Running from God - Jonah 3: 1-5, 10

The story of Jonah is epic. Jonah is a prophet of the Lord who had much fame in Israel. He enjoyed the prestige and status of being one called out from the chosen people. Then the Lord disturbed his comfort by commanding him to go and give a message to the people of Nineveh, who had a reputation of being some of the worst people throughout the land. Jonah was so set against giving a message from the Lord, especially one about their destruction, to this particular set of people, and so upset with the Lord from not giving him a task to do that better portrayed his status, that he ran. He ran the opposite direction of where he was commanded to go, and for his disobedience, God put him inside the belly of a whale for three days. When Jonah was spit up the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, commanding him to go to Nineveh and preach against them.

To say that Jonah’s attempt at preaching was weak, would be an understatement. While there are definitely times and places for short sermons, Jonah’s one sentence came more from his apathy about the message and the people then anything else. In fact, Jonah didn’t even preach anything the first third of his way across Nineveh. Only on the second leg of his journey did he begin to proclaim, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” One sentence, with no mention of God or why the city would be overthrown, simply repeated over and over again. And yet, a great thing happened. The people of Nineveh began to believe in God and believe in the one-sentence prophecy with such intensity that they began to fast, from the person of least importance in the city the whole way up to the king. Everyone. God saw their act of good faith and was so moved that God changed God’s mind.

What our scripture lesson today leaves out is the fact that Jonah went on to get upset with God all over again for not destroying Nineveh. He craved for the Lord’s wrath to fall upon them. He was angry at God for showing mercy and compassion. By the end of the book of Jonah, there isn’t really any resolution of Jonah’s anger. We are simply left with God trying to teach him a lesson.

Many of us have grown up with fairy tales - and not the Grimm or original Hans Christen Anderson versions. We have grown up with the sanitized Disney-esqe versions where there is clearly defined good and bad and not much in between. We cheer for the hero and boo at the bad guys. It’s classic. But with the story of Jonah things are not that simple. It’s hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys really are. At one moment we are cheering for Jonah and the next we are wondering how he could be so cruel. In fact, Jonah is the only prophet in the BIble who does not even give the people he is ministering to a chance. Generally the message the prophet brings is a call to repentance as a path to salvation, but Jonah’s message is uncompromising, simply stating that impending doom is on its way.

While I may not agree with Jonah’s message or lack of compassion, I do understand Jonah’s sense of urgency. If his time in the whale taught him anything it was that he didn’t have much time left and he had to act now. This past week at the Bishop’s retreat I had the opportunity to hear Mike Slaughter speak. Mike is the pastor of the 4th largest church in the denomination. He entered into the parish, which was smaller then our church, at the age of 27. 33 years later he hasn’t left that church, because he has helped it grow to close to 4,000 people in worship each weekend. Mike entered into this church with a message that he has not stopped having for all that years that have followed. “I’m almost dead. I don’t have time to play church.” As the members started to see the truth of this statement in their own life, they began to make their hopes and dreams for the church of Jesus Christ become a reality now, instead of putting them off for later.

Often it is easier for us to live into the urgency of our message when it is about someone else. When we tell someone else to repent. When we point out how God is going to punish another group of people. But what Jonah failed to realize that his message was just as much for himself as anyone else. After he proclaimed his message, he waited around until the day, the day of destruction, waiting to see the event of the people being overthrown. But a funny thing happened. The people weren’t overthrown, but Jonah’s life was. Jonah had to confront God that day and wrestle with the worst parts of himself - the parts that wanted to see the prophecy of destruction become a reality. The part that was full of hatred and not compassion. The part that actually didn’t want to see the Nineveites change. Jonah had the worst part of himself overthrown, and while the story doesn’t have a clear ending, we can hope that ended in Jonah’s repentance.

Sometimes we are like Jonah. We look down of those that are less then us - those that have less then us materially, those who do not make as much money as us, those who do not speak our language, those who are not at the same place spiritually, the list goes on. We look down from our place of comfort, and condemn then. The sad thing about Jonah, is that he seemed to forget all about the whale, shortly after being spit up. He forgot what it was like to be uncomfortable, without God, and forgotten. As soon as he resolved to go forward with the prophetic message, he slipped right back into the role of having power and prestige as a prophet.

Even in Jonah’s arrogance and unhappiness, God did a new thing. Jonah despite himself, was successful. Sometimes we dwell too much on numbers, but sometimes we do not honestly look at then enough. Jonah by all measures was successful - he had an entire city come to genuine repentance so the Lord saved them. Yet, that wasn’t what Jonah wanted. We sometimes are like Jonah. We pray time and time again to God to help us grow as a congregation - but grow how. Grow in our love for God? Grow in the number of people we lead to Christ? And what is that growing causes us to be uncomfortable - what if it means that we have to give up some of our desires and replace them with God’s? What if it means that we cannot keep doing things the way we always have? What if it means hard work that we may never see the fruit of in our lifetime? Are we still going to want to be successful, by God’s standards, or will be we all too quickly become angry like Jonah?

Brothers and sisters, churches today are filled with Jonah’s. People who proclaim the destruction of others without taking a hard look at themselves. People who are caught up in their prestige and power, while lacking an attitude of compassion and mercy. People who are so worried about preserving themselves that they lack a sense of urgency when it comes to bringing hope to others. People who ignore God’s message the first time and then only accept it the second time on their own terms. People who are surprised and sulk when God saves others and does a new things, instead of people who celebrate with the redeemed.

What churched need are people who believe in God sized visions. People who will not settle for the status quo and who are willing to take risks for the Kingdom of God. People who live with the urgency that their lives are short, yet they will be measured for eternity by what they did for the Kingdom of God while they were alive. People who will stop playing church and be the church, bringing not a message like Jonah’s of destruction and dismay, but a message of hope to the world in need.

Let me tell you a bit more about Gingemsburg Church. Gingemsburg is located in a farming community, similar to ours, 16 miles from Dayton. When Rev. Slaughter arrived he was told that the church had reached its potential, and all he had to do was maintain it so he could be moved on to a bigger and better church. But Mike had a different vision. He told the supervisor that he had a vision where the 32 people at that church would become a 3,000 person church that would be diverse, and that would change the world. And he was laughed at. But God gave him a prophetic message that would not let him go. Along the way to having this message of God’s become a reality, people became upset. People left the church because it wasn’t about them any more, it was about changing the community they served for the Kingdom. There were many people like Jonah who sat in the corner, refusing to be part of the movement, simply sulking over what the church once was, instead of celebraing that God was calling the people to be part of a new thing. But for those who got the vision and loved all the people who came through their doors and more importantly, loved the wider community, they were transformed like the Nineveites. They were transformed from people who lived for themselves to people who began to truly know God, not just know about God, and be part of something greater then themselves. And the church is still growing today, making people committed disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Church, we have enough Jonah’s. Enough nay-sayers who live for themselves and whose messages of prophecy are more about destruction then hope. What we need is a few modern prophets who see potential and hope. A few good people who are willing to step outside of their comfort zones and live lives that are abandoned to the mission of God and who will not be surprised when God does a new thing marked by compassion, mercy and grace. People who will live into the great mandate to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God. Who will you be? Will you be Jonah, sulking when things change or do not go your way, or will you be one of the new breed of prophets, excited when entire cities turn their hearts to the Lord?