Epiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 19, 2015
Scripture Reading: 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. — Jonah 3:1-5
Jonah is everyone. How would you have liked getting an assignment like Jonah did? God asked Jonah to go into one of the wickedest cities around and convict them of their wanton ways. I don’t know about you but Tarshish might have been looking pretty good to me about that time as it did to Jonah. After a few days in the belly of a whale, Jonah saw the error of his way and gave it all he had to turn the people of Nineveh around. God apparently knew what God was doing in the first place.
We really do not know what we are capable of doing until we are put to the test. Many ordinary folk just like you and me have done some extraordinary things when God put them in the right place at the right time and they responded well. Margaret Mead probably said it best, Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has. Every time I hear that quote I think of the twelve disciples of Jesus.
Our world is in great need of many such small groups making differences in a wide variety of areas. You can pretty much take your pick. Our economic system is upside down, our criminal justice system is overcrowded and understaffed, our education system is failing too many children, our ecosystems are growing more and more unsustainable, terror is an everyday item on our evening news, refugees stream out of war-torn lands, and disease is rampant in some parts of the world. The list is endless. Yet, we, too, are disciples of Jesus called to love as he loved. Called to bring wholeness, oneness, and justice to a fragmented world. What part is God calling each of us to do?
Prayer: Lord, prepare me well for what you are calling me to do and give me the courage to follow the path you set before me. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.