St. John Lutheran, January 15, 2012, 2nd Sunday in Epiphany
Text: Jonah 3:1-5
Theme – Jonah – An Unwilling Missionary
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go all through it. Jonah started into the city, going a day’s journey, and he proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.”
Dear People of God, called by our God to be Missionaries,
If you are not that familiar with the historical account of Jonah, in the first verse of the text has a crucial word. Listen again, “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” Yes, for the second time God was coming to Jonah to tell him to go to Nineveh to share a message. You see, in chapter one, when God directed Jonah to go to Nineveh, surprisingly Jonah said “No.” He actually went the opposite direction. Doesn’t that seem inconceivable that one of God’s prophets would act like that? Before we are too quick to criticize though, let’s understand God has called us to share His Word too. Are we always gun ho to be witnesses or are we at times rather indifferent and nonchalant to tell others about Jesus Christ? Are we saying, “Here I am Lord, send me, send me,” or are we sometimes like Jonah, running away from opportunities to share the Word?
As you think about those questions, let’s ask God not only to remind us that each of us is a witness, but also that He moves us to witness, so we aren’t imitating Jonah who really was:
An Unwilling Missionary
Yes, Jonah was an unwilling missionary I. Who ran from God.
Eventually though Jonah was a missionary II. Who spoke for God.
To understand why Jonah was an unwilling missionary who ran from God, we need to learn a little about the Ninevites. Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. At that time, Assyria was one of the powers in the world. In expanding their borders, the Assyrians very ruthless and very brutal in their conquests of other nations. From an enemy’s perspective, they were considered pure evil. They didn’t hesitate to slaughter whole cities including the old, the infirm, women and children. Israel and Assyria had their clashes and to put it mildly, they weren’t Jonah’s favorite people. In fact, the first time God directed him to go to the Ninevites, as I already stated, he flat out said no. He didn’t want to be a missionary to those people.
What about it though, when we compare ourselves to Jonah, haven’t we too willfully turned our backs on the Lord’s Word? God’s Word says we aren’t to gossip about others but to speak kindly about them and put the best construction on them. Do we sometimes tear people to shreds with our mean and unkind words? God’s Word says we are to wisely use the earthly blessings He gives us and be content with what He gives us, but do we at times waste God’s blessings or gripe and bellyache about what we don’t have? And like Jonah, haven’t there been times when we had opportunities to share God’s Word, but we simply didn’t.
Why is that? We know why Jonah didn’t want to speak God’s Word to the Ninevites.
Simply put, he didn’t like them – maybe even hated them. Do we have the same thoughts about certain types of people as well? Why be a witness to a sexual predator? Why be a witness to a person who tricks others out of their life’s savings? Why be a witness to people who think if they literally kill Christians they’ll have a better after life? Or maybe there is that obnoxious grouchy person at work who really gets under your skin – witness to that person, no way. Invite him to worship here? You’ve got to be kidding. I’d never want him in my church!
When we get to the point we are unwilling missionaries, what God needs to impress on our hearts is that His love is for all people! Jesus died for every person of every nation.
He didn’t just die for people look like us or people who think or act like us. He gave His life to pay for all sins of all people. In Scripture we hear, “God our Savior wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Already in Eden the universality of God’s love was promised and on the cross of Calvary it was clearly demonstrated. And so no matter now wicked, how vile, how foul we think a person may be, Jesus died for that person, paying for every last sin. And brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus died to pay for our vile and fouls sins too. For whether you are a sexual predator or a person who has lustful thoughts, a person who covets another person’s wealth or steals that person’s wealth, a person who clams up rather than speaking up when opportunities are there to share God’s Word, every last human being, one and all alike, deserves life in hell because of our sins. And thus, every last person needs the blood of Christ to cleanse them from their sins.
What is God teaching us through Jonah? God’s clear voice is calling to all who have tasted His saving love; who through faith realize Jesus has forgiven them, made them God’s own child, has opened heaven’s door, to those who realize what God’s love means, they are to share that love with others; whomever they may be, wherever they may be. Yes, when God blesses us to see how precious each soul is, then we realize our mission is simple. We are to witness to one and all. By the power of God’s Word and it’s working in our hearts, unwilling missionaries become willing missionaries who speak for their God.
What happened the second time the Lord came to Jonah? Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go all through it. Jonah started into the city, going a day’s journey, and he proclaimed: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” Remember who the Ninevites were? Jonah went into the heart of enemy territory and called them out. What he was doing, you would think was tremendously difficult, but yet he spoke the law of God. He didn’t sugar coat their sins. Sometimes we sugar coat sins. Well, he grew up with a father that yelled at him a lot and so now he can’ help yelling at his wife. Or, I know she didn’t tell the whole truth, but 95% of the time, she does. We can so easily gloss over sin, but Jonah didn’t. Through Jonah God reminds us lovingly, yet firmly we need to call sin, sin.
What we also see is the word Jonah spoke on the Lord’s behalf was powerful, “The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” From Jesus’ own words in the NT which refer back to this event in history, we recognize this repentance was genuine. Wow, God’s Word is powerful isn’t it? The Word softened rock like hearts to truly repent of their sins. About God’s Word Paul wrote, “It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.”
How important it is we too are reminded how God’s Word is powerful. When we share the Word, we might not have every word of Scripture down perfectly. There may be times when we aren’t eagerly and excitedly sharing our faith, but when we speak the Lord’s Word, we are releasing the most powerful message for it is the very Word of God. And when we share the Word, the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to work. True, there are times people will reject the truth of God’s Word, will thumb their noses at God, but many times the power of the Word through which the Spirit works brings people to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin.
For me as Administrator for Home Missions, one of the blessings I have is getting to hear how the Spirit through the gospel is bringing people to faith. For example, in 2011 there was a WELS church which had 52 adult confirmands and another church in 2011 which had 60 adult confirmands. For some who went through the adult bible class, I’m sure some of those people were already Christian, but some weren’t. We give thanks and rejoice when we hear God’s Word is at work in the hearts of so many.
Why do you think those two churches had a total of 112 adult confirmands? Do you think they have pastors who don’t sleep, who are knocking on doors six days a week? While I don’t want to discredit the ministry of the pastors at those churches, it is obvious there are members who are being missionaries, are sharing their faith, inviting people to worship services and to the adult confirmation class. These situations remind me of an article in our synod’s magazine – Forward in Christ. About three years back a WELS pastor in Georgia wrote an encouraging article. He wrote about a man named Don who joined their church through the Adult Confirmation Class. Here is a part of that article. “Don is a southern gentleman, and he takes care of his family through a small business he runs. Outgoing is not the first word anyone who knows him would choose to describe him; he’s not on the evangelism committee or any standing board or any committee for that matter. Yet, through his personal connections to his community and his open eyes, I, the pastor, have had the privilege of talking about God’s grace in Jesus with:
1) His best friend and that person’s family
2) His doctor and his doctor’s wife
3) Three current employees and their families
4) A former employee and her family, her tennis coach and her in-laws, a neighbor and even a lady who was getting her nails done next to Don’ daughter, not to mention so many more.
The pastor continued, “Through his connections, 10 adults have now attended the adult instruction class. These people and many others have heard the message of salvation. They know about God’s amazing grace because Don extended God’s grace to them.”
Our mission as missionaries is to do what Don did. With a thankful spirit for the forgiveness of our sins God has showered on us, we now have the privilege to share what God has done to save people from their sins. The truth of the Lord is too precious to keep to ourselves. As Jesus very own missionaries, God bless you as you share his life-giving, life-changing, and life-encouraging Word. Yes, the Lord move us to be willing missionaries, always ready to share the precious gospel message, always ready to tell others that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. Amen.