Jonah 3:1-5

Jonah 3:1-5 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Jonah doesn't even make it into the heart of the city, clearly doesn't have much of a speech prepared, and yet at his meager words, a city that takes three days to walk across converts, to the point that everyone in the entire city is wearing sackcloth and fasting.  How's that for effectiveness? 
  There is a very fine line between preaching as engaging and preaching as entertainment.  I think every preacher tries a balancing act on the line -- our desire is to direct hearts and minds to God, and there are countless communication tactics that help guide the listener to focus on what God is doing.  What's easy to forget in all of this is that it is God who converts hearts and minds.  It is God who speaks through the minister.  It is God who is responsible for the effectiveness of preaching -- it's not about the minister.  It's about the Word of God, active and alive in the world.  As with so many things in life, it's not about us -- it's about what God is doing.
  In Nineveh, God was clearly at work in the hearts and minds of the people there -- Jonah was the vessel through which the message came.  When you think about how God might use you, it's important that you not focus on yourself.  When you do that, you worry about your insecurities, and when things go well, you'll inevitably start to think you did a great job.  And perhaps you did, but it was God working in and through you.  Our goal is to let Christ's light shine through us, that they may see our good works and glorify God in heaven.