January 28th, 2024
Jonah 3:1-6, 14-11, 4:2-11
Introduction
This is a story we all know well, right? Well, we think we do.
God calls upon Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, and preach so they might repent from their evil ways and be spared God’s punishment. But Jonah didn’t want to do this, so he takes off in the opposite direction, on a ship bound for Tarshish. Angered by Jonah’s disobedience, God sends a terrible storm that threatens to sink the ship. The sailors are understandably frightened and rightly believe Jonah is the reason for the storm, so he is thrown overboard to appease whatever god is angry. And now we get to the part we all know and love…
God sends the most famous fish in history to swallow Jonah and travel three days back to where Jonah began, and spit him out upon dry land, where Jonah sits in shock having spent days sitting amongst the entrails of a fish. And this is when the word of God comes to him a second time.
People love to argue and debate over whether or not this story was literally true and physically possible to be swallowed up into the belly of a fish or whale for three days and live to tell about it. Some say no and write the book off as nothing but nonsense. Others claim yes, it’s a miracle we must believe, and that’s the point of the book. But both claims have completely missed the message of the book of Jonah. This book is not at all about what swallowed Jonah. It’s about what Jonah himself found hard to swallow.
Move 1
So why was Jonah so adverse to going to Nineveh? Nineveh was the capital city of the Assyrian empire (modern day Iraq) and there were no more hated enemies on the face of the earth to Jonah’s people, Israel, than the Assyrians. Their brutality was feared and famed throughout the world. They were known to have destroyed cities, decapitated entire armies, and enslaved whole populations. Their destruction of the northern part of Israel was so devastating that northern Israel vanished from the face of the earth.
And it was to these Assyrians Jonah was told to go and preach to so they might repent and be spared. That assignment is what he ran away from. But it was that assignment that God, through the great fish, brought Jonah back to do. He was to go and preach repentance to Nineveh, whether he liked it or not. And it worked. Being swallowed by a big fish was enough motivation for Jonah to do what he was told. He went through the streets of Nineveh shouting, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”
But remember, Jonah hated the people he was preaching to. And because he did, I have to think the tone of his message took on the vernacular, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown. Nah Nah Na Nah Nah.” But then, the unthinkable happened. Nineveh repented and God forgave them. There was no fire and brimstone, no earthquake, no shock and awe. There was only repentance followed by amazing grace.
And how does Jonah respond? He goes ballistic. Screaming at the top of his lungs at God, saying, “I knew this would happen. This is exactly why I didn’t want to come here! I knew you would just be gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relent from punishing.” Like I said, this book is not about what swallowed Jonah—it’s about what Jonah could not swallow. And the one thing Jonah could not swallow was God’s willingness to show mercy, compassion, grace, and love to his enemies. Jonah didn’t want grace and love. Jonah wanted revenge! He wanted every man, woman, child, cow, horse, dog, cat, and camel in Nineveh obliterated. And when they are not, he can’t swallow the giant ball of grace from his God.
This is where we all choke, isn’t it? Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saves a wretch like me…and you…and them? When I am called upon to apply grace, love, and forgiveness to someone I cannot stand, I choke on the enormity of the task.
Unless you choose to live the life of a hermit, sooner or later there will be a person or persons who will hurt you unfairly. Sooner or later, you will come across that person who disappoints you, betrays you, takes from you what is rightfully yours or denies you the advancement you have earned. There will be people who not only disagree with you, but who don’t like you, who gossip about you. There will be people who rub you the wrong way, belittle you, make fun of you, and just make your life miserable.
Whose name sticks in your throat? An ex-spouse? A self-serving demanding boss? An overly critical parent? A fellow worker who smiles to your face, only to stab you in the back? A kid in one of the cool groups in school who makes fun of you? Who raises your blood pressure at the very thought of his or her name?
It was a serious enemy God was sending Jonah to. But Jonah wanted the Assyrians out of his life forever. And the one thing he couldn’t swallow was how God wanted him to preach to his sworn enemies an invitation to grace and reconciliation. There is absolutely nothing God ever calls upon us to do that is harder to swallow than giving up hatred and seeking reconciliation.
Move 2
Todd and Elizabeth Morris saw their world shattered when Ted, their only child, was killed by a drunk driver named Brent Page. Ted, just 18 years old, was the light of their life. For the first two years after Ted’s death, all Todd and Elizabeth could think of was vengeance. Todd Morris said, “I saw him. He had long hair and looked like a punk. I hated the sight of him.”
Several months after the accident, Page, a young man himself, was not sent to jail as the grieving parents had hoped. Instead, he was put on probation and ordered to do community service. Todd and Elizabeth were outraged over such a light sentence. Then one night Brent was caught by his probation officer drinking, which violated his probation. As a result, Brent was ordered to serve a ten-year prison sentence.
Not long after his imprisonment, Todd and Elizabeth did something even they didn’t expect. They started to visit Brent in prison. They weren’t sure why they went in the first place, but by going, something in them was changing. After several visits all three of them asked for and got permission to have Brent released two times a week so he could attend church with them. Brent attended church twice a week, started to read the Bible, and began to pray. Then one day he said, “I would like to be baptized.”
A couple weeks later Brent was baptized, and after the ceremony, with tears in his eyes, he looked at Todd and Elizabeth, and said, “I am so sorry. Will you please forgive me?” And with tears in their eyes, first Todd said, “Yes. I forgive you, Brent.” Then Elizabeth, “I forgive you too.” It was in that moment, Todd and Elizabeth said, they realized God had been calling upon them to set aside their hatred and make way for grace and love.
God called Todd and Elizabeth to go to Nineveh and preach to their enemy so God might show mercy and grace and lead him to reconciliation. It was the toughest, sharpest, most painful undertaking they ever had to swallow, yet as Elizabeth said, “The hatred was eating at me like a cancer. But now I’ve let go, and I can really live again.”
Move 3
So how do we love someone who is our enemy? Or if that is too strong a word, how do we extend mercy to one whom we extremely dislike? Jesus gives us a place to start, saying in Matthew 5, “But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for them.” And, interestingly enough, it is the one thing Jonah never did—pray for our enemy.
We are good about praying for ourselves. We are good about praying for our family and our friends. But we are not so good about praying for those whom we dislike. And I’m not talking about praying your enemies get hit by a bus. I’m talking about praying God shows a way to reconciliation and change. I’m talking about praying God blessings upon that person’s life. Genuinely. Without prayer such is hopeless, because hate is stronger than will power.
But here’s a warning: Don’t pray for reconciliation and change if you really don’t want reconciliation or change because as soon as you begin to pray for your enemy, someone you extremely dislike, God will call upon you, like Jonah and Todd and Elizabeth, to go your Ninevah, and seek out a change in your relationship. No, there’s no guarantee they will accept it, but you can’t control that. What you can control is whether or not you will be governed by hatred, rage, and revenge or by love, grace and mercy.
Conclusion
Jonah is not an attractive character. He is bitter, hateful, and self-righteous. When he was in the belly of the fish, he prayed for deliverance and God had the fish spit him out, alive, even though he didn’t deserve it. Jonah was willing to accept amazing grace for himself, but he was not willing to extend it to others who did not deserve it.
We live in a mean-spirited time where people are more apt to sue or shoot their enemy than pray for them and offer them grace. Jonah would fit in well in today’s world. That’s why I say the hardest thing to swallow in the book of Jonah is not the tale of the fish, but the Word of God.
The book of Jonah ends with a question. God asks Jonah, “And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left…?”
In other words, do we believe God loves all of creation or not? If so, then there must be a wideness to God’s mercy that extends beyond ourselves, and God must be calling us to not only be willing to accept God’s amazing grace but to extend it to the other wretches like you and me. The question for us then is… Can we swallow that? Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, January 28, 2024
Gracious and loving God, we step before you today, well aware that we need your grace that forgives; your truth, which anchors our lives; your presence, which calms our fears; your call, which gives us purpose; your hope, which overcomes our despair; and your love, which satisfies our deepest longings.
We need you. We need you to do what we can’t, for you are strong and you are good, and we are not.
We need you and all you give and provide because we live in a world that is bent toward ways of life where your children are cold and harsh to one another; where division lines are stark and clear and not to be challenged. We live in a world where might and strength and power are believed to be the only way to bring about peace. It is a pervasive and fastidious way that can consume and betray even the most devoted of your followers.
Which is why we need your grace to pour over us and renew our minds and spirits to your will and your ways. It is why we need to be taught again to say, “I’m sorry” and “I forgive you.” For it is by only your mercy, grace, reconciliation, and love that our homes, marriages, families, and churches will be able to effectively model your love, allowing others to see your Gospel lived out and shared and spread.
That is what our cold and harsh world needs. For it is only your mercy, grace, and power to reconcile that will erase the lines of division. It is only your love that can change minds and hearts and heal the brokenness so many of us have suffered.
God of new life, we pray for our world, asking that where there is fighting, peace springs eternal. Where there is brokenness, healing and wholeness are poured out. Where there is division, reconciliation is discovered. May it all be so through your grace.
Hear now O God, the prayers of our hearts that we need to lift to you in this time of Holy Silence.
All this we pray in the name of the one who brought us your amazing grace, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to pray, saying, “Our…”