Sermons
"God's Ways Are Not Our Ways"
Gracious God, open our eyes and expand our hearts so that we might know
the
limitlessness of your love; in your holy name we pray. Amen.
Good Morning!
If I say Jonah, the next word that comes to mind is ---- (of course)--
whale!
Yeah, he was the guy who wound up in the belly of a whale. How he got
there and
what happened to him after the whale vomited him back up on the shoreline
- well
that all gets a bit blurry in our safety deposit box of scriptural knowledge.
But in that
bluriness lies an essential key to God's view of our frail and wounded
world.
What was the point of Jonah?
Once upon a time - several thousand years ago - there was a Hebrew man
named
Jonah - who was called by God to leave his home, his family and his country
to go to
the great city of Ninevah. Jonah wanted nothing to do with Nineveh, for
Nineveh
(located in what is modern day Iraq) was the capital city of the Assyrians.
The Assyrians had overrun the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.,
captured the
Kingdom and then exiled all of the residents. Assyria was considered by
many in the
region to be the epicenter for the violence and terrorism prevalent in
that part of the
world. Now it it's important to remember that our text is written from
the Israelite's
perspective. It may well be that the people of Assyria considered themselves
to be
fine upright, outstanding citizens. Which is frequently the case when
a superpower is
trampling about other smaller countries - trying to graft their ways and
customs on a
foreign weaker land.
But, nonetheless, from Jonah's perspective, the Assyrians - the Ninevites
- were evil
people, who at best should be avoided and at worst be punished. Nineveh
was not the
place any self-respecting Hebrew would want to go.
So, when God called Jonah to go Northeast to Nineveh, Jonah nodded yes,
and
promptly boarded a boat heading Southwest to Tarshish. Jonah doesn't get
very far on
his way to Tarshish before a storm swells up, and the crew, at his own
request, toss
him overboard to calm the waters. Jonah doesn't flail in the waves long
before he's
swallowed up whole by a whale. While in the whale, Jonah prays and prays,
and after
3 days of some of the worst indigestion the whale has ever encountered,
he heaves our
hero, spews our reluctant prophet onto the sandy shore - and vows to be
a vegetarian
evermore.
And our story begins all over again. As God says "Jonah - go to Nineveh
and proclaim
my message."
This time, Jonah goes, but he doesn't put forth God's word with the passion
you'd
expect of a man who's just been rescued from a whale's esophagus.
This guy is still fishy smelling around the edges and all he can muster
in Nineveh is a
lack luster "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown; Forty
more days and
Nineveh will be overthrown."
But it doesn't seem to matter. It doesn't matter that he only gets a third
of the way
through the city - because somehow, someway the message is being heard.
The evil, violent Ninevites are forsaking their ways - from the king to
the peasants
everyone is repenting - putting on sack cloth; sitting in ashes; fasting
from meat;
foregoing water. The Ninevites are doing all they can to change their
ways. True
repentance is at hand.
And Jonah - Jonah, he's just plain old mad.
He says to God - "You made me come here to be with these despicable
people and now
- I know it - you're not even going to wipe them out. I haul myself over
here, get eaten
by some fish, and now I'm just a joke of a prophet.
"And I know why - because you, you are a gracious God and merciful,
slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love, always ready to relent from punishing.
As a God, you
are close to worthless. You should have done these people in - look at
all destruction
they've wrought."
God said "Jonah - Do you do well to be angry?"
"You bet I do."
With that, Jonah hauls himself over the city wall to watch the Ninevites
from afar.
God, never giving up on anyone (even Jonah) causes a bush to grow up next
to him.
Turns out that bush was the perfect companion for Jonah - Bushes can't
think, don't
talk - pretty much there for others to manipulate. Jonah likes [that]
Bush a lot.
But then, God sends a worm to eat the bush and it withers and dies. Jonah
is crushed.
God says to Jonah - "You're upset about the death of a bush - a bush
you didn't plant,
you didn't water, you didn't care for?
Jonah says "You bet I am."
Then God says, "Then how can you begrudge me caring for 120,000 Ninevites
and all
their innocent animals?"
But Jonah's mad because his ways are not God's ways and God's ways are
not Jonah's
ways. And more to the point, God's ways are frequently not our ways.
Many days, if we're honest, we find ourselves longing for a little revenge
rather than a
bit of repentance. We find ourselves locking people in, judging them by
their past
rather than giving them space and anticipating change and growth in their
future.
We sometimes long for a static God, willing to punish for past sins -
when instead, ours
is a dynamic God creating a dynamic world where change, growth and repentance
are
always within reach.
For as Jonah said - Ours is a Gracious God; merciful and slow to anger;
abounding in
steadfast love; always ready to relent from punishing.
Some days - that will drive us up a wall - but most days, it will save
our lives.
Amen.