Rev. Dr. M. Taylor Bach

Jonah 1:1-17 John 20:24-29

Have you ever noticed the reactions people have when they are asked to do something? Some people will say, “Sure, I'll do it. I get excited about that. Let me just jump right into it!” Some people will say, “I'll do it but I really don't want to.” Some people will just come out and say, “No. I'm not going to do that.” Some people matter-of-factly say, “OK. I'll do it.” And they get it done. Some say, “I will,” then don't. In the Bible story that Joanie Flaig just read, we heard the story of Jonah. I've never known quite how to understand the story of Jonah. Is it one of those historical stories that really occurred or is it one of those fictional stories to make a theological point? There are things in it that make it sound very historical but then I've often wondered if a man was swallowed by a whale, wouldn't the gastric juices in that whale simply eat him up and destroy him? At the same time, I realize God can do anything. So maybe God neutralized the gastric juices and so he wasn't eaten. The rest of the story that wasn't read was after he was thrown into the water and the whale or a huge fish gobbled him up, he stayed in the belly for three days. As you know, he was running away from his calling. God had asked him, “Will you go witness to the community of Nineveh?” His answer was, “No. I won't do that.” So he ran away. As the story goes, the fish threw him up on the banks of the shore. Nineveh was only a short distance away. So he had to walk to Nineveh and he didn't get by with saying “No” to God when God called him to be a witness.

The story continues that he went and gave the message God wanted to be given to Nineveh, “You are a sinful city. God is displeased with you. You need to change your ways.” Guess what? The people in the city listened to him. The Bible records that everyone in the city covered themselves with sackcloth. Even the king got rid of his fine robes and covered himself, too. They got down on their knees and prayed to God for forgiveness. Jonah's reluctant witness worked. But what was Jonah's response? “God, you didn't destroy the city like you said you would.” He was disappointed! I guess he wanted to see fireworks. He wanted to see them destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah. But because they repented, God changed his mind and He didn't destroy them. Jonah went off and pouted. He sat down in the heat of the day. Then God grew a vine around him to give him shade. Just as he got comfortable with it, God sent a worm to eat the vine and the shade disappeared. That was his punishment for being a reluctant witness. What is the moral of this story for all of us? The moral of the story is&we're not to be reluctant witnesses. The moral of this story is when God asks you to do something, you really can't run away. He will somehow give you the circumstances to put you back in the situation where you feel compelled to do what He asks of you. You can't just say, “Nah. I'm not going to do it.” Or you can't just say, “I'm going to do it,” and then not do it. You can say, “I'll do it but I don't want to.” But there are consequences to all these answers. You are morally compelled when He puts you in those circumstances to answer Him positively and say, “Alright. I am called by God. I'm in these circumstances. I am going to do His will.” That is the attitude that we are to have. We are not to be reluctant witnesses, even when being a reluctant witness seems like second nature. We all know that as Christians, we are to promote Jesus Christ in the world. He said, “Go therefore into all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have taught you.” So once we understand who Jesus is, once we have that personal relationship with Him, we are to go share that with other people. We're not just to make it our own private possession. We are to tell others about it.

Billy Graham said this, “Genuine faith is never meant to be locked up in the heart of a believer. To the contrary. It is meant to be shared with the whole world. But if you sincerely seek to share your faith, you must find it.” Still we need to be constantly exploring our faith discovering who this Jesus is and inviting Him into our lives, inviting His Holy Spirit to fill us to give us the power to go out and witness and share the Good News with others.

I want you to think about a particular analogy that I thought of that might illustrate our fear of witnessing and what we can do about our fear when we are thrown into the situation where we could witness to the life of Jesus Christ and His grace, His love, His kindness, His forgiveness for people. Did you know that if there were seven blocks filled with a dense fog a hundred feet thick, that if you condensed that fog down to its solid water component, it would amount to this (holding up a glass of water)? That is pretty much how our fear is. Our fear is something that we create in our minds. The actual act of witnessing is never as scary as anticipating doing it. So often we are reluctant witnesses like Jonah. And yet, the actual witnessing doesn't amount to much more than a fog which may cloud our eyes and cloud our sight, but it really isn't much of anything. We need to get into the habit of saying to people, “Do you think you are going to go to heaven?” That might be a good way to start a conversation with a non-Christian. Or “What do you think about the sin in the world? Whose fault is it?” Or you could say to someone, “What church do you belong to? Do you have a church that you go to regularly?” Begin a conversation. It may be scary to take the risk to start a conversation like that but you will discover there are people out there desperate to know about the Lord.

This is Super Bowl Sunday. We are very aware of the crowds that will be involved in watching the Super Bowl. I don't know what the stadium in Florida holds but there will be minimally 80,000 people there and many million more people watching this football game this evening on TV. I think, “Oh my gosh! This game is so insignificant in the course of life. This game with all its hoopla and all these people involved is so insignificant. It is just a game.” We have the words of life. We have the Person who can bring life. If Jesus Christ walked into this church, would there be a full congregation? If Jesus Christ stood in this pulpit, would there be three million people who would want to hear what He had to say? I don't think so because Jesus Christ is here. Jesus Christ does visit our congregation as He does every Christian congregation. Jesus says, “If two or three are gathered in my name, I am present.” Isn't He worthy of far more than the adulation given to football teams? Sure, we love the sport and that is OK. I think God blesses us having fun. But let's keep life in perspective. Let's help people realize what is really important in their lives. What is really important is a relationship with Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and the love of God the Father. That means more than anything else. Nothing is as important as that. So why are we reluctant witnesses? I'll have to admit, I find it hard to witness to non-Christians, to start a conversation. Sometimes I will look for them in a store or someplace and then I'll wimp out and not say anything, even when God may present the opportunity. We've got Boy Scouts here today because it is Boy Scout Sunday and one of the traits of scouts is they work to be brave. Shouldn't we all be brave? Shouldn't we all be willing to witness to Jesus Christ? He is our Lord and our Savior. Nothing else matters. Nothing else is as important.

This morning, we are thrilled to have our scouts with us and emphasize the traits that they work on - bravery, courage and being prepared. Let us take that as an example, their witness to all of us, to also be prepared to tell people about our Lord and invite people to come to know Him.