The Adventurous Lectionary – Third Sunday after the Epiphany – January 25, 2015

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Psalm 62:5-12

I Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20

Today’s lectionary readings invite us to embrace change, whether it involves our vision of God, personal plans, or way of life.

It’s difficult to preach about Jonah without retelling the legend in its entirety. Jonah has earned the title the “reluctant prophet,” but often for the wrong reasons. Jonah flees the call to preach to the archenemy Nineveh, but his flight is not the result of fear or disobedience, but his inability to trust that God’s vision differs from the faith he was taught and still affirmed. In the faith Jonah affirmed, there was no place for divine mercy to Israel’s opponents. They deserved nothing but destruction, and yet now God is calling him to be among an immoral, unclean, and oppressive people, giving them one last chance to repent. And, repent they do. Even the animals of Nineveh hear Jonah’s message of gloom and doom. Perhaps, the king and the people believe that by beginning a spiritual fast and changing their ways, they will avert divine destruction.

Regardless of their motives for repentance, God relents and spares the city. Rather than being consoled and elated by God’s mercy, Jonah is angry. Too quickly he forgets that God spared his own life and gave him a second chance to follow God’s vision to minister to the benighted Ninevites. In his anger, however, Jonah is told that despite their iniquity, God loves the people of Nineveh. More than that God’s love extends to the people’s companion animals. The non-human world is also an object of divine care and a revelation of divine wisdom. After all, Jonah’s own life is saved by wise behavior of a great fish.

Jonah is profoundly theological in its affirmation of God’s universal love. We may have enemies, but God doesn’t. There are consequences to turning from God’s vision, but God’s aim is always healing and salvation. God’s mercy extends far beyond Israel to all the peoples of the earth.

Psalm 65 counsels us to wait in silence for divine revelation. God is our hope and refuge, but God’s presence is not always obvious and God’s movements in our lives and the world are often subtle. For those who wait and listen, the God of salvation will appear, bringing hope and consolation.

While the eschatology of I Corinthians 7 is foreign to most of us, we can relate to the realities of a dynamic and ever-changing world. We cannot, as Heraclitus says, step into the same waters twice. Life passes swiftly and we must seize the moment, living by God’s values, making the most of the time. In light of our short lifespan, we are to become people who are both heavenly minded and earthly good. The counsels regarding relationships are curious and personally and relationally unhealthy if taken literally; but perhaps within them is the wisdom of non-attachment. Look at the world with the beginner’s mind, notice novelty, see the passing nature of life as an opportunity for creative detachment. Marriage flourishes when we don’t place our partners in a box, objectify them, and freeze them in time. Marriage and other relationships grow best when we respond with openness, appreciation, and novelty.

The gospel of Mark briefly describes the beginning of Jesus’ good news message. He invites his followers and us today to embrace God’s realm and be willing to leave the familiar to sojourn in God’s coming realm. Like the passage from Corinthians, the Markan passage counsels letting go, and sitting loose even of positive pasts. The security of tradition can support, but it can also drain us of creativity and relevance. We must be willing to leave our personal and congregational comfort zones to embrace God’s new thing. Like Peter, Andrew, and the Zebedee boys find new freedom by embracing the good news of creative transformation and divine novelty. There are no guarantees for these pilgrims – and for us – but there is the joy of living in the wondrous and holy adventure of companionship with God. (For more on Mark’s Gospel, see Bruce Epperly, Mark’s Holy Adventure: Preaching Mark’s Gospel for Year B and Healing Marks: Spirituality and Healing in Mark’s Gospel)