December 18 (4th in Advent, candle lighting)

Carol Barriger &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; Jonah 3:1-5

1^st Congregational <= st1:PlaceType w:st=3D"on">Church of Redwood C= ity, UCC &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = Mark 1:14-20

January 22, 2006 (3^rd Sunday= in Epiphany)

“Marching Orders”=

“Get= up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” (Jon 3:2)

= … And Jesus said to th= em, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Mk 1:17)

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&= nbsp; For years, Biblical names have remained steady, popular favorites for new babies. Still, “Jonah&#= 8221; is not a very common name. An= d if someone were to say “Jonah” in a game of free association, 95% = of the reactive responses would be “and the whale,” rather than connection with any particular person who lived or made a mark in the last = 20 centuries. Jonah and the whale. I will cut to the chase – this is not the point of that little book in Hebrew Scripture. Cute story, scary = story, maybe, about being swallowed by a big fish. But not the point. And all the worse because children= hear it as a kind of awful punishment. Jonah disobeys God, is tossed overboard and ends up in this terrifyi= ng situation of being nearly digested. It does make refusing to pick up your toys – or standin= g up for yourself in a disobedient sort of way before authority – a frightening thought.

&= nbsp; This is also a classic example of why people who have left the church think the Bible is irrelevant. What mea= ning for today is there in a fanciful tale about a man swallowed by a monstrous fish? None. And continued focus on stories with which people cannot connect in their spiritual searching drags down the val= ue of the Bible as a whole. At t= he same time, there are powerful messages there of God’s love and mercy = and hope for us, encased in culturally ancient wrappers, to be suree – stories of love, mercy, and hope which have outlived thousands of years of human bumbling.

&= nbsp; Fundamentalism appropriates scripture simply and literally. If it says it, it must be true. And whether out of intellectual la= ziness or fear of having a preconceived world flipped over, there are plenty of pe= ople unwilling to engage in a struggle, or even a dialogue, about what the deeper meanings of Bible stories might be.= Instead of just conceding all of scripture to fundamentalist Christianity, instead of letting them co-opt it as their own, proof-text it= and use it as a weapon in the public square – we need to claim the inspiration of the messages of God’s love and justice that are there. They are everywhere, l= oud and clear – messages that tear down hierarchy, patriarchy, misogyny, racism, and homophobia. They = speak to the death of arrogance and for the needs of the poor; and to the powerfu= l, equal place we all share in the Light of God. Yes, it means work for clergy and = lay folk alike, to strip away cultural contexts that are 2,000 years old, but we are smart enough, strong enough, and brave enough to do this - because we h= ave our marching orders.

&= nbsp; In this post-modern world, there is a love-hate relationship with community. We want it and need it, but we are reluctant to do what the achievement of true community may demand. We want it to be easy. Many things which provided communi= ty in decades and centuries past are no longer a part of our lives today. We do not have as many association= s with groups and organizations, including churches. We do not take time for group recreation, or live in larger extended families. So we need community, but it will = look different than it has in the past. All of a sudden we imagine that we don’t have enough time or energy to create such a community – we have to take care of ourselves= , or our immediate family. Probabl= y more correctly we fear a community over whose formation we have no contro= l, and where we don’t get to choose who feels called to join us. A community where the extravagant welcome is not just for us, but for the needy, the different, the questioning, and the not-so-nice. God who binds us together in covenant community, in spite of –= or maybe because of – our differences, does make demands u= pon us. And the things that God commands are clear in the stories we heard, and completely up-to-date and relevant for progressive, spiritual people.

&= nbsp; Jonah is a story about evangelism. = The point is this: Take the love = of God to all people, without judgment. It doesn’t matter if the people of Nineveh were the scum of the earth; that they behaved horribly toward one another a= nd those around them. God = wanted them to hear a message of love and new possibility and chose Jonah to deliv= er it – gave him his marching orders, more than once. “Go to these people, and tel= l them that they are loved, and that if they will embrace that love, they will discover within themselves a better, finer, more just community. A community where no one is abused= , or taken advantage of – where the fullness of all they can be will grow. These are your marching orders.” And this, beca= use of the deservedly bad reputation of the Ninevites, was a task Jonah was loathe= to take on.

&nb= sp; He was called to a dangerous act of mission.&= nbsp; So are we. We are call= ed to tell those around us that a life full of questions and doubts, and r= ich in Spirit(!) can be lived in an exciting and fulfilling way in the church; = that they can experience love and grace and closeness in this community without having to surrender their individuality to an impossible mold. But that’s a dangerous missi= on in a place like northern California –= one of the least churched areas in the United States – where t= he aura of educated, hip cynicism is strong, where the mantra is “I̵= 7;m spiritual, but I’ve got no use for the church.” You’ve got to be brave to go= out there with that message – well, maybe not brave at all. Just in love with the joy of God unleashed in your own life.

&= nbsp; The fishermen of Galilee were not so badly b= ehaved as the Ninevites, but (perhaps worse) they were complacent in their comfortable occupation, probably blin= d, and willing to remain that way, to the injustices suffered by many others in their tribes and communities. It was just easier to stay “in the bubble.” So are we complacent, thinking tha= t the pain of the world will solve itself somehow without us. Then Jesus – having had an awakening, a reality check, in the arrest of his cousin John – walks = down the beach into our lives. He = says, “The time is now. God is calling us. Turn out of your complacency. Our lives are not about belief; they are about action and I need your help. Follow me. We need to bring holy love and jus= tice in our land.” And the a= mazing thing, of course, is that they did follow. “Immediately,” according to Mark (that is Mark’s favorite word. Everything in the gospel of Mark h= appens “immediately!”) T= hey dropped everything about their ordered lives to follow that call.

&= nbsp; I think a second reason we want to set Bible stories aside as irrelevant R= 11; besides the sort of “fantastic, unbelievable” component –= is because the underlying message for us is so clear and it is frighten= ing – even more so in Mark, who minces no words. Jesus comes to Galilee proclaiming= the good news of God – that people everywhere could live free of the oppr= ession of their fears, their enslavement to authority and ritual that did not serve the cause of love, and confident in God’s unending grace poured out f= or them. And he says simply: Believe it. Follow me and we can change the world. And immediately the= y left their nets and followed him (Mk 1:18). That is terrifying. Andrew and Simon walk away from th= eir livelihood with no indication of how they will survive. Moments later, James and John walk= away from every piece of certainty and security in their lives, including family, and the tools of their livelihood – boats and nets. They leave their father Zebedee st= anding their dumbstruck. Friends, it= takes no imagination at all to see the marching orders there for us. This is very real … and we a= re full of reasons why we can’t do what those fishermen did – or e= ven come close, or make 1/100^th of the sacrifice they made.. In fact, that story is so upsettin= g, let’s just pretend it’s irrelevant.

&= nbsp; No. We have to reclaim those stories.<= /p>

Jonah struggles with the kn= owledge that God is gracious and compassionate beyond all reason, even to those = he feels do not deserve it. He didn’t want to go to that country we now name Iraq, the city we now name Baghdad and call these folks on their wickedness and injustice. Why not? Because Jonah knew from the outset= that God was "a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding= in love,” as the text says. He knew that God would end up having mercy on these folks, and he had mixed feelings about that. Just as = we are sometimes consumed with righteous anger, he thought = Nineveh deserved to be destroyed for it= s evil ways – but that God would end up caring for those he thinks are undeserving of grace. He is p= ut out because God’s wisdom in these matters is greater than ours. How hard it is, even for those of = us who believe in God’s radical and inclusive love, to accept the depth of t= hat love. How hard it is to follow Jesus into all the difficult, even repugnant, places he goes, leading us to fish, to proclaim that message of hope and healing.

&nbs= p; It seems there is something in us that doesn't want to cast the net of God's l= ove very wide and then haul in whoever or whatever may be caught in the netR= 17;s embrace. There is something i= n us that resists yielding up our preconceptions, judgments, and worldly attitud= es, and simply going out and doing what God asks us to do, what God makes possi= ble for us to do. Follow our marc= hing orders.

&nbs= p; Jesus invites everyone, worthy and dubious alike. He invites everyone from the most obviously wicked to those like us here today … people who …

- may be more like Jonah than we want to admit,

- love God, but can't bring ourselves to do some of the things the love of God calls us to do,

- can't bring ourselves to welcome and accept everyone without reservation,

- can't bring ourselves to forgive others - even thoug= h they have asked.

- can't bring ourselves to reach out to certain people= - because of who they are, and what they do or don't do, because of where they are from or what they claim to believe.

- can't even bring ourselves to believe that God finds= us acceptable - that God loves even us.

&nbs= p; If the transformation of our lives, our church, our community, and the realiza= tion of the reign of God here and now, is to be accomplished, we need to accept = the fundamental fact that we are profoundly loved by God – to accept that= for ourselves and, most importantly, share it with others. The experience of God is an experi= ence of goodness – of people living together, drawing closer together, and using the gifts each one possesses to help one another, so that we do not d= ie of the cold heartlessness of the world.&nb= sp; We have to make that happen.

&= nbsp; Our marching orders are to turn our eyes, ears, and hearts towards the One who wants to give us life… to follow without too much looking down, or to= the side or to the rear … to seek and walk the path on which we are led.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Jonah's life would have been so mu= ch easier if he had possessed the courage of the fishermen and simply gone and done what he was told to do by God at the outset. Fumbling and bumbling perhaps, res= isting as we all will, but leaving behind his worry that God might be too k= ind and compassionate.

&= nbsp; The stories matter. They are our marching orders. Amen.

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c:\data\carol\redwoodc= ity 2006\sermons\ser0122.06 Marching Orders

Most people only remember the tale of the “= ;great fish” that swallowed Jonah. That story – which is a metaphor for = Israel’s e= xile in Babylon – is= not the point of the book of Jonah at all. The point is really our call to bring God’s love and goodness = to all people – even enemies. It is a mistake to think that God’s compassion has limits.

J= onah 3:1-5<= o:p>

1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second ti= me, saying,

2 "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim = to it the message that I tell you."

3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the L= ORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days' walk across.

4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and <= st1:City w:st=3D"on">Nineveh shall be overthrown!"=

5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a= fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

The story of how the first disciples were called to follow Jesus varies among t= he gospel writers. However it happened, the response of the disciples is immediate and risky.<= /span>

Matthew 1:14-20

14 Now af= ter John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,

15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and bel= ieve in the good news."

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16 As Jes= us passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw = Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea--for they were fishermen.=

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17 And Je= sus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."

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18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.=

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19 As he = went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who wer= e in their boat mending the nets.<= /p>

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20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat = with the hired men, and followed him.

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Here= end the readings for today. May God a= dd new understanding to our hearing of these words.