January 21, 2024 – Sanctity of Human Life Sunday Text: Jonah 3:1-4:3
Dear Friends in Christ,
Is the church today a reluctant messenger when it comes to life issues? Do we run away from sharing this message? Don’t we want families dealing with an unplanned pregnancy or those facing end-of-life decisions to know about a God who does not abandon them in their challenges? Don’t we want men and women to know God’s compassion and forgiveness and direction? We can’t run away just because it might be uncomfortable.
We have a man in our text who knows about running away from the uncomfortable. Jonah’s the name. He is a . . .
“RELUCTANT MESSENGER”
God has a plan and wants Jonah to carry it out. Go to Nineveh and tell them to repent. In his first try, Jonah ran away. But being swallowed up by a big fish and then vomited up has a way of getting a man’ attention. He is still reluctant. So, he pouts. “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry.” (4:1) Didn’t he want the people to be saved? Did he want them to suffer God’s wrath? OK, OK, the Ninevites were enemies of Israel, but Jonah this is still rather selfish.
Jonah had a message, but it wasn’t his, it was God’s. God told him, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” (3:2). Reluctantly, he went to Nineveh with God’s message. This wasn’t easy. Nineveh had thousands of people. Jonah was alone and he wasn’t going with a popular message. “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” (3:4)
There was power in that message because it was God’s message. It wasn’t Jonah they believed, verse 5 says, “the people of Nineveh believed God.” They understood the truth and power of the message. They humbled themselves and it brought about godly results.
Look at what happened when they repented. “God relented of the disaster he said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” (3:10). He did not punish as He had a right to do. His great love restrained Him from carrying out His judgment. This frustrated Jonah. He wanted these people punished. Then he prayed and he says this, “you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (4:2) This reluctant messenger had a powerful message because it was God’s message.
When it comes to life issues, we have a powerful message because it is God’s message. The message is not only a “do this” or “don’t to do that” but it is a message that says, “Look what God has done.” He created the first humans in his own image. Even though sin messed it all up, God is still involved, The Psalmist writes, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Ps. 139:13). Job reminds us that in God’s hand are “the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:10)
The value of each human being comes through God’s redeeming hands. The same hands that knit you together stretched out on a cross to pay for your sin. You were bought with a price, the holy and precious blood of Jesus. That gives life value.
What a positive message of God-given life we have to share. The embryo in the petri dish, the baby in the womb, the child on the playground, the child with Down syndrome playing with him, the athlete, the paraplegic in the wheelchair, the energetic businesswoman, the young woman with MS, grandpa on the golf course, grandma in the nursing home – all are people created by God. All of these are people from whom Jesus died. Therefore, all have value and dignity and purpose. Why be reluctant to share such a powerful message?
There are those out there and maybe in here that have made bad decisions about life and death. But we never take the attitude of Jonah that we hope they get what they deserve. In my lifetime I have heard so many speakers who have made bad decisions and regretted it. God changed their lives not through bashing them but through loving people and loving organizations that were there to support them. They had God’s message of forgiveness. Remember from our text that God is “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” Steadfast means that it is always there. God promises never to leave or forsake. There is no situation beyond God’s power to help. Look at the positives He has brought about with life issues just in the last few years. He uses us, His reluctant messengers for His purposes. We counsel, we walk, we attend banquets, we rally. We are there if it affects our family or our church. We don’t run away. That is never the answer.
Jonah, the reluctant messenger finally realized this. God knew what He was doing. In this Epiphany season may be reminded of the Church’s responsibility to share the message of what God has done in Jesus. We apply what God has done in Jesus to the life issues of our time. It is a message of repentance. A message of God’s love and compassion. We don’t have to be reluctant to share such a powerful and positive message of life.
Amen.