Sermon for Epiphany 3, 2006

Text- Jonah 3:1-10

Psalm 62

Theme: This is the third sermon in a series of four on reconciliation for Calvary Lutheran church in Rio Linda. The theme for this sermon is that reconciliation starts with knowing who is the Lord of the church.

Title: Knowing the Facts

1. When I was young and TV was also young, I liked to watch Dragnet.
1. The star of that black and white show was Jack Webb.
2. His character¹s name was Sergeant Joe Friday.
3. His signature line was, ³Just the facts, ma¹am, nothing but the facts².
4. For this third sermon on reconciliation, it is important that people know the facts, and the big fact is that the church is the Lord¹s.
5. Jesus is the Lord of the church and everything follows from there.
6. So, let¹s start.

2. I have two definitions of reconciliation, one longish and one very short.
1. The first is this: Reconciliation is about uniting people. That can only happen when people reach out to each other through dialogue and actions in order to gain understanding and appreciation of their differences. They no longer try to change each other, but rather make retribution for past wrongs and embrace the fact that is takes a multitude of diverse people to contribute to the world in many and varied ways.
2. The second definition follows: Reconciliation is a suspension of hostilities. It is an armed truce for the purpose of digging up the dead.
3. Have any of you found any other definitions of reconciliation, perhaps worded differently than the two that I have?
4. I also have a Bible passage that mentions reconciliation (Romans 5:8-11): ŠGod proves his loyalty for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
5. Have any of you found another passage about reconciliation?

3. When I decided on today¹s sermon title, ³Knowing the Facts², I had the OT lesson and the Psalm in mind.
1. I haven¹t changed my mind about either text, but I will add a piece of the Gospel lesson.
2. You probably all know the story of Jonah.
1. The word of the Lord came to Jonah telling him to go to Nineveh, a great and wicked city, and to cry out against its wickedness.
2. Instead, he catches a freight ship that is taking cargo to Southern Spain, hoping to go someplace where God won¹t see him.
3. Well, Jonah doesn¹t get away from God, because the ship and crew find themselves in a great storm, great enough to sink the ship.
4. Jonah tells them who he is and why he is on the ship and tells them to throw him overboard and that the storm would then stop.
5. They do not want to do that, so they start rowing to the nearest land.
6. The ship is still in trouble, so the sailors reluctantly throw Jonah overboard and the storm stops.
7. They start believing in the Lord God and offer sacrifices to God.
8. So, one of my facts is that, in the Lord¹s church, one never knows who will come to faith, even if it is through a faithful person behaving in an unfaithful way.
9. God provides a big fish to swallow Jonah and to take him back to where he caught that ship in the first place, vomiting him out on the land three days later.
10. So, my second fact is that, in the Lord¹s church, people are offered second chances to do the right thing.
11. God again tells Jonah to go Nineveh, that great city, and to speak the words that God gives him.
12. So he starts calling the Ninevites to repentance, threatening God¹s wrath.
13. The people in the city believe God and repent and God forgives them for their wickedness.
14. So, my third fact is that God is a merciful God, forgiving the most unlikely people who call on his name. That is the nature of the Lord¹s church.
3. I spent time with the Jonah story because it is important that people who are in the Lord¹s church put God first over anything else.
4. Sometimes people are tempted to do church task and plan church strategies rather to put God first and then move forward as God directs.
5. I mentioned pointing you to the Gospel lesson a little.
1. I have in mind verses 14-15: Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God and saying, ³The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.²
2. One of the facts that I think that is helpful for people to know is that Jesus is the Lord of the church.
3. Putting the Lord first over anything else is a big step toward reconciliation.

4. A significant fact is that it is so easy to be distracted from focusing on the Lord in the Lord¹s church.
1. When I was pastor of Prince of Peace Church in Houston, Texas, there was a lady who targeted me.
2. Her words and actions really said more about her than they did about me, but I was distracted.
3. I tried to talk with her, tried to settle things down.
4. That did not work, so I worried a lot.
5. Then, one day while I was on my way to visit a man at the Veterans Hospital, Jesus got my attention.
1. The Lord reminded me that going to care for the spiritual needs of a veteran was far more important that worrying about this lady.
2. And Jesus took care of the needs of the lady, calling people to spend time with her, shielding me from her so that I could do what Jesus wanted me to do.
3. Putting the Lord first in the Lord¹s church gives God the room to guide people to vital tasks.
4. I don¹t know about you, but it is a lesson that I continually learn.
5. I also know that it is necessary for me to talk to anyone that may have done something unconstructive toward me, as soon as possible. Reconciliation can be a wonderful thing.

5. I want to conclude this sermon with Psalm 62.
1. It is about putting God first no matter what human struggles come along.
2. I will read the Psalm and will pause between verses (do that).
3. Knowing God¹s facts in the Lord¹s church leads to reconciliation.
4. I know that that can feel really good.

Amen