January 25, 2009 Sermon

The Beckoning and the Hearkening
(The Book of Jonah)

Reverend Sally Harris

After I heard the call
After I heard what I wanted to hear
  I then chose the destination
What I would become and where I would go…
I was in charge of my call and my career
  I was in control of my destiny
I could not admit I was in flight… that I was fleeing God.
  I thought…                
I was finally doing something about my life and my God.
Actually I was ignoring the beckoning and the hearkening.
  I was not allowing the still small voice within
       to grow up and be attended to…
No I went down to Joppa and
        I found a ship headed for Tarshish
and I paid the fare and I went on board. 
Tarshish – what a great place for a career in religious programming.
 It was a lively town…     an exciting town…
You could go places in Tarshish… and it would be fun.
But a great storm arose…
          The sailors knew my God better than me…
They knew my creator God
could speak to the wind and the waves.
It was then that I became small enough (finally)
to be swallowed up by the darkness of my UNKNOWING…
            And in my confinement I prayed
In my confinement I recognized I did not belong just to myself
  all the false notes of my life fell away and I took a sounding of my soul
I remembered the temple… I remembered God…
     I listened                            I praised…
         And I was given new life.  A blessed new beginning…
And so I finally went to Nineveh, our natural enemies,
        now present day Iraq.
I was with God and I became a program director.
This is what you will do…
         And how and when and by this time….          
In 40 days: DESTRUCTION
A critical path was laid.
Again I was in control
… not only of me
but of Nineveh (in present day Iraq).
But…  they repented…      and…         
God changed…
                  From the program of destruction
                           to a process of forgiveness: GRACE
How dare God change my plans!
        I will not lose control. I won’t lose my power.
                  I’m out of here. I’m back to observing.
                      I won’t get involved anymore.
From flight… to fight –             
fighting grace…     of all things
But nothing is predictable… 
                  in God’s world…        not even plants
And then God spoke: who gives the plants….       
                           All is gift.
        Why are you angry that plants come and go?
                           It is the nature of plants
Why are you angry that I am a God of judgment AND of grace?
                           It is the nature of God
                           Be still and know that I am God.
In a word, I was left with a life-long faith question…
Will you let God be God?
In a word we are left with this same question…
                             Will we let God be God?

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