January 25, 2009 Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Mark 1:12-20
“Can you hear me now?”
Last week our guest preacher Steve Jewett reminded us of how we are called by name to serve God. Speaking of Steve, you may want to hear the rest of the story. I don’t mean the sermon he preached…I’m talking about his trip home.
After church last Sunday, Diane and I took Steve out to lunch at the 99 Restaurant. When he ordered up only a bowl of soup, we suggested that he order something to go with it since airport food is not always the best and airplane food is non-existent, unless you like pretzels. So, Steve with his bowl of chowder ordered up a hearty sandwich. I kiddingly said, “Eat well now, because until you get home there’s no knowing where your next meal will come from.” We all had a laugh. Little did we realize the prophetic truth to the statement.
The large lunch now totally consumed, we headed to the parking lot at the Sagamore bridge where we would rendezvous with a bus that will get Steve to terminal E at Logan Airport at 3:30. As we saw Steve unto the bus, Diane and I were grateful for the Plymouth Brockton line as the snow was falling quite hard and the roads were slick. Plus, we knew Steve would get to his gate in plenty of time. Again, another prophetic notion!
That was it, so we thought! Steve told me he would send an email when he arrived home. We told him to have a good flight and thanked him for coming to share in our 2nd Anniversary.
But, there is more to the story. The next morning I went downstairs to my home office to check for email. Instead of finding a note from Steve about his safe arrival home there was an email from Bruce and Marcia Willard. Due to some technical glitch, only part of the email came through. All I could tell was that it was something about Steve. I sent a note back to Bruce and Marcia but then never got back to the computer until evening.
It was in the afternoon when Diane and I visited with many of you at the funeral home during visitation for Sunny Merritt, that we heard what had happened. The rest of the story came with a question that surprised me to say the least:
“Did you see Steve on the 10:00 news last night?”
“Excuse me,” I said.
“Steve was on the news last night. His flight was cancelled so he had to sleep in the airport. The TV station interviewed him as part of the story about all the problems with the snow!”
On Tuesday morning, Steve called me to say that he hadn’t flown out of Logan until Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, Steve boarded a small prop jet for his flight to Sioux City. As the portable stairway was being backed away from the plane it hit one of turbo props. “Everybody off the plane.”
The second plane was ready to take off when the captain announced that there were problems with the hydraulics. “Everybody off the plane.”
The third plane was a winner. Steve said to me on Tuesday that his visit to Massachusetts was perfect, except for the trip home.
Last week Steve opened up the topic of being called by name to serve God. We heard John’s version of Jesus calling his disciples to join him in ministry. This week we hear from Mark about the same thing. Four men are called by Jesus and they drop everything and go with Jesus to preach, teach and heal. There is no fuss. There is no negotiating. There is no complaining and there are no questions. Simon, Andrew, James and John drop their nets and leave with Jesus. Zebedee is left in the boat with only his hired hands. One can only imagine what he thought of this whole thing. Fishing was a long-established way of life for the family and here his very sons simply walk away to follow this stranger.
We compare that story with the fascinating account of Jonah. Since this is an Old Testament or Hebrew story, God is doing the calling and not Jesus. The other striking difference is that Jonah isn’t nearly as cooperative as the four young fishermen. In fact, Jonah doesn’t want to have anything to do with God’s request. The word comes down: “Go to Nineveh and tell them to shape up. Their wickedness could be the end of them.”
Jonah bails out and heads to Joppa where he finds a boat going to Tarshish. He buys a ticket and gets on board. He thinks he’s gotten away from the LORD. Think again, Jonah.
At sea, a ferocious storm kicks up. The crew throws their cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But things deteriorate and the captain decides to solicit some help from Jonah by calling upon God for mercy. Finally, the crew realizes that Jonah is the culprit. It would appear that his God who he says the maker of heaven, land and sea is upset with Jonah and this poor little ship is paying the price. Everybody knows that Jonah was trying to make a getaway.
Finally, the crew and Jonah decide that it is in everybody’s best interest for the crew to toss Jonah overboard. The sea immediately calms down and the crew thanks Jonah’s LORD for saving them. The boat sails on peacefully. However, this is where the whale comes into the story.
We don’t know for sure if it was a whale. Scripture says a great fish. Either way for three days and three nights, sound familiar, Jonah is in the belly of this man eating fish. Not surprisingly, Jonah prays for deliverance and God answers the prayer. The fish spits Jonah out of his stomach and onto the beach.
Now here is where the point about the call really grabs us: “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh…”
To complete this story, Jonah does go, the people their do repent from their evil ways, and God decides not to destroy them.
What fascinates me is the distinction between the four fishermen Jesus calls and the prophet God calls. Simon, Andrew, James and John drop everything and go with Jesus saying “yes” to the call, while Jonah with a direct mandate from God, tries to get away. He wants nothing to do with Nineveh.
I attended a clergy retreat several years ago during which we shared with one another our call to the ministry. Some spoke about answering the call early in life, but there were several there who didn’t go to seminary until after establishing themselves in another career. One commented: “I tried to avoid it...I really did. But in the end, God grabbed a hold of me and didn’t let go.”
God not only calls men and women into the ordained ministry, he calls people into ministry outside ordination. In fact, I am certain that each one of you here this morning has been called. One thing for sure is that you have been called to come to this church. Many of you here have already signed the charter. More of you after the class this morning will sign.
God has called each of us to be here this morning and although many are happy with our new church home and we are doing some great things in the community, we have only just started to explore the full nature of God’s call. There is so much work to be done and we dare not ignore it. We can’t even think of trying to slip away.
With God’s help we will discover just what God wants us to do and as that happens, our ministries and outreach will grow.
Thank you for being part of this exciting and vibrant new church. Together we have answered the call; together we will grow in the living spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.
