“Obeying the Call” Sermon by David Cowley, 8 November 2009 ( Remembrance Sunday )
Readings : Jonah 3 : 1-5, 10 ; Ps 62 : 5-12 ; Hebrews 9 : 24-28 ; Mark 1 : 14-20
Introduction : On this Sunday we remember especially those who gave their lives in the World Wars. The “Ode of Remembrance” by Laurence Binyon evokes the feelings after the Great War 1914-1918.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eyes, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, they fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall not grow old, as we that our left grow old : age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.
Most were very ordinary, unassuming, unaware of great issues or politics.
They were “called up” to serve as soldiers, seamen, and as airforce pilots.
They “did their duty” to country, family, friends, and paid a heavy price.
The call of Jonah
In our OT reading we read of Jonah, a prophet of Israel haunted by bitter war memories
Called by God to go to the great ancient city of Ninevah, he was told to warn them of God’s judgement on their evil ways
Jonah refused ! So what was Jonah’s problem ?
1) Fear and hatred : the Assyrians, and Ninevites in particular, had shown themselves as a ruthless, hard militaristic people. cf OT book of Nahum the prophet
They boasted on their war monuments of their torture and bloody slaughter of people they had cruelly conquered. Today we would regard them as the “war criminals” of the 6th century BC.
2) God appeared to have a loving concern for the Ninevites and was giving them a chance to change their ways, to be saved from destruction
Jonah thought they didn’t deserve such a chance ! God was being too lax and kind, unjust .
Jonah had a sneaking suspicion that if he went there, as God had asked, and preached, that they would listen and respond and repent - and then God would not give them the punishment Jonah felt was their due for all their cruelty to other small nations.
So Jonah took a boat trip to Tarshish (Spain direction), as far to the west as he could get from Ninevah, which was east from where he was in Joppa (Tel Aviv).
You know the rest – the rest is history as they say – at least our Lord seemed to believe it as such ! Jonah’s refusal to obey God’s call got other people into difficulties. ( The reactions of the sailors is a study in itself with many spiritual lessons )
The boat was hit by a massive storm which only calmed down when, at his own request and admission of guilt, Jonah was cast overboard into the sea. That should have been the end of Jonah, except for the divine intervention of the great fish, which swallowed him and eventually vomited him up onto the seashore – in a sorry state but still alive !
God called Jonah a second time to go to Ninevah. (OT reading this morning)
This time he obeyed the call, and went ( we note however from later on that he could not quite agree with God on really loving his enemies ).
Jonah had to learn the lesson of the mercy and grace of God from firsthand experience.
God had not let him drown in the sea, despite his disobedience, and had given him another chance, to repent and do what God wanted of him.
God does not want anyone to “perish” under his right judgement of sin , and His actions to eradicate evil and wrong from His world.
When I was a small boy, with other friends, we played quite sadistically at being giants - by bravely jumping on top of tiny busy ants scurrying across the pavement stones. Not very eco friendly but fairly harmless compared to what you could, and did, get up to at times !
Some people have that view of God : that He takes sadistic delight in squashing sinful weak human beings. It is NOT so !
Rather the contrary : God gave, and took the brunt of all the sins of the world, including those committed by me and you. As our epistle reading says ( Heb 9:27,28) “Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself ….to bear away the sins of many people” A supreme costly sacrifice made out of love by God Himself.
The general call of Jesus
When Jesus began his earthly ministry in Judea he made a call to everyone ( Mark 1 : 15 )
“The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent, and believe the Good News”
The good news was the overwhelming mercy and love of God for the people He has made, even though selfishly and rebelliously they have gone astray.
The call is to repent : to make a U turn, to admit our error and return to God’s ways
It entails confession of wrong, being sorry, but also action – in moving back towards God and not running away from Him or ignoring Him.
This is good news that needs sharing with all, whatever we think of the moral or immoral state we find people in.
The specific call of Jesus
In our gospel reading Jesus made other calls – personal, direct, clear and understandable by ordinary men and women.
He walks along the stony beach of the Sea of Galilee, among the fisher folk busy cleaning and repairing their nets and boats. Looking Simon Peter and his brother Andrew in the eye he says “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”
At once (unlike Jonah the “prophet of God”) they left their nets and followed him.
The future was not guaranteed, unpredictable, maybe difficult and hard work – just like fishing. Who would respond to the message of Jesus to repent and believe (receive and act on) the good news of salvation ? What kind of fish will you catch, and how many ?
Yet they obeyed the call of Jesus, as did James and John ( Mark 1 : 19 ) who “without delay” left even their father and his hired workman still working in the boats. A fresh unequivocal response – without qualifications and taking a risk – except that their Teacher was none other than the Son of God come in human form. And the message was to be the “greatest story ever told” and a thrill and a privilege to share – of the depth of the love of God for all.
How have we responded, or how will we respond, to the two calls of Jesus ?
1. The call to repent and believe the gospel
In the Baptism which we are about to witness there is a part headed “The Decision”, where parents, godparents, ( and the candidates if of age) give their responses
Do you reject the Devil and all his works ? Do you turn to Christ ?
Do you renounce the deceit and corruption of evil ? Do you submit to Christ as Lord ?
Do you repent of the sins that separate us from God ? Do you come to Christ ….?
This is decision time ! Time to turn away and to turn towards …. A real U turn
It is needful and helpful to renew our own baptism and confirmation promises – or it may be that now is the first time that you have seen the need to respond and personally commit yourself to Jesus Christ
2. The call to help pass on that message
It may be that even as a church attender you do not think it necessary :
There is no need for me to repent, and others are just OK as they are too.Repentance is only for really bad people, and some of them just don’t deserve forgiveness and healing – just like Jonah thought at first !
However, it is only when we appreciate the greatness of God’s mercy to us personally that we can respond by caring enough to share that blessing with others ( those who as yet live unaware of what God offers freely to each person, because of His great love and compassion even for rebels and self-centred sinners ).
Cf Luke 7: 36-50 v 47 Immoral woman who anoints Jesus’ feet “her many sins are forgiven –for she loved much. But whoever has been forgiven little, loves little”
Our response to the call of Christ is a measure of our gratitude
We can say to Jesus, “Yes, I will follow you right here and now, and help to bring the good news of forgiveness and healing, of a fresh start with new spiritual life – and I will start by sharing it naturally with my friends.
I trust that will be the prayer and desire of each one here today who claims to be a follower of Christ.
