Time to Ponder

Epiphany 3 – January 21, 2024

Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62:6-14
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20

Do you think Paul would write the same thing today as he did in our reading from First Corinthians? It has been 2,000 years since he wrote those words and we are still waiting. Paul did expect Jesus to return relatively soon. At one time he may have even thought that Jesus would return in his lifetime. If I were to guess, even with that understanding he would still be telling us to live in the same way. That’s because it’s not how long it has been after Jesus’ resurrection but how short your life is that takes him to his conclusion. It is also in recognition of what God has done for us that he instructs us to live as if the present form of this world is passing away.

All of our texts today talk about the call of God and how people respond to it. The story of Jonah is one most people know because it’s a good Sunday school or bible school story. Most of the book is about Jonah trying to avoid doing what God called him to do. It was not a difficult task. He was to go to Nineveh and announce God’s impending judgment on them if they did not reform. Eight simple words (if you count our English Translation of the Hebrew). But he resisted because he believed that the people of Nineveh would listen and repent, but he wanted vengeance. In the end, the people did answer God’s call through Jonah repented; God did not destroy them. It’s interesting to note that the person who seems most favorable to God was the one who resisted answering God’s call. It was the sinners of Nineveh who joyfully repented.

The disciples also quickly accepted Jesus’ call. I have heard some people say they did so because fishing was hard work and anything was better than that. But then, for most people at that time, life and work were hard. There was no guarantee that what Jesus offered was better than what they already had. But for James and John, their father owned the business for he had hired hands. They were actually giving up the security of a family business to a life of unknowns. You may know of someone who decided to pick up their things and go somewhere else; it’s not usual. People like to stay where things are familiar. When someone does pick up and move it’s usually because of an opportunity to make life better, not more difficult.

With these examples you see that there is no pattern. Some answer the call willingly, others reluctantly. Some have made up their mind what God should do and others allow God to take charge. God calls God’s people in a variety of ways to many different tasks. Your task is to listen for the call and answer it when it comes. That’s why Paul told the Corinthians to live as if this present age was ending; so that they would hear God’s call and be ready to say, “Yes, Lord, here I am; send me.”