I love the book of Jonah. I think Jonah is a fairly well known story – at least the part about getting swallowed up by a whale. What I would like to do is walk you through the story by opening up the bible in front of you. Jonah is a really short story and full of action. So I invite you to turn to page 992.
First of all – Jonah is in the Hebrew Scriptures, or as is it is also known, the Old Testament – all those books written before the birth of Christ. And in the last part of the Old Testament are the books of the 12 Prophets, of which Jonah is one.
So, Jonah is a prophet and the story is meant to be set in about the 8th century BC. Jonah was the prophet who at that time predicted the great expansion of Israel. But the book of Jonah was not written until about 400 years later – and whoever wrote the book borrowed the name so people would pay attention because it was named after a great prophet. So what we have today is a couple of folklore stories that have been brought together to make a theological point with the central figure of what we will see is the deeply flawed character Jonah. The story is not meant to be taken as literally true but the point of the story is meant to be taken very seriously.
Jonah is called by God to go to Nineveh in Assyria to tell the people that in 40 days God would destroy them. Jonah is from Galilee and Assyria far away in the east. Jonah despises the Ninevites. He does not want to do it – at all. So Jonah decides that he is going to run away to Tarshish (pronounced Tarish) which is in the absolute opposite direction.
And Tarshish is this pretty snazzy town in Southern Spain. Apparently it’s a place that ships loaded with gold, silver, iron, tin, lead, apes and monkeys would go.
And Jonah is on this boat – and a storm kicks up and the sailors, who are not Jews, are wondering what is going on. And they start throwing over precious cargo bound for Tarshish, and they are praying and casting lots to figure out whose fault this is, which God is responsible, during which time Jonah is down in the hull taking a nap.
So the sailors figure out it’s Jonah’s God, the God of the Hebrews, who is causing this storm. Jonah eventually volunteers to be thrown overboard to calm the storm. It is meant to show us that Jonah would rather die than go to Nineveh. But instead of drowning, God sends a fish (yes, not a whale) to swallow him up and then to throw him up, right back where Jonah started in Joppa in Israel. I suppose it is one of the first records of a “do-over” the world had ever seen.
So God speaks to him again and Jonah decided to go to Nineveh – and he’s cross – he’s cross because he despises the Ninevites. And he goes and proclaims this message, and the Ninevites do one thing that is even worse than being wicked. They repent, even the king, fasting, praying, sackcloth, ashes, the whole nine yards. And God saves them. Jonah is so angry he just wants to die. He’s that mad. He feels played, and he feels a fool.
So he goes and sulks. And God allows a plant to grow up – probably a castor seed plant to grow – and Jonah gets some relief from the hot sun, and then God adds insult to injury and the next day a worm attacks the plant and kills it, and God continues to send down brutal sunshine, and a sultry east wind. Jonah wants to die. He is so angry. And God says to Jonah – isn’t it my right to pity? God says “Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a 120,000 people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”
So the main point of the story, why the book was written, was to show that there is a wideness to God’s mercy and call to forgiveness. The book was written to demonstrate the limits of nationalism and show that God’s mercy and forgiveness is not just for the Jews, but for the whole world. The last line of this book drives home the point that God has concern for all the creatures of the universe (even cattle).
But what is the lesson for us? How is this not just some charming tale that is entertaining and yet means nothing to us? What does God want us to hear and remember when we hear this story?
I think it leaves three questions for us to ask ourselves:
First – who are the Ninevites in your life? Who are or who is someone that really challenges you and perhaps you think you have a lot you could teach them. And then turn the tables – what is God asking you to learn from them? Those Ninevites in our lives are there for a reason. They are there to help us increase our capacity for compassion for others as well as ourselves. And they are there for us to learn and grow.
Second –God asks us to think about when we have been a bit like Jonah. When have we ever caught ourselves being slightly smug, a tad curmudgeonly, badly-tempered, proud, cantankerous and a smidge stubborn? And where is God asking us to knock it off and have some humility. Where is God asking us to open our hearts.
And third – God asks us to think about when we have failed – and what did we do with that failure? Did it defeat us? Or did we rise again and persevere? Because at the heart of this story is a God who gives hope after failure, and patiently extends endless second chances.
There is a popular 19th century hymn called There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy, written by Frederick Faber, which we sing on some regularity here at St. Michael’s – although we do not sing all 10 original verses. So I would like to share with you the last two which are not in the hymnal – and I will not ask you to sing it – although if you should wish to look at it, it is hymn #469
But we make His love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify His strictness
With a zeal He will not own.
Was there ever kinder shepherd
Half so gentle, half so sweet,
As the Savior who would have us
Come and gather at His feet?
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