Call Stories: A Sermon on Jonah 3:1-5, 10 and Mark 1:14-20

Jonah 3:1-5

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.

Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Sermon:
 Out of my distress I called to you, O Lord,
But you did not answer me.

I refused to preach repentance to the Ninevites,
But you forced me,
When I sailed away in the opposite direction,
You hurled a violent wind at me.
Your monster swallowed me and returned me to your path.

Repentance I would not preach to Ninevah,
Rather I cursed them, "forty days more and Ninevah shall be destroyed."

But you did not listen to me.
You listened to the people of Ninevah as they sat in ashes
Covered with sackcloth.

I am angry because you are a gracious and merciful God,
Slow to anger,
Rich in clemency,
Loath to punish.

If you will not destroy Ninevah then give me death.
It is better for me to die than to see my enemy live.

-Thomas Reese

I just love the story of Jonah.

He was the only prophet to ever accomplish his mission and help the people to change their ways and God looks kindly on them.

He's also the only prophet to run away and get swallowed by a whale.

Often this is the part of the story we all remember, Jonah was the guy who got swallowed by a big fish and that tends to be where the story lives and dies. But the story of Jonah is so much more. Jonah is a prophet of God who is called to go to the people of Nineveh who were not very nice people. When Jonah was called to go to these people he seems to know two things: 1. He doesn't even want to give them the chance to repent and be saved and 2. they are not worth his or God's time.

So Jonah runs in the opposite direction, gets on a boat, lies about his profession and ends up in a whole mess of trouble. God does not like that Jonah ran away from his call and sends a great storm which threatens to tear apart the boat and somehow Jonah sleeps through it. The sailors find him asleep and cast lots to see which of them has brought the storm upon them. The lots fall on Jonah and as he tells them his story the men came to believe in God because of his powerful acts and Jonah eventually tells them to cast him overboard to save the ship. Even in the middle of the sea, God provides for Jonah and he is swallowed by a huge fish and vomited out onto dry land.

God then seems to call a redo and calls Jonah a second time. This time, covered in fish vomit he begins his walk to Nineveh and once he is there and finds his way to the city center he proclaims to the people, not the words of repentance The Lord gave him but instead he tells them that God will destroy them for their wicked ways. The amazing thing is that even though Jonah's harsh delivery they all repented and turned to God.

Jonah couldn't believe this and left the city and sat down on the hill awaiting their imminent destruction. He waited there and prayed for their destruction. While he sat and pouted God grew him a shade tree and then sent a worm to eat it overnight. When Jonah awoke he was angry about the tree being struck down and God spoke to him asking why he is so mad about the destruction of one I little bush but was so happy to see the destruction of all of Nineveh, after all they are Part of God's creation too.

And this is where we leave Jonah, the reluctant and pouty prophet who did his job poorly and yet still did God's work and shared God's word to a people in need.

In today's Gospel, we hear the calling of Simon, Andrew, James and John, four fishermen who drop what they are doing to follow Christ. In this story very little is spoken, Christ simply says "come, follow me, and they drop what they are doing and do just that.

They are called and they follow at a moment's notice and spend the next three years learning about the depths of repentance and God's love for his people. even when they don't understand it all the time, they keep with it.

The story of their calling is incredibly different than that of Jonah's and these stories are different from every other biblical character who is called and every person who has been called since then.

Sometimes people think that God just calls people like pastors but the truth is that God calls each and every one of us into some kind of work. God called Jonah to speak words of repentance and love to the people of Nineveh, God called Simon, Andrew, James, and John to follow Christ, listen to his teachings and learn. Some are called to be doctors or lawyers or janitors or parents. Not one calling is better than another. Not all callings are careers, some are hobbies or volunteer work. Sometimes, like Jonah, it takes a giant fish and a second or third or twentieth call before we listen.

So what is God calling you to do today? How is God wanting you to share his love?