Sermon for June 25th, 2017

Jonah 3:1-10

1 And the word of Yahweh came to Jonah a second time: 2 ‘Arise’, he said, ‘go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach to them as I told you to’. 3 And Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was a city great beyond compare: three days it took to cross it. 4 And Jonah went on into the city, making a day’s journey. He preached in these words: ‘Only forty days more, and Nineveh will be destroyed’. 5 And the people of Nineveh believed the word of God; they proclaimed a fast and clothed themselves in sackcloth, from the greatest to the least among them.

6 Word of this reached the ears of the king of Nineveh, who rose from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes. 7 Then it was heralded in Nineveh, and by decree of the king and his chiefs it was proclaimed: ‘Men and beasts, herds and flocks, shall not taste anything, nor shall they eat, nor shall they drink water. 8 All shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall call upon God with all their might; let everyone renounce his evil behaviour and the wicked things he has done. 9 Who knows if God will not relent and change his purpose, if he will not renounce his burning wrath, so that we do not perish?’

10 God saw their efforts to renounce their evil behavior. And God relented: he did not inflict on them the disaster which he had threatened.

Jonah: From the Belly of Nineveh

The word of God came to Jonah a second time -- share my call story and my resistance to it, my attempts to answer the call in my own way, first as a teacher, youth director, and then telling God I wanted to be a church planter.