Service Notes

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. (Jonah 3:1-10,NRSV)

Last week we left our old friend Jonah spewed up on shore after having run from the Lord. After Jonah had worked out a few things in the belly of that great fish the scripture records that, "the word of the Lord came to him a second time." It is interesting that God stayed in hot pursuit of his unwilling evangelist. Make no mistake about it he stays after us as well. Rather unwillingly, Jonah finally said yes to God's call.

"Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned" was not much of a sermon by anyone's standard. The people of Nineveh heard this otherwise half-hearted, half-baked sermon and responded by repenting of their sins. God was able to use what Jonah preached even though his heart was not so much in it.

Preaching has been a staple of the church since the very beginning. It has been a prime way of sharing the gospel. The preacher takes the Word of God, parses what God is trying to say, and leaves it to the people to respond.

The Apostle Paul puts it well when he writes in Romans 10:14ff, "How, then, can they call upon the one who they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?" As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'"

It has been said that the most effective sermon is the one that is lived. In that sense, we are all preachers. We are all called to preach when it comes to living the sort of lives Christ would have us to live. Such preaching strikes to the very heart of our outreach to other people. There's always room at God's table for one more person.

We are called to go and bring them in. We are called to be present in the name of Christ, offering the good news about Jesus Christ to those around us, leading them to the place where they can accept for themselves that same good news. It is called evangelism and we do that by word and deed.

Matthew 9:36 records that "when Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them. They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36) That same compassion is to be ours as well. Those who follow Jesus are to be just as concerned as he was. Just as Jesus gathered his disciples around him and called them to go, so we are to do the same.

Matthew chapter 10 has Jesus gathering his disciples around him and sending them out. He didn't dare do that though without first giving them some instructions. "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter the town of the Samaritans," he said. "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel." Christ has a way of directing our paths. For Jonah, the path God set out before him led to a faraway land. For Christ's disciples, that path led closer to home. While we are called to "all the world," we certainly need to be concerned for our corner of it.

The instructions Jesus offered his disciples in Matthew chapter 10 were not just about place, but other things as well. He encouraged his disciples to do what they did out in the open. They were called to proclaim the good news from the rooftop and in the light of day. Christianity has never been a secret society. Regrettably, we consider it as such more often than we should.

I wonder about our own sense of urgency when it comes to the soul's salvation of those around us. Let's face it, we are more like Jonah who had to be chased down and confronted by the long arm of the Lord than we would ever care to admit. There is no escaping God's call. The gist of our passage for the day is that God stands ready to do great things through you and me. It all hinges on our willingness to obey.