Psalm 62:5-12

Sometimes I have to laugh at commercials and other times I have to cry. Sometimes I do both. Perhaps you have seen the commercial I am talking about. It opens up with scenes of peaceful waters and graceful waterfalls. In the background is soothing music, and scenes of natural beauty continue to flash before your eyes.

Then a voice comes on. In peaceful tones it says something like, "Our latest safety advance is probably our best..." Then a pause and as the mist lifts you see a sport utility vehicle. Then the voice continues, "a car that can save the soul."

Hah! I am sorry Madison Ave., but you missed it there. Perhaps someone was trying to be funny in a dry sort of way. But a car that can save the soul, NOT!

The idea is not new. People have been trying to save their souls with other things all through history. Some people thought that knowledge could bring them happiness and fulfillment so they sought earthly wisdom. Others thought that fame and power could give them meaning, so they killed and murdered to become King or Emperor or CEO. Other thought that material things could bring contentment and peace so they stole and cheated to get the latest and best and the biggest.

But the psalmist had a different approach. He said "For God alone my soul waits in silence." "He only 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 God."(Psalm 62:5-7)

The psalmist has realized something simple, yet profound. And he tells all who will listen to put their trust in God. People are nothing. All of us are just one breath away from death and the things we have are just as perishable. But God is eternal - a rock that cannot be shaken.

The Psalmist is right we should "Trust in God at all times," and "pour out" our hearts "before him;" for "God is a refuge for us."(Psalm 62:8) But how do we do this? How do we follow the Psalmist's advice and wait for God alone in silence? The only way I know is though spiritual disciples. We need to make Spiritual disciples a part of our daily lives.

What are spiritual disciplines you may ask? They are prayer and mediation, Bible reading, devotional reading, fasting... They are practices which open our hearts to hear, see, feel, and experience the presence of God in our midst. They are ways of stopping our daily routines and thoughts to focus on God.

How can you engage in these spiritual disciplines. If you don't already have one, pick up one of these Upper Rooms. Each day there is a Bible lesson and thoughts that go with it. This will give you a focus and a rhythm for that time of waiting on God. Try reading the Bible or listening to it on tape or CD daily. Pick a day or time to fast. You don't have to starve yourself. "Fasting" can be as simple as giving up some unnecessary thing, like pizza or coffee, as a way of reminding yourself that God is all you really need. Worship regularly. You know of the half of the population that actually belongs to a church only one third of those attend church regularly. Some people promise to support the church by their presence and then they only show up on Easter and Christmas. Granted there are some who cannot come because of their health or work, but most of them can. So make attending church a priority. Go to Sunday School or join a Bible Study or prayer group. I have heard people say, "I can be just as good a Christian without going to Sunday School." But you can't. You can be a Christian, but to really grow you need to study with other Christians who can challenge you assumptions and help you see things you couldn't before. Some say, "Sunday School is just for children." I am glad this church doesn't believe that. Instead we provide quality Sunday School classes for all ages. By making these things a regular part of our lives we will be waiting on the Lord like the Psalmist.

The psalmist said, "For God alone my soul waits in silence." What are you waiting for? Are waiting for a prince or princess in shining armor to come and take you away from all this? Are you waiting for your ship to come in and make you rich? Are you waiting for the rest of the world to realize how wonderful and talented you are so that they can make you famous? Are you waiting for a sport utility vehicle to come through the mist and save your soul?

Well, you will be waiting a long time. As for me I will take the Psalmist's advice. For God alone I will wait in silence. Because he is a rock.

Would you care to wait with me?

Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested Jesus started going around preaching the good news saying, "The time has come. The Kingdom of God is near; turn around and believe the good news." Simon and Andrew had awaken early that morning. That was their habit. Ever since they had started their now prosperous fishing business, they were always the first boat out. On his desk Andrew even had the motto "The early worm gets the fish." They were casting their nets that morning as usual. These were new nets and the latest model boat too. "Only the best!" Simon always said. "Why bother waste time and money trying to make old tools do new jobs. Get the best and give your best."

This was just another working day for S & A Fisheries, Inc. Then Jesus came along. They had heard of Jesus, a healer and holy man - from Nazareth of all places. He had a new way of preaching with authority like he knew first hand that what he said was true. He seemed a real man of God maybe even the Messiah.

When Jesus saw Simon and Andrew he called to them from the shore. "Simon, Andrew, come follow me and you can fish for people." It is not every day that a prophet calls you. So they came ashore and Simon and Andrew left their new boat and new nets behind to follow Jesus.

Meanwhile the Zebedee boys James and John were still near shore. Their father was one who didn't believe in throwing anything away. "A penny saved is a penny earned," he always said. He ought to know because their family had been in the fishing business for generations. Zebedee and Sons was an institution on the Sea of Galilee. On the boats you could still see where Zebedee, Sr. had added "& Sons" on the side of the boats. And so there thy sat mending the old nets and keeping the family business going.

James and John like Simon and Andrew had heard about Jesus. They had even heard him preach and seen him heal and cast out demons. Their father was glad to see them take an interest in Jesus. Old man Zebedee believed in that old time religion. Jesus reminded him of Elijah or one of the other prophets. Jesus was a teacher that said what he meant and then backed it up with action. He was not like the Pharisees. Sometimes you weren't even sure if they knew what they were saying. And their actions don't seem to have and back to put up.

So when Jesus came along with Simon and Andrew and called James and John, they put down their nets and followed. Dad had the hired hands to help him. So they left their Dad and the family business and followed Jesus.

The thing I want everyone to see from this description is the kinds of things that the disciples left behind. It is common to say that these four disciples dropped their nets to follow Jesus. Some mistakenly think that didn't mean much. They suppose that these were poor men who were not leaving much behind. Like homeless men leaving their makeshift fishing poles at the waterfront while the try their luck at the downtown missions. On the contrary, these four disciples left a lot behind when they dropped their nets but for each of them those nets represented different things.

For Simon and Andrew those nets represented their life's work. They were hard working men who had built up a business through that work. The Bible tells us that when Jesus came they were out in their boat casting their nets. I imagine that they spent a lot of time casting their nets. They were probably the first boat out each day and the last one back. So when they dropped those nets they were leaving a healthy growing business in which they had made a deep personal investment.

For James and John it was different. They were in the boat when Jesus came but they were not casting their nets. They were mending them. Here were two young men who identified very closely with their Father and his business. But it was more than business. It was family. Unlike Simon and Andrew they were not building something new they were mending and maintaining something old and valuable. When they left to follow Jesus the Bible says they left their Father with the hired hands. The business would go on. Old Man Zebedee had trusted employees who could carry on. The business wasn't the issue. It was their Father that they were leaving behind.

These disciples left a lot to follow Jesus. And today there are still people who leave a lot to follow him. Some of you know that my Uncle David had been a missionary in Mexico. Before that he was in Venezuela for years. He had to spend years in a part of the world that is not known for its political stability. There were times that he was ministering with his wife and four children in a war zone. He left behind a lot to follow Jesus.

In Seminary, I met many people who left behind a lot to follow Jesus. I knew one fellow who had owned his own computer company. He had built it from the ground up. When he heard his call he sold it to go to seminary. I guess you could say he dropped his internet to follow Jesus. I also new a woman who had a Ph.D. in Philosophy. She had been a college professor. She left that life to become a student once again. I also knew a man in his seventies. He was retired. Most people his age might take up golf, or gardening or bridge and live off their retirement. But he left that behind to go to seminary and become a preacher.

I can remember where I dropped my net to follow Jesus. I can even show you the place. I heard a call to ministry very young so I went to college with the idea that I was going on to seminary. But in the back of my mind there were still some doubts. Not so much doubts as a desire for a different kind of life than that of a preacher. My father had worked a 9 to 5 job with four weeks vacation. We had the freedom to go off any weekend we wanted to and go vacation for two weeks in the summer. I began to wonder if maybe I should try to get a degree in computer science or engineering and then I could graduate get a job buy a house and my time off would be my own. I wouldn't have to work nights and weekends and I could leave the job behind in the office. But then I realized that what I really needed to find happiness was what Jesus was offering. So right there on the Horseshoe of USC between two buildings I dropped my nets. Right there and then I left behind my desires for a life that was mine. And I followed Jesus seeking a deeper desire for life that was his.

Where are your nets? What have you left behind to follow Jesus? It is not just Apostles and preachers that drop their nets to follow Jesus. We all had to give up something. For some of the early Christians is meant giving up their lives. For some today following Jesus still means facing persecution and even death.

Every one who follow Jesus leaves something behind. For some it is the indifference of not loving your neighbor. It is so much easier to ignore your neighbor than to love them. Because to love them means you have to reach out to them and help them in their troubles. For some it means leaving behind the comfort of the status quo. Being a follower of Jesus means we have to stand up against the evil forces of our world. Sometimes that means opposing things that are popular like slavery, child labor or state lotteries. For some it means leaving behind professions and friends. Some professions cannot be carried on by Christians or if they are carried on in a Christian way others push you out. Sometimes friends who are accustomed to your old ungodly ways shun you when you start acting in a Godly way. For some it means giving up Sunday mornings on the golf course or tennis court or Wednesday nights in front of the T.V.

Sometimes even churches have to drop their nets to follow Jesus. They have to drop old ideas of who they are so they can be what God is calling them to be. They have to drop old ideas of what they are doing so they can do what God is calling them to. Sometimes congregations have to drop traditions and even property to follow Jesus.

Where are you nets? Where did you drop them when you started following Jesus? Or did you drop them? These four disciples dropped their nets but most people try to follow Jesus without dropping their nets. The simply drag them along. The result is they often get tangled up in their old lives.

If we are truly honest with ourselves, myself included, we all are dragging some nets. There are things in our lives that are hindering our walk with Christ: old ideas and prejudice, dreams and allegiances. As we try to follow Jesus our feet keep getting caught in them. We stumble and fall in our Christian walk because we are dragging instead of dropping our nets.

Drop those nets today. Bring them to the altar and drop them. Jesus is calling us to go with him and proclaim the Good news and these nets are getting in the way.

I would be the first to tell you that both my daughters are smart. But sometimes they get things mixed up. For instance, one Sunday afternoon when Mary was about three we asked he what she had learned about in Sunday School that morning. She replied simply, "'Bout Jesus and the Whale."

I tell this story because we all do the same thing to some extent. Like Mary we get the idea of the story but we get it a little mixed up when it comes to the meaning. But it's not your fault. It is the fault of us preachers who have failed to preach the main point of the story. For instance when I say, "Jonah" what do you think of: a whale. That's right we think of Jonah and the whale. But the whale is only a minor character in the story. The whale, actually the Bible says "big fish," is important to the story but still a minor character. The story is really about Jonah and God's call to go to Nineveh. The whale is merely one of the means God used to get Jonah to answer that call.

In case you have forgotten the basic flow of the story of Jonah let me refresh your memory. God comes to Jonah and says, "Go to Nineveh and proclaim my word." But Jonah doesn't want to go to Nineveh so he boards a boat to go in the opposite direction. God, determined to get Jonah to Nineveh, uses a storm and a whale to take him there. Once in Nineveh, Jonah proclaims God's word.

That is the basic chain of events of the story but there is more there. To really understand the story you have to know why Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. And the key to understanding why he didn't want to go to Nineveh lies in what Nineveh was to him and those of his nation and time.

Everyone say, "What was Nineveh?" I am glad you asked. According to The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, Nineveh was the capital of Assyria from about 700 BC to 612 BC Nineveh was where the Emperor of the Assyrian Empire lived. The name "Nineveh" was associated with all that the empire did. When you say "Washington" you think of the United States government. When our government does something we say, "Washington did this or that." It is the same with "Moscow" or "London". Nineveh was not just the capital of Assyrian government, it was the symbolic embodiment of everything that the Assyrian Empire did.

One of the things that Assyria or Nineveh did was conquer Israel, Jonah's home. Repeatedly Assyria attacked Israel killing its people and destroying its cities. In 721 BC Assyria carried off the best and the brightest of the Northern Kingdom of Israel into captivity. It was Nineveh who planned those military campaigns and ordered that killing and enslaving of the Israelites, God's chosen people. Jonah and his fellow Israelites saw Nineveh as an enemy to God and God's people.

And God called Jonah, a Jew, to go to Nineveh. To go to the people he saw as his mortal enemy and proclaim the word of God. And what was that word? God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and proclaim to it God's word of Judgment and destruction.

Wait a minuet. Something's not right here! Let me get this straight. Jonah hated Nineveh and saw it as his mortal enemy. God tells Jonah to prophesy its destruction. It seems to me that Jonah would jump at the chance to go to Nineveh and proclaim this message, right? Here was a golden opportunity for Jonah to tell Nineveh off. Here was a Divine sanction to go to Nineveh and say, "God'll get you for that."

So why didn't Jonah want to go? Because despite his prejudice, he knew God too well. Jonah knew that if he warned the Ninevites of their destruction, they might repent. And if they repented God would surely be merciful and spare them. Jonah didn't want to see Nineveh spared. He wanted to see it totally and utterly destroyed by God's wrath rained down on it from heaven.

So Jonah figured that if he doesn't tell Nineveh about God judgment they will not be warned. If they are not warned they can't repent. If the don't repent, God won't spare them. Boom! Nineveh is destroyed. So, Jonah sets out to put as much distance between himself and Nineveh as he can.

This is where the whale comes in. God couldn't just let Jonah get away with his little scheme. So God orchestrated a storm at sea to get Jonah thrown overboard. Then God ordered a big fish, perhaps a whale, to swallow Jonah and take him to Nineveh making Jonah the first submariner. When they arrive at Nineveh the whale beached itself and spits Jonah out on Nineveh Municipal Beach.

During his ride to Nineveh Jonah did some thinking. And he realized that he could not get away with running away form his calling. So he decides to do just enough to say he did what God was calling him to do and no more. A good prophet would go to the palace and dramatically proclaim God's judgment before the king and all his officials. A good preacher would enumerate all the sins that Nineveh had committed against God. Then a good preacher would have graphically described the impending judgment and punishment of God. But Jonah endeavored to be neither a good prophet nor a good preacher. He only did what he had to, to get by.

For starters he only went one day's journey into Nineveh. We are told that Nineveh was three days journey in width. He only goes a third of the way in. He is still in the suburbs of the greater Metropolitan Nineveh area. If you will excuse an analogy with Washington he is just barely inside the beltway. Then he just speaks one sentence: "In forty days Nineveh will be overthrown." He doesn't even tell them that it is God who will overthrow them. Just one sentence and somehow I get the feeling he didn't say that very loud.

Then Jonah's worst nightmares come true. The people repent! In sackcloth and ashes no less! Maybe the incident with the fish on beach got around or something. I don't know. Somehow God convicted the people of their sin and moved them to repent. And someone told the King about it and he ordered a fast for all the people and livestock in Nineveh. Despite Jonah's half hearted preaching, God moved the people to repent. And much to Jonah's chagrin God spared Nineveh.

Don't be hard on Jonah. We are all like him to one degree or another. We all want to see God's judgment rained down upon those we see as God's enemies. We want God to destroy our enemies not to save them. We want to see God's judgment poured out upon the sinful and unrighteous that rebel against God's law. We want fire and brimstone to rain down on the Sodom and Gomorra�s of our day destroying all the lustful fornicators, adulterers, and homosexuals therein. We want to see destruction of today's Ninevehs of atheism, moral relativism, New Age and the occult. We want to see Madalin Murry O�Hare and all her atheist friends go to "that other place." And then there are those personal enemies whose ways of doing things and whose personalities always get on our nerves. We don't want God to bless them. We want God to show them that they are wrong and we are right.

But, we know God better than that. In fact we are supposed to be the ones who know God's Son personally. And what did Jesus say? "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." But if we love our enemies and pray for those who are against us, God might move them to repentance and save them.

I guess it all really boils down to this. In God's eyes we are no better or more important than them. God made us all and Jesus died to offer all salvation because God wants to save everyone. Jonah should have known better. God wanted to save Nineveh. After all, God had created and loved the Ninevites too. If we expect God to forgive us of our sins when we confess, we should accept it when God forgives some other sinner when they repent.

But be warned! If you pray for your enemies, God will hear your prayers. And God will work on them. And they might repent and if they repent God will save them.

And you might find your enemies sitting on the same pew with you next Sunday morning. That may even include former fornicators and homosexuals, and even some converted atheists, new agers and occultists.

But if we have problems with that then we are the ones who need to repent.