January 21, 2024 "The Reluctant Preacher"

 Readings: Psalm 126, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24  Mark 1:14-20, Jonah 3:1-5 & 10
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, January 21 2024

Last week we were thinking about the call of God, and the experience of Samuel, who was tingling as he said; "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."  Today our readings reflect again on ‘The Call’ of God. The first story was the call of Simon, Andrew, James and John to leave behind the fishing business, and get on with the business of fishing for the Kingdom. In the second story, Jonah comes from out of a fishy situation before going to the Ninevites with a message of judgment.

There seems little hesitation to the call of Jesus in the response of Simon and Andrew. Maybe, Zebedee, the father of James and John, was reluctant to let his sons go, but they themselves seem to have had a tingling that this was the right thing to do.

By contrast, Jonah ends up washed out on the beach. Whilst he had a strong sense of calling, he had an even stronger sense that the last thing he wanted to do was to respond to what God was calling him to do.

As a reluctant prophet, he was in good company.  Moses and Jeremiah both pleaded with God that they were inadequate for their calling. Elijah ran away to a cave because he feared for his life if he spoke against King Ahab. Amos and Isaiah found their message to 'dreadful' to announce.

When all those years ago, I felt a call to the ministry... a tingling sense that to work full time in the church was my vocation... I kicked against it.  It really wasn't something that I had envisioned for my life. Pastors that I knew seemed overworked, underpaid and unappreciated, (except as an easy target for their parishioner’s criticism or a comedian’s satire.) They were old, usually wore black suits and they hated rock music.

I, on the other hand, spent most weekends going to rock concerts and many weeknights playing in a rock band... The only black I wanted to wear (apart from cool sunshades) was leather or denim.  I had a head full of young dreams about fame, fortune and the fantastic experiences that life would bring. I can too easily identify with Jonah and Moses and Jeremiah and Elijah and Amos, who, when they felt a call, said to God, "Great idea, but send somebody else."  

Oh yes, you had that tingling sensation that God was opening a new door before you, or that there was something you needed to do, but then you start thinking about what's through that door, or realize that what you need to do is not quite what you thought it was. You feel then, that, maybe you were wrong, or maybe you don't want to do this after all, or maybe God's not the nice guy the preacher had talked about!

The meat of Jonah's problem had to do with Jonah's understanding of God. Our problem with responding to the needs Christ places before us is often rooted in the same thing. Our image, our understanding, our conception of “Who God is” and “What God is like”, doesn't  resonate with “Who we are” and “What we want” out of life.

Jonah did not like Ninevites. They were the enemy. Jonah was really pleased that God had a grievance with them. Jonah really hoped that God would blast them out of existence just like Sodom and Gomorrah. The last thing Jonah wanted anybody to do was alert the Ninevites to the impending wrath of God that would fall on them if they did not change their ways.

Following his strange encounter with the big fish, reluctantly, Jonah got on with the job God was calling him to do. “Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" (Jonah 3:4). The impact of this reluctant preacher, an enemy from a foreign land with a distinctly fishy odor, confirmed Jonah’s worst fears.  “The people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.” (3:5)

Jonah had all along cherished a sneaking suspicion that if he went and told the Ninevites to repent, they just might. Now he'd have to live with them for the rest of his life. He was mad at God. “Lord, you’ve made me look a right idiot. I go telling them that they are going to be destroyed… a great idea… and then You go and change Your mind… and forgive?” He heads out of the city where he sits and sulks under a tree - but that’s another story.

Responding to the call of God is an act of submission. It does not make everything in our world rosy. It does not take our “Nineveh’s” away. Following Jesus Christ does not bring instant answers to all our problems.  Life doesn’t flow like that.  We are complex, unique, contradictory beings. We have, in ourselves, places we are reluctant to go, challenges we don’t want to face. We get into patterns and habits and ways of doing and living that we would rather accept than change.

The call of God comes and upsets the apple cart. The Call of God comes and says, “Hey, let’s do something about this!” We say, “Let’s not.” The call of God comes and says, “Let me in!” We say, “Leave it out.” The Call of God comes and says, “You know, there’s something not right, here.” We say, “We know, but that’s the way it has always been. You’re not from round here, are you?”

Guess what? I’m still the reluctant preacher.  I’m still having days when I kick against my calling rather than thank God for it.  Chances are that you feel the same way about your daily lot in life from time to time.  During such times we need to remind ourselves to be Ninevites, not Jonah’s.  Jonah heard the Call and headed out of town.  The Ninevites heard the Call and turned their lives around.

Jonah was afraid to embrace his fears. He would rather God dealt with things without his participation.  The Ninevites embraced the message that Jonah brought to them, and sought God to renew their lives and they prayed and fasted. Jonah eventually, reluctantly and begrudgingly, accepted that God loved people he couldn’t. The Ninevites gratefully and graciously received God’s forgiveness and rejoiced that God’s love was even for people like them.

Just before calling Simon and Andrew to follow Him, Jesus makes a declaration; "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." (Mark 1:15). The idea of the Kingdom coming near, in such a way as to cause people to repent, to change, to turn their lives in a different direction, lies at the heart of Jonah’s story.

I can give you one good solid reason why we need to change. We need to change because God is not calling us to stay as we are. We need to change because our love for Jesus Christ is but a poor shadow of the love of Jesus for us.  We need to change, because we do not rightly discern the nature of the judgment of God against evil or that the grace of God is greater than sin.

Overcoming our prejudices, our mistaken views of God, our hates and our complaints, our fears and our misplaced pride, is not an easy task. Not for any of us. Not for congregations or pastors or preachers or even prophets ... ask Jonah!

The Good News is that change can happen when we turn our focus away from ourselves and towards Jesus.  That’s how it was for the first disciples.  They knew enough of Jesus on that day when He came walking along the shore, that when He said “Follow me!” they were ready to go.

I don’t know exactly how God’s call is showing itself in your life right now, but I do know God is still calling people like you and me to commit to following Jesus Christ.

•    Maybe God’s called you to a hard place and you don’t know how you’re going to get through.

•    Maybe God’s call to you is just to hang on in there with your doubts and unresolved issues, because now is not the moment for everything to be clear.

•    Maybe you have what we described last week as a ‘tingling’, a sense that there is a particular task or function within the body of Christ that God is guiding you towards.

•    Maybe your lives circumstances mean that unwelcome changes are coming your way and it’s not clear where things go from here.

•    Maybe some us have our own ‘Nineveh.’ A situation we’re trying to avoid, but God keeps bringing it to mind.  An unresolved issue that we’re almost afraid to think about because we have a sneaky suspicion that it may not turn out as we planned if God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

All of us need to hear, one more time, the declaration of Jesus;

“The time is fulfilled,
And the kingdom of God has come near;
Repent, and believe
In the good news”

The Good News that God always calls for a good reason.
The Good News that responding to God’s call leads to unknown treasures.
The Good News that Grace is greater than sin and love is stronger than hate.
The Good News that God in Christ calls people like us,
To be His followers.

“Don’t be a loner and moaner and groaner, like Jonah.
Like Simon and Andrew and James and John
When God calls... go on.
Allow God’s Spirit to guide you through it.
And when Jesus says “Follow...
 Just do it”.

AMEN

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D