& if all our days are numbered

then why do i keep counting

A sermon on that time God's prophet was swallowed by a whale:

This is one of those big passages. Isn’t it? And the thing about passages like this is that they sort of appear to be larger than life. Yes, we like them. The snag, though, is they don’t really seem to have much to say to us. 

I get it, too. I do. God hasn’t told you or me to go to some foreign country and deliver a dispatch of doom. Most of us, unless we were in the Navy, know absolutely nothing about being caught in a storm at sea. And, for that matter, I can rest assured none of us have ever been swallowed by a whale! Can’t I?On the whole, this passage is a lot of fun. However, it has little to do with our daily lives.

Or does it? Truthfully, this passage is relatable. Why, I’d go so far as to say that it’s more than just relatable. No, this passage is about you. It’s about me. It’s about today. And if you don’t believe me, I’d simply remind you that the nave of our sanctuary is an upturned ship. Or did you forget that?

Christians throughout the ages have experienced the church as a ship. The church is that blessed vessel that carries us through the storms of life! That’s why the word “nave" sounds so familiar to naval! They both have the same root! Navis, from the Latin, meaning ship! 

Whether you planned it or not, you’re in the exact same place as Jonah today! I bet you didn’t see that coming. Did you? Nevertheless, here you are. Just like Jonah, you’re in the hold of a ship.

This isn’t where the similarities end, either. Truth be told, it’s where they begin! Like Jonah, you, too, have been tossed from this ship. In your case, it’s not the sea. Rather, it’s the waters of baptism. Even so, like Jonah, those be treacherous waters! Ask any infant; baptism is deadly. Why do you think they howl for bloody murder?!?

In your baptism, the old sinner in you was drowned. In other words, in baptism, you died! That’s right, you died. Yes, you’re alive now. But it’s no longer you who lives! It’s Christ who lives in you! And the life you now live in the flesh is lived by faith IN the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you!

In baptism, you died. And in baptism, Christ came to life in you! In baptism, the death that matters has already occurred! Now, Death’s threats have nothing on you! You have nothing to fear anymore! You now live with your death forever behind you!

Still, there is more! In baptism, you, too, were swallowed up! Only, it wasn’t a large fish that swallowed you. No, it was the one who made the great sea monster, God thyself! In baptism, you fell irrevocably into the hands of the living God!

In baptism, you are swallowed, or clothed, with Christ! In baptism, the one who swallowed up Death, has covered you in himself! In baptism, the one who was swallowed by Death for three days has destroyed any power Death would have had over you! Death can no longer touch you! For, in Christ, you have put on imperishability!

Therefore, my beloved, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain! Amen. 

…Well, perhaps I should stop there. I’ve made my point. And we’ve already had a nice little baptismal sermon, too. Haven’t we?

However, at the risk of ruining a good thing, I’d like to go a little further, a little deeper. I want to dig in because, honestly, those similarities are just the surface ones. And yes, there’s plenty there. I don’t deny it. Regardless, Jonah still has so much more to offer you and me today. 

A quick aside: This is how it always is with the Holy Writ! The Bible is not a one-and-done sort of book! No, the Bible is inexhaustible! You can come to it again and again, and it will never cease to have something to say to you.

For instance, not only is Scripture some of the best reading out there, it’s also the most diverse! The Bible contains saucy poetry, tales of political intrigue, history, adventure, romance, and more! Plus, that’s not even saying anything about the life-giving testimony of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection!

That’s just fiddling around the edges, too! Not only does the Bible contain all that, it’s also inspired! The Bible always has something to say! The Bible always has something to say because the Holy Spirit has promised to make God’s word sound forth through it!

This is why we stand for the Gospel! We don’t do that because it’s some stodgy tradition. And we don’t do it because we’re some historical society, and the Bible is our most cherished archive. No, we stand for the Gospel because God truly speaks to us when the Gospel is read!

Scripture isn’t dead literature! No, it’s the living Word of God! By the power of the Holy Spirit, God speaks to us through the Bible! By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ is present to us in the Bible!

You don’t have to go on some far-flung pilgrimage to hear God speak! And you don’t have to be a spiritual guru, either! No, all you need to do is crack open your Bible! And check this out: It actually opens!

Anything can happen when you read the Bible! And yes, just ask Jonah; that can be a scary proposition. But you know what’s even more terrifying? The world deprived of God’s word. So you should know, every time you read your Bible, you fight the drought of God’s word. Every time you read your Bible, you unleash a little of God’s mercy in this parched world!

…But back to Jonah. Back to Jonah, because that’s the thing; everything I just said isn’t just generally true. No, it’s just plain true! And it’s true for you and for me. And it’s true today!

Jonah still has so much more to say! Jonah still has so much more to say because God, God, is speaking to us through this book! And here’s the first thing: Jonah doesn’t just connect in a baptismal way. No, it connects in a day-to-day kind of way! Whether you know it or not, you know how it feels to be Jonah. 

Yes, as we said, it’s safe to assume God never sent you to another country with a message from the Lord. That’s true. But you know what? Like Jonah, God has summoned you. And what’s more, just like Jonah, you’re not so sure about it.

Now, Jonah was sent to Nineveh. And here’s the thing about Nineveh, Nineveh wasn’t just foreign land. No, Nineveh was enemy land! And it wasn’t just any enemy land. No, Nineveh was Israel’s most hated enemy! 

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria. And Assyria was the country that destroyed the northern kingdom. Assyria is responsible for the lost tribes of Israel! After Assyria conquered Israel, Assyria led the people away. And after that, no one knows what became of them. 

Those are the people Jonah is sent to! Is it any wonder he didn’t want to go? It was a dangerous mission! And it was to a despised people, too! Yes, it might have been foolish for Jonah to run. But if you really consider his position, it was reasonable.

I use that word, reasonable, intentionally, too. You and I, we try to be reasonable. Don’t we? But if we’re honest, this commonsensical approach to life often puts us out of step with God’s word.

I don’t say that lightly. I don’t get off on this accusation. Truth be told, I can probably only see it so clearly because I’m so guilty of it. But the fact remains, the Bible is not interested in pragmatism whatsoever! Let’s be clear, we used pragmatism to justify crucifying Christ!

And there you have it! If you want to come closest to where your life most resembles Jonah’s, just look at where you’re most hedging your bets. Listen for those places where you say something like, “That’s nice and all, but we have to live in the real world.” Usually, “the real world” is just a euphemism to describe a world where God is dead, absent, or indifferent. In other words, the “real world" is an expression used to describe the world cursed with a famine of God’s word. The “real world” just describes a world where the Bible is never opened.

…Cards on that table, that was just a setup. I only touched on reasonability. And yes, I may have touched a nerve. But I didn’t sever it. Go ahead and try it out. You can still operate that appendage. 

So far, we’ve only spoken about reasonability. This allows us the self-righteousness to act like we’ve done something. In reality, though, we’ve only talked about it. We still walk away unscathed. 

Allow me, then, to exercise the coup de grâce. Literally! Yes, a coup de grâce is a deathblow. However, it’s one of mercy, or grace! That’s what “grâce” means, grace!

This deathblow is aimed at the old sinner in you! This deathblow means to strike at the heart of the old you in you who’s so afraid of life, it stops you from living every time! This deathblow means to cut down the old Eve or Adam in you who refuses to let God be God! In short, this coup de grâce means to kill the old creature in you and raise up the new one who lives in Christ through faith!

Sound good? I thought so! All right then. Let’s go! If you want to know where your life is most like Jonah’s, just think about where you most don’t want God’s word to go. 

If you’re having trouble getting started, just think about Jonah. Who are those people that make you uneasy? And please, no pearl-clutching! For heaven’s sake, spare me! We just got through an election! Don’t tell me there’s not a group of people out there that got under your skin!

So, who are they? Go ahead! Let’s shout them out! No! Don’t do that! I was only kidding. But you get my idea. Who are those people that make you uneasy?

But you know what? That’s still just a little too easy. There’s still some distance between you and the question. We’re just talking about hypothetical groups of people somewhere out there.

So then, let’s see if we can’t train this two-edged sword of God’s word a little closer to the heart of the matter. How about this? Where in your life are you most uncomfortable with God’s word? What part of your life do you hold back from God? Hmm?

Is it your mortality? Is it your pocketbook? Is it your political affiliation? Is it your relationships? Is it your search history? Is it your career? Is it your health? Is it your intellect? Is it your beauty? Is it your family?

Or is it something more sinister? Is it that other family? Is it your grief? Is it your anger? Is it your judgments? Is it your gossip? Is it your spirituality? Is it that house across the street? Or is it a lethal combination of a little of this and a little of that? 

What is it? What is that place in your life that, if God told you to go, you'd run from? To put it plainly, where in your life are you most desperate for control? Yup, it’s that easy. Where in your life are you most desperate for control?

…That’s the heart of the issue for Jonah. He doesn’t want to be the person God has chosen to deliver the message. And he’s not so sure about the message. And he definitely doesn’t approve of the people God has chosen to receive the message, either! 

Either way, Jonah’s problem is simply that God’s call threatens the cherished hold Jonah has on his own little life! And that’s not so hard to relate to. Is it? 

Honestly, it’s the sort of, let’s call it “stuff” that makes up a lot of life. There’s no shortage of places and moments where we feel like we're caught in a storm and can’t escape. Or, worse, where we’re trapped in the belly of the beast itself. And in those moments, it doesn’t seem as though there is any way out. Does there? 

Well, if Jonah teaches us anything, it’s that there’s not! I hate to say that. But it’s true. There’s no way out! No, the only recourse is to do like Jonah, and acquiesce! 

Acquiesce. That’s one of those two-dollar words your snobby pastor loves. Isn’t it? But you know what? It’s the right word! 

I’m sorry, but I’m your preacher today. And I’m armed with only a couple of things. First of all, God’s word. And secondly, human words! And I’ll be dipped if I’m not going to use my entire arsenal!

Acquiesce means to accept. But it’s not acceptance as in resignation. No, it’s acceptance as in a hard-won assent. Acquiescence is an acceptance that isn’t made easily, but is made nonetheless!

It’s a lot like prayer. Or it’s like when you come to this communion rail. When you come here, you drop to your knees. You open your hands. Essentially, you admit you’re in need, and you can’t deliver yourself. 

That’s hard to do. Isn't it? Honestly, life teaches us never to be helpless like this. But you know what? Here, God empowers you to do nothing less! 

You caught that, didn’t you? When it comes to God, acquiescence is always a miracle! We don’t do it on our own! We won’t! We can’t! 

Acquiescence only happens by the Holy Spirit! It’s what faith is made of! It’s what happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you finally stop living by your own lights and begin to really live in the light of God! What’s more, when you do, you discover, as St. Paul before you did, that Christ’s power is perfected in weakness!

…That’s all Jonah is about! And it’s all life is about, too. After all, you don’t have to live more than a little to know that a lot of life is out of our control. Do you?

Well, today, the wind whips across the turbulent sea of time itself, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jonah calls out to you from Scripture! He hollers that God has had enough! God is about to overturn everything in a shocking twist of mercy! And here it comes: God hasn’t waited for you to get your life in order.

God hasn’t waited for you to get your life in order because that day will never come! And the day of the Lord is now! As John Donne said, “Therefore, send not to know / For whom the bell tolls, / It tolls for thee.”

Yes, this is scary. But life is scary. In Christ, though, that’s not all life is. Not by a long shot! 

No, now, in Christ, your life is an adventure! In Christ, your life is no longer something you have to manage. No, now it is an incredible voyage! Now, your life is an incredible voyage you can sail into with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit leading the way!

Yes, there will be storms. And giant sea monsters, too! But you, you are covered in Christ! Or have you forgotten? You’ve already died! You have nothing to fear!

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,  

“For your sake we are being killed all day long;  

we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.”  

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor DEPT, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

…So, as we ship out, let’s sing a sea shanty! Our Hymn of the Day is hymn number 588, There's a Wideness in God's Mercy. Hymn number 588, There's a Wideness in God's Mercy. Let’s sing!