I
have a bit of trivia for you today, and if anyone can answer the question
without any further information, I will declare you trivia master, and may even
petition Hasbro to name a new movie addition of Trivial Pursuit after you. Who is Danny Lloyd? Well, as of December of 2007, Danny was a
teacher of Hard Sciences somewhere in Missouri.
However, he was also a child actor who only participated in two movies
before declaring, around the age of nine, that he wasn’t interested in an
acting career.[i] I am not surprised that he grew tired of
acting and gave it up, because during the first movie, he was part of a scene
with Scatman Crothers that holds a world record. This one scene, between the two actors,
which, according to the Internet Movie Data Base, had to be shot 148
times. Here’s a second chance trivia
buffs, “what is the movie?” The Shining.
Take
One happened during either the summer of 1985 or 1986. Those of you who have talked with me this
week have learned (if you didn’t already know) that my memory is a lot like
this picture, grainy without very fine detail—the result of using the
ever-popular (during the 1980’s) and never-heard-of-now Kodak disc camera (resulting
in the graininess of the picture, not my memory). It is one of a couple of reasons that these
Conference Youth Events mean so much to me.
And while I do not remember the year, I do remember the rest of the
details pretty clearly. We were at
Methodist College for ACS. It was not in
this room, but in Reeve’s Auditorium. I
had shared earlier in the week during growth group time that I was planning to
be a teacher of middle school or high school science. However, as I sat on the front row of Reeve’s
during the speeches for the election of conference youth officers, my focus was
taken from the speeches as another voice took their place, as clearly as if it
were coming from one of the speakers on stage: “I want you to teach, but not
science, teach My Word.” It was my initial call to pastoral ministry.
Fast-forward
to 1990. At Methodist College once again
(Yes, I know it is Methodist University, but back then, it was not—it was
Methodist College.). I am once semester
from graduating with a degree in religion.
I am two sessions away from completing my Candidacy Guidebook for
Ordained Ministry. I have already been
accepted to Duke Divinity School.
However, I am also in a life-draining three-year engagement and a little
over six-months out from the wedding that I really wasn’t sure was a good idea. I also am close to the peak of the onset of
my battle with bi-polar disorder. And I
turn to God and say, I am tired of this.
I am tired of doing what everyone else expects of me. I am tired of doing what you expect of
me. I’m done with this. I’m not doing this. And with that, I walked away from my
calling—I didn’t want God to be the director of my life—I wanted to direct my
life. In the months and, for a couple of
years, following the decision to direct my own life, not only did I walk away
from my calling, but I pretty much walked away from living as if God’s Word was
part of my life…I may have dropped in on a church or two, but my lifestyle
clearly did not reflect my being a child of God with the Word of God flowing
through me—cursing so bad a retired Navy officer said she had not heard that
kind of language on her ship, smoking and drinking more than I ever had (which
had started in high school)—His Word was not the apple of my eye or written on
my heart.
Do
you remember this week’s theme verse that I read on Monday? “I know, O Lord, that the way of human beings
is not in their control, that mortals, as they walk cannot direct their
steps.”
Fast-forward
to 2001—six years into Take Two as Bishop Marion Edwards and the Bishop from
the Russian Conference of the United Methodist Church lay hands upon my head
during the ordination service.
I
know Jonah. I have lived Jonah. Not all of us here may know the story of
Jonah…so let me give a brief synopsis.
Jonah was a prophet of God. God
wanted Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah
wanted nothing to do with Nineveh. He
probably had a myriad of reasons. First,
they were not part of the Jewish people.
Secondly, not only were they not part of God’s people, but they had treated
God’s people harshly. And while God’s
message that Jonah was to deliver was a message of judgment, Jonah knew God’s
nature, Jonah knew what would happen. So
Jonah said (not out loud, but through his actions), “I’m not going to Nineveh,
I’m directing my life.” Jonah goes down
to the city of Joppa, finds a boat, and sets sail in the complete opposite
direction of Nineveh, heading toward Tarshish.
A storm comes upon the ship, and after many attempts to sort out what to
do, Jonah had the sailor’s throw him overboard—the storm stops and Jonah is
swallowed by a huge fish. After spending
three days in the belly of that fish—and note, even while experiencing
“punishment” God’s protective hedge is around Jonah because he has been three
days in the belly of this fish and not even begun to be digested—but after
three days, Jonah realizes that he needs to surrender direction of his life
back over to God and pleads for God’s mercy.
Our Scripture passage this morning picks up “Take Two” for Jonah as we
read, “The word of the Lord came to Jonah as second time, saying, “Get up, go
to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell
you. So Jonah set out and went to
Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord.”
And you know what, Nineveh received a “Take Two” from God, as the
proclaimed judgment turned to mercy when the people of Nineveh repented and
turned to God.
During
my time fleeing to Tarshish, God had that protective barrier around me—despite poor
judgment in my recreational activities, multiple surgeries and illnesses, and
being attacked on the job, bitten and scratched and having to undergo tetanus
shots and preventative Hepatitis vaccines, the digestive juices didn’t kill
me. God gave me a Take Two—and I praise
God for that, because that is the only reason I’m standing here with you today.
My
friends, can’t we give praise that our God gives us a Take Two. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done. It does not matter how we have tried to
direct our own lives. Maybe we have
sought to be in so many other activities that we asked God to take a back seat
to sports, clubs, or just hanging out with friends. Maybe we’ve turned to activities that just
don’t jive with following God. Maybe
we’ve doubted or questioned God (and that’s not just a Jonah thing—a great
number of God’s people have questioned Him throughout the Scriptures). We’ve probably encountered some folks in our
lives already that if we ignored them, walked away from them, or did not do
what they wanted us to do, just washed their hands of us—they wanted nothing to
do with us. Maybe they even judged and
condemned us forever. Thanks be to God
that the God we worship is a God of mercy and a God who will give us a second
take. In fact, he won’t stop just at
Take Two…if He has to and we come back to Him, he’ll go to Take 148…and if
necessary he’ll let us make Danny and Scatman look good and go even further, if
we’ll just let Him direct us once more.
In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[i]
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0515950/bio
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