Things!
Mark 1:14-20; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Psalm 62:5-12; Jonah 3:1-5,10
Today we’re going to do a little compare and contrast exercise; Item number 1 is Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Item number 2 is Jonah.
The first group we heard about in the gospel. Jesus started preaching throughout Galilee, and he happened on these four men fishing. Now, unlike for most of us, this wasn’t just casual fishing, this was these men’s livelihood. It’s how they supported their families. And yet, when Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” they stopped everything they were doing, left their families and work, and followed. There wasn’t any argument, they just obeyed Jesus’ call immediately.
Jonah’s story is a little more complicated. He lived in the era not long before Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel. There had been a number of border wars between Israel and Assyria, as each tried to conquer and re-conquer the territory formerly held by a then-weakened Syria.
All in all, there were tense relations between Assyria and Israel. So you can understand a bit why Jonah, a good Israelite, would go the exact opposite direction from Nineveh, Assyria’s capital, when God called him to preach there. But of course things didn’t go well for Jonah when he fled from God’s call to him; the ship he was on was caught in a huge storm on the Mediterranean and, after they all cast lots to determine the cause, Jonah asked to be thrown overboard in order to save the ship. (Curiously enough, there used to be a superstition among sailors of “Jonahs” who brought bad luck to the ships. Guess where that idea came from.)
So Jonah was cast overboard, only to find himself swallowed up by a big fish/whale/sea-beastie, in whose belly he spent three days and three nights. After that time, he ended up being vomited out onto dry land, at which time God again told Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach there. This time, with his recent experience fresh in his mind, and the smell of whale belly likely fresh in his nose, he listened to God. He went into Nineveh and started the three-day walk from one end of the city to the other.
Before a day had passed of Jonah’s preaching, however, the Ninevites believed the word of the Lord, declared a fast, and all of them repented of their sin, in hopes that God would relent of his anger and spare them. God saw what they had done, and changed his mind, much to the disappointment of Jonah, who wanted nothing more than to see Nineveh burn.
So Jonah took his anger to God, basically yelling at him for not destroying Nineveh, because he know that God, in his mercy, would spare Nineveh when they repented. Jonah, still angry, went out to place where he had a nice view of the city, built a shelter, and waited to see what would happen. It was kind of hot, and God sent a vine to grow and give Jonah shade, something Jonah appreciated. Then, the next day, God killed the vine, and the heat got to Jonah and he was so uncomfortable he wanted to die.
Then God said, “Do you have a right to be so angry about the vine?” Jonah replied, “Yes. I’m angry enough to die.” God replied, “You didn’t take care of the vine, nor did you make it grow; it was here for a day, and gone the next. But there are over 120,000 people in Nineveh, and many cattle, why shouldn’t I be concerned about them?”
So let’s again compare Jonah and the first 4 disciples of Jesus. When God called to them, how did they react? Well, the disciples immediately followed Jesus, no questions asked, and it really didn’t go all that bad for them. Jonah, on the other hand, didn’t listen to God’s call, and he had a really unpleasant week or so — getting thrown overboard, swallowed by a whale, and experiencing heat stroke (or something like it).
What’s interesting to me in all this, especially in the story of Jonah, that even though Jonah tried very hard to prevent it, God’s will was still done. Nineveh was still preached to, they still repented, and were around long enough for God’s will to again be accomplished when Assyria conquered the Northern Kingdom. Yet even though God’s will was accomplished, the only person to really suffer was Jonah, all because he didn’t listen.
That’s the thing about listening to God’s call: even if it isn’t our favorite thing in the world, it’s still worth following because it’s better for us if we do. I have no doubt that it was hard for Peter, Andrew, James, and John to leave everything they knew to follow a rather obscure Rabbi with a strange message, but they did. They trusted enough to take a step of faith.
Faith is really what it comes down to, anyways. When God calls us, we have to take a hard look at ourselves and ask, “Do I trust God enough to listen to him?” It may be to something that, at the time of the call, isn’t something we’d exactly want, but it will bring us great joy in the long run. I doubt that Andrew, James, John, or Peter ever truly regretted following Jesus, even when things got tough, but I have little doubt that Jonah regretted not following God’s call, considering everything that happened.
The same is true for us; when we listen to God’s call, both on an individual level and on a congregational level, it may be hard at first, but God knows better than we do what is best for us. It’s just a matter of stepping out in faith to follow him.