Sermon: "Go to the Great City"

2nd in the "Jonah" series.
Delivered April 18, 2010 by Rev. George Antonakos.
Sermon Text: Jonah 1:1-2

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"Driver's Manual" series study guide: booklet or ordered page layouts

Well today as you have already heard, we're talking about the city. I told Dave instead of that softball story, he should tell you that he was hanging around down in the city. That would be the way to start us off the proper way. Have you ever wondered why Central Presbyterian Church is called Central Presbyterian Church? When the first Central Presbyterian Church was built (our date of our beginning history is 1853), it was built in the center of the city at Saratoga and Liberty Streets.

And that first church... I don't know how long it was there, but that first church burned down eventually, and they did not rebuild on the original site. And this is what the historical record of this church says that the church history notes that the original site had become a rough and seedy area. So the church relocated to a more suburban area, which was upper Eutaw Street at the time, out in the suburbs of upper Eutaw, not too far from where the Meyerhoff is located today. And that building is still standing.

But by the 1940's, many of you know the church seriously declined as people continued to move toward the city/county boundaries. And in 1949, Pastor Murray Smoot replanted Central Presbyterian Church in the living room of a brown farmhouse, which is located on this property, a stone's throw away from where we sit right now. Seven acres and a farmhouse, which was not central to the city anymore. But we obviously retain the name. And I'm not saying that any of that's wrong. I believe it's all part of God's plan, but at some level when you think about that, it's like okay, started in the city, came out here, and it's like we did a bit of a U-turn away from the city.

And I take the time to say all of that because I wonder if God's plans for Central involve in some ways looking back toward the city for our generation. Sort of going back to the future, as it were. What would that look like? Well, it would like the leadership of the church intentionally planning, strategically planning, to do something that embraces the city.

Now, humor me for a minute and say... Now let's say if that was God's desire, what would have to change in our attitudes, in our beliefs, in our actions, for us to embrace the city? Well first we'd have to believe that God cares about the city, that God really cares about the city and the people who live there. We'd also have to analyze our current attitudes about what we think about the city and those who live there. We would also have to buy into the premise that cities are strategic for the fulfillment of God's purposes in the Great Commission.

We'd also have to think, "Well, God has planted us geographically one mile outside the city, so that may mean something for what God's future may be." And there are already indications that the Spirit seems to be moving in partnership with ministries to the city like HopeSprings, for instance. HopeSprings is dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. And people... Hundreds of people have been trained and are becoming more aware of what's going on down in the city and the needs thereof.

Partners for Transformation, which is a growing network of county and city churches and leaders coming together for prayer and planning. Habitat has been a long time part of this congregation's ministry down in Sandtown. Acts4Youth continues to deal with helping at-risk boys. Working with Baltimore Christian School, people are volunteering there a couple of miles south on York Road. Many have been involved with the work of Helping Up Mission on Baltimore Street, and some have even been on staff of that ministry in this church. Some people work with Safe Streets. And although ACTC is not located in the city, it still deals with a lot of urban issues of hunger.

So there are all those things that may indicate it. But then on the other side of that coin are all the things about the city that kind of frighten us, things that are problems like crime and drugs and gangs. And all of that goes together. "Urban Blight." I don't know if you saw Friday's paper. Sixty-seven houses on Perlman Street are going to be leveled. I mean, when that happens, you know there is a problem when that's the only solution to this. Not re-devise. Just knock them down.

Educational challenges. Fatherless homes. Violence. Prison populations that are too large. I like the city. I don't carry too many fears about it, but I have to tell you that back on April 9 as I was driving downtown to attend opening day at Camden Yards, which may be the last Oriole game I ever attend, not sure about that, but they're 1 and 11. Let me say...

This is parenthetical. This has nothing to do with the sermon. But it helps me to vent, okay? They're 1 and 11. They find new ways to lose every single day. And if I told you how they lost the other night, you wouldn't believe me. Anyway, I'm not going to tell you. I mean, pass ball on the strikeout, loaded the... Anyway...

Okay, I'm driving downtown, and I'm going in a different way. And there was a police barricade across one so I couldn't even get through. So I had to go another way. I got turned around. I'm really in a place I'd never been before, and it was pretty rough. And I thought, "Boy, I hope my car stays, you know, keeps moving. I don't break down or anything." And then as I'm driving past other areas, I said... This is what I said to myself, "What a God-forsaken place."

Maybe you've said that about places before. Cities. But if we understand God's heart for the city, that may be the most theologically inaccurate statement I have ever made in my life. Let's look at Jonah, chapter 1, first two verses. Very short text today. It's a more topical sermon than an expositional one, but let's pray and look at those two verses so that we can continue to think about God's heart for the city.

Lord, we thank you for your love and grace. We thank you for your Holy Spirit's presence that promises to lead us into truth, to teach us your things, to explain them to us. We pray that you would help us understand what it is you want us to understand so that we might be more aligned with your heart and your purposes through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Page 844. Only two short verses, and we will be talking about God's work and grace in every... When it comes to every word of this book in the next few weeks. But today we're just focused on these first two.

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 'Go... '"

Some translations say, "Get up at once."

"'Go to the great city Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.'"

If you were here last week then you recall that we had an overview sermon of the whole book, and we pointed out that Jonah was called by God to go to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. But Jonah hated with a passion these Assyrian people because they had meted out so much suffering to his own people. He could not stand the thought of them receiving grace or even them repenting and receiving forgiveness. It wasn't even in his mindset. And so he did a U-turn. He refused out of that hatred.

Today our sermon focus has to do with something that we rarely hear a sermon about, and that's a biblical theology of the city. And I suspect that most of us gathered here today (and I'm included) may not have thought much about a Christian approach to the city or to a city itself. Now I'm curious about something. For those of us who are gathered here, how many of you gathered here today live within city limits? You live within the city limits, raise your hand. Okay, keep them up.

How many live within the beltway? How many of you live within the beltway? Okay. How many of you have something to do with work in the city? Keep raising... Okay. Look at all these hands that are raised. See how important? You can put them down. See how important the city is even to our reality? And these verses at the beginning of the book of Jonah tell us a lot. "Jonah, go at once to Nineveh, that great city [that great city], and preach against it."

Now in that phrase alone, we see that a city immeasurably more violent than Baltimore was on God's heart. It was a wicked place. They were a violent people. And the simple fact that God wanted a prophet to even go and talk to them says volumes about the grace and love of God. There is room for repentance. God desired to keep this city if at all possible intact. He did not want to level it like the houses on Perlman Street. Why? Why would God want to preserve a city, especially one like that? Wouldn't we just be better off if that was leveled? Why does God care about the city so much? Cities?

First, I think there are three reasons.

1. Cities are God's idea from the very beginning. We sometimes act like cities are just places where really bad people just kind of hang out in their spare time. That God's country really is the open country. Have you ever been somewhere... ? My first call was in central Pennsylvania. Beautiful hillsides and greenery and everything. People wouldn't... When I came there as a pastor, "Welcome to... " What did they say? "Welcome to God's country." Right? You've heard people say that.

And we have this mindset. We have like, "Oh yeah. God's country is way out here where it's pristine. Couldn't possibly be among the cement and the skyscrapers." God's future... that's not the way God thinks. Think about God's future. What in Revelation, chapter 21, is the goal of all humanity? Where will we be living, so to speak? In the New Jerusalem. In a city! It's a redeemed... The apex of redeemed geography is an eternal city. And right in that city the Bible says is the tree of life. Obvious reference to the Garden of Eden.

In other words, eternal city of the New Jerusalem is the garden of God remade. Was it God's original intent to them when he said to the first parents, "Be fruitful and multiply" to develop civilization? Not just the farm, although both are important. Was that the idea? You know, actually in ancient times, cities were places to go to meet a deity. The original skyscrapers were ziggurats. Ziggurats were temples where a popular deity was thought to descend. And they were seen as the royal residences of the god, and the city was dedicated to that god, and it was where you went to serve that god.

And I think all of these things were dim awarenesses... A dim awareness of what God's original intent was with Eden in regard to the true and living God. I think mythical stories like Atlantis when we think about places like that are drawn from a longing in us that stems from God's original plan and intent. So this is God's idea from the very beginning and the New Jerusalem is no myth. And think about the name Jerusalem. Jeru-shalom. God's peace.

God's wholeness that the intent of humanity, the intent of God for humanity, is to be eternally whole with God at the center. That's what God's goal and design is centered in the Lord. So cities cannot be regarded as simply an evil intention of fallen humanity. History will end in a God-centered city, part of God's eternal plan. That's the first thing. God's idea from the beginning. Second, God cares about the city because...

2. Cities are strategic. Now here is something to think about. In 1800, what percentage of people do you think lived in cities only 200 years ago all over the world? Three percent. Three percent of the world's population lived in cities. In 2010, what do you think the number is? Fifty percent. Fifty percent of the world's population lives in metropolitan areas. And that percentage will continue to increase as the population does. And so if we want to take people seriously, we have to take cities seriously.

And it's not just that they're strategic today. When the apostle Paul was told by God, "Go and preach and share the gospel and spread the gospel," where did he go? He went to cities. You look at the Bible, and you look at the names of all the books, all of the epistles (Romans, Corinthians, Thessalonians, Philippians), these were all cultural centers that he went to. He was led by God to go to these places to plant the gospel from which the gospel then spread. They were like hubs.

Cities were strategic because it was there people were most open to new ideas and where culture could be leveraged for the cause of Christ. I mean, even now, the gospel takes root faster in transitional communities near cities than it would ever do in the countryside. You know, country living many times people are a little more difficult to get to in their thinking.

In 300 A.D. (here is another stat), fifty percent of the urban population was Christian while only ten percent of the outlying area was. In fact, some people think that the word for pagan comes from the Roman word paganus, which means "man of the country." So God's plan was to capture the heart of cities through what Paul was sent to do and other missionaries.

Tim Keller, who has taken ministry to the city and has done a remarkable job in New York City in terms of planting churches and impacting the city for Christ, he has taken that very seriously. It's his life call. Refers to cities as "culture-forming wombs of society." So whatever captivates the city will captivate the arts, will captivate the media, scholarship, and core professions of our culture. So cities are strategic.

Thirdly, at least one more reason why the city is on God's heart.

3. Cities can be a place of refuge for the disenfranchised. And it's kind of strange sounding, but that cities would be considered a place of refuge. Actually back in ancient times, the wilderness is what was really scary. People didn't want to go there. In fact, speaking of Sodom and Gomorrah, when an angel of the Lord (or the angels of the Lord) came to Lot, and they said, "Look, you better get out of dodge because it's going to be bad." And they said... the angels actually said... "Go to the hills. Go to the hillside."

And Lot said, "No, I won't survive in the hillside. I won't be able to make it. Send me to that little city over there." Zoar it was called, which means "little." In other words, in his mind it's like, "No, I can't make it out here. I have to make it in another place like where it's more populated." So when Israel moved to the Promised Land, some of the first cities were established. And even in Genesis, in the early parts of Genesis, cities are developed so that people who need refuge can go to them to be safe. So God invented cities not to be a sign just of self-protection but of divine protection as well.

Even today when you think about where do the homeless gravitate, where do immigrants gravitate, where do the poor and those with different lifestyles gravitate? To the city. For some reason, it feels like that's safer for those who are disenfranchised. It's a more merciful place. Why? Because the density of the city creates the possibility of strong minority communities. Density creates diversity.

Now we who tend to be the middle class or dominant majority often dislike cities, but the weak and the powerless need them. They don't survive as well in outlying areas. Now of course the city can be misused. People with sinful lifestyles find the refuge in the city just as much so that they can escape the disapproval of a broader culture perhaps. But if in the past and maybe even today if a person was Jewish or Catholic or an immigrant from some place in Europe, African American, they felt safer in the cities than in the small towns.

And we don't usually... We're not used to that idea. We don't see it that way at all. There is no question that sin has affected cities just like everything else. People gravitate to cities to create their own morality. They use the city to define life and God in their own ways. And there is no shortage of examples in the Scripture of cities gone bad. And I think it's because of this view of cities that Protestant evangelicals (that's us) have turned away from the city. We've abandoned the city for the most part. Maybe that's changed in recent times, but if all those who can be a leavening influence move away, then that opens the door for even worse things to happen in the cities.

I mean, maybe this is too strong of statement, but is it because there has been that migration outward that cities go to hell, so to speak? But God is a God of grace, and he still loves the city. That's what he says. "Jonah, I want you to get up. I want you to go to that great city of Nineveh, which has been around for a long time." Does the potential still exist among us to recapture a new vision of faith in our cities? Can we really believe that they may be places on God's heart that need to be loved and won for his kingdom?

You know, Israel was taken into exile because of their disobedience to God, and they were plopped right in the middle of a city called Babylon. There is a fascinating verse in Jeremiah 29:7 that God speaks through Jeremiah to the people of Israel who really don't want to be there. He says, "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will proper." Another translation says, "For in its welfare, you will find your welfare."

So Israel was to be a model community within the city limits, and by its communal life was to be a witness to what could really happen in the city in terms of love and justice and care. And I realize that when we think about all of this and what does that all really mean for Central Church, there is a part of me that says, "No thanks. I'd like to take a U-turn and head right out to the country where I live, okay?"

There are certainly... Certainly true that not everybody is called to live in the city. Not everybody is called to necessarily minister in the city. Wherever we live or wherever we work, we may be called to a few things as a result of this message today. Things we should consider taking seriously because of where we're located, because of our history, because of what the Spirit may be stirring up.

Number one, consider these things. Take them to heart. Pray for the city of Baltimore. Pray seriously and regularly. And I'm not going to ask for a show of hands. If somebody asked me, "George, how often do you pray for the city of Baltimore in the last six months?" Not too much. Little bit. Every now and then we gather together. I do remember praying like a couple of months ago we were in a prayer meeting, and I prayed, "God, just like you did with Nicky Cruz and those guys, gang leaders, just convert some gang leader down there, you know, to be a leader and turn things around."

But other than that, I don't remember much praying for the city. Pray for the political leaders of the city. Pray for the mayor. Pray for the police force. Pray for businesses. Pray for those in the legal profession. Pray for congregations that are already there, many of which are Presbyterian churches. Pray for Partners for Transformation that are trying to do some kind of network. They are in essence when Partners for Transformation gathers on monthly prayer meetings, it's like we want to spread a net of prayer over the city over every neighborhood, praying for problems, praying for opportunities, praying not judging.

This is the most important thing we can do and the hardest thing that we can do. Actually, tomorrow there is one of these monthly prayer times for Partners for Transformation out in Owings Mills. If you are at all interested in knowing more, put it down on your communication link. You know, "Send me the information," and we will. Okay, so that's the first thing we could do.

Secondly, perhaps consider more direct involvement with ministries that I've already mentioned that have made inroads into the city. There are many. Again, one of our Grow Groups that's happening right now is the Journey course. It's HopeSprings led, and it teaches an awful lot about the HIV/AIDS problem. But also it teaches about how to minister in the city to make a difference, and it can help you understand more ways to do that.

Sandtown we've already mentioned. You could volunteer for Habitat. You could go on the blitz week in the summer or any Saturday that they're down there. You could volunteer with Helping Up Mission. No question about that. You could work with Baltimore Christian School as a volunteer. Mentor young men with Acts4Youth.

Did you know that on June 3, Acts4Youth, which is one of the ministries that's supported by this church helping at-risk boys making a difference in the lives of young boys, is going to have a banquet right in this room to hear testimonies about what Acts4Youth is doing in this city? It's going to be 6:30 to eight o'clock June 3 right here. You can learn an awful lot. Just come and listen to them. Maybe God will stir your heart. World relief and others. Other ministries are down there. Maybe there is some connection if you just investigate where your fingerprints could be on something that could make a considerable difference for just one person.

And then the third thing and the last thing (I'm almost finished) is to attend a church service somewhere in the city where you would be the minority. And as you go... You might do this once a month or once every couple of months. And ask just as you get to know folks, "What do you think the needs are? What could possibly be changed? How could we help?" Again, if you want more information, put it down, "Give me a list of congregations where we could go."

I'm sure there other ways. These are just three. But I think what's most necessary, and I don't... You know, the Spirit may be involved in trying to get us to think about this in a way that even is beyond what I'm thinking about. But the most necessary thing is to believe that God loves the city, that cities are strategic, that God has a purpose for them. And to join God on his heart may mean for us in our generation to look southward to make a difference for Christ. Let's pray for the humility and the courage to follow where he leads with no U-turns for Christ's sake.

Lord, we ask that you would take this word that's been preached today and that it would be a seed that is planted in hearts. We thank you that it's already a seed that's been planted in many hearts, but we perhaps watered in a different way today. We pray that you would grant to us an understanding of whether this is really the Spirit speaking to the Church as you spoke to churches in the book of Revelation. If it is, we pray for wisdom and discernment to know what to do. And we ask that you would give us a sense of your peace as we consider these things. In Christ's name we pray, Amen.

© 2010, Rev. George Antonakos
Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore, MD 21204 410/823-6145
www.centralpc.org