It is a beautiful day today. If you are sitting in your family room with a cup of cocoa and looking out over the pristine hillsides covered with their white blanket, glistening in the bright sunshine. But if you are out trying to make your way through roads not yet cleared, it is a mess. I’ve already made two trips to the high school to drop of kids who are engaged in extra-curriculars today and then a little bit longer trip to retrieve the crazy dogs from the kennel where they spent a couple of nights while I was off leading a retreat and La Donna continues her vigil for her dad.
Yes, that’s right, I was traveling over the past couple of days. I was part of the group that crawled along I69 and then was sent off on a cross country journey by men in reflective jackets, following big trucks from Tennessee, bumper to bumper at the blistering pace of 15 miles an hour until we could re-enter the Interstate a little further south, beyond the terrible accidents that closed the road.
I was only about fifteen minutes late to my first session because I made up time at a breakneck pace around and through Indianapolis and boy did I have a story to tell. I had so much fun telling it that the next day some of the participants asked how I would have started if I had not had such a harrowing trip down! Well, I causally replied, there is always something to tell.
There is always a story to tell. That’s is what I do, that is what I am, a teller of stories. What I love most of all, is to take an experience that is not unlike the one that you have had a million times, but to tell it in such a way that it sounds different, sounds funny, sounds fantastical, over the top. Sometimes for the sheer entertainment value. I love, for example, getting my nieces going at Christmas time. They are a great audience for family stories, especially ones about their dad. And the goofier I can make him look the more they like it!
Most of the time, however, because of my other passion, the story isn’t simply for entertainment, but to make us think. A story can help us see something of significance, even in our own lives, that we might have missed in the normal course of things. A story can make us laugh at ourselves, which is something we all sorely need since we have a tendency to take ourselves way too seriously most of the time.
Like Jonah. Now he is a guy who seriously needs to lighten up. He is unique among the prophets of the Old Testament in that the book that carries his name is not really about what God spoke though him to the people of God or to the world at large. Instead this is a book about a man who struggles with his call. And it is told in such a way that you can’t help but laugh at Jonah. This is one true comedy in the whole bible. There are funny bits throughout, but this is a laugh riot from beginning to end. And to spend a whole lot of time trying to figure out whether it is historical or not, whether there really was a fish that swallowed a man, whether there really was a herd of cows wearing sackcloth and ashes, is to miss the joke. It is better understood as a parable, like the wonderful and sometimes funny stories that Jesus tells in the gospels. Full of truth that is bigger than history. So, did it really happen like it is written? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? But did you hear the one about the prophet of God who was called to go east and he jumped the first boat going west? Here’s how it turns out:
Jonah 3:1-10 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." 3 So 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. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then 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. 8 Human 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. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish." 10 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.
The lectionary skips verses 6 through 9, I put them in here to point out one of the themes of the Jonah story. From beginning to end, the outsiders get it before the insider does. The king of Nineveh gets it, from a one sentence sermon by a reluctant prophet, in a way that the prophet himself never does. “Who knows,” he declares, “God may relent.” It’s worth a try, let’s get on God’s good side. Which is the very side that Jonah, the card carrying prophet of God, didn’t want to be on. Or at. He wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Well, except inside a fish. Wasn’t happy about that.
When Chapter three begins, it says “the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” You almost have to read capital letters and italics in there: A SECOND TIME. And the word says “get up.” Why does he have to “get up”? Because he is lying on a beach covered in fish vomit, that’s why. Talk about God reaching out in your lowest moment. Can’t imagine getting much lower than that. God didn’t reach down with a helping hand, however, it was a mission, a ministry, a calling that came to Jonah in his fishy smelling moment.
God is nothing if not persistent. That’s part of the message of Jonah. God won’t leave you alone, will come back again and again with a call. Just when you think you’ve gotten away clean on your boat to Tarshish, or in the belly of a fish, God calls again. A second time, and a third and ... When God has something for you to do, you better believe you’ll hear that voice. Maybe not as directly as Jonah did. Maybe it will be an image that won’t go away. Maybe you’ll stumble across a need more times than could be explained by coincidence. Maybe the voice of God may sound like someone you know who raises a question or makes a suggestion. Who knows?
Unfortunately, the other message from Jonah is that a call from God is likely to be something difficult, or something you’d rather not do. It may be dangerous or risky, it may be uncomfortable or strenuous. Yes, it is possible that the call is your very heart’s desire. But more often it is not. And sometimes even when it is something you’d really like to do, there are hurdles to leap and obstacles to overcome. Or someone close to you won’t think it is a good idea and try to talk you out of it. That is just the way it goes, it seems.
But on the other hand, what a story you’ll have to tell! How God called you and you went, how you leaped tall buildings and mended broken hearts, how you diverted the course of mighty rivers and taught “Jesus Loves Me” to children who smiled so big you thought the sun was shining in the room, how you changed lives and set wayward feet back on the right path. We used to call those stories testimony. And telling those stories built up the church, sustained the faithful, and gave us all a good chuckle from time to time.
Yes, that’s right, I was traveling over the past couple of days. I was part of the group that crawled along I69 and then was sent off on a cross country journey by men in reflective jackets, following big trucks from Tennessee, bumper to bumper at the blistering pace of 15 miles an hour until we could re-enter the Interstate a little further south, beyond the terrible accidents that closed the road.
I was only about fifteen minutes late to my first session because I made up time at a breakneck pace around and through Indianapolis and boy did I have a story to tell. I had so much fun telling it that the next day some of the participants asked how I would have started if I had not had such a harrowing trip down! Well, I causally replied, there is always something to tell.
There is always a story to tell. That’s is what I do, that is what I am, a teller of stories. What I love most of all, is to take an experience that is not unlike the one that you have had a million times, but to tell it in such a way that it sounds different, sounds funny, sounds fantastical, over the top. Sometimes for the sheer entertainment value. I love, for example, getting my nieces going at Christmas time. They are a great audience for family stories, especially ones about their dad. And the goofier I can make him look the more they like it!
Most of the time, however, because of my other passion, the story isn’t simply for entertainment, but to make us think. A story can help us see something of significance, even in our own lives, that we might have missed in the normal course of things. A story can make us laugh at ourselves, which is something we all sorely need since we have a tendency to take ourselves way too seriously most of the time.
Like Jonah. Now he is a guy who seriously needs to lighten up. He is unique among the prophets of the Old Testament in that the book that carries his name is not really about what God spoke though him to the people of God or to the world at large. Instead this is a book about a man who struggles with his call. And it is told in such a way that you can’t help but laugh at Jonah. This is one true comedy in the whole bible. There are funny bits throughout, but this is a laugh riot from beginning to end. And to spend a whole lot of time trying to figure out whether it is historical or not, whether there really was a fish that swallowed a man, whether there really was a herd of cows wearing sackcloth and ashes, is to miss the joke. It is better understood as a parable, like the wonderful and sometimes funny stories that Jesus tells in the gospels. Full of truth that is bigger than history. So, did it really happen like it is written? Maybe, maybe not. Who knows? But did you hear the one about the prophet of God who was called to go east and he jumped the first boat going west? Here’s how it turns out:
Jonah 3:1-10 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." 3 So 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. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's walk. And he cried out, "Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 Then 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. 8 Human 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. 9 Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish." 10 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.
The lectionary skips verses 6 through 9, I put them in here to point out one of the themes of the Jonah story. From beginning to end, the outsiders get it before the insider does. The king of Nineveh gets it, from a one sentence sermon by a reluctant prophet, in a way that the prophet himself never does. “Who knows,” he declares, “God may relent.” It’s worth a try, let’s get on God’s good side. Which is the very side that Jonah, the card carrying prophet of God, didn’t want to be on. Or at. He wanted to be somewhere else. Anywhere else. Well, except inside a fish. Wasn’t happy about that.
When Chapter three begins, it says “the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.” You almost have to read capital letters and italics in there: A SECOND TIME. And the word says “get up.” Why does he have to “get up”? Because he is lying on a beach covered in fish vomit, that’s why. Talk about God reaching out in your lowest moment. Can’t imagine getting much lower than that. God didn’t reach down with a helping hand, however, it was a mission, a ministry, a calling that came to Jonah in his fishy smelling moment.
God is nothing if not persistent. That’s part of the message of Jonah. God won’t leave you alone, will come back again and again with a call. Just when you think you’ve gotten away clean on your boat to Tarshish, or in the belly of a fish, God calls again. A second time, and a third and ... When God has something for you to do, you better believe you’ll hear that voice. Maybe not as directly as Jonah did. Maybe it will be an image that won’t go away. Maybe you’ll stumble across a need more times than could be explained by coincidence. Maybe the voice of God may sound like someone you know who raises a question or makes a suggestion. Who knows?
Unfortunately, the other message from Jonah is that a call from God is likely to be something difficult, or something you’d rather not do. It may be dangerous or risky, it may be uncomfortable or strenuous. Yes, it is possible that the call is your very heart’s desire. But more often it is not. And sometimes even when it is something you’d really like to do, there are hurdles to leap and obstacles to overcome. Or someone close to you won’t think it is a good idea and try to talk you out of it. That is just the way it goes, it seems.
But on the other hand, what a story you’ll have to tell! How God called you and you went, how you leaped tall buildings and mended broken hearts, how you diverted the course of mighty rivers and taught “Jesus Loves Me” to children who smiled so big you thought the sun was shining in the room, how you changed lives and set wayward feet back on the right path. We used to call those stories testimony. And telling those stories built up the church, sustained the faithful, and gave us all a good chuckle from time to time.
So, God called you, eh? And then what happened??
Shalom,
Derek
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