Lectionary for Jan. 21, 2023
Third Sunday after Epiphany
Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Psalm 62:5-12;
1 Corinthians 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-20
One of the greatest adventures of my life was the time I spent as a professor at the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Cairo, first as an ELCA missionary and then independently. On paper it didn’t make any sense to move my family in the middle of a pandemic. On the first flight to bring my wife and baby on an exploratory trip, while selling our house and car, and then spending weeks and months away from my family while we waited to move the kids over, I kept wondering, “What are we doing?” My wife is a small-town girl, and Cairo has around 22 million people. We were moving our three young kids 8,000 miles away from grandparents. But God had called me to this ministry with our domestic and international partners, and it was glorious while it lasted. Difficult, to be sure, but also glorious.
I tell that tale to testify to how wonderful it can be to follow God’s calling, even/especially when it doesn’t make sense. This week’s lectionary readings are all about responding to God’s call when it doesn’t make much sense.
In the story of Jonah going to Ninevah, we rightly focus on his unwillingness to share God’s word with the Assyrians. Jonah was, after all, a prophet of Israelite greatness and prophesied fortune and success for evil kings (2 Kings 14:23-25). He had no interest in a message that might convince the Ninevites to repent and be saved because it would mean death for him and his people. Jonah makes sense to me.
What makes no sense is the Ninevite response to Jonah’s lackluster preaching. Jonah walked one day through a city that was as wide as a three days’ walk, bringing a dismal message: “Forty more days and Ninevah will be overthrown.” Instead of ignoring or laughing at this foreign Israelite prophet, the Ninevites repented in sackcloth and ashes. Their king proclaimed a fast for humans and all domesticated animals in hopes that God would relent. The Ninevites listened to God’s word, even when it didn’t make much sense. Jonah 3:10 is one of several times in Scripture that God repented of evil that God had planned. The actions of the Ninevites after they listened to God’s call changed God’s mind.
God is calling us today to things that don’t make sense.
In the short reading from 1 Corinthians for this week, Paul gave some surprising advice. Convinced that the end of the age was coming imminently, he advised his disciples that they should not put much energy into their marriages; not put much emotional involvement in their present situations, whether happy or sad; and not be too involved in possessions or worldly affairs. Since Paul thought Jesus would return imminently, focusing only on the return of the King made sense.
We need to remember that Paul introduced this section by saying he was speaking on his own without any clear instruction from God (7:25). Nevertheless, his instructions are useful and abidingly accurate—the one who is not involved in worldly issues or romantic relationships will be freer from concerns and more able to focus on God (7:32-35). Paul was, after all, only echoing Jesus here (Matthew 19:10-12). This advice doesn’t make much sense to the majority of folks who are looking for companionship. Yet, there have been tens of thousands examples of people across Christian history who have led lives of devotion enabled by their refraining from being overly involved in worldly cares or in romantic relationships.
Lastly, of course, we have the calls of Jesus’ disciples. Jesus was a prominent scholar and miracle worker, according to tradition, but the extent of his power, teachings, mission and love were far from well-known at this early point in his ministry. When the disciples were called to join Jesus’ mission, leaving a safe and predictable fishing career in the prosperous Sea of Galilee might not have made the most sense. Yes, a great rabbi was offering an opportunity to men whose lives were already decided and laid out before them. But, as we find from reading the rest of the Gospels and Acts, Jesus called his disciples not just to learning and opportunities to witness miracles but also to privations, dangers and, for most of them, violent martyrdom. This call doesn’t make the most sense. Yet the disciples chose to heed God’s call, even when they didn’t understand the fullness of what it entailed.
God is calling us today to things that don’t make sense: waging peace in a violent world; radical sharing of communal wealth in a world of hoarding; total welcome in a world of nationalism and suspicion of others, to name a few. In a time when righteousness is frequently tied to respectability, we are called to follow a man condemned by religious elites and murdered by Roman law and order. All too often I find myself looking to religious elites and respectable politics instead of those who are harmed by them. The call of God doesn’t make much sense. But the wisdom of the world is foolishness in God’s sight (1 Corinthians 3:19). We are called to embrace God’s wisdom and God’s call on our lives.
