Our first lesson in from Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Some people think that Jonah is just a fish story. But a close reading says that the fish was just a part of the whole story.
Jonah was a prophet sent on a mission from God. He was sent to the people of Nineveh called by God to tell the whole city to repent. There was just one problem. Jonah didn't want to go. Jonah had a good life in Israel. He knew who his friends were and he knew who his enemies were. God wanted Jonah to go to some of Israel's enemies and tell them to repent. Jonah had a good life and he didn't want anyone to upset or challenge his way of living. He wanted the people in Nineveh to get what they had coming.
Jonah decided that he'd travel by sea in the opposite direction He was supposed to be headed overland towards Nineveh in modern day Iraq. Instead he was headed by boat towards Tarshish in modern day Spain. This is the part of the story where the fish comes in. Jonah was in the boat and a storm hit. The others in the ship started praying, each to their own gods, looking for mercy.
The people on board ship drew lots. They wanted fate to tell them which one deserved such wrath. Jonah was the one who came up short. They turned to him demanding to know what he'd done to make heaven so angry. Jonah admitted that God was mad with him. He was the reason for the storm. He told the others in the boat that he was supposed to be serving the Lord God who made the earth and sea. He told them that instead of going where God had sent him he was heading in the opposite direction. Desperate to save themselves the sailors tossed Jonah over the side. They hoping to save their own lives and appease Jonah's angry God by throwing him into the sea.
Time's not out of God's reach. God uses time. Changing what's happening in time to heaven's advantage. At just the right time God sent a great sea creature saving the wayward prophet Jonah.. The fish wasn't in Jonah's plans at all. But God was making a point to Jonah. The time was right to save him and Nineveh. We can fight God all that we want; but God will win. Martin Luther wrote,
In order that the terror of death might be all the greater, not only was Jonah thrown into the sea, where there was no hope for help either from God or man, but when he thought that he must surely die, he was also swallowed alive by a fish, a fish the Lord provided for this very purpose. In this way it came about that, although he was in the midst of death, still he was alive. This is a wonderful account, in which the excellent, most high God has wished us to become very certain that He is the Lord of death and life, that all things are in His hand. Luther's Works, Vol. 19 : Minor Prophets II: Jonah and Habakkuk, ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald and Helmut T. Lehmann, (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1999, c1974) page14.
Jonah isn't really about a fish; its about God and a reluctant prophet. All of us can be like Jonah. When we refuse to follow God's call into the world we are just like the reluctant prophet.
God will call again.
1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, 2 “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”Jonah 3:1-2 (NRSV)
God put Jonah on the spot again. The first time Jonah heard God's Word Jonah ran away. When he heard the Word in the belly of the fish he knew it was time to go. Our reading today picks up as Jonah He walked into Nineveh, found a spot and told the people,
“Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Jonah 3:4 NRSV
If we say Jonah is only a fish story we're overlooking God's call to repentance. Jonah spoke God's word and what he spoke from God to the people in Nineveh saved a great city from wrath.
God's plans matter
Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. He didn't want to help those awful people see right from wrong. He just wanted to run from God's call. We get too comfortable in our churches, our homes, and our lives. We forget that we have God given missions and calls to go beyond our own into the world. God wanted Jonah to go to city and preach. It was not matter to God that Jonah didn't want to go. God was ready to wipe the city out. Jonah was ready to cheer God on in his wrath. Jonah knew that evil that was perpetrated in Nineveh stunk to the highest heaven. Despite his will Jonah was sent on a rescue mission because God wanted to save the people of Nineveh. God didn't care about what one man wanted. God kept Jonah alive in a fish to save others. God can and will do the very same thing with any of us.
We are in God's hand for a reason. Today, just as much as ever, God has value and purposes for our lives and the lives of others. The world where we live in desperately needs God the Father's love and care. We who know the love of the Father are asked to be followers of Jesus. He went out into the world announcing the Good News. You may be asked to follow, just like Jonah was asked. You might say no. You might end up in the middle of a fish and God might ask you to go again.
2000 years ago Jesus went into Galilee,
... proclaiming the good news of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”Mark 1:14-15 (NRSV)
This Christmas a pastor reminded us that Jesus came to the world on purpose, when the time was right. Bob pointed to Paul who said,
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children. Galatians 4:4-5 (NRSV)
Jesus came at the right time to save us. He came to the world as is with the sin and the evil that we do everyday. He came at the time when God's love was desperately needed. He came to people even to those who didn't all accept his ministry and love him. He came to a far from perfect people. Jesus came and gave everything for the people he came to save.
What time is it is for us?
We are Christ's people called to into the world right now. Pastor Rick Warren, in a sermon on January 11, 2009 from a series on change said that America has been wounded and we need healing. Warren named all kinds of isms that hurt and tear us apart separating us from God and one another.
Materialism, hedonism, secularism, racism, factionalism, terrorism, extremism, consumerism, narcissism, cynicism
God needs us to get in the game. We are citizens of this nation and world. In this week of inauguration we have a good moment for the question, “What time is it for us?” Jesus was bold when he started his ministry in Galilee. He told the people of his own neighborhood in Galilee “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe the gospel.”
Timing was everything for God. Jesus came at the right time. We are sent to serve in our time. We are sent and sometimes we resist. We are sent and God pushes us forward just like he pushed Jonah forward. God's sends us out in our time and space because this world needs to have hope based in what God can do with us and not in what we can do alone. This world needs to know the love of God. I just hope it doesn't take time in the belly of the whale to convince any of us that now is our time to announce that the kingdom of God has come near to us in the person on Jesus Christ.
