Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20

Do we trust God?

We get such a small portion of Jonah’s story today that we don’t get the full flavor of it. Let me remind you of the fuller story, though still not the whole story.

Nineveh is the capital of Assyria. Israel and Assyria were enemies, as much as Israel and Palestine are today. God said to Jonah, “Go to Nineveh and give them a message. Tell them ‘In 40 days the city will be destroyed.’” The first time God said this to Jonah, he got on a ship in the opposite direction. There was no way he was taking any kind of message into the land of his enemy.

But God was persistent and sent a violent storm. Jonah knew the storm was because of his resistance to God, so he jumped off the boat and was swallowed by a big fish. On the third day, the fish spat Jonah out onto the beach. “Aha,” said God. “Now go to Nineveh and give them my message!”

Jonah started at the edge of the city and headed to the center of the city shouting God’s message: ‘In 40 days the city will be destroyed.’ By the time he was downtown, people had started responding to his message. They repented and put on mourning clothing, even on their animals. Because of this repentance God changed God’s mind about destroying the city.  

The story really comes down to one question. Does Jonah trust God to do the best for him and for the people of Assyria?

… This is a common story for many of us. God says, I want you to do X and we do the opposite. It’s my story. For many years, God told me to go to seminary and I gave excuses. I’m too old; I can’t afford it; I haven’t written essay papers in 25 years. And so on. But there came the day when I had to give in. I got tired of telling God “No.” and I applied to the candidacy committee for entrance and to the seminary for admittance.  

It came down to one question. Did I trust God to take care of me, to provide for me and help me succeed?

… The disciples were different. At least the way the story is told, they were. But I have a hunch that “immediately” wasn’t so immediate. My logical, skeptical, mind says Jesus moved into town, and got to know people. He set up his business, carpentry or something else, working with his hands.

He got to know the people in town and had conversations with them about his / God’s vision for the future. These four fishermen responded and together they made plans for a mission trip to the towns around Galilee.

I’ve read various opinions about these fishermen. Some have said they were poor, indebted to the Roman system, so to leave their boats was a significant move. It would mean suffering for their families when they left town and gave up their income. Others have said they were wealthy businessmen who spoke excellent Greek and owned more than one home. The text does say they had hired men, so they had help with the boats.

I’m inclined to believe they had a decent income, but they weren’t wealthy. I also believe that, at least at first, they left Capernaum for a few days at a time and returned home often to go fishing. These four, Simon and Andrew, James and John, became the core group of the larger group who would eventually come to follow Jesus. They all said, “Yes, I’ll go with you.” They said yes to God’s call, and whether it was immediately or after a time of preparation doesn’t really matter.

… I suspect we all have times in our lives when we said “yes” or at least “soon” to God.  I suspect we all have times in our lives when we said “no” or at least “not yet” to God. We may have said yes or no or not yet to a new relationship, a new job, or a new responsibility at church, or any of a hundred other things.

… Today, we have the opportunity to consider how God is calling us as a congregation. A few months ago, Becky and I were talking about the past, present and future of ULC. Our conversation came down to this: will we dare to dream of a future with a strong campus ministry? If not, I asked, do we belong on this street in a church called University Lutheran?

We have long said yes to being a place where students are welcomed and included. Will we continue to say yes about that? Will we dare to commit more time, and more financial and people resources to carrying out campus ministry?

As it did for Jonah, for the disciples, and for me, it comes down to one question. Do we trust God to guide us and provide for us and help us succeed?

I look forward to having the conversation with you over lunch. Amen