Believe in the GOOD news

What happens with this gospel when we put the accent on good? And how comfortable are we with the idea that God loves the people we don’t love?

Jonah 3:1-5

3 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ² “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” ³ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. ⁴ Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” ⁵ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

¹⁰ When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Mark 1:14-20

¹⁴ Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

¹⁶ As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” ¹⁸ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹ As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Dear friends, grace to you and peace this day from our God of grace, through Christ who calls us.  Amen.

I want to focus today a bit more on Jonah, and a bit less on the gospel.

Because Jonah is a great story.  And I want to expand a bit beyond the verses we read today.

Jonah is often called “the reluctant prophet” and that is an apt term, though I think the word “cantankerous” might be more accurate.

Prior to today’s lesson is the episode with the whale.  To recap, God has called Jonah to preach repentance to Ninevah, which was a part of the Assyrian empire.  Assyria was not a friend of the Israelites.

And so Jonah figured he could catch a slow boat to wherever and get away from God’s call.

As you might suspect, THAT NEVER ENDS WELL.

God’s love for us – God’s desire for us to become fully who God has created us to be – means that God will pursue us in some mighty strange ways, just to help us understand who we’re meant to be.

For Jonah, of course, that meant hanging out inside a whale (or some other large ocean creature) for a few days.

So when we join our hero today, he’s been spit out onto the beach, and once again God tells him to go to Ninevah.  Jonah’s still not crazy about it, and so he does the bare minimum.  He walks only one day’s journey across the city, says his bit, and hunkers down for the night.

Jonah, you see, is convinced that these people will never change.  They are ASSYRIANS, they’re from NINEVAH.  It’s like Nathanael last week asking whether anything good can come out of Nazareth.

And then the Ninevites change.

Their king says “ok everyone’s gonna do the repentance thing, the sackcloth and all that.  Animals too.”

(Now, when I was in a text study this week we laughed plenty about trying to get our cats into sackcloth.  But I digress.)

This stepping up and taking repentance SERIOUSLY is not what Jonah’s expecting.  And actually, the Ninevites doing this – kind of wrecks his former prophet’s narrative that these are bad people and the Israelites need to concentrate on their own issues.

And after this episode, Jonah is not happy that God has chosen to spare the Ninevites.  He parks himself under a tree and pouts.

Maybe you’ve seen a Bernie Sanders meme with Bernie under a tree?  This is what that’s referring to.

To Jonah’s incessant complaining, God says “why shouldn’t I be concerned about Ninevah?”

Why should I not care about these people and these creatures I created?

While it may not dawn on Jonah, it certainly can dawn on us: God is reminding us that God loves all that God has created.

If we believe what we say we believe about redemption, then the potential for that redemption is truly limitless.

Because in the final analysis, God loves the people we don’t love.  No matter how much we don’t love someone, God still loves them.

And God still loves us too.

In the gospel story, Jesus journeys to Galilee, and his proclamation is “the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe in the good news!”

There are two phrases here: one is indicative, and one is imperative.

Notice which one comes first.

“The kingdom of God is at hand” is the indicative, the first phrase.  Meaning “God has come among God’s people, to bring about God’s peaceable realm of justice and joy!”

This is an expression of the way things are; whereas the imperative is a command of what to do.

“Repent and believe in the good news.”

It’s very important to understand that this imperative, this command, follows the indicative, the statement of how things are.  Particularly when we compare it with the story of Jonah.

Even though it feels like the order is reversed in Jonah, God reveals God’s hand in the end.

“Why should I not be concerned about Ninevah?”

God’s love for God’s creation drives God’s actions in the world.

In the gospel, Jesus proclaims the kingdom of God come near, and because that is true, people should turn and go a new way, and believe in the good news.

A colleague of mine suggested reading this with the emphasis on the word “good.”

Repent and believe in the good news.

Turn and go a different way and believe in the good news.

Dear people of God, we have plenty of bad news around us.  Even when we feel like things might be looking up, there is bad news.  As my best friend says, there’s always much to pray about.

Jesus doesn’t call us to believe in the bad news, but in the good news.  That’s what gospel means.  And what is that good news?

It’s a call, not to take us out of this world but to change it.  To transform the world in such a way that it will cease to be the hostile place it is, so that the peaceable realm of God can indeed be established on earth.  To know in the depths of our soul that we are loved beyond words by the Creator of the universe.

It’s a call to live into the words of Isaiah that Jesus read in the synagogue:

To preach good news to the poor, to bring release to the captives and sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free and announce the year of the Lord’s favor.

To repent and believe in the good news means to turn and go a new way, a way that deeply understands and embraces God’s intention of abundant life for all.  A new way that commits to justice for those who are othered or marginalized in our society.  A new way that works to give voice to those who are silenced.  A new way that works to see the inherent dignity of all that God has created.

A new way that seeks to love others as God loves us.

Even those with whom we disagree.

Jesus does not say “agree totally with each other.”  Jesus says “love one another.”  We can love each other without completely agreeing with each other, when we are consciously aware of what “loving each other” really means.

Loving one another within God’s peaceable realm is where God leads us, dear people.  God has created each one of us as completely unique, amazing, and beloved persons; something tells me God knows we won’t agree on everything.

But if together we believe in the good news, in the gospel of justice and love and joy and peace, then together we can be God’s agents of change in this world.

I read an interview this week with a former US security intelligence analyst who had accurately predicted the rise in right-wing extremism as far back as 2009.  Today he is convinced that the best counter-action to such extremism is compassion, with accountability.  He says:

“…rather than ostracize and debate and criticize and isolate them, we need to love them, have compassion and bring them into the mainstream. The only way you’re going to get rid of hate is through love. Every person I’ve ever known about that’s been a white supremacist has left the movement through an act of compassion or love.”

As Dr. King said: darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

The peaceable realm of God is almost here; it’s just over the horizon.

Turn around, go a new way, and believe in the GOOD news.

Pray about the bad news, but BELIEVE in the good news.

Because in the good news, there is life.

Amen.

Out from under the fig tree

I was fascinated by the idea that in sitting under a fig tree, Nathanael betrays his prejudice when he says “can anything good come out of Nazareth?” We have a lot of fig trees under which we sit – Jesus calls us out so that we might see greater things than these.

John 1:43-51

⁴³The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.” ⁴⁶Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” ⁴⁹Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” ⁵⁰Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

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Dear friends, grace to you and peace this day, from our loving God through Christ.  Amen.

And so we begin down the road with Jesus, at the start of his ministry, calling his disciples.  Gathering this curious group of folks, some named by the gospel writer and some not, whose lives will be forever changed.

Philip realizes this, right off the bat.  He runs to find Nathanael, to tell him what’s happened to him.

This implies that Philip thinks Nathanael really needs to hear about this.  Maybe they’re best friends.  Maybe they have an agreement that whoever sees Messiah first, has to tell the other one.

Whatever the reason, Philip is standing in front of Nathanael now.  “I’ve found him!  I’ve found the Messiah!  He came from Nazareth!”

Now, if there’s one part of this story that resonates across the ages, it’s the next line:

“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

No matter where or when you’ve lived, you can substitute a city from your experience for Nazareth.

In my Southern California time, that would have been San Bernardino.  Or Compton.

Both are cities that have been gutted by economic downturns, military base closures, and poverty.  And it’s very easy for anyone living in more affluent areas to look down their nose at either place.

What would be YOUR Nazareth?

Nathanael certainly has his opinion about the place.  And Philip, to his credit, says only to Nathanael, “Come and see.”

Such a great response.  Philip knows there’s nothing he can say that will convince Nathanael; he’s got to see for himself.  Nathanael needs to experience what Philip did upon meeting Jesus.

How many of our discussions these days seem to be about things that people hold absolute and immoveable opinions on?  That instead of actually listening to one another, we just wait for the perfect spot to jump in with our perfect take on the subject.

Nathanael, at first glance, seems like that kind of person.  He’s got his take on Nazareth and he makes it known.  But there’s another detail about Nathanael that we don’t discover until he comes face to face with Jesus.

Jesus compliments him as one without deceit, and Nathanael (somewhat egotistically) says “where’d you get to know me?”

And Jesus tells him that he was sitting under the fig tree before Philip showed up.

What’s important here is not Jesus’ insight, but where Nathanael was sitting.

In the Old Testament “under the fig tree” is the place of security.  It’s home.  It’s your safe place.

In the book of the prophet Micah, there’s a great line, that comes right after the part about “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more:”

⁴ but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
    and no one shall make them afraid;
    for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

In the musical “Hamilton” George Washington quotes this passage, as he tells Alexander Hamilton why he has decided not to run again for president.

          I want to sit under my own vine and fig tree

          A moment alone in the shade

          At home in this nation we’ve made

          One last time

An interesting side note: Washington served his country most of his life; he died about three years after he left the presidency.

But that image of safety under the fig tree is one that’s very compelling as we think of Nathanael, and especially as we think about him saying “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

Easy for you to say, Nate.

Nathanael sits under that fig tree, secure in his biases and prejudices.  But Philip breaks into that security saying “come and see.”

To be honest: the Holy Spirit is breaking in through Philip, telling Nathanael that it’s not gonna cut it to just stay in your comfort zone and throw off judgment calls from a distance.  You have to come and see.

This, my friends, is an incarnational moment.

Instead of it being a strictly informational or theoretical moment: it is deeply incarnational.

For the invitation to “come and see” means to physically rouse yourself and step into not only the life of Jesus, but the life of who God has created you to be.

That is what changes our lives.  When we summon up the guts, the courage to step outside of the place where we are always comfortable.  When we get up and leave the leisurely shade of the fig tree and step into the midday sun.

Where in our lives are we Nathanael?

Where do we default to sitting under our fig trees?

This is a very interesting question to ask in this pandemic time.  For many of us, we’ve been under our fig trees for way longer than we imagined we’d ever be.  We’ve been extraordinarily careful, we’ve stayed home as much as possible to try to flatten the ever-present curve.

Truth be told, we might be a little tired of our fig trees.

But I would remind you (and myself) that we sit under a great many fig trees.  They represent our many comfort zones, in so many places in our lives.

Coming out from under our fig trees might not mean putting ourselves into danger of contracting the coronavirus; but it might mean stepping into a place of working to understand someone else’s point of view.

It might mean setting aside my own assumptions and opinions and hearing about life from someone who doesn’t look like me, or worship like me, or perhaps move through life like me.

When Nathanael comes out from under the fig tree, when he takes the chance to “come and see” as Philip has suggested, Jesus greets him with words that move him greatly.  And Nathanael responds with: “you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel!”

Is Nathanael trying to cover his tracks here?  Or is he responding in genuine awe?  We can’t tell.

First Jesus calls him out: “Did you say that because I sounded like I had psychic powers?”

But then he invites him to continue the journey:  “You will see greater things than these!”

The only other time we hear about Nathanael is on the shore of the sea of Galilee, where all the disciples were gathered.  Jesus has died, and they’ve heard rumors that he’s risen.  A few have even seen him.  And then Jesus appears among them.

I wonder if Nathanael remembered, as he stood there in the presence of the crucified and risen one, the words Jesus had spoken to him three years before: “You will see greater things than these.”

Those three years comprise the gospel stories we tell today, over 2000 years later.

Nathanael had certainly seen “greater things” by simply venturing out from under his fig tree.

The same is true for us, dear friends.

If we are willing to venture out from under the shade of our fig trees – from the shade of our fears, the shade of our assumptions, the shade of our prejudices – might we see greater things too?

Might we experience God in ways we never imagined?

Might we finally hear the answer to whether anything good can come out of whatever downtrodden place we might name?

Remember: the answer to that question is inextricably caught up in the reality of God incarnate in Christ Jesus, come into the world.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Come and see.

Amen.