Broadway Christian Church ·Columbia, Missouri
Morning Worship ·January 22, 2006
Third Sunday After Epiphany
Prayer of the Day
God of Grace and Mercy, we bring the stories of our lives into the larger story of your love. Instruct us, enfold us, prepare us to be able to share your story and live your story today and tomorrow. May we be translators of the message of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Scripture/Message
The Book of Jonah
Translation used: The Message
Kim Ryan
About 15 years ago I stopped having to worry about my answer to that question that comes along occasionally, “What was your most embarrassing moment?” Because it happened. It happened right here at Broadway. It happened right in the middle of a worship service. It happened right in the middle of a sermon – my sermon about Jonah. And I have never preached about Jonah in 15 years since.
Now I know there are some of you in this room right now who recall that moment. So rather than allow you to snicker your way through the story of Jonah today, and your pew neighbors be wondering what is so funny, I am going to tell you all what happened.
My most embarrassing moment! I was preaching about this reluctant prophet Jonah, and I was trying to explain why he was so upset about being sent by God to Nineveh and was so hesitant to do it. It was such a distasteful task for Jonah, because he and his Hebrew people hated and despised the Assyrian city of Nineveh. What I meant to say – what I wanted to say – was that for Jonah, the words “Nineveh” and “enemy” were one and the same. Well, what came out of my mouth (some of you could say it with me), “For Jonah, the words “Nineveh” and “enema” were one and the same.”
There was a stunned moment of silence. And silly me, I thought, “Oh, maybe they didn’t hear that.” And then the laughter began. And it went on, and it went on. I remember the choir just never got over it the whole morning. There was one young man at worship that day, and he literally shook the pew the whole rest of the worship service with those laughter tears streaming down his face. All morning long and every time he saw me for six weeks after.
So, you can imagine when the verses from Jonah showed up in this week’s suggested Scriptures, I wanted to be like Jonah and run the other direction. But Jonah wouldn’t let it go, as well as the fact that the entire story of Jonah deserves to be told. Now in most of our Bibles, the story of Jonah is three pages long. It is about ten minutes in length. I wouldn’t normally tell a second story so soon after the Christmas story that I do. Usually one story a year is what I can manage. But this wouldn’t give up. So, finally, I gave in.
When do we get to hear an entire book in a worship service? Usually we get snippets and pieces of Scripture. So, today, I’m going to tell you the entire story of Jonah as it is in the Bible. But to prepare us for that, I want to ask you to imagine with me, if you would, a large gathering of family and friends. Maybe it is a religious holiday. The conversation winds it way to politics and the current events that are happening in their world. They talk of war and the threat of war. They talk about the layers and layers of years of hostility and animosity toward the enemy. The enemy of the day. The enemy of the year. Of the decade. Of the century.
In the midst of that conversation, the storyteller in their midst stands up and clears his/her throat and says, “Once upon a time…”
One day, long ago, the word of God came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Up on your feet, Jonah, and on your way to that great city of Nineveh. Preach to them for they are in a bad and wicked place, and I can stand it no longer.
And Jonah got up and went the opposite direction. He went down to the port of Joppa and paid his fare and boarded a ship heading for Tarshish with all the others that were heading that way. He wanted to get as far away from the presence of God as he could get.
But God sent a huge storm with towering waves, and the ship was about to break apart into pieces. The sailors were terrified and they prayed desperately to their gods. They threw everything they were carrying overboard into the sea to lighten the ship.
Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to take a nap. He was sound asleep. The captain found him and said, “What’s this? Get up. What are you doing sleeping? Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we are in trouble and will rescue us.”
The sailors were saying to one another, “We got to get down to the bottom of this. Let’s cast lots to identify the culprit who is responsible for this storm.” So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
The sailors grilled him, “Confess! Why this disaster? What is the work you do? Where are you from? What is your country? Who is your family?”
And Jonah said, “I am a Hebrew. I worship Yahweh, the God of heaven who made land and sea.”
Then the sailors were frightened. They were really frightened, and they asked him, “What on earth have you done?” As they were listening to him, they began to realize that Jonah was running from his God.
They said, “What are we going to do with you to get rid of the storm?”
And Jonah said, “Throw me overboard into the sea. I am responsible. I’m the cause for the storm. It’s my fault. If you get rid of me, you’ll get rid of the storm.”
But, no. The sailors tried to row back to the shore. But they could make no headway. The storm just kept getting worse and worse, wild and raging. Finally the sailors prayed to Yahweh. And the sailors said, “O, God, please do not let us drown because of this man’s life. And please don’t blame us for his death. You are God. You do what is best. And then they took Jonah, and they threw him overboard into the sea. Immediately the sea calmed down. And the sailors were so impressed, no longer terrified of the sea and the storm, but in awe of Yahweh. And they worshiped God, and they made offerings and vows of commitment.
Well, then God assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah stayed in the belly of that fish for three days and three nights. He prayed from that fish’s belly:
“In trouble, in deep trouble I prayed to you God,
And you answered me.
From the belly of the grave I called, ‘Help!’
And you heard my cry,
You threw me into the depths of the ocean and the ocean ways,
And the ocean breakers crashed over me,
And I said, ‘I am thrown away – I’m thrown out of your sight,
I’ll never lay eyes on your holy temple again.’
And the ocean gripped my throat, and the ancient abyss
Grabbed me and held me tight.
And my head was caught in the seaweed
At the bottom of the sea
Where the mountains take root.
And I was as far down as a body can go
And the gates were shutting behind me forever.
And yet you pulled me up out of that grave, alive.
When my life was ebbing away,
My prayer reached you.
It reached you all the way in your holy temple.
For those who follow hollow gods and god frauds,
They’re walking away from their own true love.
But I am worshipping you,
And I am calling out in thanksgiving,
And I will do what I have promised to do.
Deliverance belongs to God.”
Then God spoke to the fish, and the fish spewed Jonah out onto the dry land.
And next God said to Jonah: “Jonah, up on your feet and on your way to that great city of Nineveh. Preach to them. They are in a bad and wicked place, and I can stand it no longer.”
This time, Jonah went straight away toward Nineveh, obeying the word of God that had come to him. Now Nineveh was a big city – a very big city. It took three days to walk across it. And Jonah entered the city of Nineveh and walked one day into it and began to preach: “In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed! In 40 days Nineveh will be destroyed. Forty days! Nineveh: destroyed!”
And the people of Nineveh listened, and believed in God. They sent forth a citywide proclamation for a fast, and they dressed in burlap as a sign of their repentance. Everyone did it – rich and poor, famous and obscure, and the leaders and the followers.
When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he stood up from his throne, and he threw off his royal robes, and he dressed in burlap and sat in the dirt. Then he issued an official proclamation authorized by him and his leaders:
“Not one bite of food… Not one drink of water… for man, woman, animals, your herds, your folks. Everyone dress in burlap. Both the people and the animals, and send up a cry to God. Everyone must turn from our evil ways. Everyone must change the violence that stains our skin. Who knows? Maybe God will turn, and maybe God will change God’s mind and let us live.”
When God saw what the people of Nineveh had done, God did turn around and changed God’s mind. All that had been said would happen to them did not happen.
And Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God: “I knew it! I knew this would happen. Back home I knew this happen. This is why I was running away to Tarshish. I knew you were a God of shear grace and mercy, slow to anger, rich in love, ready at the drop of a hat to turn a plan for punishment into a program of forgiveness. Well, God, if you are not going to kill them, then kill me. I am better off dead.”
And God said, “What do you have to be angry about?”
And Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. A little later he built a makeshift shelter, and he waited in the shade of that shelter to see what would happen to the city of Nineveh, if anything.
And then God arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up, and it covered Jonah to try to coax him out of that angry sulk. And Jonah was pleased about the extra shade. Life was looking up. Then God sent a worm, and the worm bored into the tree. By the next morning, the tree had withered and died. And the sun came up with a blistering hot east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah, and Jonah prayed, “I’m better off dead!”
And God said, “Is it right for you to be so angry about a tree?”
“Yes! I’m angry enough to die!”
And God said, “What’s this? You can be so concerned about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get it. You didn’t plant it. You didn’t water it. Should I not be concerned about Nineveh? About that great city of 120,000 people? Not to mention the animals! Should I not be concerned about Nineveh?”
The End of the Story
A Word of God for the people of God.
It’s an interesting, even humorous, little story. Isn’t it? With such a serious and big message. It is the only book in the Bible that ends with a question. “Should I not be concerned about Nineveh?”
Imagine with me, if you would, a gathering of family and friends anywhere. And the conversation winds its way to politics and to current events, to conflicts, and war, and the threat of war, and the layers and the layers and the layers of years of hostility and hatred and animosity toward the enemy. And the storyteller begins the story of Jonah again.
And the story of Jonah reminds us of God’s shear grace and mercy, God’s slowness of anger, God’s richness of love, whether we like it or not, even for our enemies. God is still asking, “Should I not be concerned?”
Amen.
Benediction
Compassionate Creator, thank you for the extravagant love and forgiveness you hold for all of us. Thank you for loving our enemies. Thanks for helping us to resurface and have another chance. Amen.
