"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America." Doesn't that just make you want to stand up and put your hand on your heart? We live in a country that, by anyone's definition, has been richly blessed by our God. We have an abundance of pretty much everything, despite what the news might tell you about a recession. We have freedom. We are free to be here today to worship our God and Savior in peace! No wonder we celebrate our Independence Day.
But wait. Before you start waving flags and celebrating your independence today, it's important for us to see what this all really means for us as Christians following our Savior. Saying the pledge of allegiance, flying the flag, and celebrating on the 4th of July are not wrong; it's right for us to give thanks for the blessings God has given us in this nation. But how do we live when when heaven is our true home, not this country? How do we live in this nation when our true citizenship is in the kingdom of heaven and when our true, full allegiance is to God alone?
The prophet Jonah struggled with this. I realize that Jonah did not live here in the USA. But if anyone had a reason to be patriotic, it'd be someone like Jonah. He was a prophet in Israel, a nation that God himself had chosen and set apart for himself, a nation through which God would send the Savior of all the world. Jonah had a reason to be proud to be an Israelite, because God had chosen the Israelites for something special. But it was Jonah's patriotism -- it was his love for his nation -- that ended up getting him in trouble.
When I say the name Jonah, what's the first thing that comes to your mind? The whale, right? Jonah is best known, by far, for being swallowed by a "large fish" -- probably a whale -- and surviving there for three days before getting out. (Jnh. 1:17, Jnh. 2:10) The Bible even uses Jonah in the whale as a picture for Jesus in the tomb. Jonah was in the whale for three days, but came out. After dying on the cross, Jesus was buried and in the tomb for three days before he rose from the dead. (Matt. 12:40)
But how many of you know why Jonah was swallowed by the whale? Well, let's just say he loved his country too much. The first two verses of Jonah set the scene for us: The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." (Jnh. 1:1-2)
As a prophet of God, Jonah's job was to say what God told him to say and go where God told him to go. In this case, Jonah was supposed to go to the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of the nation of Assyria. Assyria was Israel's greatest enemy. There had been wars between the nations. And Assyria's capital city of Nineveh was well-known to be one of the most wicked, violent places on earth. In fact, the entire book of Nahum is about how bad Nineveh was. (see Nahum 3) So you'd think that when God told Jonah to go preach against them for their wickedness, Jonah would've gone happily.
But he didn't. He ran away and went in the opposite direction. (Jnh. 1:3) That's why God sent the whale to swallow him. He wouldn't let Jonah get away from his mission. So why didn't Jonah want to go? He didn't want to go anywhere near the nation that was Israel's biggest enemy. He didn't think God should send a prophet to such an awful place as Nineveh in such an awful nation of Assyria. He thought his country was more important than his God.
This could never happen to us, though. Right? Well, I don't think many of us are tempted to think or say, "The United States of America is better or more important than God himself." But we might tend to wear blinders when we look around us in our nation. We might almost think our country can do no wrong. We might even think of the USA as God's chosen nation for today, like Israel was in the Old Testament.
The USA, for all its blessings, is not God's chosen nation. As part of this country, living in this nation, in this state, in our particular place in it, we will see sin all around us. We do not simply go along with the sins of this nation because everybody else does. The vast majority of people in this nation believe that a couple living together outside of marriage is ok, that homosexuality is just an alternate lifestyle, that every faith or even the lack of faith is just another way to the same god...these are all lies that people are trying to sell us right here in our nation.
Yes, the freedom we rightly celebrate in our country shouldn't be celebrated when it's a freedom to sin. You can probably think of someone doing something to you that you don't like, you ask them to stop, and what is the answer? "It's a free country." That free country mindset we have in this nation often makes us think that nobody better tell us what to do, ever.
For many, that extends to church and to God himself. "The church has "rules" that I need to follow? Please." "God says "thou shalt not..." to so many different things, but what really matters is what's important to me." "Listen to God, read the Bible, go to church? No thanks. It's a free country."
Do any of those ideas of our nation have a hold on you? God blessed the prophet Jonah by having a whale swallow him when he went off track. We have God's Word reminding us that these attitudes are sinful, that they are the fruits of unbelief, and that they can and will eventually destroy our faith.
And when we recognize those sins in our lives, the best thing we can do is act like the people of Nineveh in our text. You see, Jonah had been afraid the mission God sent him on would be a success! And it was! Our text tells the story. Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. (Jnh. 3:4-5)
God had decided that Nineveh's sins were too great. He was going to take action and destroy in 40 short days. But the people turned around! They recognized their sins. They repented. Our text even mentions that Assyria's king got involved to urge his people to repent so that God wouldn't destroy them all. (Jnh. 3:6-9)
God had decided that Nineveh's sins were too great. He was going to take action and destroy in 40 short days. But the people turned around! They recognized their sins. They repented. Our text even mentions that Assyria's king got involved to urge his people to repent so that God wouldn't destroy them all. (Jnh. 3:6-9)
And you know what? God listened. When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. (Jnh. 3:10) The people of Nineveh deserved to die. Their sins made death and hell their destiny. But God didn't destroy. He didn't kill. He healed. He forgave them in love.
He does the same for us. God's Word tells us, Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning. (Lam. 3:22-23) God has compassion for us purely because of Christ our Savior. Jesus' perfect life satisfies God's demands, not anything we have done. Jesus' bloody suffering and death satisfies the punishment due for our sins so that we wouldn't have to pay it. Jesus' resurrection guarantees our resurrection, our salvation, our life forever through faith in him.
Jesus gives us true freedom, true independence. While we might pledge our allegiance to the flag, isn't it even more important to pledge our allegiance to our Lord and Savior? Don't our hearts burn within to serve him after he has shown us such love? Let's live out our thanks for him. Let's put aside the sinful ways of this nation (which are the sinful ways of our heart), and instead let's serve our Savior. Let's drink deeply of the water of life in his Word. Let's taste and see that he is good in holy Communion. Let's rejoice to hear those words time after time: "God, our heavenly Father, has been merciful to us and has given his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore...I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."
And just as we rejoice in that forgiveness that God gives us, let's also rejoice to see that forgiveness spread to others. That was Jonah's problem. He didn't want to see his enemies, the people of Nineveh and Assyria, get the benefits of God's love. Listen to the sad story of Jonah's heart. Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jnh. 4:1-3) Jonah would rather die than see God forgive his enemies.
Don't let that attitude come into your heart. Look around you and see all the people that Jesus died for, the people he has forgiven! To get the benefit of what Christ has done, they need to hear the message! They need to believe it! Maybe you can be the one to tell them!
Maybe you've thought that you can't share the good news of Jesus because you might say something wrong. This news is too important; it has to be shared. Jesus has forgiven the mistakes you'll make; just reach out with him to others. Maybe you don't want to talk to people who haven't been around church for awhile because it's "none of your business" or you "don't want to step on any toes." Aren't their souls more important than that? Doesn't Jesus' love for them compel you to talk to them, to ask them what's wrong, to invite them back to their Savior and his forgiving love?
Make today the day you say, "I pledge allegiance..." Maybe you pledge allegiance to our nation's flag, but I want you to pledge allegiance to your Savior! Don't go along with the sinful ways of this nation, look to your Savior and rejoice in his forgiveness. Then put the sinful ways aside. Live for your Lord. Make sure everyone you know knows about his love too. In Jesus we have salvation; we have freedom. Because of our Savior, we look forward to a better country than this one -- a heavenly one. (Heb. 11:16)
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