The Scripture readings today speak of several things, repentance, to turn from evil ways, to reexamine our behaviors, actions and deeds. God wanted Jonah to preach the word of God to the Assyrians, and Jesus wanted his disciples to follow him, In Corinthians, Paul is preaching to the people that to be a Christian you need to be rooted in the everyday concerns of this world, but not to be dominated or controlled by worldly circumstances. No matter where you are in life, you should always remain faithful to God.
God wants our focus to be on God, to remain faithful and to let our deeds be equaled to our words.
Now in Jonah, well we know the main story, the running away, the ship, the whale, but why was Jonah so adamant about not obeying God. Well Jonah was born in Israel, and the Assyrians were brutal and oppressive and long-standing enemies of Israel. God told Jonah that if the Nineveh’s did not change and repent they would be destroyed. So lets see if I could decipher how Jonah was thinking this through in his mind. If I warn Nineveh and get them to listen, they might change their behavior and God might not destroy them, But if I ignore God, avoid the situation, run and try to hide, aah yes then they will get what they deserved, So Jonah ran, and tried to hide, Well we all know we can run but can we hide?
Now lets venture for a moment into Mark 1; Again The Book of Mark is more of Action, focusing more on the deeds of Jesus and not on his words. Jesus began his ministry at this point-first thought he wanted John to baptize him, and then Jesus went into the desert and was taunted and tormented for 40 days.
Now why was getting baptized or being tormented an important part of this book? To show that;
1. Jesus never felt he was more superior to anyone else, and
2. That even though he faced struggles he still remained faithful to God.
In Mark, we learn that Jesus is being led by God to bring the people together to repent, to believe and to share God’s love. He chooses men along his route and asks them to follow him. Follow and help me make believers for all man.
From the very start of Jesus public ministry, Jesus invites us to repent, to reflect, to reconsider and reassess our lives.
In 1 Corinthians 7, the message is written, unless what you are doing is directly serving the kingdom of God, you should not have all your focus on it. Including marriage, mourning, celebrations, or any concerns about material goods. This text might be a bit confusing as at first it would appear that Paul is against marriage, but that is not the intent, the intent is that even marriage should not deter or prevent you from having a relationship with God,
Today's scripture and something I heard on the radio a few weeks ago got me thinking, You see lately I haven't been showing God's light to others- I haven't been showing his love through my actions or deeds. I have been using one excuse after another. You see I noticed and felt some strife within our church, some negativity, in my mind what I felt like was unchristian behavior, add that to I have been depressed, along with I have had health issues, so surely God would understand if I took a break. Or would He? I even went as far as not attending church for a while, after all wouldn't it be great if I punished this church by not attending or not participating in Lay speaking? Boy I will really show that church a thing or two.
So as I am driving to a store about an hour away, it was pouring horrible rain and yet I was driving up to the Ikea Store in Elizabeth. I was alone, as I wanted to purchase a gift or two as Ikea was having this spectacular sale that I just could not pass up, and yes this sale was more important than attending church. AT least that’s what I convinced myself.
(After all its Sunday I don't need to go to church and have fellowship, this item I am buying is far more important)and I turn the radio on to a Christian station, and this speaker is giving a sermon and guess what it was about?
People in your life that cause strife, people in church that offend others
No really I am not making this up.
So I start listening, cause now I will learn what to do to handle these pesky people who make church life miserable for the rest of us, yeah that's right I will now have the answers. Until the speaker said something to me, yes to me,
He said do you use God as your bully? Do you pray and ask Him to fix people in your life?
Do you even go as far as to suggest to God that maybe they get run over by a bus?
So of course since he was talking to me I answered yes of course, and then I said "well no not a bus, perhaps a Mack truck would do, oh and make sure it backs up too" I comically thought
At this time, the speaker asked in a louder voice, “who made you the judge?”
Who decided you were in charge of telling God who he should destroy, who needed fixing, who needed to change their behavior?
What about your behavior? How many people, persons have you crossed or offended with your behavior, hhmm how much time do we have?
Well, humph is what I said, you know I can change the radio station if you keep talking like that, after all I am so wonderful and so full of God's grace that I would never think of offending anyone, Yup I was driving in the rain so sliding on the road must have been the reason my car took a sudden slip to the right,
So I kind of was like Jonah, trying to hide.
The way we see others is often distorted, God asks us to look and treat each that we meet as a child of God. God call us to love rather than to judge.
Now I suspect, like Jonah, we all have that revenge type mentality. We judge and we want revenge. We want to feel vindicated. But in
Matthew 7 its pretty clear,
Now I am going to read two different versions to be clear of the scriptures:
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. NIV version
1-5 "Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, and criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.
The message
Well both of these messages are clear, and again we revert back to Mark; the message is written, we need to turn to God with a repentance heart and trust him. That there is none so down and out that we can ever be beyond the extending of God’s arms. As Jesus came to serve us, we must also serve others
And then again in Jonah, we cannot hide from God, God many times does his grandest works thought the least likely candidates. Regardless of our reputation, nationality or race… God loves us and we should be sharing that love. God wants us to face the Jonah in each of us. What are we running from, what do we fear?
Now in the end of Jonah, The people of Nineveh repent, God forgives and happy ever after for the people, but not so for Jonah, instead of rejoicing Jonah throws a pity party. Why because he wasn’t vindicated.
How true this is with our own lives, we get angry, frustrated, we let the attitudes of others; the problems of life bother us so much we almost become incapacitated. How often the very thing that bothered us, or caused strife was or is something so foolish and unimportant that when its put into the proper prospective it really wasn’t that important. Or shouldn’t have been. In a marriage, the bitterest and most destructive fights are sometimes causes by the most trivial thing. Friendships of many years are sometimes destroyed over petty misunderstandings, why because as humans we become so involved, so engrossed in the hurt feelings we loose all sense of judgment. People who have dedicated years of service to an organization or church or a cause sometimes quit embittered when a relatively minor incident fails to go their way.
It is so easy to feel sorry for ourselves. to convince ourselves that our problems should be the focus. We allow these problems to monopolize our thoughts and drain away our emotional energy.
When we get engrossed in self-pity, when egos take over, we seem to loose the basic qualities of concern, compassion and love for others.
There is no escape from responsibility; God lets us know in no uncertain terms are we to try to hide from Christian qualities. We must show Christian behavior to all which cross our paths; we must become followers of Christ leading all to Him. We must never let anything become so important to us that we eliminate or change our focus on God.
God can forgive every sin and give second chances. God’s love is for all people, He loves everyone, Even Jonah who judged and wanted revenge, even you and I.
So lets review;
In Mark we learned call and discipleship and following Jesus.
In Jonah we learned obedience, repentance and forgiveness
In Corinthians we learned leadership, willingness to sacrifice, and family
Now what in your life do you need to ask God to help you with, following? Obedience, repentance, forgiving, how to sacrifice
Let us pray;
God of grace, none of us are beyond our reach. IN Jesus Christ you have sought and found us. Through him you call us to speak your redeeming word of love. Some of us answer willingly. Others pull back in reluctance. Some can respond impulsively dropping their nets and leaving everything else behind. Others can respond only through your repeated patience and your love. Whoever we are receive us into your love, enlarge our hearts and minds that we can serve you lovingly and willingly.
Give us the grace and good humor to see your hand in all things and make us useful in your sight. In your Holy name we pray.
