The Saved Castaway: Go, Lead a Compassionate Purpose (Part VI)

Sermon Title: Castaway: Go, Lead a Compassionate Purpose

Good News Statement: God’s purpose for us is more than a noun

Preached: Sunday, August 13th, 2023, at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Jonah 3:1-10 – Today’s Scripture reading comes from the Book of Jonah chapter three verses one thru ten. In these verses we read about Nineveh’s conversion—their repentance to and acceptance of God—by Jonah’s eight word message and are reminded of two things: 1) God has a purpose for us—“Get up, go to Nineveh”—and 2) we are all leaders.

Conversion of Nineveh

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ² “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³ 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. ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

⁶ When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. ⁷ Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. ⁸ Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. ⁹ Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”

¹⁰ 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.

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

Introduction:

Little Philip was spending the weekend with his grandmother after a particularly trying week in infant school. His grandmother decided to take him to the park on Saturday morning. It had been snowing all night and everything was beautiful.

His grandmother commented, ‘Doesn’t it look like an artist painted this scenery?  Did you know God painted this just for you?’ ‘Yes, ‘replied Philip, ‘God did it and he did it left-handed.’ This confused his grandmother, so she asked him, ‘What makes you say God did this with his left hand?’ ‘Well, ‘said Philip, ‘we learned at Sunday School last week that Jesus sits on God’s right hand.’

Whether you are left-handed or right-handed or a gifted artist or a stick-figure-kind-of-artist, God has a purpose for you. God is drawing a plan for you but He needs your help with bringing the drawing to life. God states in Jeremiah 29:11, “For surely I know the plans I have for you…plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” But are you willing to pursue the purpose and plan that God has laid upon your heart? Or are you simply just sitting still and hoping that someone will do the work for you?

Last week, we concluded Jonah Chapter Two be reading through and reflecting on Jonah’s closing remarks in his prayer from the belly of the fish. Just before he is spewed out onto the dry land of Nineveh, Jonah prayed in 2:7-9, “As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

From these closing words, we read that Jonah remembered the LORD as his life was ebbing away in times of trouble; we read that Jonah acknowledged that his prayer entered the holy temple­—the presence—of the LORD; we read that Jonah turned away from the worship of vain or false idols and focused more on God; we read that Jonah gave thanks to the LORD while he was near death at the bottom of the sea—the roots of the mountain; we read that Jonah made promises or vows to the LORD; and finally we read that our deliverance, our salvation, belongs to the LORD—it is something that God has drawn just for us.

Within these words of confession and supplication, are questions that we need to ask ourselves. First, “When do we remember the LORD?” Do we remember the LORD only in times of trouble, when life is against us, or do we remember the LORD in the joys of life, when life is for us? Second, “What are we worshipping in our life?” Is what we are worshipping considered a false idol, something that is pushing us further and further away from God? Third, “When was the last time we gave thanks in all circumstances—always and forever—for the good and bad things in our life? And fourth, “When was the last time we made and kept a promise with God?” Jonah’s prayer is our prayer today. Through this prayer we called to surrender all to Christ, to leave everything at the foot of the cross, to carry our cross, and to accept that our salvation—our ability to be saved from the sea bottom and raging storms—belongs to the LORD. Jonah’s prayer is our prayer today. Within this prayer, we confess that we are ready for what comes next.

For Jonah, what comes next is what he initially ran from. At the beginning of Chapter One, the word of the LORD came to Jonah and the LORD said, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2). Hearing these words, Jonah decided to flee some 2,500 miles to Tarshish, the farthest destination west that he could think of. Today, Tarshish would have been located on the east coast of Spain. But now, Jonah is not running from Nineveh and towards Tarshish but is running toward Nineveh and away from Tarshish. Jonah has accepted his God-given purpose to preach to the great and wicked city of Nineveh, and he does so with an eight-word message. These eight words, essentially, save the lives of thousands of people and encourage them to repent in the presence of the LORD, God almighty. Just think about what your life would be like if you stopped ignoring the purpose and plan that God is giving you? Whose life or lives would you save?

Jonah Chapter Three is our reminder that procrastinating and waiting for the opportune time to do what God has called you to do is not what pleases God. What pleases God, is doing, right now, what He is calling you to do. Jonah Chapter Three teaches us about purpose and how God has a purpose for you!

Body:

When Billy Graham was 92 years old, he was struggling with Parkinson’s disease. In January, a month before his 93rd birthday, leaders in Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Billy initially hesitated to accept the invitation because of his struggles with Parkinson’s disease. But the Charlotte leaders said, “We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.” So, he agreed.

After wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the podium, looked at the crowd, and said: I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who this month has been honored by Time magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was once traveling from Princeton on a train, when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there. He looked in his briefcase but couldn’t find it. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.

The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.” Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As he was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, “Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don’t need a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.” Einstein looked at him and said, “Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is where I’m going.”

We may not know where we are going or what God has planned for us or what it means to pursue God’s purposes in our life, but at least we know that God knows. Jonah has been spewed out of the fish onto dry land near the great and wicked city of Nineveh and is now on his way to preach an eight word message to people that are feared by all. From Jonah Chapter Three, we not only figure out where we are going, but we gain four purposes to help us get to where we are going.

Purpose One: “Get up and Go…” Jonah 3:1-3a asserts, “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.” How many of you enjoy receiving a second chance, a do over? Be honest. How many of you enjoy receiving a second chance? You’ve made a mistake, but you get a second chance to make it right. You’ve said the wrong thing, but you get a second chance to erase what you’ve said. You’ve purchased the wrong thing, but you can make a return and get the right thing. We enjoy second chances. We enjoy trying to make things right. Jonah is receiving a second chance: the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time. The word of the LORD was already given to Jonah but he ignored it; so now, the LORD is giving him a second chance, and instead of saying “no”, Jonah says “yes.”

After giving Jonah the word of the LORD a second time, the LORD says, “Get up, go to Nineveh…and proclaim to the message that I tell you.” In Hebrew, the phrase “get up,” literally means “to rise, go now, and go immediately.” God is basically saying to Jonah, “Because I have given you this second chance, go immediately to Nineveh, don’t wait, and don’t try to run: Go now, there is no time to waste.” In the words of the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, “I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date.” We must not hesitate but go immediately because we do not want to be late to do God’s work.

Believe it or not, we are called, throughout scripture, to “go immediately” when God tells us to “Get up and go.” Matthew 28:19 says, “Go, therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” Mark writes in his sixteenth chapter, “Go into the entire world and preach the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Luke 24:45 asserts, “Go, seeking repentance for forgiveness of sins…to all nations.” And Acts 1:8 tells us, “Go, even to the remotest part of the earth.” We are constantly being told by God to go; but are we going or are we trying to find our ticket on the train?

Our first purpose is to realize that the LORD is willing to give us a second chance. But more importantly, our purpose  is to go and show to others how God pursues them. We are to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Like the Shepherds watching over their flock by night, we must not hesitate when God tells us to go, to share the good news, to inform others that God needs them. God not only needs people around you, but God needs you. God needs you to pursue those who need a second chance, who need to receive the word of the LORD, who need to be healed, forgiven, and saved. God needs you to do God’s work here on earth as it is in heaven. So, stop hesitating, stop being late, and start doing what God is calling you to do: find ways to pursue those who need to experience the love and grace of Jesus Christ: seek out the Ninevites. Now is your time to receive a second chance and go where God is calling you to go.

Purpose Two: “God’s message is already inside of you.” Jonah continues, “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 ‘” (Jonah 3:3b-5). Jonah has received his message from God, is standing upright with his shoulders back and his head held high, and is going into the great and wicked city of Nineveh. Jonah is hanging onto the words of Joshua 1:9 as he takes his first steps toward the great and wicked city of Nineveh: “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Jonah is so strong and courageous that he doesn’t wait to share the message of God. On the first day, in just eight words, five in Hebrew, Jonah tells the people of Nineveh, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” In just eight words, Jonah changes the lives of many people. It doesn’t sound like a very good message by any means—destruction and death—but it was the message that the people needed to hear. We might not always agree with what God is telling us but what God is telling us is what we need to hear.

The Ninevites received God’s message and immediately responded: “And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.” Did you hear who accepted this message? Everyone, great and small, accepted and responded to this message. No one refuted the word of the LORD. The people chose to fast; they voluntarily reduced their food intake. Scholars have said that the act of fasting is a means of making a sacrifice to God—giving up something that we rely on to get closer to God. The Ninevites are making a sacrifice to a God that they don’t really quite know or understand. Furthermore, the people put on sackcloth; they chose to wear a garment or robe and to look like their neighbor. Tradition has it that to wear sackcloth meant that one was willing to publicly express or show sorrow or regret for having done something wrong. The Ninevites know that they have done something wrong, and if they don’t change their ways, in forty days they will be overthrown, they will be destroyed, they will be no more. (The Ninevites will become Nonevites!) Through the people’s actions, they are crying out for God’s mercy and repentance. They need God in their life; and they are willing to aside their own ways to experience His word in their life. In a way, they are doing what the man with the demon possessed child prays in Mark 9:24, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

The second purpose that we get from this text is that we have a purpose to act upon the word of God. James notes in his epistle, “But be doers of the word and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22). Essentially, put the word of God, the very word that lives inside of you, into action: don’t just say you have the word of God, but show others that you have the word of God. Give food to the hungry, provide drink to the thirsty, share clothing with the naked, welcome the stranger, and comfort the sick (Matthew 25). Put God’s word into action.

Before James wrote his epistle, the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the people of Rome. After quoting Moses, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8), Paul writes, “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). God has not only given you His word, but He has given you, through faith and salvation, the word of Christ. It is your purpose to share this word. But are you willing to share it with others? Are you willing to help others turn their unbelief into belief? This week, share with someone what God has laid on your heart. Share your own eight word message with someone. The word is in your mouth and in your heart: everyone, great and small, needs to hear the word of God.

Purpose Three: “Be a leader to and be a leader with.”  Our attention now turns from the people to the King of Nineveh at this time.[1] Jonah 3:6-8 states, “When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Humans and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.’”

The King of Nineveh is not only being a King at this time, but he is being a civilian. Frist, the King as King has conversed with his nobles and established a decree—a set of guidelines for the people to follow. The King decrees, “partake in a fast, put on sackcloth, cry out to the God of Israel, repent from evil ways and violence, and have hope in God’s compassion.” The King is establishing guidelines so the people have something to follow during this time of change and newness. He is looking after the safety and well-being of this people. Second, the king is a civilian. Our text says that the king rose from the throne upon which he normally sits, took off his royal robes that distinguish him from the commoner, covered himself with sackcloth—the clothes of the average person—and sat down in the ashes or dust—the very ground upon which the people walk and live on. The King is being a leader to but also a leader with the people. Instead of leading, he is following, declaring and doing what the people have already done. He is acting in similar ways to Jesus, who walked this very earth, breathed the same air, slept on the ground, and ate with common people.

Our third purpose is the purpose of leadership. Authors Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Mary Linsky note in their book, The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, that an effective leader does two things: “one, they listen from the heart; and two they speak from the heart.” We have been called upon by God to be leaders whom listen from the heart—are not quick to judge, who think before we speak, and who embrace the silence within so that the voice of others can be heard. When we listen from the heart, we tend to do more leading with rather than leading to. Additionally, having been given a purpose from God, we are also called to speak from the heart—speak with conviction, understanding, apathy, empathy, guidance, and truth—as we lead others to Christ, as we lead the church to growth, and as we become leaders for the community. As leaders, as disciples, as followers of Christ and doers of the word, it is our purpose to be leaders for the sake of sharing the good news and creating ways to keep the church alive both inside and outside our four walls.

The King of Nineveh, listened with his heart—heard the cries of his people—and then spoke from the heart and encouraged his people to accept the grace of God. We are all leaders. We are all ministers. We are all people who strive each and every day to listen and speak from the heart. Our purpose is to lead with and to the people so that others are able to find Christ. As Luke would tell us, as leaders we are “to bring good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed…” (Luke 4:18). Are you willing to be a leader of the LORD and for the people?

Purpose Four: “To administer God’s compassion.” After removing himself from the throne, the King humbles himself for the King Almighty and says, “Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish” (Jonah 3:9). This verse echoes the plea from the captain in Jonah 1:8, “Maybe he [God] will take notice of us, and we will not perish.” Perishing is not an option for those who believe in the saving grace of God and the eternal salvation of Jesus Christ from the cross. Neither the captain nor the King want to perish, instead they want to have everlasting life. They want God to see that they are willing to turn their life around, that they are willing to repent, and that they are ready for their second chance. But will God listen to their cry of lament and forgiveness? Will God show them compassion?

The Chapter ends with these words, “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” (Jonah 3:10). In other translations of the Bible, instead of noting that God changed his mind, the translation uses the Hebrew word hapak to indicate that the LORD had compassion upon the people.[2] Therefore, God didn’t necessarily change his mind, but administered compassion upon those who turned from their evil ways and repented. Furthermore, this verse answers our question, “Will God show compassion to a wicked city?” Yes, God offers compassion to the wicked and hurting people of Nineveh, just he does with the wicked and sinful today.

Did you know that God has compassion for you? Second Peter 3:9 reminds us, “The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” God does not want anyone to perish. God does not want you to perish, but seek repentance in His presence. God is waiting to forgive you of your sins—for giving into the spirit of the flesh. God is waiting to strengthen your faith—as your unbelief turns to belief. God is waiting to give you a new heart and new spirit as you come to trust Him more each and every day. God is waiting for you to return to Him because God knows that you need Him in your life. God has compassion for you, all you have to do is let God know that you want to experience His compassion.

Needless to say, the fourth purpose that this text gives us is the purpose of compassion. Peter writes in his first epistle, “Be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble” (1 Peter 3:8). And Paul writes to the Ephesians, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). John Wesley would tell us to “do no harm” and to “do good” in all that we do, all that we say, and in all the places we go and people we meet. Our purpose is to be compassionate towards others and to seek God’s repentance in our life.

Final Purpose: “Your Purpose.” This leads us to the groundbreaking reality of Jonah Chapter Three: God’s purpose is our purpose. Professor of Religion at Augustana College, Jason Mahn, talks about purpose in his book Neighbor Love Through Fearful Days: Finding Purpose and Meaning in a Time of Crisis. Dr. Mahn asserts that purpose is both a noun and a verb. As a noun, “purpose means the reason something is done or for which something exists.” For example, the purpose of any job is to complete a certain task. As a verb, “purpose means to revolve or intend to do something, or to set a goal for oneself.” For example, I purposed to be more intentional about reading more books. God’s purpose is both a noun and a verb by which reminds us of our own purpose.

Through Jonah, God’s noun-ful purpose is that he has been sent to Nineveh to proclaim the word of the LORD through an eight-word message. Through Jonah, God’s verb-ful purpose is that the people of Nineveh have the task of repentance before them—to remove themselves from their wicked ways. In life, God has given you a purpose—a task and a goal. Your purpose is to “go—now, immediately, without haste—to be a Christian leader of and for God’s creation, to administer the word of God in compassionate ways, to live out the word and love of Jesus Christ that lives within you, and to be who God has called you to be. You have a purpose; and God has given you that purpose for a specific reason. Don’t let the purpose go to waist, whatever it may be. Because of God’s purpose in your life, you have what it takes to change this world, to be a healer for the hurting, to be a finder of the lost, and to be a voice for the voiceless. You have a purpose. God’s purpose is your purpose: don’t set aside what God is calling you to do, but instead act upon it and let it come to fruition.

Conclusion:

Going back to our opening story, Einstein knew who he was but he didn’t know where he was going. In life, we may know who we are, but we may not always know where we are going; but God does. Let God speak to you, guide you, and open your heart to new possibilities and understandings. Let His purpose be your purpose whatever that may be.

I invite you this week to write down ideas or things or events that God has laid on your heart. Write them down, pray for them, and begin thinking about what it would take to make those ideas, things, or events come to life. Pay attention to the purpose behind what God is telling you. And just like Jonah, embrace that God-given purpose as you go immediately, become a leader, embrace the word of God, and administer compassion to all those whom you meet. You may not always know where God is taking you, but remember God has a purpose for you: trust in Him, trust in Jesus. Let God’s purpose come to life in your life. Jonah gave the Ninevites an eight-word message, so I do the same for you today: “You have a God given purpose, now go.”

Let it be so…

 

Closing Prayer:

Let Us Pray…Dear Saving God, help us today and every day to live out your purpose in our life, whatever that may be. Help us to act immediately upon your word, to live out the word within us, to be strong yet humble leaders, and to always be compassionate. O God, grant us the motivation to turn your purpose—the purpose that you have laid upon our heart—into action so that we can share your love and mercy beyond these four walls. All honor and glory is yours, now and forever, Amen.

 

Benediction:

God has given you a purpose. Just like Jonah, embrace that purpose, be thankful of second chances, and don’t be afraid to find ways to put into action what God is calling you to do, because what you today could be just what others need in their life to find Christ. May you be blessed with God given purposes this week. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go out into the world knowing that you have been saved by God. And all of God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

[1] Scholars have suggested four possible kings who could have been in reign during this time: King Shalmanesar III, King Sennacherib, King Asshur-danil, and King Asshur-nirari.

[2] Suggesting that God already knew what was going to take place before Jonah even stepped foot into the great and wicked city.