Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and announce to it the message that I will tell you.
Jonah 3: 2

Disciples are more than ‘good’ agents.

Occasionally all of us could use a good PR agent. Life itself perhaps might be so much easier with such an agent. Agents in the world of public relations, in media terminology, in the world of sports, entertainment and politics make the ordinary look extraordinary. A good agent knows how to blend criticism and put one in the good public eye. A good agent keeps one’s name in the best public light. A good agent knows the right places to be, the right people to associate with, the right clothes to wear, maybe even I, as a priest, might be better if I had a good agent?? (Make me look good!)

The message of this weekend’s readings is: those called to be disciples or prophets, those who want to proclaim the gospel, cannot be just ‘good agents’; they must be about something more. Discipleship is about practicing or being what you preach.

Jonah, in the initial stages of his prophetic ministry, saw himself just as a mere agent of
God. He was a very reluctant prophet in particular to the City of Nineveh. Jonah was a
Jew and a nationalist. The arch enemies of the nation of Israel were the Assyrians of
Nineveh. Why even bother preach to them?  Jonah fought with God about this. He does not see any-thing good about ‘those’ people. Favor and goodness belonged only to Israel (so he thought). Hence why he fled away from God initially. Today, he finally says yes and goes to Nineveh. In just but a day (in a city that took 3 days to walk), everybody changes and repents. Jonah is shocked and must repent, too. God sends him as a ‘prophet’ of God’s plan, not his own. And it works. Jonah must realize that he is no agent, but more. He must now practice what he preaches too.

In the Gospel, those called to be disciples are to be more than ‘surface’ followers of Jesus. Radical change is required of them. They are to remove everything that distracts them from being wholehearted disciples. This is seen in the ‘straightaway’ nature of their call. They abandon their livelihood and family immediately and follow Jesus. This is about total commitment to the Gospel and Jesus. No disciple can be ‘a sort of’ disciple.

We too are called to be today’s disciples and followers of Christ. We are not keepers of a brand or agents who make Jesus ‘look’ good. We are challenged to embody the message of Christ. Live as he lived. Love as he loved, suffer as he did for others. If God is about love then we, too, must be about that love. If God is justice then we, too, must exemplify that justice; if God is about serving others/neighbor then that is what we must do in our lives, too. We cannot be desktop Christians. We are more than agents. We must practice what we preach.

“Set out for the great city of Nineveh,
and announce to it the message that I will tell you.” (Jonah 3, 2)

What will you change in you, in order to do this better?

-Father Anthony