January 21 2018 *Jonah 3.1-5, 10;
Mark 1.14-20 “Fresh Voice: New Words” [New words lead to new paths] Pastor
Jacqueline Hines
Jonah was a prophet. Jonah’s
job was to speak for God, to
tell of God’s love to everyone, to help everyone get right with
God. But, when it came to the great city of Nineveh, Jonah seemed to drag his
feet. [slide # 1
Jonah sitting] You wonder if Jonah did
not want God to love on them. He probably was not one of those prophets who
prayed for the entire community and visualized God’s loving arms around the strangers,
the homeless or those who hurt him. Jonah may have been glad that the people of
Nineveh were living in the muck and mire of their sins; he may have thought
they were getting what they deserved. He did not want to see them get the sweet
rewards of right living. [slide # 2 Jesus hugging]
God always has a
purpose and a plan. God sent Jonah 500 miles east from his home base in
Jerusalem to preach to the people of Nineveh. You may remember that east is to
the right; in order to get to God, you always have to go right. [slide # 3 sign to go
right] It is a symbol. The story or
Jonah, like the rest of the bible is filled with symbols. Scholars debate
whether the story of Jonah is real. It could be real, but even if it is not
real, it is still true.
Instead of going to
Nineveh where God directed him, Jonah bought a ticket in Joppa and boarded a
ship headed west to Tarshish,
2500 miles in the opposite direction, [slide # 4 map ]. The
first century A.D. Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, wrote that Tarshish is
the same city as Tarsus in Turkey, where the Apostle Paul was from. Some
scholars think Tarshish was another city even further west, to the left in
Spain, in the wrong direction.
Whatever the case,
Jonah took a detour from the will of God and wound up in the belly of a big
stinky fish. It is quite human to at least one time in our lives to be in or near some kind of deep situation
that is sticky and stinky. [slide # 5 Jonah near fish]
Verse 1 tells us that
Jonah got a second chance to escape the mess he made and do what God wanted him
to do. 3The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2“Get up, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell
you.” [Slide # 6 word of the LORD came to …]
If you have been to
Iraq, you have probably been to Nineveh. You could have looked on the side of
the Tigris River and seen the city of Mosul which some natives call Nineveh.
In ancient times, for
about 50 years, Nineveh was known as the largest city in the world. Today, the
largest cities in the world in terms of land area, population, and density
would be Tokyo, New York, Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Seoul, Korea.
God called Nineveh “that
great city” in verse 2, [slide # 7 that great city Nineveh] just like
we know New York as one of the greatest cities in the world. We call it the Big
Apple. The Big Apple is rumored to have been named for a woman named Eve who
ran a brothel in the city. Novelist Edward Martin referred in his novel of 1909
to New York as ‘a greedy city… a big apple inclined to get a disproportionate
portion of the nation’s sap.’ For most, the Big Apple has come to represent a
city that is proud of its culture and its accomplishments.
So it was for ancient Nineveh;
it was a great city, a city that was not without its issues, a city that God
wanted to speak to. We know the job of the prophet is to speak for God to
encourage people, strengthen them, comfort them, and warn them. Nineveh was a
city at risk! God wanted to help them out, to encourage them, strengthen them, comfort
them and warn them. We are all at risk. God wants to help us out, to protect
us, to make us stronger than the people, places, and things that threaten us.
On June 4th
of 2014 the area of Mosul called Nineveh by the indigenous people, was attacked
by Isis. [slide
# 8 several men in rubble]
Three long years later,
in 2017, with the help of the U.S., the Iraqi prime minister declared that Isis
no longer dominated their country, though they still have a ways to go to get
to stability.
Sometimes reading the
bible is like reading the newspaper. The more things change, the more they stay
the same. There is plenty of good news as well as plenty of trouble everywhere.
The ancient city of Nineveh had the same blessings and challenges as any city
might have today and any day.
Did Jonah want to go to
a big city? Probably not. Did he want to tell strangers of the love of God and
the need to do the right thing? Probably not. When he finally got around to
doing what God wanted him to do, Jonah got quite a surprise. The people of
Nineveh listened. They not only listened, they prayed. They not only prayed,
they fasted.
Last week, Bethel
leaders gathered to make plans for the year. It was a blessing to hear that
everyone had been praying and that some even fasted in preparation for the
planning meeting. It was clear that God was present and did help us.
When the people of
Nineveh listened to the love of God, and talked to God, and even sacrificed
some time in a fast, God helped their hearts and they were able to change from
their evil ways, whatever those evil ways were.
On more than one
occasion, I believe God was guiding me away from paying attention to someone
else’s wicked ways, or the wicked ways of a country or a certain people. I have
been guided to pay more attention to God’s
ways, to hear where God was leading us. We become stronger children of
God when we spend more time blessing and praying for one another than when we
blame and label each other. It’s true.
God has a purpose and a
plan and every move we make in the right
[slide # 9 right ] direction helps someone’s
heart to move toward something good and away from something evil.
So as we keep our hand
in God’s hand, [slide
# 10 In God’s Hands] let us remain
confident that every word, every step, every kindness, and every connection God
guides us to, MATTERS, and matters
more than we may ever know. Amen. [slide # 11 church matters]
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