Sermon from Nov. 10, 2024, by the Rev. Dr. Tara W. Bulger

Over the past couple of weeks, we've been looking at places in the Old Testament where God shows up in a new way. And today we have the story of Jonah and God showing up in Nineveh. Jonah is only four chapters. We're gonna read the first one together and then take a look of the at the story as a whole. Listen to the beginning of Jonah.

Jonah Chapter 1

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. The captain came and said to him, “What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.” The sailors said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, “Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” “I am a Hebrew,” he replied. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so.

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. 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.” 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. 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.” So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

If you want tp know how to read the book of Jonah, the answer is that it is most likely a parable, a parable in the same way that Jesus told parables. Jesus would tell a story that wasn't factually true, but the story illustrated what Jesus wanted the people to know about whatever the topic is. In the same way, Jonah is a parable and we know that for a couple of reasons, none of which have to do with the fish. Is it possible that our Lord and Savior who created the world and all that is in it also provided a fish to swallow Jonah? You bet. That's not what makes this story a parable.

There are two things that make this story a parable. The first is that it comes right after the book of Obadiah in the Bible. And Obadiah is a book about God pronouncing a prophecy against the nations of the world. In the book of Obadiah, God says through that prophet that he will pronounce a judgment on all nations, not just on Israel, not just on Judah, but all nations of the world. God will pronounce a judgment upon them. That's the whole of the book of Obadiah. And so immediately afterwards we have this passage, this book of Jonah in which God is going to show what it's like for him to pronounce judgment on the Ninevites.

But it's also a parable because there are so many elements of this story that are either ironic or downright funny. There's always some sort of surprise in a parable. And there are a lot of things that are surprising about Jonah.

Let's start with the first chapter we just read. We have the story of Jonah who receives a word from the Lord that God is calling him and has a job for him. Now, we've had some reluctant prophets in the Bible. We've had some prophets who weren't so sure they could do what God wanted, but we've never had a prophet who heard the word of God and got on a ship to get away from God. It's hilarious that Jonah thinks he can outrun the Lord God, but that's what he thinks when he gets on that ship to Tarshish. The story on the sea also has elements of humor in it. Everyone is in danger, people are in peril, and there is Jonah—sleeping peacefully in the cargo hold. That's another bit of humor. It was thought, particularly in the Old Testament, that when someone sleeps peacefully, it's because their conscience is clean. Is Jonah's conscience clean? Not really, but it doesn't seem to bother him, does it? He's just snoozing away even though he's running from the Lord. When the sailors wake him up, Jonah even says, “Hi, it's me. I'm the problem. Uh, you should probably throw me overboard.”  Jonah is ready to die, rather than do what God wants him to do. And so that's another little giggle in this story. Until finally, finally they throw him overboard and the sea calms and Jonah, the person we are supposed to identify with and admire, the one who's supposed to do what God calls—it turns out he’s the unfaithful one. And you know who's faithful? Those men on the ship, they have spoken to the Lord God. They have seen God work and we are told that they offer sacrifices and vows to God. Isn't that ironic that those seamen who know nothing of the Lord God at the beginning eventually come to worship him while Jonah still trying to run away from God in the sea?

Then comes the big fish that swallows Jonah and he's in there three days and three nights. And in chapter two we have this extended prayer that Jonah gives while he's in the belly of the fish. And it's a hilarious prayer because do you know what Jonah says? Oh God, thank you for putting me in this fish. Thank you for saving me. I'm so grateful. Lord, you have saved me. Just like you saved the people in the Psalms. Not once does Jonah recognize that God has called him to do something and he's not doing it. Jonah doesn't ask for forgiveness. Jonah doesn't acknowledge that he's been running from the very presence of the Lord. He's just so happy to be in that fish. Again, another element of irony, surprise and humor that makes it a parable.

In the third chapter, that big fish spits Jonah out and do you wanna guess where he is? He's on the shores of Nineveh. The one place he didn't wanna go, the one place he would rather die in the sea than be. And here again we have another little bit of humor. We are told that the city of Nineveh, it takes three days to walk across it. Do you know what Jonah does? He walks for one day—a third of the way into the city and he says—one time—“Repent or the Lord's gonna execute judgment.” He's like a child dragging his feet. He just walks in a little ways, says what he's supposed to say—after all the fish spit him out here. He really has no choice.

What happens is that every person in Nineveh, from the king to the animals begin to repent. Every person in that great city turns from their sin and turns again to God. They've had the worst prophet in all of the Old Testament come to them. But they listened and they changed. And God decides that he will do nothing to punish them, that they will continue to live now that they are people of God.

So this whole time in the book of Jonah, we have no idea why Jonah's behaving this way. But we find out in the fourth chapter because in the fourth chapter, Jonah gets mad at God and he says, “I knew I knew you were a forgiving God. I knew you were slow to anger and abounding steadfast love. I knew you were gonna forgive those Ninevites.” All of this mess with Jonah has been fueled by his hatred of the Ninevites. Jonah would rather die than see a Ninevite be offered the grace of God.

Jonah is so angry at God for loving those people that he can hardly stand it. And so Jonah—full on pouting now—goes outside the gates of the city and sits in the desert. He's sitting out there in the hot sun and he's talking, talking to God about how mad he is at God that he would save those people. And the text tells us that God causes a plant to grow over Jonah's head to provide him with some shade—all the while Jonah is railing at God.

And we are told that Jonah loved that plant. He loved the shade that it provided. He loved that God had made it grow. And then the text tells us that God kills that plant. And he says to Jonah, and this is the last thing in the book of Jonah—God said, “You loved a plant and you begrudged me saving 120,000 souls?!  Jonah, you love the plant and you hated it that I went to save people. Jonah, you should be ashamed of yourself.” And that's how the text ends.

It's a parable and maybe it seems to you like it's something that they told to one another long ago that it doesn't impact us. But friends, one of the characteristics of humanity is that we are also often a people who hate, we dislike, we vilify. Think of the person in your mind that you most dislike. That's the person that God calls beloved and offers grace to just like God offers it to you. And I'll tell you, I have worried and prayed over our nation, especially over the past week in the wake of this election. Maybe I'm naive, but I feel like I've never seen such hate, such unkindness, so many people who say that people on the other side are no good and not like them—over and over again. It feels like we are more divided than we have ever been. It feels like it is a dark time in our country.

But you have a parable that is speaking to you and it is saying the people that you hate, God loves. The people that you don't understand and want nothing to do with, God calls beloved. And you can get mad and sit under a plant for a few days. But my hope is that you'll actually come back to what Jesus taught us, which is to love our enemies. He told us that so that there would eventually be no enemies, only love that remains. The work of the church, of loving people who are different from us is more important now than it has ever been. The work of the church, believing in the belovedness of the other is more important now than it has ever been. We are called to not only love the other, but to know them, to understand them, to care for them until there are no enemies left. Maybe that makes you mad like Jonah. I get it. It's really hard work, but we can only do it when we realize that we've also been offered the same grace and belovedness and we are called to share it with others. And that the very spirit of Jesus Christ will allow us to do this hard thing together.

I love the story of Jonah. I love how ridiculous he is. He is deeply human in every way and so are we. But we are called to love those who are different from us. And just like our first lesson said, to pray to God over and over, I invite you to join me in naming those we struggle to love before God in our prayers day in and day out. Let us go to God in prayer and say, I want to love, but I find it hard to love. Help me Lord. And in that way, we will grow into the beloved community the church is supposed to be. Thanks be to God and amen.