To What Prospects, Posts, And Potential Pathways Are You Following Jesus?
Good Morning Friends,
Today we see how Jesus guides the disciples to follow and learn how to catch people for the Kingdom by repeating the truth instead of lies for people to believe. The disciples had hardly a clue what they were getting into, but they followed right then and there. A true act of faith. Today as part of that we have Jesus calling his own to repentance. The storyline when combined with our passage from Jonah echoes familiar themes, and schools us in the role of fish in our faith but moreover the challenges of fear, rumor, reaction, untruth, suspicion, tribalism, and anger that the first century Jews faced, and we still face today. Violence stands in the wings waiting for its cue. The climax is coming as Paul points out in today’s letter to the Corinthians. And here as in the Jonah story Jesus and the Holy Spirit exposes and reshapes our expectations. So today we ask about our outlook on life. To What Prospects, Posts, And Potential Pathways Are You Following Jesus?
Scripture: Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.” As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.
Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)
Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way.
Psalm 25:4-9 (NRSV)
I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.
1 Corinthians 7: 29-31 (NRSV)
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So 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. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” 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. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
Jonah 3: 1-5. 10 (NRSV)
Message: It is good to have a Spirit of expectation, but have you ever wondered where you get if from. People get frustrated when they do not have any fruit to show for their lives…no fish…broken nets…no children. People desire a legacy. And sometimes we have to ask God to birth in us a solution. We have to hear a word from God and to put that word into action believing that God has already prepared us for the task at hand…. thanking God in advance before it happens. Realizing that we are not in charge. Still, we need to live our lives confidently as a prayer already answered. For when we step out in faith good things can happen. For sure the disciples in today’s Gospel reading took a risk. Jesus was calling fishermen from the beach to become fishers of people and He would remind them of this purpose after He had died and rose from the dead. Once again, he would call from the beach guiding the disciples to cast their nets one more time. He does this for us too, so we might know His abundance and return to the task for which we have been called. Yes, we are to be followers of Christ and fishermen for His Kingdom…. casting our nets so others might also be captured by the amazing love of God. In time the disciples would become very effective fishers of people. At the foundation of this outcome is the love of God and grace and forgiveness manifested in the power of the Holy Spirit. But we also need a patience in waiting until the time is right for things to happen God’s way. There is a time and a season for everything. But when the time has fully come God sends forth his Son calling you to follow too. For God’s time is the best. And now is the time for us to learn what we need to know in order to be what God wants us to be. Meditate on that and consider what God is calling you to do with the gifts you have been given and skills you can develop that can be used to glorify God. Know that we each have a purpose in the Spirit that brings us to life. In today’s scripture we all are offered an alternative to violence. Some might like it and others not depending on their perspective. But the truth is in love.
And So, after reading today’s lectionary selection I thought I would meditate on aligning my will with God’s purpose gleaning from the life of Jonah. For his life is given to us as a signpost to follow so that our expectations might support the cause of Christ. You see, sometimes, but not always, we too can feel like people are beyond hope, that they are incapable of change. Maybe you feel the same way. And sometimes I feel like God wants me to do something, but I resist that urge. Perhaps you too have felt like God wanted you to do something, but you resisted. And I imagine that sometimes you have done what God desired for you to do and felt the joy of doing the right thing. So, with that reality in mind we have been exploring what I think Jesus was getting at, given the evil of his time and of our own to be good at what we are called to do fishing for the faith. Of course, Nineveh was known for its fish. And today we see stylized fish as a symbol of the Christian faith on bumper stickers that may go back to today’s text, but then, Jesus was a fisher of men so it may have to do with his preaching for people to repent. Now it is interesting that we are considering the character of the person Jonah and frankly he was a bit stubborn but his name which means dove, a symbol of peace in the flood story and of Jesus’ baptism. But the sign we see in Jonah is more than the image of a fish vomiting Jonah on the beach. I think all this as a metaphor for the crucifixion, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Yes, it tracks back to the three days in the belly of the fish but also the three partial days between the resurrection and the crucifixion. But you probably already knew that. The thing is that the Ninevites believed Jonah even when he performed no great miracles. So, Jesus, the Word made flesh, is paralleling the story of Jonah, and making it clear that in time the greatest miracle of all…the defeat of Satan and the death and resurrection of Christ would occur to transform the world which continues even now.
Pray that we see the signs of warning and of wisdom. Pray we stop listening to the lies. Pray we realize that just as Jonah was sent as an emissary of peace to Nineveh, so too Jesus was sent as an emissary of peace to the whole world. Pray we are obedient hearers of the Word made flesh in our hearts and that this reality is manifested in our hands. Pray we repent. Pray we believe. Pray we expect a miracle. Pray we are a sign of peace so others might believe. Pray we provide hope for those who are most vulnerable of feeling hopeless. Pray we believe in the continuing possibilities of the miracle of Jesus. Pray we do not resist God. Pray we are not ashamed of our past or afraid of the future. Pray that here we would discover that peace is a fruit of the Spirit, a true hope for a stressed-out world. Pray that in prayer God would cultivate this peace in our lives. Pray we grow in peace and purpose with God and are reconciled to God and within ourselves as well. Pray we have the right motivation to evangelize. Pray we have peace in God’s plan and obedience to God’s will. Pray that we become real followers of Christ… caring for…cleansed for and committed to that which He has called us. Pray that we be convincing Christians…. worthy of the name. Pray we are no longer casual about the catch. Pray our prayers move from being selfish to something that will be a blessing to God. Pray we keep following and serving God. Pray we meditate on the promises of God. Pray we keep praising and giving thanks for what God is about to do. Pray we have faith. Pray we wait for God’s timing. Pray we hold on, keep following God and when the timing is right be transformed.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 