"Think on These Things"

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“Sermon on Jonah” A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett Preached at Pleasantville UCC, July 31, 2016 The Book of Jonah “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD…” (Jonah 1:1-3)

This summer we are following our children through their lessons as they explore themes of darkness and light; stories about God’s people in difficult circumstances and lessons about how our faith can sustain us in tough times. The Book of Jonah is all of that and it’s a winning story for children – complete with a whale… or a big fish – depending upon your translation. But “the real message of Jonah is an adult one [and] with [it] an opportunity to stretch our understanding of God and salvation.”1 Jonah is unlike other prophetic books in that it contains no collection of oracles against Israel and foreign nations. Instead, it is a story about the prophet himself, and the picture we see is very human indeed. Rather than portraying a prophet who is an obedient servant of the Lord, calling his people to repentance, Jonah’s story is about a reluctant prophet who flees from his mission and then sulks when his hearers repent. This ‘little book calls God’s people to repentance, and reminds them that their mission is to preach to all God’s people about the wideness of God’s mercy and forgiveness.’2 This morning we are going to read the entire book of Jonah. It’s rare for us to have the opportunity to read a whole book of the Bible at one turn in worship. But Jonah is all of four chapters – just a little over two pages long – so we are going to take a close look at this text.

1 Beth L. Tanner, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=229 2 The Oxford Annotated Bible, introduction to the Book of Jonah.

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Those of you who enjoy reading along with me as we explore the scriptures will want to have a Bible at hand. §

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Jonah 1:1-16 One of the things that can get lost in the translation of the Hebrew text is the playfulness of the storyteller which often reveals itself in puns or humor based upon similar sounding words. The name “Jonah” (Yonah) in Hebrew means “dove”. The word, Yanah, in Hebrew means – among other things to mourn, to complain, to rage, to be violent or to destroy. So, from the first moment we encounter Jonah, we know that his name has an ambiguous meaning. It could mean Dove – and the dove has a long and honorable history in the scriptures as being a symbol for peace and hope. Or his name could mean something very different, and this ambiguity is important. Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah son of Amittai. The name “Amittai” means “truth”. It’s a name derived from the Hebrew root that means, “to be faithful.” So, the word of the Lord came to Jonah Son of Truth, or Jonah Son of Faithfulness. Already the author of Jonah is setting us up for the story – because Jonah proves to be anything but a “son of faithfulness.” God has called Jonah to prophecy to the people of Nineveh. God wants Jonah to warn the people of Nineveh that they need to change their ways or face their own destruction. But Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire -- the most feared and hated enemy of Israel – and Jonah isn’t interested in prophesying to the Ninevites. He doesn’t want to bring God’s warning to those people. As far as Jonah was concerned, it would be perfectly fine if the whole city went up in flames. The book of Jonah begins in the way of all prophets – with God’s call to the prophet to get out there and say some hard things to the people. Every prophet has to get his or her

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‘marching orders’ and when they do, there is usually a standard response to the unsettling news that God intends for you to be God’s mouthpiece. When Moses was called, he argued that he’d be a terrible prophet because he stuttered. But God reassured Moses and told him that God would put God’s own words in Moses’ mouth and, furthermore, Moses’ brother Aaron could speak on his behalf if things really got rough. When Jeremiah was called, he was sure he was too young and simply didn’t know enough for the job. But again, God reminded him that it wasn’t about him; that he was only a messenger and God was in charge of the project so it was Jeremiah job just to listen and report out what he heard. But when Jonah is called, something very different happens. God says, “Arise and go to Nineveh” and Jonah gets on a boat and heads for Tarshish. Nineveh would have been to the east. We don’t really know where Tarshish was for sure. But scholars believe it was probably a port in southern Spain, west of the Straits of Gibraltar. So Tarshish represents the farthest possible place you could sail in the opposite direction of Nineveh. God says to Jonah, “I’ve got a job for you,” and Jonah runs as far as he possibly can in the opposite direction. There is terrific irony throughout this book, but one of the great moments comes when Jonah thinks it is possible to flee “the God…who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9) by getting on a boat. Even the sailors on the ship, who presumably worship other gods, know enough to know what a dumb idea that is. First Jonah runs. Then he falls asleep in the belly of the ship. Jonah is a model of denial and the failure to live a conscious life. He wants to sleep through the storm but God won’t have it. Eventually he is thrown into the deep waters of chaos and swallowed whole. §

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Jonah 1:17 – 2:10

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This next portion of the text includes the whale or the big fish that God sends to swallow up Jonah so he doesn’t drown when he is thrown out into the sea. Over the past few weeks we’ve been talking about times of trial in our lives. We’ve been talking about “fiery furnace” times. We’ve been talking about “lion pit times.” Today we’re talking about “whale-belly experiences” – times so dark and terrifying “you can’t imagine how you will survive it.”3 Jonah is having a whale-belly experience. He’s dealing with the consequences of his actions. He’s got three days to reflect on his experience. Three days to come to terms with the darkness and deep waters. Three days to remember and re-connect with God. Three days is a good biblical number. Jesus spent three days in the tomb. It’s a time-frame that means – long enough to get the job done. The Prayer of Jonah, which Jonah utters in the belly of the whale, is a beautiful devotional piece for those in the midst of trial and difficulty; those suffering depression, or serious illness. It’s a prayer signaling the beginning Jonah’s conversion. Chastened by his whale-belly experience, Jonah is offered another chance to get it right. And when Jonah has learned what he needed to learn, the fish vomits him out and Jonah gets a second chance. This time, when the Lord tells him to go deliver a message Jonah gets right on it. §

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Jonah 3:1-3:9 But Jonah is apparently only partly chastened by his whale-belly experience. He still doesn’t want to deliver God’s message to the people of Nineveh, so when he arrives he makes the most pitiful prophetic proclamation ever recorded is scripture. It consisted of just 5 words (in the Hebrew) – and it isn’t much longer in English: “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

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The text takes pains to tell us that the city of Nineveh was so large it would take 3 days to walk across it. But Jonah only walks one day into the city. He is like some petulant child, ordered to clean his room, that does only the bare minimum and then says, “There! I did it.” Jonah offers his paltry 5-word prophecy, and the words of the prophet find their mark. People turn their lives around. Everybody repents in sackcloth and ashes. The King steps down from his throne to repent in an ash heap. Even the animals repent. §

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Jonah 3:10-4:11 When God saw what they 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. Jonah delivers his message on to the people of Nineveh, and it works. The people are given a second chance to make it right with God and they do. But Jonah is not a happy man. The text you have in your pews “plays down [Jonah’s] anger with the words ‘this was very displeasing to Jonah and he became angry’ (4:1). [But] The Hebrew reads roughly, ‘it was evil to Jonah, a great evil, and his anger burned.’”4 Jonah is pissed. He knew God was going to be merciful. He suspected it all along. That’s why he didn’t want to come all the way Nineveh in the first place. At our Summer Bible Study this week, Peggy Dominy pointed out that this is what sets Jonah apart from all other prophets. Jonah knows God is going to be gracious, slow to anger and

3 Marilyn Meberg, The Women of Faith Daily Devotional for January 16 (Zondervan, 2010)

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abounding in steadfast love. Jonah knows there’s a wideness in God’s mercy. He knows God is going to forgive. And it really ticks him off. It’s hard to say why Jonah was so disappointed. Maybe it was simply because he hated the Ninevites. Maybe he was looking forward to the destruction of the city. We don’t know. We only know that Jonah was angry at God because God was forgiving. God was the same kind of forgiving as Israel had “always depended on for its own salvation.”5 This last section of the book of Jonah is a bit odd, to be sure. There’s the whole business of the plant and the worm and the sun beating down upon Jonah’s ungrateful head. But Jonah is the only book in the Bible that ends with a question. And the question is about mercy. It’s a question asked by God to God’s own people:

“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?”

(Even if they are your enemies.) Among observant Jews, The Book of Jonah is traditionally read on the afternoon of Yom Kippur, while many families are resting at home before coming back to synagogue for the final service of the day. Yom Kippur is The Day of Atonement for Jews – it is a twenty four hour period devoted to confession, contrition, repentance and conversion. It is a perfect occasion for a story that takes on the dilemma of who deserves forgiveness and who does not. Whether Jonah is able to hear it or not, God’s question rings in our ears: “you have pity for a plant for which you have not labored. It grew up in one night, and disappeared in one night.

4 Beth L. Tanner, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=229 5 Beth L. Tanner, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=229 -6Barrett

Yet you have no pity for the thousands of people in Nineveh and their cattle, and you are angry at me for saving them?'”6 Whether Jonah learns it or not, through him we learn that God cares about all God's children; that God holds all of God’s children to moral standards of behavior; and that God “rejoices at their repentance so that their lives can be saved.”7 Jonah is a story about turning around. Everybody does it: Jonah gets the call and turns around and runs in the opposite direction. After what seems like an eternity in the place of darkness, Jonah begins to turn his life around. And when he does, he is spit back out into a place where the light can, once again, shine upon him. The Ninevites get the warning, and turn around and repent in sackcloth and ashes. The Lord is moved by their contrition, and turns around and spares the city. Jonah’s not much of a heroic figure, as a prophet or even just a man. But there’s a wideness in God’s mercy, and even Jonah gets a second chance -- which is to say, so do we. Thanks be to God. Amen.

6 Amy Kramer, “Yom Kippur: Heroes & Villains,” http://www.everythingjewish.com/YomK/YK_Heroes.htm 7 Saperstein, ibid.

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