Txt: Jonah 3:1-10

(Other readings: Ps. 73; I Tim.1:1-11; Lk.22:31-33,54-62

The book of Jonah is first and foremost a story about God and God’s abundant mercy and grace. But in that context it’s also a story about us, and our inclination (if it were up to us) to be stingy with that abundant mercy and grace of God.

At the beginning of the story, Jonah was told by God to go to Niveveh, the capital city of Assyria , Israel ’s greatest political enemy, and preach repentance to the Ninevites. Jonah’s response to God was, in effect, “Hell no, I won’t go!” Whereupon Jonah headed for the coast and booked passage on a ship headed in the opposite direction.

Jonah wanted nothing to do with the Ninevites, much less to be a prophet and preacher to them. Those people were foreigners. They were his enemies. They were slime. They were beneath contempt. So he ran from God’s call. Or tried to.

You remember how the story proceeds. At sea a terrific storm blew up. The ship was about to go down. The crew managed to peg Jonah as the cause of the storm because he was running from God. Jonah said, “Throw me overboard.” Which they did. The storm ended. And Jonah was swallowed by a big fish.

From the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed for God’s mercy. God responded by having the fish spit Jonah up on dry land. And that’s where today’s First Reading picks up the story. God repeats the instructions to Jonah to go and preach repentance to the Ninevites. And this time, Jonah goes and does it.

And with amazing results! The entire population of the city repents, goes into a fast, and puts on sackcloth—all of the animals included(!). And, seeing their repentance, God has mercy on them, changes God’s mind about destroying the Ninevites. Saves them all. Every last one. Including the animals.

And Jonah was not pleased. In the final chapter of the story, which follows today’s Reading , Jonah is angry. He says, in effect, to God: “Damn it, God, I knew this is what would happen. I knew you’d save these creeps if I preached repentance to them and they responded. That’s just the kind of God you are. That’s why I didn’t wanna do it in the first place. Frankly, God, I’d rather die right now than live in a world where you save people who aren’t worth saving, people who, as far as I’m concerned, are still slime even if they do repent.” So Jonah.

As I said at the beginning, this is first and foremost a story about God and God’s abundant mercy and grace. But it’s also a story about us, and our inclination to be less than generous with that abundant mercy and grace of God.

For the questions, my friends, which we cannot escape in reading the story of Jonah are these: Where is the Jonah in me, and who are the Ninevites in my life and my world? Toward whom would you prefer God not be gracious and merciful? Who, in your opinion, would still be slime even if they did repent and receive God’s mercy? When you arrive in heaven, whatever and wherever heaven is, who would you prefer not to find there? With regard to whom does the Jonah in you reveal itself? Who would you prefer to be beyond the reach of God’s love and mercy? Who are the Ninevites in your life and in your world?

Adolph Hitler? Osama Bin Laden? George W. Bush? Warren Jeffs? Anyone who abuses or molests children? The young man who shot up Virginia Tech last spring? Drug dealers? Your ex-spouse? Those who peddle child pornography? People who fit the categories mentioned in today’s reading from I Timothy? The Peters’ of the world who deny Christ? Who touches the Jonah nerve in you?

At some level, we can all identify with the song the Austin Lounge Lizards came out with a few years back which declared: “Jesus loves me, but he can’t stand you!” It’s a funny song. But also probably not too far off from what a lot of people believe. It pokes fun at the Jonah in each of us. ##

It’s a good thing that we don’t get to decide who receives God’s love and mercy and who doesn’t. Because if we got to decide, the Jonah in us would probably eliminate any number of people whom we consider to be Ninevites. Oh, there might be some Ninevites we’d decide should get God’s love and mercy, though we wouldn’t be willing to give them any of our own, contradictory though that position is. But all things considered, when it comes to who will receive God’s love and mercy, it’s a good thing we don’t get to decide.

God's concern for people is larger than ours. God's love and mercy are greater than ours. God's love and mercy do not know or acknowledge human bounds or criteria, be they our own or someone else's. God's love and mercy do not vary according to degrees of human faithfulness or sinfulness. God's love and mercy are all encompassing. And before God's mercy all stand on equal footing.

Jonah didn't get that. And too often we don't either. God loves Ninevites. Even the Ninevites in our lives and our worlds.

And it's a good thing God does. Because in our own ways each of us is a Ninevite. "...there is no distinction," the Apostle Paul writes in Romans (3:22b-24), "since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified by [God's] grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God bestows mercy beyond our deserving and love beyond our imagining. And if we begrudge, or would withhold, God's generosity to others, then we must also begrudge God's generosity to us. Because none of us deserves anything. We are all Ninevites.

God didn't have to show love and mercy to Jonah when Jonah said "Hell no, I won't go", and ended up in the belly of a fish. God didn't have to show love and mercy to the Ninevites. And God didn't have to show love and mercy to us. God could have chosen not to.

But in God's covenant relation with the people of Israel , and in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord, God chose, and continues to choose, to show love and mercy. And to do so equally to all, without distinction. Sometimes much to our surprise, and, at times, perhaps, much to our chagrin.

Because, you see, though there is a bit or a lot of Jonah's attitude toward Ninevites hidden away in each of us, there is no part of Jonah's attitude toward Ninevites in God. For which we all should be, and will be, eternally grateful. AMEN.

Copyright © 2007 Robert J. Karli