24th January 2021 \u2028Third Sunday After the Epiphany
\nTitle: God\u2019s Love & The Kingdom of God
\n(Jonah 3:1-10; Mark 1:14-20)
\n By Heeyoung Lim<\/p>\n
Today is the third Sunday after the Epiphany. I hope the light of Epiphany will shine upon all of us.
\nJonah\u2019s story includes several reversals and contrasts between human actions and the divine will. Jonah volunteers to be tossed into the stormy sea to save the lives of the Gentile crew after trying to save his own life by running away to Tarshish disobeying God\u2019s mission for him to Nineveh.
\nToday\u2019s text starts \u201cThe word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time\u201d, and the command is \u201cGet up, go to Nineveh, and proclaim my message.\u201d (Jonah 3:1) God did not leave him in the opposite direction of the divine will, He gave Jonah an opportunity to repent and turn away from his sin. As we know a big fish is used for Jonah\u2019s repentance and God\u2019s salvation. God brought new ways to fulfill His will and He was at work for the salvation of the Ninevites. (10)
\nJonas\u2019 story portrays God as persistent, and we can see God\u2019s persistence through Jonah\u2019s journey. Jonah cried out, \u201cForty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!\u201d (4) The people of Nineveh believed God, and they turned from their evil ways. (5-9) There was an urgency from God to love and save Nineveh, but Jonah in disobedience, was not aware of this and instead spent God\u2019s time running away. We do not know what exactly this urgency is, but God leads us to the right path for His love and salvation. God wants to cure our prejudice against Nineveh and take off the greed to our own Tarshish, He accepts repentance and obedience from sinners.
\nThe Ninevites\u2019 immediate response in repentance also stands in contrast to Jonah\u2019s initial refusal to follow God\u2019s command. It was the conversion of an entire population from their social sins, and their sincere prayer, immediate repentance, and sudden changes of actions influenced God. God saw what they did, and He changed the promise of punishment to Nineveh.
\nIn this context, God responds individuals differently, He can turn back from his decision to destroy peoples or nations when they repent and obey him.
\nWe are in God\u2019s sight, and we are witnesses of the merciful response of God. God\u2019s love and salvation are for everyone, and His love is much bigger than his anger. I believe God extends forgiveness to the repentant people with love, and He gives us his mission and expects his people to carry it out.
\nWhere is our Nineveh? What is our life-saving fish? God is listening to our prayer and He responds to us. It is time for us to repent and get up to somewhere in accordance with the word of the LORD just like Jonah and the Ninevites. God is persevering, responsive, and merciful to all who repent, as His redemption is further revealed and continued in Mark.
\nI trust that we will rejoice with its mission in immediate repentance and delightful obedience.
\nToday\u2019s passage of Mark starts \u201cnow after John was arrested, so Mark\u2019s audience knew the risks involved with giving themselves to repent, to begin a new life, and to be led by the Holy Spirit, and they realised courage is needed in their faith.<\/p>\n
Last Sunday I shared Jesus called Philip and Nathanael. In today\u2019s story he calls four fishermen at the Sea of Galilee – Simon, Andrew, James, and John. The four in today\u2019s story were fishermen. <\/p>\n
As far as we know, every one of the disciples was chosen and called individually by Jesus. First disciples were from the northern side of Galilee; not from the capital of Israel. Jesus did not do background checks to determine their intelligent levels, financial status, professional skills, talents and or excellences. The disciples also followed Jesus before he has performed any miracles. They immediately respond as Jesus recruits his first disciples, and they will be \u201cfishers of people\u201d according to his words. They are called to a totally uncertain future, but they immediately followed Jesus. How do we answer Christ\u2019s call to become \u201cfishers of people?\u201d <\/p>\n
Some people love fishing because it gives relaxation and fun, and they may have their own folding chair and fishing spot. But in Jesus\u2019 day, fishing was not relaxing, it was a job that was physically and mentally challenging, requiring an individual to go beyond their limits to make a living. <\/p>\n
What is fishing in our faith and life? A fish dies when taken out of the water, which can be interpreted as a death to the world. The fishing of people can have the meaning of rescuing them from the snares of sins. The purpose of Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship is not to take people out of a tough world, promising them a better life in God\u2019s heavenly kingdom. Fishing is a special mission that need catching in a net and dragging into the kingdom of God by the grace of the Lord. It sometimes requires patience and knowledge of who we are trying to catch, but the most important thing is that loving God embrace all people. Believers can trust in God’s Word, and He is faithful to do what he has promised.<\/p>\n
Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming the \u201cgood news\u201d of the gospel, which is that \u201cthe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near\u201d Jesus repeats the message of John the Baptist, \u201cRepent and believe in the good news.\u201d (15) <\/p>\n
The message was that God\u2019s kingdom was near which may include of fast approaching, so people had to prepare for it by repenting and believing in the good news. We do not know when Jesus will come again in the future or our last day on the earth, but we know that we need to seek first God\u2019s kingdom and his righteousness, and all things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33) <\/p>\n
We hope and wait for the kingdom of God to be completed in the future, but the kingdom of God needs to be interpreted as the reign of God here rather than a place. Jesus not only talks about the reign of God but performs it. The reign of God can be established on earth, and it is actualized in our lives. <\/p>\n
Jesus called disciples after proclaiming the good news, and He formed a team for spreading Gospel and the kingdom of God. We need to be a team player because we are a team formed by Jesus. <\/p>\n
Jesus and the four disciples are leading people to experience the presence of the kingdom of God. Jesus and their works make it possible for people to experience the power of God\u2019s kingdom in many ways. <\/p>\n
There were lots of life-giving ministry from missionaries or Christians just like many disciples in the past, and many people who believe in Jesus are still in danger and persecution today. We are in a relatively comfortable situation regarding our faith. What is it that keeps people today from responding to God\u2019s invitation as the Ninevites and the disciples did? One of theologian, Luther stressed the priority of grace and faith over human works, but human response is always necessary in Jesus\u2019 calling. <\/p>\n
God wants to use us in his mission if we will love people as he loves them. Our missions are following Jesus and fishing people. Jesus\u2019 call is not limited to clergy or certain people and He calls every single one of us. The Calling of the Disciples extends to family and community. We also have callings within family and church as individuals and team players at the same time, and we can serve for the Lord as disciples in communities too.
\nWe will be answering the call as Jesus calls us to do. We can hear the voice of the Lord one more time. \u201cCome, follow me and I will make you fishers of people!\u201d We can also make a God\u2019s love list and learn to love as Jesus does continually, because every ministry of Jesus started from his love.
\nHow do we follow Jesus as disciples? I hope and pray we seek the kingdom of God and God’s mission first in our lives and dedicate ourselves to fulfilling it. I believe we can repent of our sins and promise God we will obey him in everything he asks. May God replace our anger, anxiety, fear, and frustration with his love for the kingdom of God and people.
\nWe can also thank Jesus for what he is doing and look for him to work together as a beautiful team in Jesus, and we can give Christ our repentance from sin and commitment to a life of obedience as Christians and disciples. <\/p>\n
Thanks be to God! Amen!
\n(Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
24th January 2021 \u2028Third Sunday After the Epiphany Title: God\u2019s Love & The Kingdom of God (Jonah 3:1-10; Mark 1:14-20) By Heeyoung Lim Today is the third Sunday after the Epiphany. I hope the light of Epiphany will shine upon all of us. Jonah\u2019s story includes several reversals and contrasts between human actions and the divine will. Jonah volunteers to be tossed into the stormy sea to save the lives of the Gentile crew after trying to save his own life by running away to Tarshish disobeying God\u2019s mission for him to Nineveh. Today\u2019s text starts \u201cThe word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time\u201d, and the command is \u201cGet up, go to Nineveh, and proclaim my message.\u201d (Jonah 3:1) God did not leave him in the opposite direction of the divine will, He gave Jonah an opportunity to repent and turn away from his sin. As we know a big fish is used for Jonah\u2019s repentance and God\u2019s salvation. God brought new ways to fulfill His will and He was at work for the salvation of the Ninevites. (10) Jonas\u2019 story portrays God as persistent, and we can see God\u2019s persistence through Jonah\u2019s journey. Jonah cried out, \u201cForty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!\u201d (4) The people of Nineveh believed God, and they turned from their evil ways. (5-9) There was an urgency from God to love and save Nineveh, but Jonah in disobedience, was not aware of this and instead spent God\u2019s time running away. We do not know what exactly this urgency is, but God leads us to the right path for His love and salvation. God wants to cure our prejudice against Nineveh and take off the greed to our own Tarshish, He accepts repentance and obedience from sinners. The Ninevites\u2019 immediate response in repentance also stands in contrast to Jonah\u2019s initial refusal to follow God\u2019s command. It was the conversion of an entire population from their social sins, and their sincere prayer, immediate repentance, and sudden changes of actions influenced God. God saw what they did, and He changed the promise of punishment to Nineveh. In this context, God responds individuals differently, He can turn back from his decision to destroy peoples or nations when they repent and obey him. We are in God\u2019s sight, and we are witnesses of the merciful response of God. God\u2019s love and salvation are for everyone, and His love is much bigger than his anger. I believe God extends forgiveness to the repentant people with love, and He gives us his mission and expects his people to carry it out. Where is our Nineveh? What is our life-saving fish? God is listening to our prayer and He responds to us. It is time for us to repent and get up to somewhere in accordance with the word of the LORD just like Jonah and the Ninevites. God is persevering, responsive, and merciful to all who repent, as His redemption is further revealed and continued in Mark. I trust that we will rejoice with its mission in immediate repentance and delightful obedience. Today\u2019s passage of Mark starts \u201cnow after John was arrested, so Mark\u2019s audience knew the risks involved with giving themselves to repent, to begin a new life, and to be led by the Holy Spirit, and they realised courage is needed in their faith. Last Sunday I shared Jesus called Philip and Nathanael. In today\u2019s story he calls four fishermen at the Sea of Galilee – Simon, Andrew, James, and John. The four in today\u2019s story were fishermen. As far as we know, every one of the disciples was chosen and called individually by Jesus. First disciples were from the northern side of Galilee; not from the capital of Israel. Jesus did not do background checks to determine their intelligent levels, financial status, professional skills, talents and or excellences. The disciples also followed Jesus before he has performed any miracles. They immediately respond as Jesus recruits his first disciples, and they will be \u201cfishers of people\u201d according to his words. They are called to a totally uncertain future, but they immediately followed Jesus. How do we answer Christ\u2019s call to become \u201cfishers of people?\u201d Some people love fishing because it gives relaxation and fun, and they may have their own folding chair and fishing spot. But in Jesus\u2019 day, fishing was not relaxing, it was a job that was physically and mentally challenging, requiring an individual to go beyond their limits to make a living. What is fishing in our faith and life? A fish dies when taken out of the water, which can be interpreted as a death to the world. The fishing of people can have the meaning of rescuing them from the snares of sins. The purpose of Jesus\u2019 call to discipleship is not to take people out of a tough world, promising them a better life in God\u2019s heavenly kingdom. Fishing is a special mission that need catching in a net and dragging into the kingdom of God by the grace of the Lord. It sometimes requires patience and knowledge of who we are trying to catch, but the most important thing is that loving God embrace all people. Believers can trust in God’s Word, and He is faithful to do what he has promised. Jesus begins his ministry by proclaiming the \u201cgood news\u201d of the gospel, which is that \u201cthe time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near\u201d Jesus repeats the message of John the Baptist, \u201cRepent and believe in the good news.\u201d (15) The message was that God\u2019s kingdom was near which may include of fast approaching, so people had to prepare for it by repenting and believing in the good news. We do not know when Jesus will come again in the future or our last day on the earth, but we know that we need to seek first God\u2019s kingdom and his righteousness, and all things will be given to you as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"24th January 2021 \u2028Third Sunday After the Epiphany Title: God\u2019s Love & The Kingdom of God (Jonah 3:1-10; Mark 1:14-20) By Heeyoung Lim Today is the third Sunday after the Epiphany. I hope the light of Epiphany will shine upon all of us. Jonah\u2019s story includes several reversals and contrasts between human actions and the…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3825,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824\/revisions\/3825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}