Action Speaks Louder Than Words!

Third Sunday After Epiphany
Scripture: St. Mark 1:14-20

We start in Mark where Jesus began his first calling of his disciples, and then I want to go back to the Old Testament where God called Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to the wicked of that great city.

Nineveh must have been a huge city, engulfing 264,000 feet with a 100 foot wall around it. It took 40,000 men 8 years to build it.

God said to Jonah “Are they not worth saving?”

But, Jonah decided that they were heathens and not even Jews. Thus he turns his back on God’s request and heads in the other direction to Tarsus.

When have you and I turned our back on God’s request and headed in the opposite direction and not willing to fulfill God’s request?

While trying to get away from God’s request, Jonah is thrown into the sea during a terrible storm. Instead of drowning, he is swallowed by a big fish and is in the belly of the fish for 3 DAYS! And then he repents and is spat out onto dry land.

Then hearing God’s message to respond, Jonah finally went to Nineveh and preached God’s destruction and the people believed and repented from their sins.

Jonah is unhappy because he believed that God was for the Jews only, not the Gentiles.

In the story of Jonah, 3 different entities changed their mind.
1. Jonah first refused, and then decided to go.
2. The people of Nineveh, they confessed their sins after hearing about God's judgment and love.
3. God relented, sparing the Ninevites.

As a child of God, doing His bidding, one is responsible only to share the message.

God will take care of the harvest in due time. Our responsibility is to share the word, and God will take care of the harvest.

Let us pray!

Be an Agent Called by God

2nd Sunday after Epiphany
Scripture: St. John 1:40-51

Has the Lord ever called you for special works of labor for the kingdom of God? Are you aware of your uncharted gifts for the kingdom? One must be aware to venture out of their comfort zone.

Andrew is a man of a faith that allowed the Lord to use him. Only on 3 different occasions do we see Andrew center staged:
  • He brought Peter to Jesus. Jesus looked at Peter and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter, Aramaic for “rock.”
  • He found the lad with 5 loaves and 2 fish and fed the 5,000 men, the women, and the children. There were 12 baskets of crumbs picked up afterwards.
  • He took the Greek man to meet Jesus.
Andrew was in the shadow of Jesus’ ministry. As Jesus prepares to leave Galilee, he finds Philip and says “Follow Me.” Philip, Andrew, Peter, and Nathanael were all from Bethsaida. Nathanael’s reaction was, “Can anything good come from there?”

Jesus tells Nathanael where he first saw him, under the fig tree. Nathanael confesses “You are the Son of God, the Messiah.”

We are all guilty of thinking we have nothing or little to offer the Lord. Only when we surrender ourselves to the Lord do we encounter many of our abilities to labor in the vineyard of the Lord.

Examples of people who answered the call:
  • Ed Gladish
  • Tim Voll
  • Judy Lints
  • Casey Archer
Maybe you haven't been recognized. Maybe you are living in the shadows, sort of like Andrew was. As servants of God, we should strive to make sure He gets the credit, not us. We should strive to be selfless so that we can be effective witnesses to God’s work in this world. Let us come together and pray.