Jan. 25, 2015
"The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up,
go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell
you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly
large city, a three days’ walk across. 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."
I want to begin my message today by
thanking you all for your kindness and patience with me while I have been sick
these past few weeks. This last week, in particular, was difficult. I had to
cancel all my groups, meetings, and Bible studies. I was not able to make the
pastoral care visits that I had planned. It was hard for me not to be doing all
the things that I usually do--that I feel called to do as your pastor. While I
was sick, I heard God speaking to me, “Rest! Just rest!” I heard that word so
much that I was getting tired of hearing it! I even heard that word in our lectionary
scriptures this week! Psalm 62 verses 1 and 2, speaks right to my heart: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my
salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my
fortress! I will never be shaken!”
The rest of which the psalmist speaks isn’t
just an “I’m not tired anymore” rest. This is a spiritual and emotional rest, a
feeling of peace and serenity that can only be found in God. This is the rest
that Jesus promises is a gift from him
to all who trust in Him. Listen to Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to me, all who are
weary and heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and
humble in heart, and you will find rest
for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
After hearing this Word from God this
week, my reluctant response was, “OK, Lord, you have my attention
now. I can’t do anything but pray.” And in the stillness, in the quiet, I did
learn from the Lord just how much I need Him and how much it pleases Him when I
pray! And with all the kindness, gentleness, and encouragement I received these
past few weeks, I could hear our Lord reminding me of His love--the love He has
for all human beings!
This is the merciful and gracious God in
whom Jonah believes. His story begins with the Lord commanding him, “Go at once
to Ninevah, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has
come before me.” Jonah’s answer is to run far, far away from the great, wicked
city of Ninevah, the enemy of the Israelite people. It was the oldest and most populous city of the ancient Assyrian Empire, situated on the east bank of the Tigris River opposite modern Mosul, Iraq. The city, located
at the intersection of important north-south and east-west trade routes, was
actually the largest city in the entire world until a civil war broke out in 612
B.C. It was close to a tributary of the
Tigris, the Khawṣar River, which added to the value of the fertile agricultural
and pastoral lands in the district.
The Gentile city was wicked in the sight of
God because it was an important religious center for worship of the Akkadian goddess Ishtar.People came from all over to worship and offer
sacrifices to her. The king’s palace was unrivaled in beauty and splendor. Archeologists
studying the ruins of the ancient city discovered a palace of at least 80
rooms on a foundation of 160 million bricks!
Stone carvings on the walls include many
battle scenes, with impalings and scenes showing the king’s men parading the
spoils of war before him. The king bragged about his conquests: writing of
Babylon "Its inhabitants, young and old, I did not spare, and with their
corpses I filled the streets of the city." He later wrote about a battle
and his persecution of the Jews, saying "And Hezekiah of Judah, who had not submitted to my yoke...him I shut up in
Jeruselum his royal city like a caged bird. Earthworks I threw up against him,
and anyone coming out of his city gate I made pay for his crime. His cities
which I had plundered I had cut off from his land."
No wonder Jonah didn’t want to go to Ninevah!
But he does--after God gets his attention by having him swallowed by a great
fish. In the belly of a fish for 3 days and 3 nights, Jonah cries out to the
Lord in his distress. “As my life was ebbing away,” Jonah prays, “I remembered
the Lord; and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who worship
vain idols forsake their true loyalty. But I with the voice of thanksgiving
will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the
Lord!’ Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry
land.”
Now we come to today’s passage.“The word
of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Ninevah, that
great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”
Our
merciful Lord is saying to this reluctant, frightened prophet, “Let’s try this
again…”
Jonah finally obeys, going to the city and
proclaiming, “Forty days more, and Ninevah shall be overthrown!” And to Jonah’s
dismay, the Spirit draws the people to repent. The king comes down from his lofty throne in the palace unrivaled in beauty and splendor, and he covers
himself with sackcloth and ashes. This is a Gentile who has adopted a religious
practice of ancient Israel when it humbles itself before God. This is truly a
miracle! Even the animals repent and take part in the fast and wearing of sackcloth. Everyone proves their repentance is real when they sin no more, they turn from “their evil ways
and from the violence that is in their hands.”
With a surprising twist, the
cruel king is the one who is the model for faith in the God of Israel who is,
as Jonah says in chapter 4, “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding
in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.”
The king tells his people, “Who knows? Who
knows?! God may relent and change his mind, he may turn from his fierce anger,
so that we do not perish.”
***
Friends, I ask you today, “Who knows? Who knows this God who is gracious and
merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love--ready to relent from
punishing?” I know Him! Do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? Do you trust
in Him? He is God who revealed Himself to us, as Philippians 2:7 says, when he
emptied himself of his divinity and took on the humble form of a slave! John
3:17 assures us that God did not
send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him! “Come
unto me,” Jesus says, “you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you
rest!”
Come to Him, friends, so that you may have
Christ’s peace. So that you might know his salvation! This is a God of second
chances! A God who sent a fish to rescue his disobedient prophet. God had an
important job that He wanted Jonah to do. Then God said, “Let’s try this again.”
Brothers and sisters, God has an important
job for His Church! He has important work for us all to do, if we listen for
His voice! May we all learn from Jonah, who FINALLY obeyed, and the Lord blessed
Him by doing some amazing things through his servant. He spared the largest
city in the world of its time from perishing in its sins!
May we especially learn from God’s Son, who
spent time in prayer no matter how tired or busy He was. His Son who is gentle
and humble--and wants us to learn from him. Christ's ways are easier because He does the work through us. His burden is light. Be still and wait quietly for the
one who is our hope, rock and fortress. And you will find rest for your souls!
Let
us pray.
Holy
One, we offer You our thanksgiving and praise. We come to You now for your rest
and to listen for your voice. We thank you for your Word to us who are so like
Jonah, at times. We run from you by allowing the noise and busy-ness of our
lives wear us out, consume us so there is very little left for you. You have a
simpler life in mind for all of us. This is your new life in Jesus Christ. We
are your creatures, commanded only to love one another and ALL people, to forgive
one another and ALL people, and to share Your Good News with everyone. Give us
faith to proclaim Your hope to friends and neighbors near and far, to strangers
and enemies. Give us courage to be obedient, even if we are the only ones who
seem to be responding to your call. Lord, may you never have to say to us,
“Let’s try this again…” In Christ Jesus we pray! Amen.
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