The word of God came to Jonah a second time, saying,"Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim the message that I tell you." So Jonah went to Nineveh, according to the word of God. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. He cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that would be brought upon them; and did not do it.
After John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea - they were fishermen. Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
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In December of 1955, Rose Parks was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to move to the back of a city bus. Leaders in the African-American community organized a city-wide transportation boycott, and turned to the young black pastor, Martin Luther King, Jr. as the leader. King was just 26 years old, and was torn by issues of call - to ministry, to discipleship. God called him to a vastly different ministry - and the rest is history. He became President of a new organisation called the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He organised the great civil rights marches. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. His call spelled the end of his life, figuratively and literally speaking.
January is Black History month, and in particular we remember the call of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, whose birthday was January 15, 1929. Had he lived, he would have been 83 now.
Poor old Jonah – he really thought he’d got away. In Scene 1, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah says “no thanks” , takes a ship, and ends up as fish food.
In Scene 2, Jonah is a prisoner in the dank, dark cavern of the fish’s belly. He prays a doleful lament ("God-get-me-out-of-this-jam, selah") that is both inspiring and effective. Up to this point, Jonah’s trip has been a real “downer”. If you follow the Hebrew language, the writer uses the word for "down" to describe Jonah’s journey. Jonah goes . . .
Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down to the innards of the vessel, down into the sea, down into the belly of the fish, down to the land of death.
Then the winds of destiny change. Jonah is now “up” on the beach, having just been dropped off by Moby Dick. Can you see him? He’s still pulling seaweed from his beard when he hears that unmistakable voice.
"Oh Jonah?"
"Yes . . .?"
"It’s me again."
"Oh."
"I still need you to help me."
"Okay, okay. I’ll go where you want me to go, do what you want me to do, etc."
Okay, I said I want you to go to Nineveh.
So Jonah finally arrives at Nineveh to preach. Let’s look at Jonah’s message.
How would you feel if this happened next Sunday at church? Call to worship, hymns, and when when it comes time for the homily, I tell you “In forty days this church will collapse to the ground. May God add his blessing to these words." Well, that is exactly how this reluctant prophet addresses the people of Nineveh. "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed. The End." The end? What do you mean, "the end?" What’s the rest of the sermon?
Jonah’s message is abrupt. These are the briefest words of prophecy in the entire Bible. We don’t actually know where this brief message came from - God says go and give the message that I will tell you - but nowhere in the entire story does God actually give that particular message to Jonah. Elsewhere in the scriptures, every time a prophet said something, it always started with “Thus saith the Lord....” Every prophet stated clearly and precisely what repentance needed to be done.
We have an interesting insight here that will shed even more light on this revival. The writer carefully uses the word, "Elohim" as the word for "God." Elohim is a generic word, the kind of word you use when you’re not too familiar with God. The people have never heard of Yahweh, but even before all the facts are in, they turn their lives upside down. To the last citizen, the people of Nineveh repent at once.
A couple of thousand years later, Jesus stands before the religious leaders - the equivalent of bishops, and Popes, and says "The people of Nineveh will rise up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah. But someone greater than Jonah is here, and yet you refuse to repent."
I love comparing the styles of the Gospel writers. Luke is a storyteller, and the writing is graceful. Mark sticks to the bare bones of the story, the ultimate in mininal. Mark has telescoped events that occurred over days, or even weeks, into a couple of moments.
It makes us wonder what Mark considered not important. What’s missing from the text? Andrew was Peter’s younger brother - did he just follow whatever Peter did? What about James and John, the sons of Zebedee? Were they tired of cleaning fish and mending nets? Did they want to get out and see some more of the world?
Mark just tells us a few pieces of information. Two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." Repeat again: another two fishermen. Jesus. "Follow me." "At once they left their nets." In five verses Mark tells us an account of how four fishermen just drop everything and follow after Jesus on the whim of an invitation--given in less than twelve words.
Doesn’t that strike you as just a bit odd? Did they really just get up and go, just like that? No
goodbyes? Just immediately drop their plans for their lives? No counting the cost. No weighing of options?
Let’s put it into a more modern context. What would be your response if your teen came to you with this piece of news?
"Guess what? I’ve met this cool guy over the internet."
"Oh? Really? That’s nice."
"Yeah, and he’s asked me to marry him right away, and I said yes!"
"Do you know where he lives? Who his parents are? Does he go to church? Is he Christian? Does he have a job? "
"No, but we’re going to get married right away! Isn’t that great?"
Maybe Jesus wasn’t talking about ‘chronos’ time - chronology, calendar, clock, aging. The words were “The realm of God has come near.” Kairos time, or God’s time. Jonah didn’t want to be part of God’s time, he wanted to do things on his own time. God kept coming after him. Remember the words of Psalm 139 from last week? If I go out into the universe, you are there. If I go to the darkest depths, you are there? Where can I go, that you are not there?
Maybe the fishermen recognised at some deep spiritual level that this was Kairos time. Mark records Jesus using the word "kairos”. God’s time. So when he says “Follow me” he is saying “turn from your sins and embrace this good news." Kairos time means a special time- God’s time - that is, the right time, a time in which your whole life is caught up in a moment, when everything crystallizes, and everything hinges on whether you say yes or no.
I wonder if, to each of us, there comes a time that is Kairos time - a time when we say yes and trust? Martin Luther King recognised that beyond a call to ministry, God called him into an unknown future. The civil rights movement was Kairos time - God’s time.
This isn’t a story about evangelism to other people. It’s a story of invitation--to invite us to open our lives to God’s kingdom. This morning God stands among us calling out to us in kairos time. Time to respond to what God wants to do in your life. Be impulsive! Make a response that comes from deep inside you. Follow your heart, not your head. Plenty of reasons to go back to fishing and mending nets. No time, too busy, have other things to do, gotta cook, work, get the kids through school, attend my aging parent, take a class, sit on a committee. Listen to your heart, respond to God without having all the facts, without knowing, without worrying, just doing it. That’s what being called and named is about.
CALLED
We are called
to leave behind our solitary searching,
to put on that single garment of destiny -
the uniform of faithfulness -
worn by creatures great and small,
old and forgotten,
young and eager,
broken and bewildered,
spirited and set on fire:
sisters and brothers who share not race or tongue,
but whose hearts are claimed by love,
signed by a cross.
Our future is together, arm in arm,
finding healing as we heal,
knowing freedom in our forgiving.
We are the strangest travellers:
seeking no reward at trail's end,
As long as we know the joy of journeying with him.
We are called
Disciples.
We are called His.
Sources:
1. “Called and Named” January 18, 2009 Rev. Fran Ota
2. “God Wants to Save Whom?” a sermon based on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 by Rev. Thomas Hall
3. “Fishers of People” a sermon based on Mark 1:14-20 by Rev. Thomas Hall
4. Poem by Timothy Haut, Deep River, Connecticut. January 18, 2009.
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