intimate relationship with God. While the book of Jonah is much shorter only four chapters in

Transcription

1 When God Doesn t Hate Who We Do Jonah 3:1 4:3 First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) August 26, 2018 Rev. Jill Cameron Michel Last week we were in the book of Job. Today we are in the book of Jonah. Both of these books tell tales that focus on one main character. In both of these books that character has an intimate relationship with God. While the book of Jonah is much shorter only four chapters in total both of these books stand on their own with one primary story rather than telling a series of different stories or encounters as we see in many other Biblical books. Of course, Jonah is a relatively familiar story. Even many people who don t claim to be people of faith and who don t regularly read their Bibles know of this story. The book of Jonah tells the tale of a person who is instructed by God to go to a foreign city. People in this city are doing bad stuff God says, Go cry out against them. 1 But Jonah doesn t want to go he doesn t like the assignment God has given him. He tries to run the other way. He ends up on a boat heading in the opposite direction. But, his presence on the boat is told to cause a terrible storm and after finding out he is the cause, the others on the boat, with Jonah s blessing, throw him overboard, out into the sea. But, we are told that God doesn t leave him there but instead sends a big fish that swallows him whole. He spends three days in the belly of said fish and is finally spit out on the beach. Now that s the part of the story we know best. And one of the things that often happens with the story of Jonah is that we get caught there which, unfortunately, is the wrong place. We modern people get so caught up in our own scientific approach that we forget that the ancient people had an appreciation for story, for 1 Jonah 1:2.

2 folklore. And so, we get worried about the factuality or lack thereof of such an animal existing, something that was likely of little concern to the ancient people. I suspect we are far more worried about figuring out exactly which kind of fish it was that swallowed Jonah and spit him back up than we are about listening for a word from God. Or, for the scientifically minded among us, the goal often becomes figuring out how to prove to our friends of a more literal or innocent faith that it could have never happened. That s often where we stop the conversation, where we start arguing, where we stay. But there is so much more to this story than the factuality of whether or not there is a fish who can swallow a person and contain that person for three days without digesting him. If we can move past that what we see is a story of a person who was called by God to go to people he was not crazy about. He was called by God to go, and on one hand announce their destruction. Now that seems appealing enough if we re honest, which of us wouldn t want to tell our enemies that they are awful and that God s gonna get them? So, why did he resist? If he didn t like these people anyway, why wouldn t he want to go and point out what they are doing wrong? Why wouldn t he want to announce their destruction? Well, the answer to that question is found in the verses we read today. Jonah finally gets to Ninevah, the town to which he was to go. God has called a second time after this whole fish ordeal. After Jonah ran away, after Jonah tried to resist, God came back and told him it was still his job. And Jonah went, not happily, but Jonah went. And he proclaimed destruction, he pointed out what they were doing wrong. But then, the people changed their ways. The people, and it says everyone, great and small, 2 put on sackcloth and proclaimed a fast. In other words, they repented of their sin. But notice it said everyone, great and small. 2 Jonah 3:5, NRSV.

3 And we don t want to miss that. That s the grownups and the children, the power people and the oppressed people, the rich and the poor. That s everybody. The weak, the women, the orphans, those who are used to having a voice and those whose voices don t usually matter everybody. And their change was so impactful that upon seeing what happened to the people, the king also changed. And when the king changed, the structure was impacted. The people listened, they changed their ways. Their witness changed the king. The king changed the laws. And while this may not be the main part of the story either, it is worth pausing with. Because we are reminded as we read this tale of Jonah and how his faith is challenged by his call, we are reminded that what we do matters. We see this when Jonah s actions impact a whole people. And we see this as the actions of the people great and small impact their leaders and their culture. So, all of that happens and then there is this conversation between God and Jonah because frankly Jonah is ticked off. Jonah finally went and did what God asked. The people to whom Jonah was sent actually listened and changed their ways. And it all made Jonah mad. Then Jonah said, I didn t want to go because, God, I know who you are. And God, you are a forgiving god. God, you are a god who abounds in love. You are not a god of vengeance. You are not a god who wants to destroy people. You are not a god who takes joy in people s sin. You are a god who calls us, not just me, not just those like me, not just my favorite people, but all of us back to you, time and time again. And you rejoice when we turn. Jonah knew the nature of God. But still, Jonah was ticked. In fact, had we read on we would see that later in chapter 4, Jonah sat down to pout. And initially God grew a bush to protect him from the heat of the sun. It is a beautiful picture of a God who never stops taking care of us. But then the story goes on and finally God caused that

4 very plant to wither. And before we get too upset by God withering the plant and leaving Jonah in the hot sun, let s look at this whole picture together. We are reminded in this story that God is always caring for us and that God doesn t coddle us leaving us to behave badly but holds us accountable to be the people we were created to be. There as the story of Jonah ends, we get a really lovely picture of the complexity of our relationship with God and God s relationship with us; a really lovely picture of the God who loves us unconditionally and who also asks us to be our best. We get a reminder that being faithful isn t about how we feel, it is about doing what is right. So, let s step back for a minute to the verses Dale read for us today. Because these verses really get to the crux of our story. While there is a storyline that is about the people of Ninevah, the main focus here is on Jonah. And in Jonah we see a reluctantly willing prophet. We see one who speaks on behalf of God but perhaps more because he thinks he should or that he has to, than because he really wants to accept the job. And, perhaps, we see ourselves in him. The reality is that if we are paying attention, we know the heart of God just as Jonah did. Jonah s words in chapter 4 could be our own as he says, Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. 3 And if we re willing to be honest, we also sometimes feel the way Jonah does. While we like those realities about God when they are directed at us, we aren t always in favor of God forgiving and loving others. Because, after all, we don t always like to forgive. We sometimes want to hold a grudge. We sometimes take pleasure in seeing our enemies get theirs, seeing 3 Jonah 4:2, NRSV.

5 them be punished for their wrongdoings. We sometimes are so stuck in our ways, in our viewpoint, in our familiar groups that we can t even imagine reaching out to or working on behalf of the other. Maybe this is why we so often focus our attention in this story on the big fish because it s easier to fight that fight than to fight the one within us. It s easier to focus on arguing about scientific facts than it is admit that we don t always want God to be gracious and forgiving. It s easier to even embrace the idea of such a fish than to admit that we want God to love us but not necessarily to love everybody. But, friends, this story comes to us as a reminder of the broadness of God s love and the wideness of God s mercy. This story comes to us as a reminder that no matter how many boundaries and borders we draw or build, God crosses them and God ask those of us who are people of faith to risk doing the same. This story comes to us as a reminder that being people of faith is not always easy but sometimes asks us to step outside of our own preferences. This story comes as a reminder that God doesn t hate the same people we do and that when we think that God holds the same hatreds and bigotries, we need to rethink who or what we are worshipping. And let s be clear whether or not we successfully navigate the challenges of living faithfully each day is not about whether or not God will love us. Ours is a God who is always loving us always wanting the best for us always willing good for us. And ours is a God who is always doing the same for every other person on this earth. In this story, both the people of

6 Ninevah and Jonah always remained within the reach of God s love and mercy no matter how far they went from God s will. Doing God s will doesn t earn us God s love. And yet doing God s will is important. It is important even when it means reaching out to our enemies because we are reminded time and time again in the themes of the Bible, in the life of Jesus, and certainly in the story of Jonah that God loves everyone. And doing God s will loving as God loves is part of our creation it s what we are made for. It is what we were intended to do and it is what makes the world better. This doesn t make it easy. And sometimes, like Jonah, we may do it reluctantly. But, it is our calling. Because, when we live in the ways of God when we follow the heart of God when we live from God s love, then the world will again be more as God imagined and as God intended. And, friends, that is something our world needs. There are so many voices, in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our headlines, voices that ask us to choose sides, voices that ask us to turn against our both neighbor and stranger and that sometimes even tell us that doing so is an act of faith. But Jonah, and so many other stories in the Bible, remind us otherwise. The person of color who moved in down the street is not our enemy. The immigrant looking for a safe place to live is not our enemy. The person of another religion or no religion is not our enemy. The LGBTQ teenager finding his way toward adulthood is not our enemy. The person across the political aisle who holds different ideas about policy or procedure is not our enemy. Rather each of these is a child of God. And each of these is our sister or our brother. And these are the ones to whom we are called to reach out in the name of God s love. Amen.

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