Call Out the Message that I Tell You: a Sermon on Jonah 3:1-5, 10

For the ordination of my dear friend, Rev. Kyle McBee

June 18, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church, Humboldt, Iowa

Click here to watch to the video

In the name of Jesus, dear members of Zion, brothers in the ministry, Cayleigh, Emma, Matt and Debbie, your family and friends, and especially to you, Kyle,

            In one way, for those of us who have known Kyle for a long time today is a huge relief. We made a lot of jokes at his expense about his, how shall I say it, indecisiveness in choosing a career. You weren’t quite sure what you wanted to do. I know that at least once, you made jokes comparing yourself to Jonah for feeling like you were running from God’s call.

            That’s we were really confused when you went and joined the United States Navy. I could see how this was going to play out. You’d be out there somewhere on some boat in the middle of the ocean when the biggest storm anyone has ever seen comes up. All the sailors panic until Kyle comes up to the captain and confesses that he’s been running away from the LORD. Throw him overboard and the sea will become calm.

            Then he’d be swallowed by a huge fish and spit up somewhere near the campus of the seminary in Ft. Wayne. At least that’s how I saw it all playing out in my head.

            Of course, nothing like that ever happened. The Navy must have known something because in three and half years of honorable service to our country, Kyle never once set foot on one of our boats.

            We may joke about this all we want, but really you aren’t anything like Jonah. You were not running away from God, God was preparing you for this moment. Whether it was working at Target, UPS or serving in the Navy, the same thing was true: the LORD was shaping you and forming you to be first the man He wants you to be and now the pastor He wants you to be. The people you met and the experiences you had will help you more than you can imagine as you minister to God’s people here at Zion. And don’t worry. That shaping and forming will continue.

            So the parallel between you and Jonah isn’t the reason I choose this text for today. As we look at this today, we’re going to see the way that God calls people to bring other people to faith. God wants all people to be saved and to come to know Him.

            Look at the man God calls to bring His message to Nineveh. Jonah didn’t want to go the first time God called him, but ran away as far as he could. God had to send a storm and then a great fish to save his life and bring Jonah back. You know the story.

            Why did Jonah run? Was he afraid that the people wouldn’t listen to him? Was he afraid that the King of Nineveh would have him killed? Was he afraid to leave home? No it wasn’t any one of these things. Jonah told God exactly why He didn’t want to go. He says,

“O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (Jonah 4:2)

            Jonah knew that God’s character! He’s actually quoting what God Himself said to the people of Israel after they worshiped the golden calf. This phrase is repeated over and over again throughout the Old Testament. God is gracious and merciful—slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The point is this: God wanted to forgive the people of Nineveh.

This prophet was reluctant because he didn’t want these people to know God’s mercy and grace! Think about it. It says that Nineveh required a three day journey to see it all—Jonah only goes in a one day’s journey. His sermon is only five words long in Hebrew. Give a sermon like that next Sunday, some people will be really excited, some people not so much. 
But what that sermon does is interesting. “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” Today you think you’re okay, but what about tomorrow—what’s going to happen to you in the future. It’s similar to the question we ask in Ongoing Ambassadors For Christ, “Where do you think you are going to go when you die.” Jonah was more successful than any other prophet—the entire city repents—and he can’t stand it!

            At this point, I should tell you that your pastor warned me a few weeks ago and begged me not to use this text because he said, “Jacob, I actually like these people! Don’t make them think I don’t!” Kyle, as I told you then, that’s actually the point. You do like these people and are excited to serve them.

            But that doesn’t take away one thing. I’ve known you Kyle for a long time and if there’s one thing I know about Kyle, it’s that he is a sinner, just like me. That’s right; Zion Lutheran Church has maintained its perfect record of calling sinners to be pastor.

            Remember where we are at the beginning of our reading today. Jonah is sitting on the beach, covered in fish barf, looking up at the blazing sun for the first time in three days, and wondering what’s next. He’s just disobeyed God big time, and what does God do? God calls Jonah a second time. The call that Jonah receives in 3:2 is nearly word-for-word the same as the call he received in 1:2. The grace, mercy, and steadfast love that Jonah feared would be applied to Nineveh was applied to him first.

            Kyle, the same is true for you. When you were sitting in the own filthy fish vomit of your own sins, God called you to be His own child. He washed you with the water of holy baptism. He covered you with Jesus’ blood, shed on the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. He promised you Christ’s resurrection and eternal life. And now, like Jonah, God has called you to proclaim what you have received to fellow sinners so that they would also know God’s grace.

            Look at the people Jonah speaks to. The great miracle of the Book of Jonah is not that the prophet spent three days as fish barf. It isn’t the vine growing up overnight. The great miracle is that the people—all the people from the least to the greatest—repented and believed. After all, it is still a miracle any time any sinner repents and turns to the LORD with saving faith. This is the power of the Word you declare. It takes hardened sinners and makes them God’s children.  

Twice in the book, Nineveh is called a great city. There are a lot of reasons that people could say that Humboldt, Iowa is a great city. I’ve been here for all of one day and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s clean and safe. You’ve got parks and walking trails. The economy and population are growing—it’s a great city. Your city has certainly lived up to the hype from its website.

None of these things, however, make Humboldt a great city to God. The Book of Jonah calls Nineveh a “great city to God.” It wasn’t for any of the reasons that make Humboldt great. At that time, Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire—one of the largest empires the world had seen at that time. We also read that a visit to Nineveh required three days to take in all its greatness. This is where the mighty and powerful people lived. This was a great city if there ever was one!

               But God did not call Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell them how great their city was; instead the reluctant prophet was called to call these people to repentance. Nineveh’s greatness was achieved with great cruelty. They would scatter the peoples they conquered throughout their vast empire. The blood of hundreds of thousands of innocent people was on their hands. Nineveh was a city filled with great sin!

            I serve a congregation in Emma, Missouri. For all the joking Missouri and Iowa may do about each other, we really aren’t all that different. If Humboldt is anything like Emma, you’ve got people here who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, people who have no respect for God’s gift of marriage and sexuality, people who hurt each other with divorce, abuse, lies, and general apathy towards their neighbors. You’ve got people who are hurting from the loss of someone they love, who are suffering from cancer, and whose bodies are failing. You are all sinners and you are all effected by sin. We are no better than the Ninevehites. We all need to repent.

               If God would have sent fire and brimstone or an invading army to wipe Nineveh of the face of the earth, everyone would have agreed that the wicked Ninevehites would have gotten was what coming to them. However, God had something else in mind. He sent them someone to speak His Word on His behalf.

               This is why God considered Nineveh to be a great city: they are sinners who need to be called to repent and then need to hear about His grace. Here’s what God says about Nineveh at the end of the book:

“And should not I pity 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 much cattle?" Jonah 4:11

God cares about them and wants them to hear the message of His love. He was concerned about them because they were lost and God wanted to bring them back. This is why we heard that Jesus had compassion on people in this morning’s Gospel reading. The people were “harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus’ command is that we would then pray that God would call workers into His harvest. Today, God has answered that prayer for Zion, Humboldt.

               Nineveh was about twenty five times bigger than Humboldt, but to the LORD, such distinctions do not matter. God thinks Humboldt is such an important place that He continues to call and gather people to hear His Word. That, Kyle, is why you have been called here. You have been called to speak God’s Word and not your own to a city that He thinks is great because His compassion is greater than we can imagine.

            You have been called to proclaim the One who is greater than Jonah—someone who didn’t spend three days and nights in the belly of a great fish. He spent three days in the heart of the earth. This is of course, our Lord Jesus. In His death, we have clear evidence that God is gracious and merciful to us. We freely receive the forgiveness and life we do not deserve. We see that God is slow to anger—all of His wrath was poured out on His Son and not on you.

This Jesus was crucified for us and was buried. But like it wasn’t possible for the fish to keep Jonah in its stomach, it wasn’t possible for death to hold onto Jesus. It had to throw Him up! He lives to die no more.

            Kyle, the Gospel that you proclaim, that Jesus calls us to believe, is that He has done this: He has lived the perfect life that you could not live. He has died in our place on the cross. And He has risen from the dead so that we would have forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.

In this Jesus, God is moved from judgment to mercy just as He was for the people of Nineveh. God brought this good news to Nineveh through Jonah. For decades now it has been declared here at Zion and you get to be one in a long line of pastors who call people to repentance and declare God’s good news.

Jonah walked into Nineveh alone. He was the only one who knew God. Kyle, you are not alone here. You have hundreds of people in this congregation who have been gathered by the Holy Spirit to hear His Word and work for His kingdom. Already you love them. May the Lord richly bless you as you serve them. Amen. 

Pastor Kyle McBee!

This is proof that a screen shot of someone preaching rarely looks good.