January 26, 2003
"A Call To Obey"
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20
“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’” Now, if the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, it only makes sense to think that the word of the Lord came to him a first time as well. As a matter of fact, if we look at the first three verses in the first chapter of Jonah, this is exactly what we read:
(Jonah 1:1-3 NIV) The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: {2} "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." {3} But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Question: Did Jonah obey God?
Answer: No!
Question: What happened as a result of Jonah’s disobedience?
Answer: Well, for the rest of chapter 1 and all of chapter 2 we read about how Jonah’s disobedience got him tossed overboard, swallowed by a huge fish, and then vomited back up on shore three days later. That takes us to the words of our opening Scripture passage for today, saying: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time...”
Needless to say, but by now, God has got Jonah’s undivided attention, and vs. 2 tells us that there are 3 things and only 3 things that God wants Jonah to do; 1) Get up. 2) Go. 3) Proclaim. The results are not up to Jonah. The direction and the choice that the people of Nineveh make are not up to Jonah. It was not Jonah’s responsibility to control the ways and the means of the people’s response. Jonah’s one and only task was to obey God.
The call of God is always, first and foremost, a call to obedience. In today’s Scripture we can see within God’s call to obedience ... God’s summons to repentance, God’s summons to living in a manner that seeks God’s will, God’s summon’s to following Him!
In Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, there is an urgency to obediently focus on what God is accomplishing, because the present form of the world is passing away.
In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus himself makes it clear that the time frame for our obedience is immediate ... not when we think it feels good to us, or when we think it’s convenient to us, or when we think we’d rather hear it from a different messenger. It’s Jesus who says, “The time IS fulfilled, and the kingdom of God HAS COME near; REPENT and BELIEVE in the good news ... FOLLOW ME.”
Question: When’s the last time you honestly asked God to reveal His will for your life? When was the last time you went to God’s Word seeking to obediently follow His desire and direction? What have been the consequences of doing things your own way instead of God’s way?
I ask the question not for the sake of making any one person feel guilty, but for us to see that this call to obedience applies to our congregational life as well. What does it mean for us at Elim Lutheran Church to be obedient to God? How do we BEGIN to be obedient to God? Listen to what it says in 2 Chronicles, chapter 7:
(2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV) “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
The same obedience, the same repentance, the same faith, the same response that God requires from individuals, He also requires from communities such as ours. How do you and I, as a part of this faith community, live in obedience to God? Listen to Micah 6:8 from “The Message” translation.
(Micah 6:8 “The Message”) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously — take God seriously.”
Are we fair and just in our dealings with each other? Are we compassionate and loyal in living out our faith, or is there gossip and slanderous talk behind people’s backs? Do we take ourselves so seriously that we forget that this church does not belong to us, but to Jesus Christ and to Him alone, and that it exists for those who are not here yet?
Today marks the conclusion of the “Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,” though in reality that emphasis of prayer can never be confined to just one week. The unity that God desires is a unity not just between different Christian denominations, but a unity also between people within your own household, and people within this house of faith, a house which Jesus says will be called “a house of prayer for all peoples.” And the purpose of this unity is not to merge all Christian denominations into one, or that every person will think exactly like every other person. The purpose of our unity is to obediently 1) Get up. 2) Go. 3) Proclaim to each other and to the world, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This is what Jesus himself prays in John 17:22-23. Listen to what Jesus prays:
(John 17:22-23 NRSV) “The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, {23} I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
We are in Christ! And because we are in Christ, and Christ is in us, we are called to obediently live out that unity right here at Elim Lutheran Church; and living out that unity looks and is different from how many people usually tend to act in the business world.
This unity requires courage, and God knows that. And when God is leading us into something new, and we’re not sure we really want to go along because, “We’ve never done it that way before,” God assures us that He is in control, He will provide, and He will be with us all the way. Listen to what God says to Joshua, when Joshua is called by God to lead the people after Moses’ death. Listen to the call to obedience, as well as the wonderful promise God makes.
(Joshua 1:6-9 NIV) "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. {7} Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. {8} Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. {9} Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."
Right here at Elim Lutheran Church, we must have courage to seek to live out and show each other, as well as the world that unity which Jesus desires, because a divided church only weakens the mission of Christ. As we seek transformation and renewal within our congregation, each of us should also be asking God to heal us from our lack of unity and enable us to speak out with faith and courage that Jesus Christ is Lord of your life.
When Jesus called Simon and Andrew and James and John to follow him, He was calling them to also immediately leave behind some things and some people that were very near and dear to them for a long time. What do we need to leave behind in immediate obedience to God? Maybe its family ... maybe its employment, but why don’t we start with leaving behind those things which we know are offensive to God, those things which we know are tools and tactics of Satan; such as gossip, harsh and divisive speech, things that only divide the body of Christ.
God has called us to obey His word, to get up, go, proclaim, and follow Him. God has told us not to be afraid of this because He, himself, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be with us always. And we can trust that when we obey God’s Word, that he will lead us to a joyous and abundant life in Christ. Jesus said:
(John 10:10 NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Listen also to what Paul says in Ephesians 4:1-6.
(Ephesians 4:1-6 NIV) As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. {2} Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. {3} Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. {4} There is one body and one Spirit — just as you were called to one hope when you were called — {5} one Lord, one faith, one baptism; {6} one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
This unity is already a gift in the Spirit here and now. In obedience to God’s Word the church is to live, right now, as a sign of that unity which in its fullness we hold as the promise of God. In our sinfulness we are divided and broken. Our calling is to get up, go, proclaim, follow Jesus, and make visible the unity which always comes as a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Please pray with me.
Almighty God, draw our hearts to you, guide our minds, fill our imaginations, control our wills, so that we may be wholly yours. Use us as you will, always to your glory and the welfare of your people; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
