Welcome (Jonah 3:1-5, 10)

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, "Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you." 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. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.  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.

Preparation: A New Commandment

Call to Worship (Psalm 62:5-12)

For God alone my soul waits in silence, for my hope is from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my deliverance and my honor; my mighty rock, my refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.

Those of low estate are but a breath, those of high estate are a delusion; in the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.

Put no confidence in extortion, and set no vain hopes on robbery; if riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and steadfast love belongs to you, O Lord. For you repay to all according to their work.

Hymn: Glorious of things of Thee are spoken

Prayer

O God,
you spoke your word
and revealed your good news in Jesus, the Christ.
Fill all creation with that word again,
so that by proclaiming your joyful promises to all nations
and singing of your glorious hope to all peoples,
we may become one living body,
your incarnate presence on the earth.

May we respond to your call with glad hearts!
Let our ears hear those sounds of your calling!

Fill us with your Spirit to respond with the courage of faith.
Open our ears to hear your voice that calls us into your path.
Open our hearts to receive your love and share our joy with you in this worship.
We pray in your Son’s name. Amen.

Scripture: Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God,  and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." 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. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

Sermon: Calling against our hope

We are always in a hurry. We are impatient. We want things to happen the way we desire right away. I want an answer now to my questions. If I ask someone a question and do not get an answer the way I want it, then, I immediately ask others who might know the answer. In this information age, we are quick to look up answers from google, bing, or any other search engine we use. At least, right or wrong, those search engines spew out millions of answers in less than a second. Artificial intelligence shortens the time even more. We are promised that artificial intelligence can make answers we seek more accurate and helpful.

When answers do not come immediately, we become anxious and worried. Especially for situations that deal with our health and well being, we try to figure out answers as quickly as possible in order to ease our fearful hearts. The entire world works the same way. At the same time, knowing how everyone is seeking answers that are positive and helpful, those who could give answers often do not give answers especially if the answers are not good ones for the questioners. We do not like to be the bearers of the bad news. So we refuse to give answers by not responding to emails and not returning phone calls.

The absence of responses in a certain time period is interpreted as resounding “No!” For example, if the job interviewer does not call back or takes too long to answer we think the answer is not a positive one for us and move on to the next job. If I order something and it is not delivered on time as promised, we get very upset and begin to figure out what is happening with our order.s When the delivery is late, we take a mental note not to order from that company again for shoddy service. Yes, our world has trained us for instant gratification that comes from immediate responses.

Patience and waiting are not part of our daily lives. The entire world is in a hurry. Everyone wants the results, responses and answers quickly. We are not happy for slow … anything. Why not? After all, everyone with power or money gets what she wants right away. Why not us? We have a life to live, don't we? We cannot waste any time in building a life that is super comfortable right away. We see how others are able to enjoy such a wonderful life. We need to build a foundation so that if not us, then, our children will be able to enjoy good life, too. Yes, this way of thinking makes our life maddeningly busy and in a hurry.

No one wants to wait. Our landlords expect rents to be paid on time. Our utility companies demand that bills are paid on time. Our banks demand monthly payment be met on time. Our stores expect to be paid right away. You get the picture. This is why if our employers cannot pay us on time, we are in a great deal of trouble. We may understand and empathize with our employers who face financial difficulties, but our banks, utility companies and landlords don’t care why we may not be able to pay right on time. The entire economy in the West is built on everyone paying everything on time.

In this economy, most of us who are doing the low paying jobs with little or no benefits cannot miss a day of work even for the best of reasons. Without their meagre income, they fall behind. If we are unable to make up for a missed day of work, we begin falling behind. When reporters ask the homeless people who still work here and there, they tell the same story. They are the working poor who happened to get sick or had to borrow a little in an emergency because children needed clothes or food, they fell behind and could not afford to pay mortgage or rent. This is why so many of us will do anything and everything to work through whatever we face.

In today’s passage we see Jesus calling Simon, Andrew, James and John. We are told that they left everything and immediately began following Jesus. They did not seem to care for their family by choosing to follow Jesus. They literally left their families to fend for themselves. We have no idea how their families fared in life. With their primary breadwinners gone what happened to the families? How did they cope? We know Simon and Andrew were not from a rich family and were not well off enough to leave their families this way. Yet, there we are. In the Gospels we see them leaving everything and everyone behind following Jesus.

Jonah on the other hand was far more thoughtful than Simon and Andrew. He thought about the consequences. When God told him to bring bad news to the citizens of Nineveh, he knew that God might change the decision to punish the people if they repented. For some reason, it is not clear why Jonah was okay with the city and its people destroyed. But this was an afterthought. His immediate reaction was that he did not want to bring the bad news to Nineveh as a foreigner. Perhaps he knew that the people would not take his message kindly. Whatever the case may be, he was upset when everyone in the city repented and God changed the decision to destroy and spared them.

The response of Simon, Andrew, James and John led them to witness Jesus dying on the cross. I wonder if they, too, had a strong second thought about the folly of their impulsive decision to follow Jesus when Jesus was on the cross. I wonder what would have happened if there was no intervention of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Would they have gone back to their original lives in fear and trembling? Would they have waited and followed another one who might have come along as a messiah?

What we are made aware of by all the Gospel writers is that the call to follow and responses to the call were not a spur of the moment act. Indeed, the Gospel writers made sure that the response to Jesus’ call was based on the long waiting by the people of Israel for the coming of the messiah. It took a long while, painfully long period of time in history, for the Israelites to finally begin an opportunity to respond to God’s call that would bring salvation from their daily struggles. Simon, Andrew, James and John answered the call that came from a long time ago and had to be ready. They were part of the people who were patiently waiting generations after generations. Their decision is not as immediate as it looks.

Jonah, too, understood that God’s call to repent for salvation to the people who were not part of Israel would be the reality because he knew God’s way from the past history of Israel. God’s activities are to be understood in a long history of salvation, not just a momentary and impulsive decision. If Jonah were to take a long view patiently, he might not have complained to God for the disaster that was averted because of his warning to the people. We are similar to Jonah in many ways. We like to see immediate results based on our efforts. We do not think about the long term implications that God sees.

In our own desire to see immediate results, we emphasize the decision to follow Jesus by Simon, Andrew, James and John. We do not realize how they were part of the group that waited and waited for the messiah to deliver Israel. We also do not understand how their families were part of this waiting and were willing to let them follow Jesus for the greater salvation of all Israelites. Our views that only focus on the close up of a particular event misses the bigger implications of God’s salvation that is for all God’s people, not just a few.

How God calls us so many centuries after Jesus called Simon, Andrew, James and John should not be seen only in terms of what consequences we will face in our own lives and deaths. God calling us in Jesus is not simply about saving my own personal life because I am an individual who pledged to be faithful to Jesus and his church. Our decision to follow Jesus involves not only me, my family, my descendants and our neighbours as well as their descendants in ways we cannot fathom.

Last Sunday we learned about how God’s call brings us together in Christ Jesus and leads us in ways that we experience God’s grace. This week we are asked to see how our response to God’s call is an end result of a long process of God’s salvation work. This salvation work of God is not ending with us as we respond, but continues beyond us and reaches to all our family members and neighbours.

This is why when we live life, we focus on God’s salvation history that began long long ago and will continue beyond our lifetime. This is why we learn that patience in us is as important even in this world that demands instant responses from all of us. God’s will that is pulsating through each of us slows us down and makes each one of us pay attention to what God is doing and how God is leading us so that we stop living life always in a hurry as the world demands of us and match our pace to God’s way of unfolding God’s will in the world.

Prayer

God of the universe, you created this world for us to glorify and enjoy you. In your abundant blessings, we come promising once again that as your people, called in your Son our Lord, we will be good stewards of all that you created. In many ways, we are failing. As if polluting the earth is not enough we have been filling the orbits around the earth with debris of human ingenuity. As if our destructive abilities are mightier than your creative power, we find new and more destructive means and ways against your creation. Give us wisdom to see our ways that bring calamities. Help us to find ways to work for the flourishing of all lives.

God of nations and people, you created human beings to love you and one another. In your infinite love, you showed us the true way of loving by sending your Son our Lord. In spite of Jesus, however, we found ways to kill, maim and destroy one another. Bombs and bullets are ever more sophisticated in finding ways to annihilate those whom we consider enemies. Hatred and deceit are ramped out to dehumanize those whom we care little about. In place of love we offer fear and terror. We put our own self-interest before the wellbeing of others. Fill us with your unconditional love. Make us your servants who share your love in all circumstances.

God of healing and power, you bring peace, restoration and good health to all of us. By your Spirit you continue to bestow upon us all good things so that we may flourish as we serve you. You bring healing to the sick through doctors, nurses and caregivers. You bring peace through our neighbours, friends and family who nurture our spirits. You bring restoration and good health by shaping us as a caring community where all find home. Continue to guide us. Make us to share love, hope and faith as we move forward.

We now open our individual hearts to you only way we know. Hear our personal prayers as we say together,

Lord’s Prayer

Offering/Offering Prayer

Announcements

Annual Meeting re: finance
Next Sunday, January 28, following the service of worship

Valentine Soiree
Saturday, February 10 at 5 pm Cost:$25

Shrove Tuesday All You Can Eat Pancake Supper
Tuesday, February 13 between 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm

Hymn: Christ is made the sure foundation

Benediction