Jonah 3:1-10 NIV
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: 2 "Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you." 3 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very important city-- a visit required three days. 4 On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." 5 The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth. 6 When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 Then he issued a proclamation in Nineveh: "By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish." 10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
“180”
Wouldn’t it be nice… if we could take the one moment of our lives when everything fell into place… where everything was perfect… and let that stand as the shining example of our lives? We wouldn’t have to remember our failures or our mistakes, we would be known for our very best accomplishments. Only the very best of ourselves would be remembered!
If we take Chapter 3 of Jonah, all by itself… that is sort of what is happening with today’s scripture. All the good stuff… none of the bad stuff. We pick up this famous story in chapter three… and if you knew nothing else about Jonah… all you would know was this… [reread the chapter in steps] God calls Jonah… and he immediately answers… he runs into town to proclaim God’s message, and the entire town… even the king… is compelled to repent and follow God. Not too bad.
But there is so much more to this story… so much more going on. In a good news… bad news kind of story… this is the shiny good news in the middle. There is a lot of bad stuff surrounding this passage that can’t be ignored. We can’t just focus on the good, because without the bad surrounding it… this passage makes little sense at all. Without the bad… we can completely misunderstand the good. It’s like a few of these examples from the world of Pastors – the good and the bad:
Good news: You baptized seven people today in the river.
Bad news: You lost two of them in the swift current.
Good news: The PW voted to send you a get-well card.
Bad news: The vote passed 21-20.
Good news: The Session accepted your job description exactly the way you wrote it.
Bad news: They were so inspired by it, they formed a search committee to find somebody capable of filling the position.
Good news: Mrs. Jones is wild about your sermons.
Bad news: Mrs. Jones is also wild about soap operas, the “Gong show” and the “Texas Chain Saw Massacre.”
Good news: The women’s softball team finally won a game.
Bad news: They beat your men’s softball team.
Good news: Church attendance rose dramatically the last three weeks.
Bad news: You were on vacation.
Our story of Jonah is a little bit like that:
Good news: God is finally going to clean up that wretched city Nineveh.
Bad news: He’s sending you to do it!
Good news: You are going on a long trip!
Bad news: It’s for work, not vacation.
Good news: You’re being sent to an exotic location.
Bad news: It’s to the most despicable place you can think of.
Good news: You survived a terrible storm.
Bad news: You are in the belly of a whale!
Good news: The entire town is being converted because of your preaching.
Bad news: This means God will actually forgive them now.
One could read chapter three filled with positives… God called… Jonah listened… Nineveh repented! But that would neglect so much of this story going on in the background. You see… while this story is only four chapters long… Chapter 3 is only a small part of it… only a small portion of the whole story. We miss the point when we cut it down to this.
So we need to remember and understand the other chapters as well. As you all probably remember… the first time God called in Chapter 1, Jonah told him no way! When God pushed him… Jonah finally got in a boat… GOING THE OTHER WAY! In Chapter 2, when God sent the storm to persuade him… Jonah was firm in his resolve NOT to go. {build}
It is only in Chapter 3, that we find Jonah working with God. However… (now this is classic), you will notice that even here… in the shining example of Chapter 3… Jonah isn’t trying very hard. He agrees to go, he heads to the city, and he proclaims God’s message… with an eight word sermon! "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." I wish I could do that… [counting on fingers] “Jesus Christ, the son of God, lives… today!” Ta-Da… No? It was worth a shot.
Now here is the most amazing thing… to me… in this entire story… God was able to use Jonah’s 8 word sermon! “The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.” God was able to use Jonah’s 8 word sermon! Despite his terrible…. And rotten attitude.
Now, many scholars have argued why Jonah had such a bad attitude. Perhaps he thought… surely somebody else could do it, someone MORE qualified could do it! It was the standard prophet block… surely Lord… you don’t mean ME! Perhaps he was mean and spiteful… Jonah could have hated Nineveh… and he didn’t want them to have the Lord’s favor.
Despite what any of us may think of Jonah, we can perhaps sympathize with him a little. I mean… who hasn’t felt unqualified to carry out God’s work. Practically every single one of your new Deacons and Elders… when asked to answer the call… said some form of “Surely, you didn’t mean to ask ME. Surely there is someone else out there more qualified than I.” And even after serving for a while… “Are you SURE you still want me!”
We don’t feel adequate… we don’t feel prepared… we don’t feel like were good enough to do the amazing task in front of us. Jonah’s story should comfort us… God is able to use us. We may indeed be inadequate, unprepared, and not good enough… but our Lord is a mighty Lord who can use the broken, who can use the imperfect, who can use the unprepared.
But you know… maybe that isn’t you. Maybe you are adequate… prepared… and good enough… maybe … you just don’t like the direction you are being called. I am your humble and faithful servant, and I shall go where you call Lord… just don’t send me to Nineveh Lord… anywhere but Nineveh.
So you dig in your heals, put up a fight, and refuse to go to Nineveh. Hear is the scary part of today’s message for those of us who are digging our heals in… if God wants to redeem Nineveh… Nineveh will be redeemed.
“Not my will but your will be done.”
But the good news of this scripture is that despite Jonah’s attitude… despite his failures and resistance… God was able to use him for something wonderful and amazing for Nineveh. May it be also with us.
