Jan. 25, 2009 - Jonah 3:1-5, 10 - Who Me? Who Them?

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Just a few minutes ago, when we read from chapter 3 of Jonah, we head the call of Jonah to preach a word to the people of Nineveh. It is not the first time Jonah has heard the call of God. The words in those first verses of chapter 3 echo the first verses of chapter 1, ‘Jonah, go to Nineveh and cry out against it.’

When we think of the adventures of the prophet Jonah, we think mostly of that first call. ‘Head east, young man, head east to Nineveh and preach to them’ – but Jonah heads west to the coast and takes a ship to Tarsus.

Most of us know what happens next. God brings a great wind that threatens to break up the ship. They each try praying to their Gods, but it doesn’t help. The sailors throw the cargo overboard trying to lighten the ship and still the ship is in danger of sinking. Meanwhile, Jonah is asleep in the hold of the ship.

Finally, the sailors decide that the Gods are angry with someone and they cast lots – the lot falls to Jonah. Jonah confesses that he is trying to run away from the Lord, the God of Heaven. The sailors ask what they must do to appease God and Jonah says, ‘Throw me overboard’. The sailors try to turn the boat around and bring it back to shore, but they can’t, so they pray to God for mercy for what they are about to do and they throw Jonah into the sea.

If this was the end of the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet, it would be a pretty sad story indeed. If the story ended here, Jonah wouldn’t have a second chance, the people of Nineveh would not have heard of the judgment of God, and we would not have an example of the generous mercy of God. But of course the story doesn’t end there.

God doesn’t leave Jonah drowning in the middle of the sea. God prepares a great fish that swallows up Jonah and three days later deposits him unharmed on dry land. Jonah may have tried to run from the presence of God, but he has ended up just where he started.

There are two books in the First Testament that especially appeal to children and this is one of them. The first is the book of Esther. This book is read in synagogues once each year at the feast of Purim and children are invited to cheer and jeer at the mention of heroes and villains. The second one is this book, the picture of Jonah inside a great fish and praying to God, the absurdity of Jonah sleeping through a terrible storm, taking credit for their terrible plight, the sailors throwing Jonah overboard, Jonah splashing around in the water in the middle of the sea. We hear the laughter of children; we see the smiles of adults who understand the impossibility of running away from God.

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In this morning’s gospel portion from Mark, we heard of the calling of the first 4 disciples to leave everything and follow Jesus. Miraculously, they do just that. Immediately, they leave their nets, their livelihood and their families, their friends, their village and their culture and follow Jesus. Scholars tell us that it is very likely these men already knew Jesus, had heard and been convinced by his message and they were ready to make a commitment to his cause. But I still can’t help but wonder about those words, ‘immediately they left’.

This kind of thing just doesn’t happen too often when people hear the call of God. Certainly, there is no record of Abraham and Sarah taking time to think over their move from Ur to the Promised Land, but they are the exception rather than the rule when people hear the voice of God calling them to leave behind their comfortable lives to do the will of God.

Moses looked for a way out when God called to him from the burning bush to return to Egypt. He complained that he was slow of speech – he stuttered. He said no one would believe him because he was a murderer and because he didn’t even know the name of the God who was sending him out to do this great work. He was too meek to go on his own – but he never refused. The prophet Jeremiah also thought he was not sufficient for the task God had called him to.

The great prophet Elijah fled across Israel to hide in the desert because he feared for his life if he did the work of God. Amos and Isaiah hesitated to carry God’s message because they thought it was too terrible to be told.

But only Jonah refuses just because. Jonah offers no statement about his unfitness for service. He doesn’t hesitate because he is afraid. Jonah refuses to go because he wants nothing to do with the people of Nineveh.

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Nineveh was a city on the east bank of the Tigris River in Assyria – modern day Iraq. The Assyrians people were hated by the people of Israel. In the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E., they stormed through Israel destroying as they went and deporting its people.

When the original hearers of Jonah’s story heard him called to the city of Nineveh, they can understand why he would refuse to go. The people of Nineveh were hated by the Judeans. They could not believe that God would have mercy on them. Certainly the Judeans had no reason to want God to save them – or to be involved in any plan to save them from the wrath of God.

Imagine an American soldier’s widow following the call of God to go to Korea during the war - a person of color being called to South Africa during apartheid - an Israeli going to the Gaza strip – or the orphan of a 9/11 victim bringing a word about God’s mercy to Osama bin Laden?

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We would not blame any of these for refusing to go and many of those original hearers understood how Jonah felt and why he tried to run from God’s will. They did not blame Jonah for trying to run.

But God had a plan – and God’s plan would not be thwarted. God called again. ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, proclaim my message.’

Jonah reluctantly goes to the great city of Nineveh and proclaims there the word the Lord gave him – and a wonderful thing happens: when faced with certainty of the judgment of God, the people believe. They repent and in mourning they put on sackcloth.

When God sees how they turn from their evil ways, he decides to show mercy and does not destroy the city. Jonah’s message is heard, the city turns to God, thousands of lives are saved – and Jonah gets mad.

Rather than rejoice at the apparent success of his missionary journey, he shakes his fist at God because the city was not destroyed. He feels like a fool because his prediction of doom has not come to pass. Rather than celebrate the salvation of so many, Jonah is angry that God has not destroyed them all. He is sorry that his enemy has not been killed.

Perhaps we laugh again because Jonah has missed the point. God does not pronounce doom because the Holy One wants to destroy. Instead, God warns of doom hoping that humanity will turn from our wicked ways.

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So in all this laughter, all this irony, all this adventure and all the sadness as we are faced with a hard-hearted prophet, where is the Good news for us this day?

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How about:

There is nowhere we can go that we are beyond the call of God. This means that when God calls, we cannot run away to escape, but it also assures us that wherever we are, God is there with us.
When we are called by God to a task, the success of our task does not rely only on us. It is the power of God that makes all things possible.
It may seem in our lives that we have been thrown overboard and that we are drowning alone in rough seas, but God has prepared a great fish to get us to dry land.
There is always a second chance. There was a second chance for Jonah who refused to follow the Holy command and there was a second chance for the people of Nineveh who heard and repented.
God is the creator, the lord of creation and is also the lord of grace, forgiveness and abundant mercy.
No one, no mater what we might think of them, no matter what they might have done, is beyond the love of God.

Now even us. Amen.