Readings

"The Reluctant Prophet"

It seems a happy coincidence that our Old Testament reading is from the Book of Jonah, just as our children begin a Sunday School series on this bizarre, funny little story.

I have a special affinity for this passage because it was one of the readings at my ordination to the deaconate, but more about that in a minute.

My guess is that what most of us remember about Jonah is that he was swallowed by a big fish. It’s a favorite children’s Bible story, but there is much more to Jonah than that fanciful tale of being swallowed by a whale.

The story begins with God appearing to Jonah and ordering him to go to the great city of Nineveh to warn the people there that if they do not repent of their wicked ways, God will destroy them.

But Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh, and so instead he hops on a boat, planning to sail in the opposite direction to a place where he can escape God’s presence.

Of course, that is impossible to do. God knows that Jonah is on the boat, and sends a huge storm that batters the ship across the sea.

While Jonah sleeps, the sailors struggle against the storm, praying to their gods for help. But no help comes, and finally the ship’s captain goes to Jonah.

“What are you doing sound asleep?” he asks. “Get up, call on your god! Perhaps your god will spare us a thought so that we will not perish.”

Jonah admits that his god is probably angry at him for running away, and suggests that the sailors throw him overboard to appease his god and stop the storm.

Reluctantly, they do so, and the storm stops. Then God sends the big fish to swallow Jonah and he stays in its belly for three days and nights.

Apparently, a sojourn in a fish’s stomach is enough to humble even the most rebellious prophet, and Jonah prays to God for forgiveness and deliverance. God directs the fish to spit Jonah out on dry land.

One would think after this kind of experience Jonah would have learned his lesson. And indeed, when God appears to Jonah again with the order to go warn the people of Nineveh, Jonah obeys.

Now remember that Jonah is a Hebrew, one of God’s chosen people of Israel. Nineveh is the capitol of Assyria, the historic enemies and enslavers of the Hebrew people.

The people of Nineveh are notoriously evil and wicked. Good Israelites have nothing to do with them.

But Jonah, fresh from the belly of the whale, reluctantly sets out for Nineveh. He walks through the city, crying out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

And then an amazing thing happens. The Ninevites, those notoriously evil people, repent.

“The people of Nineveh believed God,” the story says. “They proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.”

When the king hears Jonah’s warning, he orders everyone to “turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.”

“Who knows?” the king says. “God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”

And indeed, when God sees that the people of Nineveh have repented, have turned from their evil ways and begged forgiveness, God does relent, the divine mind is changed, and the people of Nineveh are spared.

One would think that Jonah would be delighted He has done what God has asked him to do. He has been successful. People have listened to him. He has saved an entire city!

But Jonah is not happy. He is angry – furious at God.

“I knew this is what would happen,” he whines. “That’s why I ran away in the first place. I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.”

Jonah does not mean those words as a compliment.

He believes that God has wasted his time and put him through quite a lot – the stormy sea, the belly of the fish, the long trek to Nineveh, and the difficult task of preaching repentance.

Jonah doesn’t want God to be gracious and merciful. He doesn’t want the Ninevites to be saved. He wants God to let them have it. They deserve to be destroyed, not forgiven.

Jonah is so angry that God has had compassion on the Ninevites that he wishes God would kill him. He goes to sit outside the city and pout and watch, on the slim hope that God might destroy Nineveh after all.

While Jonah is sitting there sulking in the hot sun, God appoints a bush to grow over his head and give him shade. The bush makes Jonah happy.

But the next day, God sends a worm to attack the bush and kill it, leaving the sun to beat down on Jonah’s head. Once again, he is angry at God.

God asks Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?”

“Yes,” Jonah retorts. “Angry enough to die.”

God responds, “You are concerned about the bush for which you did not labor, and which you did not grow. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

With that question, the funny little book of Jonah, this parable with its subtle jokes, comes to an end.

Beneath the humor of this story of the rebellious prophet pouting because he has saved a city from destruction are some serious lessons.

First, we learn about the expansiveness of God’s caring, juxtaposed against the pettiness of Jonah, and ourselves. If we’re honest, how many of us really want good things to happen to our enemies?
How many of us really want to help save our foes? How many of us would react with delight to learn that the group of people we hated the most, that we looked upon with scorn and disgust, that we held up as the paragons of evil – had suddenly changed their ways, become the good guys, looked on with favor by God?

We’re really not that different from Jonah.

And yet, in contrast, there is God – a God who cares about all creation. A God who truly wants to see all creation prosper.

A God who cares this much is a God who is flexible in mind and heart. God’s mind can and does change. God’s heart is moved by pity and compassion. One can imagine God sighing with relief when the people of Nineveh repent, allowing God to scrap the plan of destruction.

God’s ability to be moved by compassion, to be slow to anger and quick to forgive, is what makes Jonah so angry.

Jonah as fallen into one of the most prevalent sins of those who believe they are part of a special, elite group. In fact, Jonah is one of God’s chosen people, the Israelites.

But he has forgotten what it means to be chosen by God. God chooses people not for special privileges, but for special responsibilities. The special responsibility of the people of Israel is to be a blessing for all the peoples of the earth.

By going to warn the people of Nineveh, Jonah is doing just that. But he doesn’t like it.

The story of Jonah reminds us that no person or place is outside of God’s care and concern. Israel, and Jonah, have a special covenant with God, but the divine love extends beyond any covenant. We should never begrudge the divine generosity.

The story of Jonah also reminds us that anyone or anything can be used for a divine purpose. And that is why I chose this text for my ordination.

There is a temptation for those who are about to be ordained to “get the big head,” as a Southern expression so aptly puts it. A temptation to feel like we have been singled out, called by God, set apart – or above others. To maybe feel a little bit smug about our own importance and usefulness.

So I thought that it on ordination day it would keep things in perspective to hear the words “God appointed a worm.”

The story of Jonah tells us that when important work is to be done, God calls on a fish, a storm, a bush – and even a worm – to aid in the divinely appointed task.

And conversely, when we’re feeling small and inconsequential, when we feel like nothing we can do will make a difference, when we think there is no use in even trying – remember that the God who appointed a worm to a divine task can surely make use of us.

Amen.

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Readings

Jonah 3:10—4:11

When God saw what the people of Nineveh did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” And the Lord said, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city. The Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Philippians 1:21-30

To me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again. Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well–since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

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