January 21, 2024
St. Andrew Church
Rev. Anne McAnelly
First Lesson: Jonah 1:1-3a, 11-17
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 14 Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Second Lesson: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.
Repent, and God Will Relent. I read that catchy line in one of the commentaries. It sums up what happened in the story of Jonah. But do we really believe that? Do we believe God will change God’s mind and be gracious unto us? Be gracious to others?
The story of Jonah explores this question; it is a theological short story, a novella, looking at who God really is. So, it is important to know this is not really a story about a big fist or whale, even though we love the picture Bibles and felt boards that tell it that way. It is a story God’s persistence, providing nature, and graciousness.
Before we get into that, I need to tell you there is some humor or sarcasm in this story. Jonah is introduced as the “son of Amattai”. At first, we think that is his father’s name, until we learn that Amattai means faithful. Jonah is called the son of faithfulness. And what is the first thing Jonah does when God calls him? He runs away, he flees to Tarshish to get away from the presence of the Lord. Also, God is sending Jonah to Nineveh- it is important to know that Nineveh will eventually become the capital of the Assyrian Empire. The “Assyrians, are a brutal and hated enemy that was responsible for destroying the Kingdom of lsrael in 722 BCE” (Working Preacher, Clinton McCann, Jr). So God is calling Jonah to tell the people of his greatest enemies to repent. I might want to run away too.
God is persistent, providing and gracious in this story. Let’s look at how each of these plays out. After Jonah runs away, boards a ship that is seized by a raging storm, he comes clean to his shipmates telling them he is the cause of the storm. Amazingly these sailors pray to God, not wanting to kill Jonah but wanting the raging sea to calm. Once Jonah is on dry land God calls him a second time, showing God’s persistence. God doesn’t tum to someone else, or give up on Jonah, God calls Jonah to the task once again, and this time Jonah goes. In the Old Testament, the persistence of God is demonstrated in the eternal covenant. The promise God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to be their God forever. God’s presence is permanent. God is with us forever. We as Christians know this through Jesus Christ who is Emmanuel, God with us! Jonah lived into the persistent nature of God when even after running away, once he was safe within God’s protection he prays to God thanking God for saving his life, trusting that even when he ran away from God, disobeyed God, God was persistently caring for Jonah.
That leads us to the second characteristic of God as a providing God. Jonah is thrown into the sea by the sailors to save themselves and their ship. It’s good to remember they were converts to God through this experience, making sacrifices and vows. God’s protection comes in the character of a big fish. Rather than get focused on the fish, which is how we often tell this story. Focus on the providing God who saves Jonah with it. Jonah needed some time to think, pray, reflect on his life and his fleeing God’s call. The time in the fish gives him time, and he used it well to pray to God. On my trip to Georgia, after getting up at 3 :30 to catch my flight, I landed late in Atlanta and had a 3.5-hour drive to my cousin’s house. I was in a rental car, a hybrid Pacifica, so many new things to learn like where are the lights and windshield wipers, because it was pouring down rain. Several times I said thank you to God as I navigated this drive. Said extra prayers when I-75 was closed, but GPS did not know or recalculate. So, I blindly follow cars that seem to know these back roads hoping I can find another way onto the freeway. It is after 9 pm when I finally get on the interstate.
I stayed glued to a big red truck, so I had taillights to follow in the torrential rain. I was so thankful when I arrived at my destination and was greeted by my cousins. I worship a providing God, one who cares for me in storms and the darkness of night.
Think of a time when you know that God has provided for you.
God is persistent. God is providing. God is gracious.
Our God is a gracious God. Jonah learned that after he cried out to the people of Nineveh, “Forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed,” then they repented. It is hard to believe, because these are Assyrians, Israel’s mortal enemy, yet they repent, fast and wear sackcloth, a sign of grieving and repentance. Then God changes God’s mind, God relents. God no longer will destroy Nineveh, because they repented, and God relented. God also relented when Moses asked for mercy after the Israelite people make a golden calf (Ex. 32:1-14). God relents and changes the plan when Jeremiah tells of God as a Potter with clay (18:7-8). Yet Jonah would rather die than see God be gracious to his enemies. “Who wants God to change God’s mind, especially when it means not destroying those whom we despise? But changing God’s mind when people or nations repent also is a part of the divine character” (Working Preacher Valerie Bridgeman).
Chapter 4 is a dialogue between God and Jonah, where Jonah claims the reason he fled to Tarshish, is because God is gracious and merciful. He declares God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and ready to relent from punishing” (4:2). That makes sense only when we realize it puts to test who God can be gracious to. “While Jonah himself had been the recipient of God’s grace, and while the people of lsrael were continually forgiven by God, Jonah the Israelite prophet cannot even begin to imagine that God’s grace might extend to “the other,” especially not to the hated Assyrians. So, four times in chapter 4 Jonah expresses the wish to die rather than to ‘forgive those who trespass against us'” (Working Preacher, Clinton McCann, Jr).
This being an election year, it is good to look at Jonah and ourselves. We often see the other side of politics as enemies, as Ninevites, rather than as God beloved children. One commentator writes, “Whatever divisions exist and whoever we identify as our “Ninevites,” God still cares for them and still desires that they be saved. Whatever side of the current divides over critical race theory, ”woke-ism,” abortion, or white privilege we might take, God still cares for our “enemies” and still desires our “opponents” to be saved. That is theological reason enough for the church to stop drawing such sharp dividing lines over issues of theology, politics, and ethics.
Leslie Allen puts it this way: “A Jonah lurks in every Christian heart, whimpering his insidious message of smug prejudice, empty traditionalism, and exclusive solidarity. He that has ears to hear, let him hear and allow the saving love of God which has been outpoured in his own heart to remold his thinking and social orientation” (Working Preacher, Henry T.C. Sun).
We might be faithless like Jonah, we might covet God’s graciousness and not want it shared with others but let us come to table to be renewed and strengthened by God’s Spirit of love, healing, and peace.
At table may we know the persistent and ever-present nature of God.
At table may we taste the spiritual food that God provides offering us divine connection. At table may we be immersed in God’s grace which communion eternally offers to us. AMEN.
