless of our personal experience our call from God is to forgive and help
them to know God’s forgiveness.
And
the best way for a person to know God’s forgiveness is by living lives of
forgiveness ourselves.
And
that’s where Jonah went wrong.
He
didn’t want forgiveness for Nineveh but God did.
And
the amazing thing about God is that he still used Jonah.
Because
he was just a concerned about Jonah’s spiritual welfare.
God’s
love never gives up on anyone, no matter how evil or how ungodly they are.
He
is always working to bring repentance so he can bring them eternal life as St
Peter says:
The
Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he
is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance.
May
God grant you the same patience and desire for all people.
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