God of All People | Good Shepherd Lutheran Church (ELCA) Manchester MO

Pastor:

Pr. John Gerike

Sermon audio:

Sermon: “God of All People”

January 21 and 22, 2012

Jonah 3:1-5, 10

As I was writing this sermon—

--trying to figure out how to begin

--sitting at the computer.

Our dog, Minnie,

came to visit.

Obviously, I wasn’t paying enough attention to her.

And, even when she came to visit,

I still ignored her.

But she knows how to get my attention

when I’m typing.

She takes her nose,

and nudges my hand again and again—

--makes it hard to type.

And so, I stopped,

and petted her and paid attention to her a while.

And then she was fine.

Went to lie down.

Even when I tend to forget,

she doesn’t give up.

She doesn’t let me forget.

Did you hear what it said

at the beginning of the reading from Jonah?

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time…”

It may be the only time in the Bible

where it says that.

But the message fits—

--fits with a God who never gives up on us

--who calls us again and again

--who forgives again and again

--who loves us always.

Who never forgets us,

even if we forget.

This is Epiphany season—

--the season between Christmas and Lent.

And a couple of the themes of Epiphany

show up clearly in Jonah.

The theme of being called—

--and following.

And the theme that God’s love

is for all people.

And so,

we’re going to spend some time with Jonah today.

What do you remember about Jonah?

What do you think of when you think of Jonah?

I think of a whale.

Although, actually the Bible just tells us

that it was a big fish.

But that’s just part of the story.

The story starts with a command from God.

God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh

and proclaim God’s message.

And what does Jonah do?

He gets on a ship headed to Tarshish.

Exactly the wrong direction.

Jonah knows how powerful God is.

He knows that if the Ninevites hear God’s word—

--they might just repent.

And Jonah didn’t want to take that chance.

The people of Nineveh were his enemies.

And they were cruel,

ruthless—

--not nice people.

They were terrible to the Hebrews.

And God tells Jonah to preach to them?

What does Jonah do?

He gets on a ship and heads the other way.

One commentary I read said he went 750 miles

the wrong way.

But God doesn’t give up on him.

He sends a storm.

To toss the ship.

And the sailors figure out that the storm

is because of Jonah.

And Jonah says—

“Throw me overboard.”

It seems he’d rather die

than go to Nineveh.

The sailors don’t throw him overboard right away.

They keep trying to get to safety.

But when the storm keeps defeating them—

--they eventually throw Jonah overboard.

And the storm stops.

And Jonah’s in the water.

And still,

God doesn’t give up on him.

He sends a big fish.

Swallows Jonah.

And 3 days later—

--it says:

“And the Lord spoke to the fish,

and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land.”

And once Jonah is on dry land,

that’s when our reading begins.

And God is calling Jonah a second time.

Now, you think he would have learned his lesson.

He certainly knew enough this time not to run away.

Jonah went to Nineveh.

But he didn’t like it.

We’re told that Nineveh is a big city—

--it takes 3 days to walk from one end to the other.

Jonah gets to Nineveh.

He walks one day’s hike into the city.

Stops there.

And says 5 words (it’s 5 words in Hebrew anyway).

He says:

“40 days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”

As a preacher,

this part is pretty amazing.

You have the sense Jonah was trying to do just enough

to do what God had told him to do—

--while at the same time

doing it badly enough

so it wouldn’t work.

He tried to get the people not to listen—

--and he couldn’t’ do it.

God was at work.

Because God doesn’t just give Jonah a second chance.

God cares for all people.

Even you.

Even me.

Even our enemies.

Even the Ninevites.

And when they hear Jonah,

what happens?

They repent.

And they believe God.

And it says all of them,

great and small,

put on sackcloth and fast.

They even put sackcloth on the animals.

Sackcloth—

--an uncomfortable hair shirt

--which is a sign of repentance.

And God gave them a second chance.

God decided not to destroy them.

It kind of sounds like the story should end there.

You know, “And they lived happily ever after…”

But there was one person who was not happy.

There was one person who wanted destruction.

There was one person who was angry at God for forgiving.

Jonah.

Jonah was angry.

Listen to his words.

“This was very displeasing to Jonah,

and he became very angry.

He prayed to the Lord and said,

‘O Lord!

Isn’t this what I said while I was still in my own country?

That’s 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 with that,

Jonah went out of the city.

He built himself a little hut,

on a hill overlooking the city

and he waited.

He was hoping God would change his mind again

and destroy the city.

And Jonah didn’t want to miss it.

Well, God still hadn’t given up on Jonah.

So God decided it was time to teach Jonah a lesson.

God made a bush grow quickly next to Jonah’s hut.

That was nice.

It gave him shade from the heat of the day.

Jonah was still upset about Nineveh.

But he like the shade from the plant.

And then—next step of God’s lesson for Jonah—

--God caused a worm to attack the plant.

Just as quickly as the plant had grown,

it withered and died.

And, to make things more uncomfortable for Jonah,

God sent a hot wind,

along with the burning sun.

Without his plant,

Jonah was very uncomfortable.

Just imagine August in St. Louis.

You’re not sure you’re going to make it.

And that’s what Jonah said.

He said:

“I’m so miserable,

I’d rather be dead.”

God came to Jonah.

And God said:

“Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?”

And Jonah snapped back:

“Yes.

Angry enough to die.”

And God says to Jonah,

“You are concerned about the plant,

for which you did not labor

and which you did not grow;

it came into being in a night

and perished in anight.

And should I not be concerned with Nineveh,

that great city,

in which there are more than 120,000 persons

who do not know their right hand from their left,

and also many animals.”

And with that,

the book of Jonah is finished.

Leaving us to think about God.

And about us.

It’s great when the good news is for me.

But it’s not just for me.

Who is there out there

that you would like to see fail?

Who is it that—it would be fine with you

if God struck them down?

In politics.

In business.

At school.

Anyone come to mind?

That’s the Ninevites for you.

That’s who God loves—

--just like God loves you.

Sometimes, because of my sin,

I don’t want to hear

that kind of good news.

Do you remember when Jonah said—

“That’s why I fled to Tarshish in 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.”

Those words are amazing good news

when they apply to us.

But sometimes they don’t sound so good

when they are words for our enemies.

But, you know what?

If I want to know that the good news

is really for me—

--even at those moments when I see

how sinful I am

--even when I see how I sin and fall short of the glory of God

--even when I see that I am

as sinful as the Ninevites—

--then I need to know that God’s love and forgiveness

isn’t dependant on me—

--but is there for all people

--even me.

That’s good news.

That’s amazing grace.

That’s a God of second chances.

And third.

And fourth.

Have you ever heard of Roy Riegels?

On New Year’s Day, 1929,

Georgia Tech played the University of California (Berkeley)

in the Rose Bowl football game.

Playing for the National Championship.

During the 1^st half of the game,

a player for California,

Roy Riegels,

recovered a fumble,

got spun around,

and ran 65 yards the wrong direction.

One of his own teammates ran him down,

and tackled him on the 1 yard line—

--before he could score a touchdown—

--for the other team.

Then, when Cal had to punt from their endzone,

it was blocked.

Georgia Tech got a safety—

--which was the ultimate margin of victory.

That all happened near the end of the first half.

Everybody watching the game was asking the same question:

“What will coach Nibbs Price do with Roy Riegels in the 2^nd half?”

The players trudged into the locker room—

--sat down on benches and on the floor.

All but Riegels.

He pulled a blanket around his shoulders,

sat down in a corner,

put his face in his hands,

and cried,

wept.

Coach Price was quiet

until it was about time to go back on the field.

And then he said simply:

“The same team that started the first half will start the second.”

The players got up and headed out.

Except Roy Riegels.

He didn’t budge.

The coach turned back and called to him again.

Still Riegels didn’t move.

Coach Price walked over to him and said:

“Roy, didn’t you hear me?

The same team that started the 1^st half will start the second.”

Roy looked up with tears on his cheeks and said:

“Coach, I can’t do it.

I’ve disgraced you.

I’ve disgraced the school.

I’ve disgraced myself.

I couldn’t face that crowd to save my life.”

Then Coach Price put his hand on Riegels shoulder and said:

“Roy, get up and go on back.

The game is only half over.”

And he did.

Played a great 2^nd half.

If it was a movie,

they would have come back and won the game.

They didn’t.

They lost the game and the national championship.

But what I keep thinking,

when I think about the story is:

“What a coach.”

And when I read about Jonah,

I think,

“What a God.”

A God who didn’t give up on the Ninevites.

A God who didn’t give up on Jonah.

And a God who doesn’t give up on you,

or me.

God cares for all people.

Even the Ninevites.

Even you and me.

And God uses all people to serve and love.

Even Jonah.

Even you and me.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen