3rd Sunday after Epiphany, January 22, 2006
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, we have gathered here this morning, because you have called us through your Son to worship and praise you for your gift of grace. We are here, not because we have searched for you, but because you have searched for us, claimed us as your own, and have given us the responsibility to work for the increase of your kingdom. Even though there are times when we think we do not have the abilities to uplift your church, still, you have called us. Through the power of your Holy Spirit, give us what we need to do your work. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
What an interesting combination of lessons do we have for this morning. In fact, it is humorous to think about. Let’s start with the story of Jonah.
The word of God comes to Jonah, calling him to go to Nineveh and preach against the people in that huge city, because of their wickedness. But what does Jonah do? He books passage on a boat going in the opposite direction, trying to put as much water between him and Nineveh as he could.
Now we might think that the reason Jonah did this was because he was afraid for his safety to go into such a large mass of people and point out to them their evil ways, calling for them to repent, lest God destroy them and their city. But no. Jonah later explains that he refused to go to Nineveh because he was afraid his preaching might work! He knew that God was compassionate, and forgiving of repentant sins. Thus, he would rather see those wicked people perish for their sinfulness, than give them the opportunity to repent and live.
So Jonah gets on a boat to go where God is not, to flee from the word of God which had called him to be a prophet to Nineveh. But we know that you can’t flee from God. That leads us to the most familiar part of the story. A great storm arose on the sea, and the sailors determine that the only way to save their lives is to throw Jonah overboard, and a huge fish promptly eats Jonah. Then, after three days of sever indigestion, the fish “vomited out Jonah on the dry land,” right on the very shore where Jonah left in the first place.
That brings us to our lesson for this morning. God comes to Jonah again and says, “Let’s go over this one more time. Go up to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” Jonah, surely worn out from his three days in the belly of the fish, has no strength left to resist, so he begrudgingly does what God commands.
Jonah goes to the edge of the city and begins to proclaim the shortest and perhaps the worst sermon ever preached. “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” he shouts, over and over again, as he simply walks through the city. Then Jonah takes a seat on the outskirts of the city, hoping to see the fireworks. But the people headed his message, repented of their sinfulness, and called upon God for mercy and forgiveness. And God grants them their request.
But what does Jonah do? He gets mad, gets depressed, and says he wished he were dead. He pouts. “I knew this would happen!” “This is why I hightailed it to Tarshish. I knew you were a God who was merciful, forgiving, a lover of losers like those Ninevites. I knew it.”
Contrast this story with what Mark tells us in our Gospel lesson. Jesus, following his baptism, begins his ministry by calling disciples to help him proclaim the message that God’s kingdom is near, to repent and believe in the grace of God. One day, as he’s strolling down the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he sees two fishermen, Simon and his brother Andrew, casting their nets into the shallow waters.
Jesus simply calls out to them from the beach and say, “Hey guys, follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately, without any questions, these two persons drop their nets to float about in the sea, and hop in line behind Jesus, following him as he strolled further down the beach.
A short while later, Jesus spies James and his brother John, two other fishermen, who were in their boat helping their father Zebedee mend their nets. Jesus then calls out to James and John, in the same way that he did to Simon and Andrew, and they immediately jump out of their boat, leave their father, and follow Jesus.
Mark doesn’t even tell us that any of these first four disciples of Jesus even asked him “why” they should follow him. After all, they were fishermen, common folk who knew what a hard day’s work was all about. There language was probably as rough as their sun bronzed skin. Don’t you find it a bit odd, that they just left their trade, their means of supporting themselves, even their father, in answer to the invitation to become disciples of Jesus, and engage in proclaiming the kingdom of God.
What a contrast these two lessons picture. Jonah tried everything he could to avoid the call of God, and even when he was reluctantly forced into action, and was successful in bringing the Ninevites to turn from their wickedness, he pouted. And then we see our Lord’s first disciples, jumping at the opportunity to respond to the call to proclaim the kingdom of God, even though they have no idea what they are getting into.
So what are we to learn from these two stories, that seem so opposite to each other? First, I believe that the primary message of these stories centers on God’s grace, and his desire to forgive all those who turn to him in repentance and faith, in spite of those whom God calls to proclaim this truth.
The closing verse of Jonah puts that whole story into context. God says to Jonah, “should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left.” Even though Jonah would rather have seen Nineveh destroyed by God because of their wickedness, God’s desire was to have the people turn to him in faith, repent of their sin, and live.
And isn’t that the purpose for which Jesus called his disciples? He invited these four fishermen to join him in “fishing for people,” in inviting others to come to know that in Jesus, God was acting to redeem them from sin and death. He invited the disciples to proclaim that in Jesus, we might come to know God’s grace, and become members of his kingdom.
That is the purpose for which Jonah and the disciples were called, and that is the significance that unites these two stories. But there is also something that we can learn from the contrast that these stories provide. And that is that God calls both the reluctant and the willing, those who would like to flee from working for God’s kingdom, and those who jump right in, willing to do whatever they can for the sake of God’s mission.
The truth is, God calls each of us, through our baptism, to be disciples of Christ, and to do what we can to further his church. Some of us might be reluctant to get involved, not because we don’t want to see the church and God’s message of his redeeming grace transform the lives of others, as did Jonah, but because we feel that we might not have much to offer in the way of talents or gifts. But think of our Gospel lesson. The first four disciples that Jesus called may have known the fishing trade, but as a result of their response to our Lord’s call, God was able to equip them to further his kingdom.
I’m sure they had no idea of what they were getting into when they responded to our Lord’s invitation. In fact, throughout Mark’s Gospel, these fishermen/disciples are described as constantly missing the boat, failing to understand the total picture of what our Lord was trying to accomplish. And yet, without the efforts of these down to earth, common persons, Christ’s church would not have come to fruition.
Today, we have received the call of our Lord, through our baptism, to be his disciples to our generation. We have been called to do what we can to uplift the church and to proclaim God’s redeeming grace to those around us. We are gathered here this morning in response to God’s invitation to be a part of his kingdom, to not only worship him, but also to serve him.
May God’s Spirit so urge and empower us to respond to his call to offer what we can, as his disciples.
Amen.
