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The Prophets V:
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David A. Renwick| Listen |
Our scripture reading this morning is from the third chapter of Jonah. Before I read that chapter, let me set the scene for this particular reading. Many of you know that our sermons just now are following a series in which we’re looking together at the ministry of the prophets of ancient Israel, those great religious leaders who touched the life and the conscience, became the inspiration for the nation of Israel, over a span of perhaps six hundred years or so: between a thousand years before Christ and four hundred years before Christ, mainly focusing around seven hundred, six hundred, five hundred years before Christ, – a large span of time where voices were heard and sometimes listened to, and sometimes rejected.
Today, we come to look at the ministry of the prophet Jonah whose story is set in the book of Jonah around seven hundred years or so before the birth of Christ. At that time, the major superpower in that part of the Mediterranean world was Assyria. Not Syria, but Assyria, which occupied the territory which is now Syria as well as the northern part of Iraq. And the capital of Assyria was the city of Nineveh. The Assyrians were the archenemies of the people of Israel. In the year 722, they defeated the nation of Israel and they carried off their leaders into exile. This is what we call the exile of "the ten northern tribes." Some people were left back in Israel who thereafter hated the Assyrians, the "archenemies" who had destroyed their land, destroyed their society.
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Scripture Readings
Matthew 25:14-30 The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, "Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, "Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents." His master said to him, "Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master." Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, "Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours." But his master replied, "You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Jonah 3:1 - 4:2 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish." When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the LORD and said, "O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. (NRSV) |
In the Book of Jonah, it was some time after this particular event that God called Jonah into the ministry as a prophet. He called him to go and preach to the people of Assyria in their capital city of Nineveh. He called him to go to preach to his archenemies and called them to repent.
Jonah didn’t want to do this. So he tried to run away from God. He gets on a ship that’s bound for Spain. That’s where Tarshish is (Jonah 1:3), and a storm arises and the sailors on the boat are superstitious, as sailors have been from generation to generation, and they look for a reason for this storm which is going to destroy their boat and their lives – and they find that reason in the person of Jonah who doesn’t deny it. "I’m the one. I’m running from God. I’m the one who has caused this storm" (1:7). And so he is willing to be thrown overboard to bring them peace. Overboard he goes, and he is swallowed by a big fish and there, in the belly of the fish, he prays; and then he is spewed, it’s not very pleasant idea, he is spewed out onto the land – alive!
Now, for many people, the story of Jonah ends at that very point. That is, they get all hung up on whether or not a person can actually live in the belly of a big fish, whether they can be swallowed alive and still live. And that becomes the whole point of the story for them. Whereas, for me, that is really not the issue at all. Or, let me put it this way: I certainly believe that the God of whom we sang in our opening hymn when we sang "How Great Thou Art," the God who made all the world, can take a person and have them fall into the sea and have them be in the belly of a great fish for three days, and still live. If God wants to do that kind of thing, our God certainly can do that kind of thing. God’s power is surely beyond question here.
God can do that. But, whether or not it happened, the real question is "is this the central message of the Book of Jonah: that God can save people who fall into the sea? Or that a big fish can keep a human alive for three days?" Or is there another message that the big fish sometimes blinds us to? Let me put it another, way, if the story of Jonah is just a story, what’s the message? If the story of Jonah is a parable, just like Jesus’ parables, what’s the point or meaning of the parable? If you ask the question like this, then I believe that you’ll come to see that there’s a whole aspect to the message and meaning of Jonah that begins after the whale of a tail, a message that many people never get to!
So in chapter three, Jonah has just come out on dry land and we pick up the story there with what, for me, is one of the great verses in all of scripture. Hear God’s word, the third chapter of Jonah at the first verse: (See Scripture at right)
So what are we to say briefly about this story of Jonah on this "Time and Talent" Sunday? . . .as we lead up to a time in which we want to think about the time and talent that we offer to God. I just want to highlight three points from this particular story.
A God of Abundant mercy and Amazing Grace. First, in the book of Jonah, the God who is portrayed for us is a God of abundant mercy and amazing grace. The God who is portrayed for us a God of abundant mercy and amazing grace who gives to people a second chance.
Jonah 3:1: "The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time."
And not really just to Jonah but to the people of Nineveh as well. God gives a second chance. They were failures. They were people who had lived outside the will of God just as Jonah had.
He tried to run away from God. He had heard God’s call. It wasn’t as if he was unsure of God’s call. He had heard God’s call. He knew what God wanted him to do and he said no. Not going to do that. And he runs away and God still pursues him.
And the people of Nineveh, who are they? The people of Assyria, who are they? They are a people prone to violence, to injustice, to cruelty. They don’t know the God of Israel, the creator of the ends of the earth. They have no time for this God whatsoever. If anyone deserved to be punished by God, certainly in Jonah’s opinion, it was the people of Assyria, the people of Nineveh. They needed to be damned and not saved by the living God. They were not worthy of God’s grace and mercy, but who is? No one. God pursued them as he pursued Jonah with grace and mercy, just as would pursue you and me in years to come -- and many others, even before Jonah.
- Look back to Moses
who, in the beginning of his ministry, if you want to call it that,
took the law into his own hands, killed a person and found that his
desire to save the nation Israel was thwarted by his own impetuous
behavior. But God didn’t let him go. God came to him a second time.
- And the same is true, isn’t it, of Simon Peter, who denies our Lord Jesus Christ at the time of Jesus’ own crisis, when he’s betrayed, when he is arrested, when he is going to the cross. Simon Peter lets down the Savior who gives his life for him. But Jesus turns to him a second time and says, "Feed my sheep. Lead my church."
So what you learn from Jonah, first of all, is this: That if you are among those who in any way have blown it, the first time, the second time, the third, the fourth . . . however many times it may be; if you are the kind of person who says, "I’m living my life as if I have been swallowed by a big fish and I cannot get out, I am absolutely stuck," then the God of the book of Jonah is the God for you. The God of abundant, abundant mercy. Amazing grace. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.
A God who commands response and call to action. But this God of abundant mercy and amazing grace is not a God of what we might call "soft love." Well then, having shown abundant mercy and amazing grace, just says, "Now, well, go do your own thing." No, this God of abundant mercy and amazing grace is a God who in the second place commands response. Commands response and calls to action. It was the ‘word of the Lord’ that came to Jonah the second time. "You’ve heard about my mercy, you’ve received my grace. Now, listen to the word of God."
- The word of God that
came to Jonah was quite simple: "Get up and go. Do something. Get up
and go."
- To the Ninevites, the people of Assyria, it was "repent," implicit in the words he spoke. Abandon your own ways. Abandon your violence. Abandon your injustice. Turn to God. The God of abundant mercy and amazing grace was a God who commands response and calls to action.
Some years ago, some of you may remember a classic best seller business book called, In Search of Excellence by Tom Peterson and Robert Waterman, who discovered that one of the traits of successful corporations was this: They had what they called a bias for action. They talk, they chatted, they discussed, they planned, but then they did. They actually did, whether they were quite ready for doing or not, they did. They had a bias for action.
That surely is part of the message of Jonah, God’s message to us. It certainly is the message of our first scripture reading, the parable of the talents that Jesus told: I’ve given you gifts. Don’t look and see what others have. Don’t look around you to see if you’ve got as many as everybody else. Don’t compare yourself with others. Find your gifts and use them. Find them. Use them. Get up. Go. Repent. Change. Move.
A God of Remarkable Results. The God of the book of Jonah is a God of abundant mercy and amazing grace who commands response and calls to action and who, when we heed this God’s voice, can do remarkable things, provide remarkable results, so often beyond our knowing and beyond our imagination. How incredible, the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. To this man who hated a group of people. Far from perfect. Get up, go the Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim through the message that I will tell you – and the people of Nineveh actually listened and believed God. They proclaimed a fast and everyone, great and small, including the king, put on sackcloth. Who would have believed it? Who would have conceived of such a thing? How amazing the enemies of God becoming God’s friends. The least likely responding to the least likely prophet, second chance Jonah, runaway Jonah, prejudiced Jonah, imperfect Jonah, responding in massive numbers.
So who knows, then, what God will do through you and me, if God did that through Jonah. Through the lives of ordinary people, even today, what marvelous things God may do! Even through us, when even one talent we offer to God, a God of abundant mercy and amazing grace, who commands us to respond and who calls us to action.
Let us bow before this God in prayer.
Holy God, you know us by name. Just as you knew Jonah and you don’t give up on us. How we bless you and ask that you might reveal to us a sense of our gifts that we might get up and go, that we might use them for your glory. Through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.