Smelly
Preacher Converts Thousands
Pastor Mathew Magera – 8/5/18 – Sermon 299
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time:
“Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give
you.”
Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was
a very large city;
it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s
journey into the city, proclaiming,
“Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” The Ninevites
believed God. ~ Jonah 3:1-5a
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Jonah's sermon in Nineveh is
only 8 words long. "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown!"
That was it. Eight words. That's all it took. Jonah preaches and an entire city
changes its ways. Why would anyone listen to this guy? He just got vomited out
of a fish and was probably covered in fish guts, has sores on his skin from all
the digestive juices and he probably doesn't smell that great either, walking
out in the hot sun. Who would listen to this guy? What could he say? Yet, God
gave him the message, he proclaimed it and the headlines started rolling in. “Smelly
Preacher Converts Thousands.” It was all over the news. ABC, NBC, FOX, CNN,
they would be all over this. Jonah's message changed an entire city in a matter
of hours.
Imagine if we could do that.
If it was as easy as Jonah makes it look, we could leave here today, each one
of us heading to a different town in Montcalm county, give one of these short
sermons and we could convert the entire unchurched population in a matter of
hours. The headlines would be all over saying, "Danish Lutherans Covert
Thousands." What happens when we neglect this opportunity? Why are we so
reluctant to trust God’s ability to do this? Why do we choose not to do it? What
is standing in our way? Fear and misplaced trust.
We don't want to be
rejected. We've had this fear since we were kids. Whether it was asking someone
on a date or to dance or applying for a job, we fear rejection. We don't want
to hear the word "no." If it's not fear of rejection then the next
fear I often hear about is a fear of putting strain on the friendship. We've
been friends for years and we wouldn't want to ruin it if we brought up
religion, or politics, or money, the list goes on. We fear talking about Jesus
will put that friendship at risk. If our friendships break at the sound of
these tough topics, just how strong are those friendships anyway? If it's not a fear of rejection or a fear of
losing a friend, it's a fear of vulnerability or awkwardness. We don't want to
put ourselves in a vulnerable position. We don't want to lose credibility. We
don't want to get hurt. These three fears tend to be the ones I hear the most
that prevent us from taking opportunities to share faith with someone else.
Now, if we are even able to
get beyond those fears we'll come across another roadblock. What can I say?
What can I do? We get so nervous about not being knowledgeable enough. We get
so nervous about getting the right words, in the right order, in the right way,
at the right time. It stops us as our trust in the Lord is misplaced. How can I
do this? Should I say this or should I say that? Am I going to get tongue tied
when I start talking? Am I going to forget something? What if what I say is
actually wrong? Before we know it, we have been getting so caught up in the
moment and how to share the message that the opportunity is now gone. We've
missed the opportunity. Then comes the guilt. I should've just said something.
It seems like no matter what we do, we find ourselves incapable and unequipped.
First we feared even taking the opportunity to share the message and now we've
completely missed the opportunity altogether. What is God to do with us if we
can't even share a simple thing like faith?
I want to go back and look
at Jonah 3 again. The first two verses of chapter three is where we find everything
we need to know.
Verse 1: "Then the Word
of the lord came to Jonah a second time." What's God going to do with
failures like us? He's going to give us another chance. Jonah got a second
chance. He messed up the first time, oh, he blew it and he knew it. Second
chances can be rare or nonexistent in our world. We know what it's like to blow
it, to fail, to miss an opportunity. God gives second chances. Even if you feel
like there's no way you could ever be given another chance, God still gives you
one.
Verse 2: "Go to the
great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." Proclaim
to it the message I give you. What is God going to do with failures like us?
He's going to give us the message so that we don't have to make it up. God was going
to give Jonah the words to say. It wasn't even that much, as we can see. It was
not up to Jonah to write a sermon while he walked to Nineveh. He wasn't going
to have to stop at a library, grab a couple Bible commentaries, do some
research, sit in on a few text studies, wrestle with the biblical texts and how
to apply them to the local Assyrian culture, write up a manuscript, step up in
the pulpit and give it a whirl. No, all Jonah had to do was go and God would
give him the words to say. Jonah didn't need a theology degree to do it. All he
needed was the message God would give him. That's it. And that's all we need
too.
Trust the faith that God has
given you and he will give you the message. You may have a lot of experience
with the Bible, with faith, with what it means to be the Church or you may have
very little of it. But, you know that God loves you and that he sent his son to
die for you. If you know that, you're ready. But, the pressure is still there.
As many sermons as I have written in my life, I still worry about what I’m
saying and if it’s what God wants me to say. Two weeks ago, friends of ours
from seminary were here with their two kids, he’s a pastor in central Wisconsin
and was on a sabbatical and they were sitting right over there. As I was
beginning my sermon that day, I looked over their way and I saw my colleague
look right at me as I was speaking and say, “I’m watching you.” Of course it
was meant to take pressure off of me but it still made me consider the
importance of God’s Word. What happens when we miss that opportunity?
We want to be like Jonah, to
be able to walk, what appears to be confidently, into Nineveh, into an
intimidating situation, trust the Lord to give us the words to speak, to speak
them, and then to see word spread faster than wildfire and change a community.
We want to be like Jonah. The fears are still there, however. Regardless, it
doesn't change the fact that God is still here for us providing us more and
more opportunities. There will always be people needing to hear the message. If
you take a risk, hey, it could change an entire city. If it doesn't, it might
plant a seed. If it doesn't plant a seed, the fact remains that Jesus still
died for you just as he died for them. And that truth is still the same,
yesterday, today and tomorrow.
The truth never changes. No
matter how many people may reject you. No matter how many friends you may lose.
No matter how vulnerable you may become or the number of awkward moments you
may experience. No matter the bobbled words you may speak or that you may have
said something incorrectly. No matter all these things, Jesus still died for
you and for them and that's why we persist. Because no matter how incapable we
may feel, God still sent his Son and through him has made us as capable as we
need to be. It's intimidating, yes, but it doesn't take much to start
something. One day, this guy walked into a city. He was a sight for sore eyes
and he smelled worse than the downwind side of the Pierson landfill, he spoke
eight words, eight simple words, and started something. That smelly preacher
converted thousands. We have been given that power through Christ and your next
opportunity is right around the corner, so go and start something in Jesus'
name. To God be the glory, now and always. Amen.