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Sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ
You and I, we have a chance; we can be saved; we should not be among those who receive the punishment that they deserve, that we deserve.
I’ve often heard people speak of the Old Testament as graceless; they see the God of the Old Testament as being concerned only with obedience to God’s Law. And yet we have this story of Jonah and Nineveh. Jonah was a prophet called by God; he was called to speak God’s word of judgment to the people of Nineveh, but Jonah at first refused; and then Jonah tried to sail away in another direction; he eventually, did speak God’s word to the Ninevites, but after proclaiming God’s word, he went up on a mountain to watch, to see what God would do and to sulk, believing in his heart that God would forgive these people if they repented. Jonah did God’s will, but only after some persuasion, and he made it clear that he didn’t like it; and still God loved him. And then we have the Ninevites; they were enemies of Israel; they were worshippers of other gods. In spite of that, God loved them and that is why God sent Jonah to them; God wanted to give them a chance to be redeemed and when they repented God forgave them. The Old Testament is not just a book of judgment and punishment; within it we find numerous stories of God’s grace, God’s love and forgiveness and mercy. In our first reading for this morning, we read just a portion of the story that told of how God loved and forgave both Jonah and the people of Nineveh. And so, I say again, there is a chance for you and for me to be saved and this even before we take into consideration Jesus.
Let’s be honest with ourselves; we sin, we often turn a blind eye to racism, to violence, to hatred, we may even support some of it, we occasionally talk behind the backs of others, we often openly present a me-first attitude and so ignore the suffering of many while we enjoy our own prosperity, we may even take some unapproved office supplies home with us from work or ignore it when we see others doing so. The sad thing, in all of this, is that we’re the good ones. We are more like Jonah than we are the Ninevites, in that we have a religious pedigree; we are after all Christians who go to church and who profess our faith when we come to church and try at least some of the time to follow Jesus’ example. But also, as it turns out, we are like Jonah in that we are reluctant to do God’s will, to share the good news of Jesus Christ, to share our faith outside of the church and, it annoys us to no end, when some “good for nothing” people, as we think of them, maybe immigrants or ex-cons or people who seem reluctant to work, get a break in the criminal justice system or receive welfare support or are given job training or some other kind of help. We worked to get where we are and what we have, so we are not happy when they get a break.
Jonah missed one very important fact and we seem to do pretty much miss the same thing; Jonah had the benefit of knowing God and Jonah did not take into account his own refusal to speak God’s word and his attempt to escape God’s calling and his miserable response to God’s love for the people of Nineveh when he judged Nineveh in his own mind unworthy. Not taking this into account, Jonah did not, himself, repent before God for his sins. But God’s love could not be ignored even by Jonah as God taught Jonah a lesson, reminding him of God’s love for all people and demonstrating God’s desire to forgive rather than to punish; we today have, in addition to what Jonah had, Jesus and the love and forgiveness he gives to us. Funny, that in this story of Jonah and the Ninevites, the Ninevites became the heroes, or shall I say, they become the ones who showed the Lord the proper respect and trust as they repented, as they took off their fine garments and put-on rough sack cloth, as they cried out their words of repentance and as they shoveled ash upon their heads showing the Lord their regret for their sins.
Strange isn’t it? It is often the person that is looked down upon that shows best what it means to be a follower of God and a follower of Jesus. It is the poor person who first asked for money from a lost boy, who then helped the lost boy by giving the boy the money needed to call home (the lost boy had left the Philadelphia Zoo, slipping away from his counselor, but thanks to this other boy, he made it home safely.) The truth is people, even us good church members fall short; consider how we choose to donate to the ministry of Jesus Christ; how many of our offerings, are not based on what we can give or can afford to give, but rather on the fact that it might be more than what someone is giving or we give what money we have left over after our bills are paid. Thanks to Cathy, and not to the salaries that we have made, Cathy and I have always been among the larger contributors to the church’s ministry; and still, I confess we probably could have been more generous. Generosity, love, forgiveness, mercy do not come easy to us and are not always dependent upon commonly accepted standards, but are rather examples of our willingness to show grace, mostly in response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ.
Now, consider what Jesus did for us on the cross, and then, keeping a straight face, try to justify anyone’s or your own racism and racial injustice, or violence, or hatred or talking behind the backs of others, or having a me-first attitude or ignoring the suffering of others while enjoying a good amount of prosperity. That is not easy, but it is what we as Christians are called to do. God wants us to challenge ourselves, to change from our sinfulness and self-centeredness and learn to love one another. Again, let me say, through Jesus we have a chance; we have the promise of salvation, even if we do not repent and even if we do not turn our lives around as we should. Knowing that, we might want to be like the Ninevites and humble ourselves before God and change our ways so that we more fully experience God’s love. We have a chance for salvation, for real joy, so repent, change your ways, love God and your neighbor (all of your neighbors regardless of their race, language spoken, economic standing, education, sexual orientation, age, etc.). There you will find real joy.