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The Book of Jonah Barak Obama this week announced that the US would close Guantanamo Bay because he said: “Our struggle against violence must be consistent with our constitutional values as a nation,” or words to that effect. Like many others, I feel very positive about the future when we have a man who says that kind of thing at the helm in America. The book of Jonah is a mere 58 verses long and today we have read half of it! However, for all its economical size, it is an action packed book which includes: · a storm at sea; · the conversion of pagan sailors; · a miraculous and dramatic rescue; · a wonderful song of praise; · the mass repentance of Israel’s arch enemy; · and an intensely honest dialogue between God and his reluctant prophet where the meaty question of the appropriate response to evil is dealt with. The character after whom the book has been named, is Jonah and he was a Galilean prophet who lived round about 786–746 BC. However he is not the hero of the story. In fact God is the hero of the story and Jonah acts as a kind of foil to reveal the nature and the values of God, who we learn is: Generous, slow to anger, forgiving, patient and graceful. Jonah’s name means ‘dove’. He is called by God to be his agent of grace and we are reminded of Noah releasing the dove from the ark as God sends Jonah to proclaim his message of peace and compassion to the people of Nineveh. Nineveh was situated on the banks of the Tigris River and it was the capital of Assyria. It was about 550 miles from Jerusalem. Now in order to understand Jonah’s reluctance to going to Nineveh we must know that it was a city with an appalling reputation for cruelty and violence. Archaeologists have uncovered many large stone wall reliefs and written descriptions of the gory and blood- thirsty exploits of this city. Mention of the name of this city will have struck a chord of terror and revulsion in the hearts of all who heard it and hence it was that Jonah was keen to avoid going there at all costs. He had no interest in participating in the redemption of these arrogant, cruel and violent people whom he judged did not deserve the redemption and grace of a compassionate God. He could not understand what God was on about, calling him to the ministry of preaching to them. And so is launched a wonderful tale full of exaggeration and hyperbole which acts as a parable of God’s love and grace and it is told with some humour and irony. Many people who read this story or Jonah become distracted by the presence of the big fish in 1: 17. All too many discussions on the feasibility of the fish have railroaded a proper understanding of this wonderful book. Whether this fish is a sperm whale or a whale shark is not the point at all. Biblical audiences of Jesus’ would have understood that. Only in modern times have people become so obsessed with the scientific possibility of the fish in this story and whether this could actually have happened or not that we seem to have forgotten that the Bible frequently tells stories to make a profoundly spiritual point. Many of its stories cannot be explained or understood scientifically for they have been written with a different purpose in mind. The significance of the big fish is that the reader is challenged to entertain that which he or she might not have thought was possible. So, what is the seemingly impossible thing we are called to comprehend? Not the physical improbability of a fish swallowing Jonah whole, but rather the limitless extent of God’s unconditional love and concern for everyone, not just those who call him Lord or who toe the line of his laws. The big fish swallowing the rebellious prophet is a metaphor or a sign of the extraordinary lengths to which God will go to save his prophet Jonah and the people of Nineveh to whom Jonah has been sent to deliver the call to Repentance. The great wonder and miracle of our faith is that we have the enormous privilege of worshiping a God who cares deeply about every one of his creatures regardless of whether
In this sense this book offers hope to all of us. For no matter who we are or what we have done, God seeks to save us from our sin and from the narrow judgemental view we may have of others. Now the irony in the story lies in the fact that God saves Jonah from death despite his sin, yet Jonah is not keen for God to save the Ninevites from death even though they repent! Actually when you think about it from a human perspective, Jonah’s protests against God forgiving the wickedness of the Ninevites, is a legitimate concern. Our worldly logic teaches us that the wicked deserve punishment. See the Chinese executions of the Sanlu managers who contaminated the Baby Milk Formula. Let’s face it when agents of terror or pain apologize or even repent of their wrong doing, victims and witnesses are not usually impressed. “ I think they should be shot. A death for a death” said one of the grandmothers. Think about rapists; pedophiles; murderers; thieves. Do they deserve to have a chance to repent and receive God’s forgiveness? Jonah sees Nineveh’s rescue as a threat, their destruction would have benefitted the people of Israel and the other nations that were under threat of conquest by the Assyrians. He doesn’t want God to offer his grace to them. In this sense Jonah views that are commonly held:
And who are our modern day Ninevites? For a modern cultural analogy we might think of
On what basis do the perpetrators of any of the above deserve to be given an opportunity to repent and to receive God’s forgiveness? Enter GRACE The Gospel of Jesus Christ disturbs our favoured views about just deserts and causes us to consider what is right and just from God’s perspective of pure love. For this is G the perspective through which we ourselves have been saved. The good news of salvation is generous and hospitable. It is not only for the comfort of those who align themselves with Christ and his Church; it is for all human kind. And like Job we have been called to be God’s emissaries. Our values must therefore align with God’s values. Much the point that Barak Obama was making about Guantanamo Bay. We have been called to be fishers of men and this means - to put our prejudices aside and take the Good News of his unconditional love and concern for all humanity, to the widest possible audience. - to declare the possibility of forgiveness to even those whom we might judge do not deserve it and may even abuse it. - to the risky task of preaching repentance and forgiveness, - to being agents of God’s grace. The task and the journey may not always make sense and the message may not be much appreciated and it may not be to our advantage to share it, but the message of the Gospel is that: God’s love is extravagant and welcomes all who truly repent, without exception. Rabbi Uriel Simon cites the following midrash that demonstrates the compassion and mercy of the living God whom we serve: “They asked the Law ‘how is the sinner to be punished?’ it replied, ‘let him bring a sacrifice and he will be pardoned.’ They asked the prophecy: ‘How is the sinner to be punished?’ It replied, ‘The person who sins he shall die’. They asked Wisdom: ‘How is the sinner to be punished?’ It replied, 0’Misfortune pursues sinners.’ They asked the Holy One, blessed be He: ‘How is the sinner to be punished?’ he replied, ‘Let him do repentance, and I will accept it, as it is written: ‘Good and upright is the Lord, therefore he shows sinners the way.’ Psalm 25:8. -There may be people in your life who have wronged you or wronged those whom you love. -There may be people in our society that you encounter in your work place or educational institution that you know are living lives that are destructive and wrong. As a Christ follower you and I are being called to be light and salt. Like Jonah, we may not feel like heeding that call. It may make us want to run in the opposite direction, or hide under a bushel. But if we are to be true to our calling, God requires that we rise to the challenge of compassion and offer His forgiveness and salvation to all that are in need of it just as Jonah was required to offer it to the people of Nineveh. Let us pray. Lord all too often we are like Jonah, hesitant to extend your deliverance to our friends let alone our enemies. Speak to us as we sit on the hillside in safety, that we might learn from you for all our decisions. When we are like the hardened rock, turn us into streams of living water. Overthrow us as you overthrew Jonah for the sake of your creation and for the sake of your gospel in the world. Amen. |
