Rev. George Miller
Nov 10, 2024
Jonah 3:1-8
“Who knows?” Those are the words from the King of Ninevah.
They may be the timeliest words for today.
Since the Election, folk have experienced
a myriad of feelings.
Some are feeling great elation, as if they
just heard the best news in the nation’s history.
Others are feeling profound sadness, as if
they just heard the worst news in America’s history.
And for now, the truth is “Who knows?”
We can guess, we can assume, we can play
out every single scenario in our head, but the truth is “Who knows?”
Who knows if the economy is going to boom,
boom, boom as some hope.
Who knows if we’ll be living a Nazi Germany
as many fear.
Who knows…and at this moment this may be
the best we can say.
Since August 4, we have been Exploring God’s
Story and encountered so many motifs.
We rooted our ministry together by discussing
good seeds planted in good soil.
We discussed walking in the garden with
God during the cool breeze and being with God during the darkness of night.
We’ve looked at what it means to hold
people accountable and how to leave things behind, both so we can move ahead.
We’ve discussed being addicted to chaos; celebrated
Hannah who found a way to hold onto hope.
King David showed us how to humbly praise
God even when we don’t get our way; Solomon showed us how ministry can financially
bless a community.
Last week we heard “Do not be afraid” spoken
to a widow at the city gates, celebrating what it means to “Be Brave.”
Today we apply all these lessons.
No matter how we voted, no matter how we
feel about the election, now is the time to take the stories of our spiritual ancestors
and apply them to how we live, how we worship, and how we will survive.
We keep planting those good seeds in good
soil.
We keep finding ways to walk with the Lord
in the cool breezes and dark nights.
We find ways to move forward, praise God,
bless the community, and be brave, brave, brave.
We also find a way to listen to where the
Voice of God directs our attention, and if all we can muster up for now is a “Who
knows?”, that is enough.
We don’t have to know. We can’t know. We can’t spend every moment of every day for
the next 4-5 years trying to guess, assume, determine what the future is or is
not.
Almost every story in the Bible takes
place during a tumultuous time in human history.
Almost every piece of scripture was written
during a difficult, tumultuous time in human and political history.
Almost every Biblical author was writing during
unknown, difficult, tumultuous times in human, political, and economic history.
Most likely, Genesis 1 was written after Jerusalem
was attacked, the Temple destroyed, and the people Exiled.
Exodus is about enslaved people being
heard and seen by God, set free to cross the Red Sea to become a new nation.
Last week we heard about the widow who was
a victim of the drought caused by the King’s unfaithfulness.
Look at the Gospel of Luke- the Emperor creates
a plan to tax the masses and, in the process, we have Jesus born in Bethlehem.
All these stories of light and life are
set in great uncertainty and political strife.
People may think the Bible is full of pie-in-the-sky
fanciful stories and don’t apply to real life.
That is the furthest from the truth. The Bible was written by survivors who faced tough
times and found the strength to carry on by recalling the stories of their ancestors.
How do you find comfort in chaos? Look at
how God creates order in Genesis 1.
How do you face assumed defeat? See how
the Red Sea parts.
How do you face scarcity head on? Be brave.
Today we have a King and a country that
are told the worst of news from Jonah.
What do the people do? They act.
They come together as one. They
embrace their faith, as shaky as it may seem.
What does the King do? He turns to God in a radical act of faith.
But first- he also acts. Instead of doing
nothing, he does what he can.
He stands, he removes, he covers, he sits
in the uncomfortableness of it all.
He speaks.
Instead of arrogantly thinking he has all
the answers, instead of giving false hope, or ignoring the starkness of what
could be ahead,
he humbly, vulnerably says “Who knows?”
Perhaps no truer words can be said by any other
person today-“Who knows?”
It may not solve all the problems.
It may not calm some’s anxiety or elevate
some people’s joy.
But to say “Who knows?” is one way we are
reminded that we cannot determine the future.
However, in our faithful actions, in our
unity, by remembering the story of our ancestors and their relationship with
God,
we can find ways to walk in the garden and
the darkness.
We can find how to be a presence and a blessing
to our community.
And above all, we can find ways to be brave,
even if we are full of joy or if we are full of fear.
The people of God have always made it
through.
The people of God have survived dark nights,
Red Seas, political events, and we are Still Here.
It is not easy. It is not without action.
But it is always, always with God; and it
is always by being very, very brave.
For that, let us say “Amen.”
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