We will bless the Lord at all times, and God’s praise will continually flow from our lips!
Listen now to the record of the prophet Jonah 3.1–5, 10.
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.’ 3So 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.
4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ 5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
You may remember the story of the prophet Jonah who
was called to speak to the people of Nineveh. His job was to bring them the
good news of God’s love so that they could straighten up and fly right, so they
could become God-fearing, good, and just and therefore receive all the
blessings that come with a righteous life.
It was not the first time that God had directed Jonah to go to Nineveh. This was his second chance to do the right thing. The first time around, he regretted his disobedience because it landed him in the belly of a whale.
What a blessing it is to get a second chance! Some say grandchildren give us a second chance.
The book does not tell us why Jonah did not want to
bring God’s word of good news to the people of Nineveh. History, however, gives
us some hints.
Nineveh is in the Middle East near the areas we now call Iraq and Turkey. The city existed as far back as the Bronze Age 3000 -1200 BC years before Christ as well as the Iron Age 1200-600 years before Christ – give or take a few hundred years here and there. Nineveh was in its heyday during the emergence of the Assyrian Empire around 1055 BC. One of the kings made Nineveh the capital of Assyria. Back then it had a reputation for being a “great city.” A grand castle was built there. Ancient engineers constructed an elaborate and extensive water system in Nineveh. Every city needs plenty of water. There were miles of thick walls that dared any enemy to approach. There were parks for leisure pleasures, a sure sign of well-being and luxury. The beautiful hanging gardens of Babylon, called one of the Seven Wonders of the World
were said to be in the great city of Nineveh. It is perhaps kin to our local prestigious Longwood Gardens. With all that going on, it is no wonder that the city of Nineveh was well known and no doubt an enviable attraction for many.
According to the biblical prophets, the people of
Nineveh had a lot to be proud of, but they had a ways to go in order to please
God. History also calls Nineveh “sin city.” Could it have been that they were a
little too proud. We know that too much of the wrong type of pride causes us to
stumble and fall and break something like Humpty Dumpty. You know Humpty Dumpty
who sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty who had a great fall, and all the king's
horses and all the king's men couldn’t put Humpty together again. We have seen
the fall and rise of individuals, corporations, and governments throughout
history. Last week we realized, but for the grace of God, our government may be
the next to fall and crumble. The biblical book of Nahum chapter 3.1 calls
Nineveh a “city of bloodshed.” Perhaps Jonah did not want God to bless them
because his family or friends had been hurt or murdered by those nasty
Ninevites.
We may want to hear the stories that tell how they fell short of God’s glory. Inquiring minds want to know the details. The text does not give us any explanations and there is little reward for curiosity about the sins of others. What we need to know is the good news that we are God’s precious children, true treasures, and God loves us with an everlasting love. Not only are we beloved, we are special, favored and forgiven. God sees us and desires to be close to us in every way. On a daily basis, God looks beyond our faults and sees our need. We are the apple of God’s eye.
Somebody say “Amen!”
Still, we can think about what it takes to be called
“sinful,” “wicked,” “evil,” and without God’s approval. This week I am reading
through the book or Revelation which has one of many biblical references to things
that are offensive to God.
Revelation chapter 9.20 notes that even after seeing
people die of a terrible plague, witnesses were not inspired to repent and
surrender to God; they did not stop worshiping demons, and idols of gold,
silver, bronze, stone and wood— idols that cannot see
or hear or walk. (they were relying on greed,
manipulation,
lies and deceit). Nor did they repent of their murders, their
sexual immorality, their thefts and their magic arts (which means using potions and drugs).
The unrepentant often reap the calamity that they
have sown. God does not punish or bless people the way we humans do. God’s ways
are not our ways. It puzzles us and may even infuriate us, as it did Jonah,
when we see God loving and kissing up on the ones that have hurt us deeply. It
can be disheartening to see beautiful blessings poured day after day on those
who curse us. We are not immediately consoled upon hearing the Heavenly echo of
2 Chronicles 20.15 the battle is not
yours, it’s the Lord’s; or the refrain to the righteous in Deuteronomy 32.35 “Vengeance
is mine. I will repay.”
We do best when we put God first, above our
emotions, above our dreams, above our plans. Surprisingly, the people of
Nineveh turned from their wicked ways when Jonah preached God’s word to them.
Minds changing does not happen often, but it happens. When the Ninevites
realized that God expected better of them and was determined to destroy their
city, they united together and changed the course of their history. Scholars
debate about whether the story of Jonah is a fact or fable. It is real, whether
or not it is true.
There comes a time in all of our lives that there is illuminated before us a path that God is asking us to take. It may be a path that we have known about for a long time. It may be a path that we have dreaded taking. It may be a path that we would prefer to curse God and die rather than take the path. It may even be a path that we have waited for a long time for God to make a way for us to take.
We find paths of pride in our family relations. We
refuse to listen, to speak up, to give, to forgive, to forget, to let go and
let God. Who is it that is suffering because we are persisting in a pathway of pride?
Some paths are paths of pride that can be found in
our relationships at work, in ministry, among our neighbors in the community
where we fail to let go of an attitude and let God speak through us and to us
and make us new. Who is holding their breath, waiting to exhale, and anxiously
waiting for us to make the next right move, to let go and let God’s will be
done in a certain situation?
The Ninevites cast down their pride and found their
way back to a good place with God. Verse 5 says they united in prayer and
fasting. That is, with God’s help, they untied the shackles by which Satan had
them bound. They united hearing David’s Psalm 133.1 – How good and pleasant it
is when God’s people live together in UNITY.
They fought by fasting. They freed themselves by fasting. They fueled their
faith by fasting.
Fasting is g r e a t
because fasting does at least three things. First, fasting is a way to be lifted up when we are at your lowest point. Fasting is humbling ourselves before an almighty God. The one who is humble will be lifted up by God into the very arms of God like little children.
The Ninevites’ fast was a way of bowing down to God and bowing below God and not above God. Fasting helps us see what God is seeing, and feel what God is feeling. This week’s news shared a story of a man who broke his leg and wore a cast.
He noticed one day when he took his dog for a walk that the dog had started to limp. He took him to the vet thinking the worst, but the vet assured him that the dog was simply sympathizing with his master. That is what fasting does for us. It helps us stay connected step by step and sympathize with our master.
Fasting was a way for the Ninevites to declare in
their heart and to each other that God loved them and had a wonderful plan for
their lives. They had, no doubt, understood God’s word I Chronicles 7. 14 “If
my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I
will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” It does not get better than
that!
After hearing Jonah, verse 5 says “They believed
God.” They found healing and hope and who among us cannot use more healing and
hope somewhere in our lives.
Secondly, fasting shines a bright light on our
situation when we are powerless and don’t know what to do. When Judah’s King
Jehoshaphat was attacked and overwhelmed by several enemies ganging up on them,
he called for folks to unite in a fast and in 2 Chronicles chapter 20 verse 12
he prays for God’s help saying, “Aren’t you going to judge them, God. We have
no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO.” God did answer their prayers and God did
help them win the battle. Fasting opened a window for them to receive God’s
power and guidance. That is how we are praying these days as we face the
coronavirus. We need God as we face the enemy, whether it be political,
medical, or emotional.
Thirdly, fasting is a spiritual exercise that makes us strong for whatever ministry to which God has called us. There is much talk these days about how important it is to stay healthy by strengthening your core - that is the center of our bodies.
Strengthening our core makes every part of the body work better. A doctor told me that my neck and back pain would be lessened if I did certain exercises that he gave me to strengthen my core. I confess, I mostly do the exercises sporadically; as a result, I have less pain sporadically. When I am on a roll, I do the exercises more often and I feel better more often.
We have no good excuse for not exercising. If you google exercises designed by fitness experts to strengthen your core, there will be too many to count some easier than others. It is the same with the spiritual exercise of fasting. There are many ways to fast. We need not get anxious about how to exercise the spiritual discipline of fasting. We need not worry about how they fasted in the bible, whether they fasted from all food, certain foods, with water or without water, two hours, two days, or two weeks. What matters is that we just do it.
You all are invited to join together with me in an
occasional fast anytime. Monday mornings before noon – liquids only and prayers
for those suffering with addictions. Tuesday – fruit and vegetables only –
praying for a health and strength to do ministry. Thursday morning no meat
before 9 and prayers for families everywhere. Thursday sundown to Friday
sundown prayers to hear God’s direction in order to be purged and blessed with
breakthroughs and go to the next level of spiritual depth.
The Ninevites fasted and they did it together. It
may have only been that one time after they were warned that their city would
be destroyed in 40 days. Nevertheless, their unity untied the shackles by which
Satan had them bound. What mattered most is that they humbled themselves before
a mighty God, that they looked to God understanding that they were powerless to
change themselves and hadn’t a clue as to what to do, What matters is that they
were strengthening themselves to manage ministry and miracles that mattered to
many.
In spite of their reputation for sinning and
shedding blood, in spite of the fact that they were on a destructive path, they
listened to the warnings of a prophet who could easily have been their victim
at one point. They heard God’s voice and they changed their minds as well as
their ways.
Jonah must have been a mighty powerful witness if they changed their minds so dramatically. Did the Ninevites know whether or not some of their people had caused harm to some of his people? Could they could sense that any hate Jonah could be feeling was nonexistent? Was Jonah seeing them through God’s eyes, looking beyond their faults and seeing their need? We do not have the inside scoop on what motivated them to turn to God. We are left with the idea that Jonah’s obedience and change of heart changed the course of history. Perhaps that is what it will take for our communities and our country to be saved as well!
Instead of calamity, the people changed their minds.
Then their situation changed.
Still, around 600 BC, records shows that Nineveh was
no longer considered to be a great city. Inquiring minds want to know what
happened to Nineveh. The fact of the matter is, that again and again, and
again, as gospel singer Donnie McClurkin sings: We fall down, but we get up. We
fall down, but we get up. For a saint is just a sinner who fell down, but we
couldn't stay there, and got up.
We may not know all the details of the story of the
Ninevites, but what matters most is what is happening to you and to me. It
mattes that God is with us to lift us up from our lowest point into God’s
loving arms, to empower us in the face the attacks of the enemies that are
stronger we are. God will accompany us as we fast for two hours or 12 hours,
fanning the flames of our faith, fueling our spiritual fortitude, and fighting
the good fight of faith. May our love for God stir us up until we unite with
the world wide Christian community in a fast. Amen.
Let us pray.
Kind God, when we are empty, you fill us up. We offer ourselves to you to feed our hungry souls until we want no more. We come to you, the well that never runs dry. Help us to see ourselves as you see us and as our neighbor sees us. Speak to our hearts a truth that will set us free, free from the enemy within us and without that torments us, free to follow that path that you have illuminated us to follow, free to humble ourselves below you and not above you that we might see what is most important to you and that we might feel the compassion and forgiveness that you feel.
Next week for Youth Sunday we have a musical feast with the Word and songs.” If you would like to make your contribution to the great ministry and mission of Bethel, the website is
Or
you can send it to 952 Bethel Church Road, Spring City, Pa. 19475. God bless you!
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