“Listen!”

The Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church Pulpit
Mr. Mike Robison, Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship
The Lord's Day, June 12, 2005
Jonah 3:10-4:3
Matthew 28:18-20

I had not paid much attention to the story of Jonah until the last couple of years. You all know the story. God sends a big fish to swallow this guy Jonah! He stays in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights before being unceremoniously spit out. We all know the story; or, perhaps you like me, got distracted by the big fish part and missed the bigger point of the story.

The story of Jonah is the story of a reluctant prophet who would not listen. When I say listen, I'm using the word in a context that perhaps my grandmother first taught me. Once in a while my grandmother would grab me by the ear, yank a bit and say, "Listen!" The distinct implication was not just to hear the words, but to obey. God was pretty clear, it seems to me, about what he wanted Jonah to do. Jonah for his part, was not listening.

So what was going on with Jonah and what does that have to do with us today at Appomattox Court House Presbyterian Church? Let's begin by hearing again the story of Jonah. The story is only four chapters long. It's a total of two and half pages in my Bible. I actually read the entire book - slowly -- in about thirty minutes. As short a time as that is, I don't have time to read the whole story from the pulpit today so I am going to tell the story.

God tells Jonah go to that great city, Nineveh. I'm tired of their wicked ways. But Jonah instead goes to Joppa and catches a ship heading to Tarshish, which happens to be in the opposite direction. (If my grandmother had been God, I think this is when she would have yanked Jonah's ear and said "Listen!") God makes the sea rough and all the folks on the ship are terrified that they're going to die. They want to know who brought this on them and so Jonah 'fesses up. He's tossed into the stormy sea; and the sea suddenly ceased its raging.

Here comes the part that most people remember! And God sent a large fish to swallow Jonah, and the reluctant prophet was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. Jonah prays with passion and the God commanded the fish to spit the prophet out on dry land. Now God speaks to Jonah a second time - "Go to Nineveh and proclaim a message that I will give you." This time, Jonah goes to Nineveh and tells them "Forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown." The people believe him, the king believes him; and they repent! God does not destroy Nineveh. Jonah finally listens and does what he is told. Nineveh is saved!

You might think this suddenly city-wide repentance would be the happy ending -- not quite. Jonah is angry! He's not only angry, but shows he is bigoted. Jonah's angry that God would have compassion on an enemy of Israel. And so, God makes a vine grow to shade Jonah. Jonah finds this pleasant shade to be to his liking. However, God causes vine to die and Jonah is not happy! But God uses this a teaching moment: "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?" (Jonah 4:10-11).

I think that much of the church today is like Jonah. We either don't listen, or we listen and then run away. What was Jonah reluctant about? Jonah didn't want Nineveh saved. Nineveh was an enemy of Israel, and after all, the Israelites were God's chosen people.

So what is our reluctance about? I think a lot of us are reluctant about bringing God to un-reached people. Specifically, the Good News about what God has done for us. Why are we so reluctant?

The following was said to a young William Carey. William Carey was a lay person who lived in England in the 1800's and is generally referred to as the father of the Protestant mission movement:

"Young man, sit down: when God pleases to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine." Does this sound familiar? Does this sound like the way God works to you? With this line of thinking God could have gone to Nineveh Himself, left Jonah out of the whole deal, saved him and Jonah a lot of trouble."

Why are we so reluctant? Here is something else I've heard and experienced personally: Some of us are a bit uneasy because we know in the history of spreading the Gospel, Christians have not always done a very good job. We have a long history of making a mess of things; of killing people; of using the scripture for personal gain; of disrespecting other people and other cultures. Are we guilty of sometimes having done missions badly? Yes. But now, as Paul Harvey might say, hear the rest of the story.

Christians have built more hospitals; started more schools and universities; done more to promote literacy; created written languages where there were none; and fed hungry people! Have we made some mistakes over history? Absolutely. Have Christians done a great deal very well over history? Absolutely.

Aside from the raw statistics, we are called to take the Good News of Jesus Christ to all peoples; to all nations. Are we going to listen to this clear Biblical mandate or are we going to run from it like Jonah? Are we a Church that's going to run from what God has told us to do or are we going to embrace God's call?

In our culture it's very easy not to take commands very seriously. Have you noticed that many take the Ten Commandments as the Ten suggestions for a civil society? Or that perhaps Matthew needed a stirring ending for his Gospel, so, doesn't the Great Commission sound "Oh so powerful?"

Friends, I would suggest that the Ten Commandments are the Ten Commandments and the Great Commission is Jesus' final instructions to his followers. I want to point out a few particulars with the Great Commission.

First, all of the Gospels and in other places in the New Testament, we have Jesus instructing his followers to go into the world to spread the Gospel. Many, including myself, find the Great Commission as stated in Matthew to be the clearest statement to me.

Secondly I want to point out what some call the four "all statements": Jesus says that all authority has been given to him. The immediate implication is that he has the authority to say what he is fixing to say.

Go and make disciples of all nations. The verb here is "make." Make what? Make disciples. Make disciples of whom? All nations. Let's take a minute to define what all nations are. The Greek, panta ta ethne is typically translated in the New Testament as "all nations". The more literal meaning is all ethnic groups, all ethnicities, all families of people, or in mission's lingo, all people groups. The important part here is that we are talking about groups of people, not political organizations. There are a lot of ways to break down what a people group is but typically, in mission circles, people groups are identified by sharing the same language and culture. There are various numbers floating around and know one knows for sure, but by most popular estimates there are approximately 10,000 people groups in the world.

The third "all" statement is to "teach all that I have commanded you." I want to make this point about "all that I have commanded you." Some people think that the only legitimate mission is evangelism. Bringing the Gospel message to the entire world. Others are more comfortable with the idea that missions should be about social justice - feeding the hungry, providing water to the thirsty, medical care, education, and so forth. I have heard the figure and cannot confirm it, that 90% of our mission dollars go to social justice related mission work. And I will ask you to consider if this makes sense to you. Both social justice and evangelism are valid.

The fourth and last all statement is Jesus' assurance that he will be with us always, even to the end of the age. I don't know when the end of the age is. But, we are living in a time between the resurrection and the end of the age! Simultaneously, I take great comfort and feel an awesome sense of responsibility to know that Jesus is still with me. Jesus is not an ancient legend, or the figure from a very old story book. Jesus is with us today.

In the book of Jonah, we have the story of a reluctant prophet. A prophet who heard God's direction and initially ran from God rather than do what he was instructed. In the Great Commission and many other places in the New Testament, we have a clear message as followers of Jesus Christ - Go into the world and make disciples of all nations. Jonah did not listen, he ran. What are we going to do? Are we going to listen and obey, or are we going to ignore or run?

How can you as an individual respond? How can you as Appomattox Courthouse Presbyterian Church respond to the Great Commission? To begin with, and this is important - you already respond. This church is already a blessing to this community and through PCUSA you are connected to mission work on six continents.

I want to spend a minute and tell you about the Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF). The purpose of the PFF is to inform, energize, and mobilize churches in PCUSA to be involved in the ministry of spreading the Gospel Message to un-reached people groups around the world. I am aware that you have supported David Bridgman with his work in reaching un-reached people groups, primarily in China. I want to thank you for your support of David Bridgman and this work. PFF has asked me to focus my support raising for a region just east of China, Central Asia. Specifically we support 16 PCUSA missionaries in four countries, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgystan, and Tajikistan.

I hope you will thoughtful and prayerfully, as individuals and as a church, to consider being a part of this critical ministry. I have left brochures in the back; please take one if you are interested in learning more details about this ministry to reach un-reached people all over the world.

I am asking you today to consider your mission outreach to the whole world. To a world where 50% of its inhabitants have never heard the name Jesus Christ or had the opportunity to respond to his message of grace, love and redemption. I want to challenge you to prayerfully ask yourselves, is our mission outreach complete? Not, is what you are doing correct? - I think it probably is, but is it complete? I want to ask you to think, talk, and pray, about whether or not you, as individuals or a church are being called to be a larger part of God's work in reaching people groups that have never heard of Jesus Christ. I challenge you: Is it time for Appomattox Courthouse to play a bigger part in God's work to reach all the peoples of the earth?

Prayerfully. Thoughtfully. Scripturally. Together as a Church and as individuals, I would ask you to…..listen! What is God calling you to do?

In the powerful name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit ~ Amen