Jonah 3:1-5, 10; Mark 1:14-20
The word of the LORD came to Jonah … a second time.
The first time didn’t work out so well …
God asked Jonah to go East, Go east! young man, go east, to Nineveh … of all places!
Nineveh is the capital city of the Assyrian Empire …
A huge city, a three-days’ walk, says the story … today, it’s called Mosul, in modern-day Iraq.
The Assyrian Empire is the Enemy … the enemy of everything Jonah values … God, country, family, faith … ultimately, Assyria conquers the Northern Kingdom of Israel and takes the Ten Tribes into captivity.
Jonah wants nothing to do with it … he’s not afraid of Nineveh … he hates Nineveh … as far as Jonah is concerned, Nineveh can go to hell.
So Jonah heads west … he flees to the Mediterranean coast, hops a ship bound for Tarshish … all the way through the Mediterranean, through the straits of Gibraltar, to the southeast coast of Spain.
Jonah wants to get away from God, as far as he can go … but who can get away from God?
God sends a huge storm to assail the ship … the crew knows what’s up because Jonah is foolish enough to tell ‘em … I’m on a spiritual trek to get away from God.
Jonah heads below deck and falls fast asleep as the storm rages.
The crew is frightened … they strive valiantly to keep the ship and save the cargo … but the storm rages on all the more …
The crew awakens Jonah - You’re the cause of this. What shall we do with you?
Jonah is determined to escape from God - if he can’t do it by ship, he’ll do it by death … Throw me into the sea!
And that’s exactly what the crew does … the storm subsides … Jonah is lost at sea.
But the LORD provides a large fish to swallow up Jonah … it’s a tall tail … as tall tales go, everyone listening to the story would be smiling … it’s not the tale of a whale, but a whale of tale …
Back to the story: for three nasty days, Jonah sloshes around in the belly of the big fish … Jonah realizes his goose is cooked, and there’s no getting outta the fish … so Jonah prays … no doubt - some second thoughts on Jonah’s part.
Then the LORD spoke to the fish, the story says, and the fish spewed Jonah out upon the dry land. An ignominious end to Jonah’s escapade - vomited up onto the shore.
Let’s try it again Jonah!
God is the God of the Second Chance … and the third and the fourth and the fifth chance, for as long as it takes …
So Jonah goes to Nineveh, with contempt and disgust in his heart … grumpy as all get out … he does what God wants, but he does it without love.
Jonah preaches his heart out to that great city … threats of hellfire and damnation … Jonah is at least partially right - if Nineveh continues its headlong pursuit of power and domination, it will end badly.
Lo and behold, the great city of Nineveh repents … when it’s clear to God that Nineveh is moving in the right direction, God changes God’s mind … there will be no disaster for the city, but a fresh chance to chart a new course.
Jonah is ticked off … I mean, really ticked off, steaming mad … he says to the LORD …
Is this not what I said would happen the first time you came to me with this proposition while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled to Tarshish … I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And, now O LORD, take my life from me …
Jonah wants to die all over again.
God says to Jonah - Does this make any sense, that you should be angry about this?
Jonah heads outta the city, and sits down to sulk … he knits together some branches for shade, and there he waits to see what will become of the city. He’s hopes for hellfire and brimstone.
The LORD appointed a bush to provide shade for Jonah, says the story, and Jonah was very happy … and then, God appointed a worm to attack the bush, and then God sent hot winds … and once again, Jonah says, It is better for me to die than to live.
By this time, God is a wee bit impatient … Oh, for crying out loud, says God, does this really make any sense, that you should be so angry about that dadgum bush?
Jonah replies, Yes … angry enough to die!
God says to Jonah: You’re all hot and bothered about that bush, for which you did not labor … you didn’t grow it … it came up and went away … and you’re fit to be tied.
Jonah is so angry, and God is exasperated with him …
Ok Jonah, you’re angry about the bush … but think of me for a moment … ought I not to care about this great city, more than 120,000 people, and they don’t know their right hand from their left?
And if that isn’t enough, God says: and also many animals.
I care about all of that Jonah … all my creatures, great and small.
I suspect the person who wrote this story did so with an ironic smile … tinged with a sense of tragedy … the contrast between God’s great love, and Jonah’s sickness of soul … the human condition in technicolor.
So, what’s the point of the Jonah story?
It’s a simple story of God’s love for the world … to see the world with God’s eyes!
In the recent movie, ISS, astronauts on the Space Station talk of the overview effect …
Reported by some astronauts while viewing the Earth from space.
Researchers have characterized the effect as "a state of awe with self-transcendent qualities, precipitated by a particularly striking visual stimulus".
The effect can cause changes in the observer’s self concept and value system, and can be transformative.
To see the world with God’s eyes … a world without boundaries, without enemies, without territory to conquer, or territory to defend … just a beautiful blue marble in the vast expanse of space.
Jonah’s story is a fine example of Hebrew fiction, like Gandalf and Bilbo Baggins from Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter … or Sherlock Holmes … or Star Trek or Star Wars …
It’s not about a fish or a whale … or even a guy named Jonah … we know that Nineveh never had a spiritual awakening … the Assyrian Empire continued to dominate the Middle East and destroy … until another power, the Babylonia Empire, rose up and destroyed Assyria …
The story of Jonah is a short story, a piece of fiction, with big questions:
Which way am I going? Am I running from God?
Am I taking on the work of God?
Am I doing the work of God gladly, or am I doing it resentfully?Am I in the belly of a fish, sloshing around? Have I been given a second chance, a third or fourth? Am I going to Tarshish or Nineveh?
Am I becoming more human, or less … or am I stuck somewhere in between?
What’s my attitude? Am I angry? Sad? Frustrated? Lonely? Am I grumpy, gracious, sweet, or sour?
And why?
What’s going on with me?
The Jonah story ends abruptly - boom! … mic drop … does Jonah ever get it? Do we?
Can we see the world through God’s eyes? …
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art -
thou my best thought, by day or by night;
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Hallelujah and Amen!
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