February 16, 2003

Ann will pick up the story of Jonah where most of us left off, forever. We often think that much-told story of Jonah's uncomfortable sojourn in the belly of that probably equally uncomfortable whale -- Jonah was a rather whiney, pouty sort of fellow that I would guess would cause more than a little stomach upset. But be that as it may, Jonah, as we know, ends up dazed and penitent on the beach.

As I say, in popular culture the story ends there. But Ann will now tell us "the rest of the story," or at least the next phase of Jonah's remarkable journey. Let us listen now to what happened when Jonah went a-preaching in that ancient city of Nineveh.

Jonah, son of Amittai . . . we're glad your story made it into the Bible. At least I am. All the stories of the great men and women of courage and faith and obedience to the will of God: Abraham and Sarah leaving home to follow God into the unknown; Moses standing before Pharaoh saying, "Let my people go," Deborah leading her nation to overthrow their oppressors; young David defying the giant Goliah; the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Elijah and Elisha . . . these all had their weaknesses, to be sure. The Biblical writers were not afraid to show their heroes' feet of clay. But in the end they all came through strong, courageous, believing God, clinging to faith, obeying God even at the risk of their own lives.

Jonah, son of Amittiai . . . we're glad your story was included too. For Jonah's story is not one of obedience, but of avoidance, at all costs. It is not one courage, but of fear. It is not a story of God's love, but of resenting God?s love. But despite all that ? despite Jonah's shortcomings that I share, he was used of God.

You know this ancient fable. Jonah hears a call from God to go to Ninevah - far to the east, in what is now northern Iraq - to call them to repentance. We're not told much about just why Ninevah needed reforming. Oh, there is "wickedness" in Ninevah, says the narrator. But the only specific wickedness listed is that there is much violence in that "great city." But Jonah isn't much concerned about why God wants him to go; he's not going anyways. Or so he thinks. Instead of going east, this young man goes west - as far west as anyone could in those days, to Tarshish, probably a town in Spain, far, far across the Mediterranean Sea.

Now, Jonah is not alone in the Bible in resisting the prophetic call. Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, others: they all put up some protest when they feel the call to dangerous ministries. But as Phyllis Trible points out, Jonah's reluctance to announce God?s word is different: "Moses and Jeremiah thought themselves inadequate for the task. Elijah feared for his own life. Amos and Isaiah found the message too dreadful to announce. [But] Jonah is not concerned about his qualifications; he does not fear for his life; and he does not resist because [God] commands him to preach doom [he rather enjoys that part] . . . . Whereas some prophets shrank from preaching because they saw no hope, Jonah refuses because he knows there IS hope. Whereas some prophets complained about the wrath of [God], Jonah protests the love of God." [NIB, Vol VII, p. 481]

And so he flees westward. His stay aboard that ill-fated ship is not the most heroic of adventures for him. While the crew battles a horrendous storm, throwing their cargo into the sea in hopes of averting total disaster, Jonah is sound asleep below deck. Apparently he loses no sleep even when running from God. When questioned, Jonah admits why he is on the ship - and does offer that since he may be the cause of the storm if he were thrown over all would be well for them. He doesn't offer to throw himself in, of course - he'd rather have the crew do the dirty work.

So off he goes into the sea, expecting, I would guess, that this will end his adventure, and he never would have to go to Ninevah. He wakes up, of course, in most unpleasant of surroundings, and with some time on his hands composes for himself (at least in the present form of the story) a pious-sounding but self-centered prayer. In just eight verses in chapter two he uses the first person singular twenty-six times! Having heard enough, the great fish hurls the prophet onto shore and swims off much relieved.

And so, as Ann read, "The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time." This time, he goes. But "the word of the Lord" as announced by Jonah is not a hopeful one: "Forty days more, and Nineveh will be overthrown!" he says, smugly, I imagine. That's it. He leaves out the good part - the part that offers grace, that offers forgiveness. He knows - he admits later in the reading you heard today - he knows that God is gracious and merciful; slow, oh so slow, to anger; abounding - overflowing - in steadfast, unwavering love. [4:2,3] But he doesn?t tell them that. He just draws a line in the sand; He sets a deadline, saying "the game is up, in forty days." Then, look out.

To his shock and dismay, the people of Ninevah believe his message. Not like his fellow citizens back in Judah. When they heard the prophets' message to repent they would drag their feet, make excuses, while making fun of everyone else, all those pagans out there, like the Ninevites, the way Jonah did in his prayer from the whale: "Those who cling to worthless idols forsake their true loyalty . . . but I . . . I will sacrifice to the true God." [2:8] That's the way prophets were treated back home, but God's chosen people. But here in Nineveh of all places ? who would have guessed? - the idol-worshipers shame the followers of Yahweh, the Lord, and they repent - in sackcloth and ashes even!.

Word gets to the king about all this, and maybe on the advice of his pollsters decides that he too should join in the revival. Not wanting to be outdone in the piety department he proclaims that even the animals should be draped with sackcloth - as if the poor things had done anything worth repenting of. It must have been quite a sight - cattle and sheep, dogs (but not cats; they wouldn't allow it) standing around with sackcloth flung on their backs. "Who knows?" says the king. "Who knows . . . maybe we can change God's mind." Had Jonah given him the whole word of the Lord, including the parts about forgiving and mercy and slow to anger, maybe the king would have been more hopeful. In any case, says the storyteller, it worked. The destruction of Nineveh never happens.

And Jonah wants to die. He'd really rather have seen the whole city blown up by the wrath of God. Even after it's clear that it?s not going to happen, Jonah will go up on a mountain overlooking Ninevah, and he'll sit and watch, hoping against hope to see the infidels destroyed.

I encourage you to take some time to read the very last chapter of this little book to see how God patiently tries to teach Jonah what compassion is all about. God's concern is not only for "that great city Nineveh" but also for the one man, Jonah, as reluctant a preacher as there ever was, self-pitying, bigoted Jonah. Even he is not outside the circle of God's grace.

Jonah, son of Amittai, I'm glad your story made it into the Bible. I am glad because I can see myself much more easily in him - proud, stubborn, slow to learn and quick to anger ? than in the giants of faith - the Davids and the Jeremiahs, the Pauls and certainly Jesus. But I am glad this tale of Jonah's misadventures is here too because it raises up some key issues for people of every time, for our time. Let me suggest three, to conclude:

+ Obeying God. How did Jonah know the call of God? How do we discern what God would have us do? And once we have an idea of following that Way, for us the Way of Christ, will we be strong enough to actually walk in it? Even when it means going to strange, unfamiliar places - right here in Oshkosh, perhaps, or elsewhere? Can we obey God to venture out of our comfort zones of culture, of race, of religion, of politics? Jonah?s story is a story about obeying what we think God would have us do.

+ It's also a story about repentance. We know what the word means, literally. It means to turn around. You?re going one way, and then you go the opposite. But what should we be repenting of? Ninevah?s greatest sin ? the only thing specifically listed is "the violence that is in their hands." Violence. Who should repent from being violent? Do we not live in a violent society? Do we not as individuals resort not always to physical violence but to verbal violence to settle differences? Is not the Christine Anne Center just across the street from us, testifying to the violence that is in our homes? Is not our media drenched in violence? And is not - sadly - our nation coming to be judged by many in this world, especially the Islamic world, by the violence that we export to their cultures through our media, and to the world at large through our foreign aid, through our sale of weapons? Those ancient Ninevites stand as an example to all the world as a nation who repented of "the violence that is in our hands."

+ Above all, Jonah's story should teach us about compassion for others - especially for those we call our enemies. Jonah is the only book in the Bible that ends with a question. In the last verse God says to Jonah, "Should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left - and also many animals?" We know the answer. It is so obvious that God doesn?t need to spell it out for Jonah or for us. Of course God cares, and so should we. That phrase, "people who do not know their right hand from their left" has been taken to mean at least two things. Perhaps God is saying that these people were so naive, so immature that they really didn?t know that what they were doing there in Nineveh was wrong. Or, perhaps God is speaking of the children of Nineveh ? those too young to be responsible, but who would suffer just as much if their city were destroyed. It is always the children who suffer the most in war. In either case, God cares for these a hundred and twenty thousand ? and the animals too. And he says, "Jonah, did you forget the children who would suffer the wrath you so eagerly want to see? Did you forget them, Jonah?"

The compassion of God for all the people of the world far outstrips ours. The patience of God goes way beyond our imagining - patience with us as a nation, certainly. And patience with us as individuals. May God in these challenging times find us to be a faithful people, an obedient people because we have heard the Good News of God's grace, announced to us by Jonah, affirmed in Christ, and felt in our hearts. Amen.