Who are we?
Welcome
Community
People
Families and Kids
History

What do we do?
Worship
Sermons
Music
Other Activities

What's Happening?
Events
Newsletter

What else do I need to know?
Location
Contact Us
Glossary
Links

Sermons

January 22, 2006 - Epiphany 3, Year B

Today
in our readings from the bible
we have a real mixed bag. Jonah and Nineveh,
a psalm of confidence in God, advice on marriage
and Jesus calling his disciples.
And when you get a bunch of readings like this,
it raises the question,
are we supposed to find some meaningful connection here?

Some Sundays
the readings really are all connected. The Old Testament lesson
might be something that's referred to in the gospel, the psalm is a clear response to what we've already heard,
the New Testament lesson
picks up a theme that's present in the others.
That happens most often at times like Advent, when the themes of the season
shape our readings.
Other times
the readings have nothing to do with one another. We just work our way through various books of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and a gospel. So last summer, we read our way through the story of Abraham and his descendants in the Old Testament reading, Paul's letter to the Romans in the New Testament, and the gospel of Matthew. The three readings weren't related at all, except accidentally.
And some times
some of the readings are connected
and some are not.
That's how it is today.
At the moment, we're working our way through the first letter to the Corinthians, along with the beginning of the gospel of Mark, and I think today's Old Testament reading was chosen to connect with the reference to repentance in the gospel. I'm not exactly sure how the psalm fits in.

But today is one of those days
when there is a connection, not just the superficial word association around repentance
but a much more significant one. It happens in our Old Testament reading,
our psalm, and our gospel — if you were hoping to hear a sermon on the
slightly peculiar advice from 1 Corinthians about marriage, you're out of luck, though I preached on it the last time that reading came round, 3 years ago, and that sermon's up on our website.

But there is a connection
between the other three readings.
We are presented
with three different pictures
of God.

One from Jonah and the Ninevites. One from the psalmist. And one from Jesus and his disciples.
Each of them
shows a different side of God, a different perspective.
Because while the Christian faith says
there is one God,
each of us meets god in a different way, each of us experiences God differently. It has to do with how we were taught as children, what's happened to us in our lives, what choices we've made. All those things
mean that we pay more attention to some aspects, some characteristics of God
than others.

And that makes me wonder,
"Who is your God?"

So, back to our readings.

First we have the story of Jonah, or at least, a little piece of it. You might remember Jonah, he's the one that God called to go to preach to Nineveh
but got scared — and headed as fast as he could in the other direction.
Eventually he got on a boat, there was a storm, and he was thrown overboard. Some sort of big fish swallowed him, got belly ache, and so threw him up on the shore.
By this time, Jonah figured that no amount of running
could get him away from God, so he headed in to Nineveh
and began to preach.
It wasn't a happy message that he brought. The people of Nineveh
were in trouble. Forty days, and God would judge them — and the judgement
would not go in their favor.
Jonah's God
was a God of judgement. You got what you deserved.

But you know what? The people of Nineveh listened. The people listened to Jonah
and they repented. They fasted, they put on signs of mourning, and they waited and hoped
that God would forgive them.
And the news traveled quickly. Even before Jonah made it to the center of the city — it was a big city, something like the size of Philadelphia, and he was walking — even before Jonah made it that far, the king got to hear of his message
and made an executive order
for the whole city
to change their ways,
to stop doing violence,
to repent
and pray for mercy.
And they did.
And God was merciful and gracious
and didn't destroy them as planned.
The God of the Ninevites
was a God of grace.

Our reading today ends there.
But the story continues.
Jonah got really really mad.
His God
was a God of judgement,
and in his way of thinking about things
the Ninevites
got off scot free.
He felt like the God he knew
had abandoned him; he'd paid for his stupidity in running away from God; why shouldn't the Ninevites
do the same?

Jonah's God
was a God of judgement.
Nineveh's God
was a God of grace.
Who is your God?

Then we have our psalm. It's as if we are eavesdropping on someone's private devotions — here they are, sitting, waiting for God,
and while they are waiting
they think about who God has been for them.
My rock,
my salvation,
my stronghold,
my safety
my honor,
my strong rock,
my refuge.
This is someone
who has known struggle, who has known pain. Otherwise they wouldn't have needed
God to be like this. They wouldn't have needed a rock or a refuge.
God
is someone
to be trusted,
someone to lean on,
someone to go to in times of trouble, someone who will protect them
and be a place of safety.
And above all God is the one who loves,
strongly, steadfastly,
never giving up.
No matter what.

Who is your God?

And finally
we have the story of Jesus
calling his first disciples. Simon and Andrew were ordinary
hardworking
small businessmen;
they made their living
catching
and selling
fish.
And James and John too.
They were all minding their own business, working hard at their nets, when Jesus came along saying,
"The kingdom of God
is here. Repent. Believe. Follow me!"
And Simon and Andrew, James and John,
they dropped their nets
abandoned their businesses
and followed Jesus.
They ended up following him
all over the country, and eventually to Jerusalem
where they followed him
to his death.
And after his resurrection, they continued to follow him, and became leaders of what we now call the church
but then
was just a collection
of followers
of Jesus.
For Simon and Andrew, James and John,
God was there, right there in front of them,
in the person
Jesus Christ
who called them to faith
and called them
to follow him
Just like Jonah,
the God they met
changed their lives.
God was the one
who called them to follow.

Who is your God?

For Jonah,
God was the one who judges.
For the Ninevites,
God was the one who offers grace.
For the psalmist,
God was the place of safety and security.
For the disciples,
God was the one who called them to follow.
Four different pictures of God.
And all of them were true. Because each of those people
experienced God differently
according to what was going on in their lives.
And we're lucky enough
to have their stories
to remind us
of what God is like,
their stories
ask us
who is our God?

And even more importantly,
they ask us,
Does it matter?

Because for Jonah, for the psalmist, for the disciples
who they knew God as
shaped the whole of their lives. It was that important.
God
was that important.

And it's just as important for us today.
Not just who our God is,
but does our answer to that question
make any difference
to the way we live our lives.
Because the Christian faith
says that
God
is to be first
in our lives. We are to love God
with all of our hearts and souls minds and strength. It's the great, the first commandment,
according to Jesus' summary.
Love your neighbor
comes in second.
Love God. Put God first.
Let God
make a difference
in your life.

It's kind of a scary thing to do,
because when we put God first
we don't know
what might happen.
God may take us somewhere
we don't expect, God may ask of us
something that we hadn't planned on giving.
But for those who have taken the risk, those who have chosen
to put God first of all, above everything else,
they will tell you
that somehow, unexpectedly
everything else
falls into place.
And they will tell you
that wherever God takes you
it's worth every minute.

And so, today, I want to leave you with three questions.
Who is your God?
Does it matter?
And are you willing to take a risk
for God?

 

Sermon ©Raewynne J. Whiteley 2006