WORD: Jonah 3-4
"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.’ 3So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. 4Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ 5And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.
When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. 8Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. 9Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’
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."
I haven't written in a while. I've been neglecting or avoiding this part of my call. I know that I am called to write, to share a message of hope that comes from a heart and a mind of faith. I have a lot to say. But I have not wanted to say it. I have been discouraged. I have been tired. I have been weary. I have felt indifferent. I have wondered why I am called here. I have been frustrated with church, with myself, and with the uncivil national public debate. We are living in dark times, people. We do not know right from wrong, good from bad, up from down. There is mass confusion caused by a deep mistrust in institutions that used to be sources of truth. Religious institutions are so divided that they are not trustworthy. There is political gridlock and real animosity. The election of 2016 is symptomatic of some deeper problems. Let's call it a crisis on every level; personal, communal, and national. I have been reluctant to speak against the current situation. Not unlike Jonah.
Jonah did not go to Nineveh the first time he heard God call and send him there. Jonah despised the people who lived there. He saw them as evil people, unworthy of God's mercy. And because he believed that God was merciful, he feared that God was going to use him to announce mercy to those who didn't deserve it. Jonah wanted God to destroy Nineveh.
God will have God's way with us, though. Eventually, after a stormy night and a fishy rescue, Jonah reluctantly goes to Nineveh. He walked into the city and gave the least inspiring message that he could possibly give. "In forty Days, Nineveh will be overthrown." That is the entire message. Seven words of pending doom. Notice, Jonah does not say that God will destroy Nineveh.
Upon hearing this word, the people receive it and undertake a massive city wide day of humility. Even the King gets involved, decreeing a day of repentance, in the hope that God's mind might be changed by their changed behavior. They hope to avoid the path of destruction by heeding the warning and taking public action. As a result, God does change God's mind and does not bring calamity and destruction upon them.
Words matter. Jonah announced a hard truth to the people. They were not living in a way that was good, just, or pleasing to God. People can change. The Ninevites publicly shame themselves. They want to avoid divine wrath. They fear that they are indeed destroying themselves. I suspect people know when things are going in the wrong direction.
God shows mercy, undeserved forbearance. God changes from anger to compassion.
We are called to speak hard truths. God is not responsible for our self-destructive ways. There is no one to blame but ourselves. But there may be another chance. We may get to try again. We may get to make amends. Guilt that leads to positive change is healthy guilt.
If I was told that I was going to lose everything unless I stopped doing something, would I stop doing it? Would you? What if I did stop, and my life got somehow better? Would I tell others my story?
As we stand together on a precipice, what do we do? What do we believe? What matters to us?
I believe in the power of mercy, forbearance, and the prospect of justice. I believe our political life can get better, if we learn to trust one another and see one another as brothers and sisters and not enemies. I believe that God sends messengers to tell us the truth, to wake us up, and call us to acknowledge our weaknesses and explore the possibility of our better selves. So pay attention. Someone greater than Jonah is coming.
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