SERMON OF DR. HOLTON SIEGLING
“Embracing the Inconvenient”
January 31, 2016
But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord
and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is
why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and
merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from
punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die
than to live.’ And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ Then Jonah went out
of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat
under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God
appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to
save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when
dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it
withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down
on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is
better for me to die than to live.’ But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry
about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are
concerned about the bush, for which you did not labour and which you did not grow;
it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned
about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty
thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many
animals?’
Jonah 4:1-11
Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’
All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his
mouth. They said, ‘Is not this Joseph’s son?’ He said to them, ‘Doubtless you will
quote to me this proverb, “Doctor, cure yourself!” And you will say, “Do here also in
your home town the things that we have heard you did at Capernaum.” ’ And he said,
‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is,
there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up
for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet
Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were
also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was
cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.’ When they heard this, all in the synagogue were
filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of
the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he
passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Luke 4:21-30
It really doesn’t matter whether you are an over-scheduled adolescent or an adult whose own
schedule bears witness to a unique blend of hectic activity and general business...life can be
demanding, which is why convenience holds such a significant appeal to most of us.
Having an errand take less time or having something available to us at the very moment we need
it...oh, when our culture accommodates us in those kinds of ways -- which it is more than willing to
do, I might add -- we appreciate it!
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We delight in that web-based business which makes all of our regular orders 2 day priority
shipping...and we give kudos to that pet groomer who comes to our homes and saves us a trip...and
if we do have to go somewhere, many a car manufacturer has made convenient even that process to
the point that we can start our engines from our kitchens!
When the Paradise Funeral Chapel in Saginaw, Michigan, opened its drive thru option for viewing
the deceased, it caused quite a stir. It was off-putting to say the least for traditional types...for those
who felt that a line of respect had somehow been crossed. But for those who wanted to pay their
respects without having to get out of their car...it is a welcome change indeed!
In the funeral home’s defense, it seems that the idea really took off shortly after a woman who lived
in a nearby nursing home was unable to access the indoor viewing area for her late husband. And so
the funeral home made an investment. They spent nearly $300,000 for sensors which opened
curtains inside a 5x7 window each time a car pulled up.
And while we may think of a hundred different ways to renovate a facility in order to accommodate
those who have special needs. It nevertheless demonstrates just how much convenience matters in
our culture.
The flip side of convenience is, of course, inconvenience. Oh, put us in a doctor’s lobby for hardly
30 minutes, and it was probably 25 minutes longer than many of us would have preferred.
...And I can’t tell you how many times our children have said, “Where’s our food?” when we have
been in a restaurant barely 20 minutes...but I get it. I don’t like to wait either. Time is a precious
commodity - a valuable and yet temporal currency - and whenever we can find ways to make our
lives more efficient or make our time count, as it were...we are usually more than happy to do it.
At some level, I suppose, we are actually invited to do it – because in so many ways, life itself can be
rightly perceived as commitment. Does it sound strange to hear it said that is built into the fabric of
humanity a measure of convenience? Consider how God created this wonderful world in which we
live and pronounced it good, now we know that given the birds of the air and fish of the sea, sun
and water. Consider how, quite providentially, God gives us every good gift. Not to mention how
God has provided humankind with the collective intellect to make modern conveniences happen
and happen fast and how together we are able to make incredible advancements in science and
technology.
We should have no problem talking about God and convenience in the same sentence; however, we
would be terribly remiss if we did not also say that such a sentence is more or less an incomplete
sentence until something is added about the inherent inconvenience of the human condition...and
perhaps even that of God’s story of salvation.
It was no small matter for God to come down from heaven and dwell among us. In fact, it was of
the greatest consequence to God that he would take upon himself the figure of humanity and suffer
as we do.
The Scriptures talk about how Jesus emptied himself...about how he took the form of a slave...about
how he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.
Now I realize that to suggest God was somehow inconvenienced by the sinfulness of humanity and
with having to come down to earth in order to offer that atoning sacrifice for our sins -- I realize
that to use the word “inconvenience” to describe God’s experience does not reflect the deepest kind
of theological reflection...but what we can say, and say with great faith, is that what God did was
difficult, and it was painful...but it was also necessary!
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This morning, I want us to consider how it is also necessary for us and for the church called forth to
be faced with the kinds of situations that make us vulnerable to pain cause us to go out of our way
to meet the needs of others. I want us to consider that there are some things God would have us to
learn that simply will not be accomplished by any other means save a measure of inconvenience.
When Jesus spoke to the people in this morning’s NT Lesson they too were faced with just how
inconvenient following Christ can be, because it meant that everything they thought that they knew
about Jesus was changing. No longer could they know him as the baby born to Mary...or the toddler
who’s terrible two’s they had seen firsthand...or the young man who had learned the trade of
carpentry from his father – For now they must know Jesus as the Messiah!
And this means that their understanding of themselves and about their relationship with God...it was
also being radically transformed. No longer could they be who they had been...or perceive and
engage the world in the ways that they had always done.
And to be clear, these kinds of revelations and such bold new decisions, they didn’t end that day in
the synagogue; indeed, for the rest of his earthly life Jesus would demonstrate just how necessary it
is that we provide love and fellowship to those who exist on the fringe of the human
experience...and how we who can make a difference in the life of someone else should do so when
given the opportunity -- how we should take whatever time is needed to show mercy to the one who
has fallen into the hands of robbers.
But doing these things...I mean, truly investing ourselves in the lives of others...it is not always
convenient! In fact, it is much easier to keep our schedules filled with those things which meet our
needs...those things which are convenient to us.
I can’t tell you how many kids who are struggling to fit in and desperately want to be included. But
altering the list of those coming to our own child’s birthday party or to some social event it may
require a little wish in our part and a little inconvenience. But sometimes we end up doing nothing
because it’s just easier that they not be invited at all. Or those meals that need to be delivered on
behalf of the FISH pantry, or the visit which a homebound member of our community would surely
appreciate, or whatever need exists about which we have some working knowledge but no
discernible action. Oh sometimes it’s simply more convenient for someone else to do it!
And yet God has done it for us! That is part of the inconvenience of grace...it is so darn convenient.
We have done nothing and yet we have received everything! Maybe that’s the key to being able to
engage the inconvenient...to understand that God stops at nothing to meet the needs of the world,
and yet how quickly do we stop in our tracks when faced with the needs of everyone!
When Jonah saw that God had lived up to his reputation and relented from bringing punishment
upon the people of Nineveh, he was upset. It wasn’t a very fitting end to a people that he thought
should get their just deserts…
But let us not forget that Jonah was an integral part of the mercy that they received. You see, that
which was troubling for Jonah and a source of great consternation -- that which was probably a
great inconvenience to what Jonah perceived as his otherwise very important prophetic witness -- it
was for the people of Nineveh, a means of grace...it was a way by which they came to know what
Jonah already knew, that God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
What joy is there in knowing that, in those occasions when we engage and even embrace the
inconvenient, God’s love and mercy can be made especially real. And in making it real to others, it
becomes more real to us.
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The Scriptures reveal one story after another of people who have gone out of their way to meet the
needs of others...people who have gone off course because it was the right course to take.
Oh, there are many things that God has called us to do that are easy and convenient. For many of
us coming to church is easy and commitment. We put some money in the offering plate...we attend
mid-week Bible studies or Sunday night youth activities...but none of those things rank very high on
the list of life’s inconveniences.
It is not hard for me to love my children. And yet that’s something that I am called to do. It is not
difficult for me to be faithful to my wife! I am called to do that too. What I am saying is that there
are any number of covenantal responsibilities that God has placed upon our lives which are not at all
burdensome.
But, friends, some of the opportunities that we have to live into our calling as followers of
Christ...they are! ...They are burdensome and they are inconvenient. And to not acknowledge those
opportunities...oh, we might as well be leading Jesus to the cliff of our lives so as to push him off or
at least get him out of the way.
It may not be for us a matter of traveling to a distant and sinful city where we do not wish to go…
and it may not be a complete transformation of our life for having met our Savior for the very first
time.
It may be as simple as a living witness to a Christian ethic from within a business setting which has
little tolerance for morality much less for Christ. Or it may be that out-of-the-way kindness to a
friend which will likely involve a significant amount of our time and our energy...maybe even our
substance.
The season of Lent begins with Ash Wednesday -- two weeks from now, if you can believe that -and the season itself serves to prepare us for God’s redemptive work at Easter. Now many times
people will give something up as a spiritual discipline, but sometimes people will take on something
new...a new spiritual discipline.
This year, perhaps some of us, there will be a decision made to do something that pushes us out of
our comfort zone. Something that doesn’t fit especially well with our calendar of events - something
that is, shall we say, rather inconvenient.
And I hope we do because in the end, our willingness to embrace the inconvenient may be the
singular means of grace whereby we as well as those we love will sense something of the nearness of
God’s Spirit and the very power of God’s love.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This transcript has not been read or edited by Dr. Siegling.
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