Jonah 1:1-17 – Jonah’s Call Story

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Lectionary Readings for May 23, 2021        Pentecost, Year B
Acts 2:1-21  Pentecost – The Coming of the Holy Spirit
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b     v33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Romans 8:22-27    v24 For by hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15  v13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth... 

But this week we’re digging into Jonah 1:1-17 – The Call of Jonah, and also looking at Psalm 139:7-10.

Peace through Leadership Quotes

“The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire.”  ~ Ferdinand Foch

“Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”  ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Through Pentecost, we celebrate God’s passionate relationship with us, we invite God to reignite the fires of our souls, and we open ourselves to let God’s love burn within us and through us. When we are so intimately engaged with God, we have everything we need to create peace where there is chaos, safety where there is fear, and provision where there is need.

Any time I preach or lead a group, regardless of age, I start the same way. I’m going to say three short sentences. Please repeat each sentence, with enthusiasm.
God made me.           God loves me.            God has plans for me.

Preface to Today’s Scripture Reading

We are now in our fourth week of a six-week series looking at the call stories of several major people throughout the Bible. Last week we discussed Esther’s call, a satirical story that never mentioned God by name, but demonstrated God at work through people and circumstances.

This week we focus on an equally over-the-top story, but a very different character: Jonah. This 2,800-year-old whale-of-a-tale is told in the shortest book in the Bible, only 48 verses long. The ancient remains of Nineveh still exist near what is now the city of Mosul Iraq, but much of it has been destroyed by the wars of the last 10 years – bombs and bulldozers have taken their toll.

This morning you’ll hear the first 17 verses, and I encourage you to read the rest of the story later today or this week. But pay attention, because the details are truly comical. Here are a few of many examples:

Chapter 1 – God “calls” Jonah to share a message of impending doom with the city of Nineveh. Since there’s bad blood between Nineveh and the Israelites and Jonah values his life, he does NOT want to bring bad news to the people who hate his people. So he flees.

Which brings me to the geography – and I triple-checked this. Instead of going to Nineveh, Jonah heads to the port city of Joppa, which is modern-day Tel-Aviv Israel. Those two cities are 800 miles apart. See map. From Joppa, Jonah hops a cargo ship to Tarshish, which we think is the southern region of Spain – about 3,300 miles away. Despite knowing better, Jonah tries to escape God and God’s call by fleeing to the other side of the known world. Spoiler alert: this does not work out well for him.

Chapter 2 – After God sends a big fish to save Jonah from drowning, our reluctant hero waits a full three days before praying. Jonah’s prayer to God sounds like a whiny, eye-rolling teenager unwilling to admit he’s wrong.

Chapter 3 – Fresh out of the fish, God repeats His call to Jonah who gives the most half-hearted response. Rather than a preaching tour or big-tent revival, Jonah speaks just one sentence of warning to Nineveh. But it works! The kingdom sees the errors of its ways and everyone, including farm animals, fasted and wore sackcloth in repentance for their sins. (Just try to imagine farm animals fasting and wearing sackcloth!) Impressed by their change of heart, “God changed His mind” (v3:10) and did not destroy Nineveh.

Let’s open our ears, minds, and hearts as we enjoy today’s reading.

 

Read Jonah 1:1-17.

Jonah really is a self-centered jerk who actively tries to avoid God’s call on his life... which is perhaps the biggest reason I like Jonah. His story reminds me that even when I try to avoid God and/or ignore God’s call on my life (and I have done both more than once), God never abandons me, never gives up on me, and continuously tries to redirect my attention and my body to where I need to be.

Jonah had some good excuses for running. God was calling him to go into hostile territory and deliver some bad news. Imagine you heard the unmistakable voice of God calling you to go into a “gentlemen’s club” OR into the headquarters of a biker gang and tell them, “This is not the life God wants for you. A better life is possible, but you must turn from your wicked ways before God destroys this place.” At best, you might get laughed out or even kicked out; at worst, you might end up in jail or the hospital. Who could blame you for running?

Jonah follows a long line of Biblical “heroes” who resisted God’s call.

  • Abraham and Sarah claimed they were too old.

  • Moses pointed out he was a poor speaker, certainly not leadership material.

  • Jeremiah claimed he was too young to be taken seriously.

  • Isaiah felt his lips were too “unclean” to speak for God.

  • And like Jonah, Esther rightfully feared for her life.

While not nearly as dramatic as any of those, I spent years sensing God was calling me into full-time ministry, but resisted that persistent nudging for very rational reasons. Even after I clearly heard God’s patient, still voice, I remained latched onto my objections. The turning point, my belly-of-the-fish moment, happened on Feb. 19, 2017. I was the guest preacher at the United Methodist church in Truckee, CA (Church of the Mountains). After the service, their pastor walked up to me and bluntly asked with an exasperated tone, “So when are you finally going to go to seminary and become a full-time pastor?”

I immediately explained my objections, the impossible hurdles preventing me from taking that next step.
1 – I am horrible at learning foreign languages, so if I have to take Hebrew and Greek classes, I’ll be in school for the next 40 years.
2 – Anne and I are not 20-somethings anymore. We have a house, a dog, and she has a good, local job. Moving into a dorm or apartment just won’t work.

The pastor smiled and said, “No problem. I’m about to graduate from a Methodist seminary that doesn’t require Hebrew or Greek classes AND you can do 95% of the program online – just drive down to LA for a few weeks each year.” OK God, I surrender.

The next day I was on the phone with the school, enrolled as quickly as the paperwork allowed, and started my first classes that summer.

The objections that I was convinced were so impossible to overcome did not actually exist. How often have our own negative assumptions held each of us back? Jonah avoided Nineveh because he assumed they would beat him up or kill him.

This coming Friday will mark the one-year anniversary of our HOPE Food Pantry being open. As optimistic as I am, it has grown faster and bigger than I could have ever imagined. A year ago, some people had very reasonable concerns about us launching this new ministry: 1) we don’t have enough money, 2) we don’t have enough volunteers, and 3) there’s a pandemic.

But we followed God’s call and look what has happened: 1) money and donations have poured in from the entire community and from across the country, 2) at least half of our 25+ monthly volunteers are not church members (praise God!), and 3) we figured out how to safely work and serve together – nobody got sick.

God called, we trusted, we tried, God provided, and blessing have flowed – and continue to flow – in unpredictable ways. If only Jonah had trusted God.

Here’s what we can learn from Jonah’s story:
“The One who formed you in your mother’s womb loves you and wants the best for you. The Lord of heaven, sea, and land also needs [each and every one of us] to carry the message of God’s love and purpose to others no matter how reluctant, afraid, or inadequate [we] may feel. God won’t be contained [or dismissed] and won’t stop pursuing you.” (Susan Robb, Called. Abingdon Press, 2019, p. 84-85.)

The questions to us today – individually and as a faith community – are ones of critical (analytical) self-reflection:

  • Are we somehow resisting God’s leading? If so, how? Why?
    The answers to those questions are the beginning of healthy discussions and prayers.

  • Is God calling us to do or say something that, for whatever reason, forces us outside our comfort zones? Are we willing to be uncomfortable for the sake of helping others connect with a God who dearly loves them?

  • When we look at Jesus’ life of reaching out to the outcasts, of touching the untouchables, of sharing meals with society’s rejects, do we say, “Sorry Lord, that’s not for me.” If that’s the case, what are we willing to do for God? Our loving Creator will journey with us wherever we are willing to go.

Jesus gave everyone the Great Commandments: Love God, love ourselves, and love others (Matthew 22:36-40). Jesus offered no exemptions, no loopholes; we are all qualified to live into those commandments. And yes, it takes work.

Let’s make this personal and immediate. In the coming days and weeks, I intend to follow God’s call into the Great Commandments by pushing myself to do two actions.

1) When people share a personal concern or struggle with me, I’m going to ask them if I can add them to our prayer list. If they say yes, I’ll ask them if I can pray for them on the spot. If they say yes to either, great. If they say no thanks, that’s OK too.

2) I will find reasons to hand people our Fruit of the Spirit cards. I love these cards, but if they remain in my wallet, they are useless. When I give someone this card, I said something like, “The way you showed love / peace / patience / gentleness / kindness with me helps me see God’s Spirit. Thank you for that. I’d like to give you this card to remind you of the gift you gave me today.” Nobody has ever rejected the card.

I may be a pastor, but doing these simple acts – which anyone and everyone can do – forces me to be vulnerable to the potential for people to reject my offers. Yes, even pastors don’t like being vulnerable to rejection. Like any muscle, I must constantly train myself to assume the best and not take any rejections as a personal offense.

Where is God leading you? Consider starting each day telling God, “Help me see where you’re leading me today, and give me the faith and strength to follow.” As we follow, God will provide and blessings will come.

Amen? Amen!