Get Up and Go

 Jonah 3:1-5, 10

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 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.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31

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.

Mark 1:14-20

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When God calls us, invites us, commands us, to Get Up and Go, how do we respond?

It seems like we have three options: say no, say yes, or say nothing.

Jonah was probably just going along, minding his own business, when God called on him to Get Up and Go to Nineveh and tell those people what a mess they were in with God, and that they’d better turn around now or else.

God was calling them to repent – and God was calling Jonah to be the spokesperson, the prophet.

But Jonah detested those Ninevites. He knew they were wicked people. And he had no interest in trying to save them, especially if he might be risking his own neck. So he said no.

Well, he didn’t exactly say no.

But all his actions said no.

He did not ignore God.

He chose to go in the other direction.

He booked passage on a boat that would take him to Tarshish, which was the opposite direction from Nineveh.

So that’s probably as close as a person could get to thumbing their nose at God’s call. Jonah turned away from God, no differently, really, than the Ninevites had done with their wicked ways.

When Jesus walked by those four fishermen in our gospel story, well, all he had to do was say, “follow me”, and they immediately turned away from their lives – from their life’s work, from their families, from their boats and gear and stuff, to Get Up and Go along with Jesus.

They didn’t say, give me 24 hours to think about it.

They didn’t climb on a boat going in the opposite direction.

They said yes, and Got Up and Went, and transformed their lives in a moment’s time, with no idea of where it would lead. Off they went.

Why did Jonah say no? And why did the disciples say yes?

Let’s look at Jonah’s situation first.

We know from his words that Jonah detested those Ninevites. And while we might think that it would make him happy to go there and tell them that God was angry with them, to hand out their judgment to them on behalf of God, well, that’s not the way he responded to this “opportunity”. Perhaps he was afraid of what the Ninevites would do to him – that he would not survive the trip into what seemed like enemy territory.

Perhaps, like the prophets Jeremiah and Moses, Jonah didn’t feel worthy of carrying a prophecy that would not be well accepted.

Or perhaps he had an inkling that this ultimatum might actually make the Ninevites clean up their act and then cause God to forgive them – which was not the outcome he would have wanted.

And of course, we know that once Jonah tried to escape God’s call, by hopping onto a ship heading the other way, God persisted – by bringing a great storm that threatened to capsize the boat. Jonah decided to choose his own death by drowning in order to save the rest of the crew, and he asks them to throw him overboard.

This, of course, would also keep him from having to do God’s will with respect to Nineveh. But, as the story goes, God saves him by way of a big fish, keeps him in the belly of the fish long enough for him to pray a psalm of thanksgiving to God for his salvation, and then has the fish spit him back up out onto the shore.

And “immediately”, as the Apostle Mark would probably say if he were writing this story, God “invites” Jonah once again to go to Ninevah, “that great city”, and, God says,  “tell them what I told you to tell them in the first place.” And this time Jonah goes, and he tells the Ninevites they will be destroyed by God in 40 days, and then he climbs up onto a nearby mountainside, barely containing his glee, to watch the action. But the Ninevites heed God’s ultimatum, and show their repentance, and God changes her mind, and decides not to destroy them.

And the Ninevites live happily ever after, but Jonah – boy, is he ticked off at God, for being the kind of God who is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love”. Certainly not the kind of God he was hoping for – but certainly the kind of God that saved him, Jonah, in the first place.

So Jonah said no, and God helped him understand that no was not an acceptable answer, and gave him another chance.

Now let’s turn to the disciples.

I find it hard to visualize the scene where Jesus walks by, and says “follow me”, and these grown men just turn and do what he says. Even though I’ve seen it portrayed in the movies that have been made about Jesus, it just is hard for me to believe. Who would behave that way, as if they have suddenly been brainwashed by someone who is just walking by? It sounds almost like those Twilight Zone shows where you see people following someone mindlessly – or the zombies in that Plants vs Zombies game.

Who would do that so instantaneously?

It’s easier for me to imagine the young wealthy man who asks Jesus what he needs to do to receive eternal life, and when Jesus says, sell everything you have and follow me, he turns away sadly because he cannot.

Why are these four disciples willing to leave everything they have and follow him, at a moment’s notice?

The story itself does not offer a direct answer to this.

But we can see throughout Mark’s gospel as well as the others that Jesus had this sort of effect on people – on pretty much everyone except the people who were already in power when he came – the religious authorities and the governmental authorities. He made them afraid of losing the power they had. But those people who were powerless, who were longing for something they could not define – whether they were wealthy or poor, whether they were healthy or sick – when Jesus walked by, they saw God.

And it was irresistible – they were compelled to follow him, and they followed him in droves. When they were called by Jesus, they heard God calling them.

They also did not know, at least at first, where the call would lead. And so perhaps they decided to follow him for a while, just to learn a little more about him. And then the more they learned, the more they wanted to learn. The more they got to know him, the more they wanted to know about him. And so by the time it began to get scary for the disciples, and hard to follow him – by the time the crowds began to turn away, and by the time he asked them if they would also turn away, they knew enough to say, “to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

As they realized more and more that this was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God, they could never go back. There was no turning back.

So the answer of the disciples to Christ’s call to Get up and Go was an immediate yes.

This first letter from Paul to the Corinthians reminds us that it doesn’t matter if we are married or not, mourning or not, rejoicing or not, wealthy or not, actively engaged with the matters of the world or not. For these things are passing away, they will pass away. They should not be our priority.

What matters, as Paul wrote in his second letter to the Corinthians, is that every one of God’s promises is a “yes” in Christ. Christ is the “yes” response of God to the world that God so loves.

So what about us?

Christ calls us still, God invites us into the work of the kingdom, every day, in so many ways. We can say no, we can say yes, or we can say nothing.  Are we more likely to drop everything and follow? Or is our tendency more to pretend we didn’t hear, or even to make a choice that would take us in another direction, that would make it impossible for us to do what God is calling us to do?

What are we willing to give up for God?

What are we willing to take on for God?

How do we show God what we are willing to do in God’s name, for God’s will to be done here on earth as in heaven?

How much risk, how much inconvenience, how much sacrifice?

As a congregation, we are moving into a new year together.

As a congregation, we have committed to Christ additional resources to be used for the work of the church. Are we willing to be generous in the way we use our contributions to help those in need? Are we willing to be generous in the way we offer our time to serve others in the name of Christ?

Are we willing to be the “yes” of Christ in our daily lives?

Are we willing to make decisions that reflect the peace, love, joy, and justice of God’s kingdom, both personally and as a congregation?

From the story of Jonah we know that God persists in our lives even when we say no. From the gospels we know that saying yes to Christ’s call to Get Up and Go means the transformation of our lives to the life that is truly life. And from pretty much every story in the Bible, as well as the stories of our own lives, we know that we make the choice to follow, not knowing where it will take us in this lifetime, but knowing for sure who will be with us, and who we belong to, and who we will be with for eternity. So let us be strong and courageous, as a congregation and as individual disciples, and let us receive and respond to God’s call on our new life to Get Up and Go with a trusting, accepting, resounding “yes”!