Am I a Jonah or a James?

Below is a devotion that I prepared for my home church's annual meeting on 25 January. I was able to deliver it via Skype. Many thanks to all the people that made this connection possible. This reflection is based on Jonah 1:1-4 and Mark 1:16-20.

Am I a Jonah or a James? Am I a runaway prophet or a disciple of Christ? I ask myself those questions every day. Even though I’m living and serving in South Africa as a called and commissioned volunteer, I’m no different from you. God is not only calling me to service. He’s calling every single one of us. How will we answer that call? Are we even listening for that call? When God said to Jonah, “Go at once to Ninevah,” he ran in the opposite direction. (And we all know what happened to Jonah.) But when Jesus said to Simon, Andrew, James, and John, “Follow me,” they left what they were doing immediately. They didn’t say, “Wait! Let me tie up some loose ends first,” or even, “Wait! Let me say goodbye to my friends and family.” James and John left their father behind in their fishing boat that very moment. How many of us practice that kind of radical obedience to Christ’s call in our daily lives? I know that I fall painfully short.

We like to think that we’re disciples, that when Jesus calls we will immediately answer. But so often we are more like Jonah. When Jesus calls, we have so many excuses: “I’m busy. I’m already overcommitted. I have responsibilities. I can’t fit one more thing into my life. I don’t have time.” But like Jonah, what we’re really saying is that we’re scared. We’re scared that when Jesus calls we might have to think in entirely new ways, that our relationships might have to change, that we might have to use our time and resources differently. We’re scared of what God might be capable of, that He might actually be gracious, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

I’ve heard that Emanuel considers its budget to be not only a moral, but a theological, statement. (I say this now, because experience has taught me that discussing finances is often the most contentious part of an annual meeting.) I would like to take this idea several steps further. Not only your budget, but everything you do at Emanuel, is a statement of your faith, your priorities, and your commitments. When you ask yourselves if you’re runaway prophets or disciples of Christ, you will have to answer both. We are both sinners and saints; part of a broken, sinful humanity and children of God. We live in that tension, but we are also called to live less and less like Jonah. So I challenge you, the people of Emanuel, to continually ask yourselves, where is God calling you today, in this very moment? How will you answer, as a Jonah or a James?