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Sermon Text: Jonah 1:1 The word of Adonai came to Yonah the son of Amitai: 2 “Set out for the great city of Ninveh, and proclaim to it that their wickedness has come to my attention.”
3 But Yonah, in order to get away from Adonai, prepared to escape to Tarshish. He went down to Yafo, found a ship headed for Tarshish, paid the fare and went aboard, intending to travel with them to Tarshish and get away from Adonai. 4 However, Adonai let loose over the sea a violent wind, which created such stormy conditions that the ship threatened to break to pieces. 5 The sailors were frightened, and each cried out to his god. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship easier for them to control.
Meanwhile, Yonah had gone down below into the hold, where he lay, fast asleep. 6 The ship’s captain found him and said to him, “What do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Maybe the god will remember us, and we won’t die.”
7 Then they said to each other, “Come, let’s draw lots to find out who is to blame for this calamity.” They drew lots, and Yonah was singled out. 8 They said to him, “Tell us now, why has this calamity come upon us? What work do you do? Where are you from? What is your country? Which is your people?” 9 He answered them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear Adonai, the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.” 10 At this the men grew very afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew he was trying to get away from Adonai, since he had told them. 11 They asked him, “What should we do to you, so that the sea will be calm for us?” — for the sea was getting rougher all the time. 12 “Pick me up,” he told them, “and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; because I know it’s my fault that this terrible storm has come over you.”
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard, trying to reach the shore. But they couldn’t, because the sea kept growing wilder against them. 14 Finally they cried to Adonai, “Please, Adonai, please! Don’t let us perish for causing the death of this man, and don’t hold us to account for shedding innocent blood; because you, Adonai, have done what you saw fit.” 15 Then they picked up Yonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 16 Seized with great fear of Adonai, they offered a sacrifice to Adonai and made vows.
2:1 (1:17) Adonai prepared a huge fish to swallow Yonah; and Yonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. 2 (1) From the belly of the fish Yonah prayed to Adonai his God; 3 (2) he said,
“Out of my distress I called to Adonai,
and he answered me;
from the belly of Sh’ol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
4 (3) For you threw me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas;
and the flood enveloped me;
all your surging waves passed over me.
5 (4) I thought, ‘I have been banished from your sight.’
But I will again look at your holy temple.
6 (5) The water surrounded me, threatened my life;
the deep closed over me, seaweed twined around my head.
7 (6) I was going down to the bottoms of the mountains,
to a land whose bars would close me in forever;
but you brought me up alive from the pit,
Adonai, my God!
8 (7) As my life was ebbing away,
I remembered Adonai;
and my prayer came in to you,
into your holy temple.
9 (8) “Those who worship vain idols
give up their source of mercy;
10 (9) but I, speaking my thanks aloud,
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed, I will pay.
Salvation comes from Adonai!”
11 (10) Then Adonai spoke to the fish, and it vomited Yonah out onto dry land.
3:1 The word of Adonai came to Yonah a second time: 2 “Set out for the great city of Ninveh, and proclaim to it the message I will give you.” 3 So Yonah set out and went to Ninveh, as Adonai had said. Now Ninveh was such a large city that it took three days just to cross it. 4 Yonah began his entry into the city and had finished only his first day of proclaiming, ‘In forty days Ninveh will be overthrown,’ 5 when the people of Ninveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. 6 When the news reached the king of Ninveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 He then had this proclamation made throughout Ninveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, no person or animal, herd or flock, is to put anything in his mouth; they are neither to eat nor drink water. 8 They must be covered with sackcloth, both people and animals; and they are to cry out to God with all their might — let each of them turn from his evil way and from the violence they practice. 9 Who knows? Maybe God will change his mind, relent and turn from his fierce anger; and then we won’t perish.”
10 When God saw by their deeds that they had turned from their evil way, he relented and did not bring on them the punishment he had threatened.
4:1 But this was very displeasing to Yonah, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to Adonai, “Now, Adonai, didn’t I say this would happen, when I was still in my own country? That’s why I tried to get away to Tarshish ahead of time! I knew you were a God who is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in grace, and that you relent from inflicting punishment. 3 Therefore, Adonai, please, just take my life away from me; it’s better for me to be dead than alive!” 4 Adonai asked, “Is it right for you to be so angry?”
5 Yonah left the city and found a place east of the city, where he made himself a shelter and sat down under it, in its shade, to see what would happen to the city. 6 Adonai, God, prepared a castor-bean plant and made it grow up over Yonah to shade his head and relieve his discomfort. So Yonah was delighted with the castor-bean plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God prepared a worm, which attacked the castor-bean plant, so that it dried up. 8 Then, when the sun rose, God prepared a scorching east wind; and the sun beat down on Yonah’s head so hard that he grew faint and begged that he could die, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.”
9 God asked Yonah, “Is it right for you to be so angry about the castor-bean plant?” He answered, “Yes, it’s right for me to be so angry that I could die!” 10 Adonai said, “You’re concerned over the castor-bean plant, which cost you no effort; you didn’t make it grow; it came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 So shouldn’t I be concerned about the great city of Ninveh, in which there are more than 120,000 people who don’t know their right hand from their left — not to mention all the animals?”
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John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for Jonah
Jonah 1:2
"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."
That great city - It is said to have been one hundred and fifty furlongs in length, that is eighteen miles and three quarters, and eleven miles and one quarter in breadth.
Jonah 1:3
But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
From the presence - From the place where God usually had shewed himself present, by revealing his word and will to his prophets. Perhaps he might think God would not put him upon this work, when he was got into a strange country.
Jonah 1:5
Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.
Into the sides - ln some cabin or other, whither he went before the storm arose.
Jonah 1:6
So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."
Will think upon us - With pity and favour.
Jonah 1:7
And they said to one another, "Come, let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us." So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah.
Cast lots - Lots are an appeal to heaven in doubtful cases, and therefore not to be used but where the matter is undeterminable in any other way.
Jonah 1:8
Then they said to him, "Please tell us For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?"
Tell us - What hast thou done, for which God is so angry with thee, and with us for thy sake?
Jonah 1:9
So he said to them, "I am a Hebrew; and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land."
I fear - I worship and serve the true God; the eternal and almighty God, who made and ruleth the heavens.
Jonah 1:13
Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.
Rowed hard - They were willing to be at any labour to save him.
Jonah 1:14
Therefore they cried out to the Lord and said, "We pray, O Lord, please do not let us perish for this man's life, and do not charge us with innocent blood; for You, O Lord, have done as it pleased You."
Unto the Lord - Now they all cry to Jonah's God, to Jehovah. And said - Let us not perish for taking away his life. Hast done - Sending the tempest, arresting the prophet by it, detecting him by lot, sentencing him by his own mouth, and confirming the condemning sentence by the continuance of the storm.
Jonah 1:16
Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord and took vows.
Feared the Lord - Perhaps as Jonah's casting over - board was a type of Christ's death, so the effect it had upon the mariners might be a type of the conversion of the Heathen from idols unto God. Made vows - Probably they vowed, they would ever worship him whom Jonah preached, the Creator of heaven and earth.
Jonah 1:17
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
A great fish - The Hebrew word is, numbered, has appointed him for Jonah's receiver and deliverer. God has the command of all his creatures, and can make any of them serve his designs of mercy to his people.
Jonah 2:2
And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me."Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
Affliction - Straits with which he was encompassed, his body and mind being both shut up, the one by the monstrous dungeon of the fish's belly, and the other by the terrors of the Almighty. Heardest my voice - Of which undoubtedly God gave him an assurance in his own soul.
Jonah 2:4
Then I said, 'I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.'
I said - With myself, I thought in the midst of my fears and sufferings. Cast out - Cut off from all hope of life, and as it were forgotten of God. I will look - Toward heaven.
Jonah 2:5
The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
The weeds - It seems to mean, my case was as hopeless as that of a man wrapt about with weeds in the depth of the sea.
Jonah 2:6
I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
I went down - The fish carried him down as deep in the sea as are the bottoms of the mountains. With her bars - I seemed to be imprisoned where the bars that secured were as durable as the rocks, which they were made of. Yet - By what was first my danger, thou hast wonderfully secured me. From corruption - Or the pit, a description of the state of the dead. O Lord - In the assurance of faith, he speaks of the thing as already done.
Jonah 2:7
"When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.
Thine holy temple - Heaven, the temple of his glory, whence God gives the command for his delivery.
Jonah 2:8
"Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy.
They - Whoever they are that depend upon idols. Mercy - The Lord, who is to all that depend upon him, the fountain of living waters; who is an eternal fountain of mercy, and flows freely to all that wait for him.
Jonah 2:9
But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord."
Vowed - Which probably was to go to Nineveh, and preach what God commanded him. The Lord - He only can save.
Jonah 2:10
So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
Spake - Though fishes understand not as man, yet they have ears to hear their Creator.
Jonah 3:3
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent.
Exceeding great - The greatest city of the known world at that day, it was then in its flourishing state greater than Babylon, whose compass was three hundred eighty - five furlongs, but Nineveh was in compass, four hundred and eighty. It is said, her walls were an hundred foot in height, her walls broad enough for three coaches to meet, and safely pass by each other; that it had fifteen hundred towers on its walls, each two hundred foot high, and one million, four hundred thousand men employed for eight years to build it. Of three days journey - To walk round the walls, allowing twenty miles to each day's journey.
Jonah 3:4
And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day's walk. Then he cried out and said, "Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown"
Shall be overthrown - The threat is express. But there was a reserve with God, on condition of repentance.
Jonah 3:5
So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.
From the greatest - Great and small, rich and poor.
Jonah 3:6
Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
The king - Probably Phul Belochus. His robe - Put off his rich apparel.
Jonah 3:7
And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water.
Taste any thing - Man and beast are to forbear to eat and drink, that the fast might be most solemn, that the cry of man, seconded with the cry of hungry cattle, might enter the ears of God, who preserveth man and beast.
Jonah 3:8
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.
And beast - Their horses and camels, both which they adorned with rich and costly clothing, they must now in testimony of an hearty repentance, clothe with sackcloth; the clothing of beasts must witness for men. The violence - Oppression and rapine. In their hands - Which are practised by them.
Jonah 4:1
But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry.
It - The divine forbearance sparing Nineveh.
Jonah 4:2
So he prayed to the Lord, and said, "Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.
Was not this - Did I not think of this? That thy pardon would contradict my preaching.
Jonah 4:3
"Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live"
Than to live - Disgraced and upbraided by hardened sinners, who will brand me for a liar.
Jonah 4:5
So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.
A booth - Some small and mean shed, probably of green boughs. 'Till he might see - It seems the forty days were not fully expired.
Jonah 4:6
And the Lord God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant.
Prepared - Commanded that in the place where Jonah's booth stood, this spreading plant should spring up to be a shade when the gathered boughs were withered. To deliver - To give some ease to his mind.
Jonah 4:7
But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered.
Prepared - By the same power which caused the gourd suddenly to spring, and spread itself. It smote - Which early next morning, bit the root, so that the whole gourd withered.
Jonah 4:8
And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, "It is better for me to die than to live."
A east wind - A dry, scorching, blasting wind. Fainted - Overcome by the heat. Better to die - But Jonah must be wiser, and humbler, and more merciful too, e'er he die. Before God hath done with him, he will teach him to value his own life more, and to be more tender of the life of others.
Jonah 4:9
Then God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" And he said, "It is right for me to be angry, even to death"
I do well to be angry - If in the violence of this passion I should die (as some have) yet were I not to blame. What a speech! Verily the law made nothing perfect!
Jonah 4:10
But the Lord said, "You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night.
Laboured - Thou didst not set it. Grow - Nor didst thou water or give growth to it.
Jonah 4:11
"And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left-and much livestock?"
I - The God of infinite compassions and goodness. That great city - Wouldest thou have me less merciful to such a goodly city, than thou art to a weed? Who cannot discern - Here are more than six - score innocents who are infants. Much cattle - Beside men, women and children who are in Nineveh, there are many other of my creatures that are not sinful, and my tender mercies are and shall be over all my works. If thou wouldest be their butcher, yet I will be their God. Go Jonah, rest thyself content and be thankful: that goodness, which spared Nineveh, hath spared thee in this thy inexcusable frowardness.
I will be to repenting Nineveh what I am to thee, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and I will turn from the evil which thou and they deserve. ____________________________
Daily Devotions:
Monday, September 21, 2015
Sermon theme: "Call Waiting."
Text to read: Jonah
- What kind of work do you usually run away from?
- Why?
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Sermon theme: "Call Waiting."
Text to read: Jonah 1
- Read Jonah 1.
- How is Jonah defiant?
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Sermon theme: "Call Waiting."
Text to read: Jonah 2
- Read Jonah 2.
- What changes Jonah’s mind? How?
Friday, September 25, 2015
Sermon theme: "Call Waiting."
Text to read: Jonah 4
Text to read: Jonah 4
- Read Jonah 4.
- How do you explain Jonah’s bitterness.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Sermon theme: "Call Waiting."
Text to read: Jonah
- What question does the book of Jonah pose?
- How do you respond to it?
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Sermon theme: "Call Waiting."
Text to read: Jonah
First United Methodist ChurchText to read: Jonah
- Pray for those running away from God’s grace.
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2111 amino del Rio South
San Diego, California 92108, United States
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Sermon Notes "Seeking Repentance" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 27 September 2015 with Scripture: Jonah 1:1 The word of Adonai came to Yonah the son of Amitai: 2 “Set out for the great city of Ninveh, and proclaim to it that their wickedness has come to my attention.”
3 But Yonah, in order to get away from Adonai, prepared to escape to Tarshish. He went down to Yafo, found a ship headed for Tarshish, paid the fare and went aboard, intending to travel with them to Tarshish and get away from Adonai. 4 However, Adonai let loose over the sea a violent wind, which created such stormy conditions that the ship threatened to break to pieces. 5 The sailors were frightened, and each cried out to his god. They threw the cargo overboard to make the ship easier for them to control.
Meanwhile, Yonah had gone down below into the hold, where he lay, fast asleep. 6 The ship’s captain found him and said to him, “What do you mean by sleeping? Get up! Call on your god! Maybe the god will remember us, and we won’t die.”
7 Then they said to each other, “Come, let’s draw lots to find out who is to blame for this calamity.” They drew lots, and Yonah was singled out. 8 They said to him, “Tell us now, why has this calamity come upon us? What work do you do? Where are you from? What is your country? Which is your people?” 9 He answered them, “I am a Hebrew; and I fear Adonai, the God of heaven, who made both the sea and the dry land.” 10 At this the men grew very afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done?” For the men knew he was trying to get away from Adonai, since he had told them. 11 They asked him, “What should we do to you, so that the sea will be calm for us?” — for the sea was getting rougher all the time. 12 “Pick me up,” he told them, “and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will be calm for you; because I know it’s my fault that this terrible storm has come over you.”
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard, trying to reach the shore. But they couldn’t, because the sea kept growing wilder against them. 14 Finally they cried to Adonai, “Please, Adonai, please! Don’t let us perish for causing the death of this man, and don’t hold us to account for shedding innocent blood; because you, Adonai, have done what you saw fit.” 15 Then they picked up Yonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea stopped raging. 16 Seized with great fear of Adonai, they offered a sacrifice to Adonai and made vows.
2:1 (1:17) Adonai prepared a huge fish to swallow Yonah; and Yonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. 2 (1) From the belly of the fish Yonah prayed to Adonai his God; 3 (2) he said,
“Out of my distress I called to Adonai,
and he answered me;
from the belly of Sh’ol I cried,
and you heard my voice.
4 (3) For you threw me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas;
and the flood enveloped me;
all your surging waves passed over me.
5 (4) I thought, ‘I have been banished from your sight.’
But I will again look at your holy temple.
6 (5) The water surrounded me, threatened my life;
the deep closed over me, seaweed twined around my head.
7 (6) I was going down to the bottoms of the mountains,
to a land whose bars would close me in forever;
but you brought me up alive from the pit,
Adonai, my God!
8 (7) As my life was ebbing away,
I remembered Adonai;
and my prayer came in to you,
into your holy temple.
9 (8) “Those who worship vain idols
give up their source of mercy;
10 (9) but I, speaking my thanks aloud,
will sacrifice to you;
what I have vowed, I will pay.
Salvation comes from Adonai!”
11 (10) Then Adonai spoke to the fish, and it vomited Yonah out onto dry land.
3:1 The word of Adonai came to Yonah a second time: 2 “Set out for the great city of Ninveh, and proclaim to it the message I will give you.” 3 So Yonah set out and went to Ninveh, as Adonai had said. Now Ninveh was such a large city that it took three days just to cross it. 4 Yonah began his entry into the city and had finished only his first day of proclaiming, ‘In forty days Ninveh will be overthrown,’ 5 when the people of Ninveh believed God. They proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least. 6 When the news reached the king of Ninveh, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 He then had this proclamation made throughout Ninveh: “By decree of the king and his nobles, no person or animal, herd or flock, is to put anything in his mouth; they are neither to eat nor drink water. 8 They must be covered with sackcloth, both people and animals; and they are to cry out to God with all their might — let each of them turn from his evil way and from the violence they practice. 9 Who knows? Maybe God will change his mind, relent and turn from his fierce anger; and then we won’t perish.”
10 When God saw by their deeds that they had turned from their evil way, he relented and did not bring on them the punishment he had threatened.
4:1 But this was very displeasing to Yonah, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to Adonai, “Now, Adonai, didn’t I say this would happen, when I was still in my own country? That’s why I tried to get away to Tarshish ahead of time! I knew you were a God who is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in grace, and that you relent from inflicting punishment. 3 Therefore, Adonai, please, just take my life away from me; it’s better for me to be dead than alive!” 4 Adonai asked, “Is it right for you to be so angry?”
5 Yonah left the city and found a place east of the city, where he made himself a shelter and sat down under it, in its shade, to see what would happen to the city. 6 Adonai, God, prepared a castor-bean plant and made it grow up over Yonah to shade his head and relieve his discomfort. So Yonah was delighted with the castor-bean plant. 7 But at dawn the next day God prepared a worm, which attacked the castor-bean plant, so that it dried up. 8 Then, when the sun rose, God prepared a scorching east wind; and the sun beat down on Yonah’s head so hard that he grew faint and begged that he could die, saying, “I would be better off dead than alive.”
9 God asked Yonah, “Is it right for you to be so angry about the castor-bean plant?” He answered, “Yes, it’s right for me to be so angry that I could die!” 10 Adonai said, “You’re concerned over the castor-bean plant, which cost you no effort; you didn’t make it grow; it came up in a night and perished in a night. 11 So shouldn’t I be concerned about the great city of Ninveh, in which there are more than 120,000 people who don’t know their right hand from their left — not to mention all the animals?”
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We come to read this passage of Scripture and realize this passage is so familiar to us that too often we miss what God is attempting to say to us today. Yes, a Jewish Prophet named Jonah was called by God to go to an enemy people of God to proclaim God's Judgement on them if they do not repent of their sins and change their lifestyle and stop abusing and oppressing God's people. Jonah understood what God wanted him to do, but he refused to go to the people oppressing and abusing his people, the Jews, so Jonah ran the other way by way of a ship. God knew where Jonah was and caused a great storm to buffet the ship and scare the sailors on the ship to find Jonah sleeping and asking Jonah who he is and what did he do against his God. Jonah told him who he was and what he was doing to throw him overboard and the storm will stop. The ship's crew asked God to not hold this man's death over them and threw him overboard. As they did, the storm stopped and they made a sacrifice to God making vows to him. Meanwhile, God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, but not eat him up where Jonah prayed to God for his sin and that he would obey God if he lived. God told the great fish to throw him up onto a dry land where Jonah was visited by God again whereas he took off for Ninevah. Jonah preahed throughout the great city that God would destroy the city in three days, but all the people from the king to all the animals repented in sacklothe and ashes in fasting in case God changed his mind. After three days, Jonah went out of the city onto a hill to watch the destruction of Ninevah whih did not happen. Jonah was angry with God because he wanted God to wipe the Jewish enemy off the map, but God had compassion on them due to the city's repentance. How do you understand this story for then and now? What character do you relate to or not relate to? Are there people God is calling God for you to go and live with and being Jesus to them? What happens if the people God is calling you to go to are people who are legal or illegal immigrants seeking a safe place to live escaping violene and poverty or people who have a different sexual orientation who love and serve God as Jesus is calling them to or people who are Black who are still being denied equal justice or people who are differently abled/disabled who are being denied equal access to living in the community or working jobs with a living wage and benefits or even worshipping in church using their God-given gifts to build God's kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven? Will you respond in full obedience to God's call upon your life for His kingdom? May we come to receive God's blessings and power to fulfill His call on our life as we come and eat the Body of Jesus and drink His Blood in the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come receive all God has for us singing the Hymn "Arise, He Calleth Thee" by Clara M. Brooks, pub.1907
1. Weary, lonely, sad, forsaken,
Humbled to a station low,
Sat a hopeless blind man begging,
By the road to Jericho.
Soon he heard the noise of footsteps,
As of waters rolling nigh;
For the Galilean Prophet
With the throng was passing by.
Refrain:
Then arise, He calleth thee,
Sick or suff’ring, blind or lame!
Jesus healed in Galilee,
He is evermore the same.
2. When he heard that it was Jesus,
Who had healed the sin-sick soul,
Then he called aloud for mercy,
That he, too, might be made whole.
But the multitude rebuked him,
Saying he should silent be;
Yet he only called more loudly,
“Have compassion, Lord, on me!”
Refrain:
Then arise, He calleth thee,
Sick or suff’ring, blind or lame!
Jesus healed in Galilee,
He is evermore the same.
3. Paused the Master for a moment—
“Bring him hither unto Me.”
Someone ran to bear the message:
“Come, arise, He calleth thee!”
Oh, what words of cheer and comfort!
What today could sweeter be
To the weary, sick, and suff’ring—
“Come, arise, He calleth thee”?Refrain:
Then arise, He calleth thee,
Sick or suff’ring, blind or lame!
Jesus healed in Galilee,
He is evermore the same.
4. Then as he approached the Master,
Healing virtue to receive,
Jesus said, “Thy faith hath saved thee,
Be it as thou dost believe.”
And the blind man’s eyes were opened,
He had proved the promise true;
Ye, who still in sickness languish,
Lo, the Master calls for you.
Refrain:
Then arise, He calleth thee,
Sick or suff’ring, blind or lame!
Jesus healed in Galilee,
He is evermore the same.
____________________________
Gary Lee Parker
4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1
San Diego, California 92104-1844, United States
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