The Old Testament reading this morning comes from Jonah. We all “know” about Jonah, right? I say, “Jonah” you say, “Whale.” Everyone who was raised in any biblical tradition was taught as a child, the story of Jonah. But, do you know how Jonah ended up in the belly of the great fish? Or what happened after he got out?
Jonah lived in ancient Israel, probably sometime around the 8th century BCE, so almost 3000 years ago. One day God called on Jonah and told him to go to Nineveh, one of the principle cities of Assyria, a very powerful enemy of Israel’s in what is today Iraq. Now God told this ordinary guy to go to one of his nation’s enemies and preach repentance to them. How do you suppose Jonah responded to this call from God, “out of the blue?” Right. Jonah said, “No way!”
Not only did Jonah refuse to go to Nineveh, but he got on a boat headed in the opposite direction, to Tarshish, or modern-day Turkey. God gave Jonah a difficult and potentially dangerous job to do, and Jonah went 180 degrees in the wrong direction. While Jonah was sailing toward Turkey, a terrible storm blew up on the Mediterranean Sea. As all of the sailors worked to try to keep the ship afloat during the storm, they were calling out to each other – “Pray to your gods!” Each one prayed to whatever god he worshipped and the storm continued to get worse. So the sailors went below and woke Jonah up – he was sleeping through the storm – and they said, “Where are you from and who is your god? Pray to that god to save our lives.” Jonah told them that he was an Israelite and that his god was the God of all creation. And he told them that he was running away from God. Then Jonah volunteered for the men to throw him overboard because then God wouldn’t want to stop them, once Jonah was off the ship. Ultimately, they did as Jonah suggested and the storm stopped. Then Jonah was swallowed up by the big fish. And guess what? After three days in the fish’s belly, Jonah repented and apologized to God for running away. Then the big fish spit Jonah out, right on the shore of Nineveh – where God had called him to go in the first place.
So, in this morning’s reading from chapter 3, we heard Jonah doing what he had been called to do, preach repentance to the people of Nineveh. And it worked. Chapter 3 tells us that Jonah’s preaching made the people repent, all the way up to the king of Nineveh, who called on the whole kingdom to change its ways. And then Jonah rejoiced in the Lord, right? No. Then we find out that Jonah was angry with God, because God chose to spare Nineveh after everyone repented. Jonah didn’t want his preaching to be the successful end to things, he wanted to preach repentance and then watch as God carried out a fiery judgment against the city. So the book of Jonah ends with God explaining God’s penchant for mercy, while Jonah sulks.
Jonah was called by God to do something that he really did not want to do. He refused. Then God made things miserable for him. In his misery, he repented and did what he was called to do. Then God made the way clear and Jonah succeeded in the mission to which he had been called. That story, as they say in priestly circles, will preach.
As I’ve told you in recent weeks, we are all called by God. How things turn out is a matter of hearing that call and then responding to it, positively or negatively. When we ignore God — or worse yet, say, “no” — life tends to be difficult. But when we say yes — either reluctantly, as Jonah did, or easily, as did Simon, Andrew, James, and John — things seem to work out. Saying yes does not mean that we will have no more problems, it just means that God’s mission will be furthered in the world. And we will be a part of it, with God’s help.
Seminary professor, Will Willimon told a story about a student he had who, like me, was a “second career” student. She had been a social worker for years before hearing a call to ordained ministry. He said that she was terribly disorganized and never was able to turn in her work on time. At the end of one particular semester, Dr. Willimon had warned all of his students that the final assignment had to be turned in on time, or there would be dire consequences. As usual, the problem student did not have her work completed. She told the professor, “I really would love to have gotten this done on time, but there were several other classes that required so much work. I just couldn’t finish yours on time.” Willimon had finally had enough and he exploded! “You have got to do something about your inability to be on time. What is going to happen when you’re in a church and you step into the pulpit on Sunday and say, ‘I really would love to have gotten a sermon written for today, but what with everything else going on, I just couldn’t.’”? He said that she immediately yelled back at him, “Back off! Do you think that I like things being this way? I’m not here because I’m the world’s best student. I’m not here because I’m well organized. I’m here because this is where Jesus called me to be! It was not my first choice to go to seminary, Jesus called. So if you have a problem with my being here, take it up with Jesus, not me!”
Have you ever been called to do something that you absolutely did not want to do? When I first heard the call to ordained ministry, I did everything I could to avoid it. I was only three years out of law school and it was definitely not the time to go back to school. So, to try to push the call aside, I signed up for every ministry I could in our large church, trying to satisfy a general call to serve. But my sense of call just got stronger, as I got busier and busier. Finally, there was something called Stephen Ministry, in which one goes through pretty extensive training and then is paired with someone who needs one-on-one spiritual care. I was convinced that this ministry would do it, once and for all. I wanted no part of personal, one-to-one, intimate ministry. So I signed up for this thing that I definitely did not want. And as always happens when one finally follows a call from God, I was blessed by Stephen Ministry in ways that I never could have imagined. And becoming a Stephen Minister gave me the impetus to stop running from the call to ordination.
What are you being called to? What is Christ Church being called to? To the work of Jesus. And the work of Jesus is love. Love of all sorts and conditions of humans. Feeding them, clothing them, comforting them. Doing all that we can to meet their physical as well as their spiritual needs. Not judging them, or treating them as somehow deficient because they need help. Instead, as our baptismal covenant says, striving for justice and peace, and respecting their dignity. That is the work of Jesus. We are all called to do it in every way we can.
We can run from God’s call. We can try to “fake God out,” by doing something else, like Jonah. Or, also like Jonah, we can just say, “I refuse.” But if we choose that course of action, we will have a hard time. We will struggle, almost like we are pushing a boulder up hill. But when we emulate those first disciples of Jesus and simply leave whatever we are doing to follow the call, Jesus will bless our work and will make us a part of the miraculous wonders being done by the God of all creation.
In the name of the God of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
[Epiphany 3B Sermon 012421, Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:6-14, 1 Cor. 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20]
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