Jonah: The Indigestible Prophet
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
Jonah 1 & 2
June 12, 2011
David C. Wright

         This morning we begin a two-part series on the book of Jonah.  This is one of the best-known Bible stories of all time, but I suspect it’s one of the least understood.  Much of the discussion about Jonah seems to center on that ginormous fish and whether we’re supposed to believe that this whole thing literally happened.  I’m sure that some of you think it did happen while others of you don’t understand how anyone could believe this fish story!  I don’t want to spend a lot of time on that question this morning.  But I would note that we Christians believe in a supernatural faith!  We’re celebrating Pentecost this morning, when the Holy Spirit came doing miraculous things at the birth of the church.  And the entire foundation of Christian faith is the resurrection of Jesus, a miracle of the first order!  So, while there may be other good reasons to do so, I wouldn’t reject the historical nature of this story just because of the fish!
          I thought I’d recap the first two chapters of Jonah using a goofy little song I wrote a number of years ago.  I should let you know that my wife, Bonnie, strongly advised me against using this song today.  I won’t tell you exactly what she said, but phrases like “permanent loss of pastoral authority” were thrown around.  Anyway, here’s the song!
          “Once there lived a man in the country.
          He was a man of God and he liked to pray.
          One time he was talking to the Lord at night,
          And he heard the Lord God say.
          He said, “Jonah, to Ninevah.  This is where I want you to go.”
          The people there are evil but I love them so.”
          But Jonah said, “I won’t go!”
          Now God loved the people more than Jonah’s cry,
          So he prepared for him a monster fish.
          And since Jonah was a-runnin’ from the will of God.
          He found himself a one course dish.

          Now Jonah thought about his condition,
          In that awful mess for almost three days.
          Finally he surrendered to the Lord in full
          And lifted up his voice in praise.
          He said, “I’ll go to Ninevah.  Anywhere you want me to go.
          I’ll change my plans around so I can do your will.”
          And God said, “Then I’ll let you go.”
          The moral of this story is quite simple friends,
          More simple than you’ll often wish.
          You better keep within the perfect will of God,
          Or stay away from hungry fish!

          If you feel that such a song does not belong in proper Presbyterian worship, please direct your comments to Larry Bullis, chair of our worship committee!  OK.  With that scholarly background, let’s read chapter one of Jonah. 
          Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ 3But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and such a mighty storm came upon the sea that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried to his god. They threw the cargo that was in the ship into the sea, to lighten it for them. Jonah, meanwhile, had gone down into the hold of the ship and had lain down, and was fast asleep. 6The captain came and said to him, ‘What are you doing sound asleep? Get up, call on your god! Perhaps the god will spare us a thought so that we do not perish.’
          7 The sailors* said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, so that we may know on whose account this calamity has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, ‘Tell us why this calamity has come upon us. What is your occupation? Where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ 9‘I am a Hebrew,’ he replied. ‘I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ 10Then the men were even more afraid, and said to him, ‘What is this that you have done!’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them so.
11 Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?’ For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. 12He said to them, ‘Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.’ 13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. 14Then they cried out to the Lord, ‘Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.’ 15So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. 16Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 *But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. (Jonah 1:1-17) 
          This morning I just want to make a few observations from the first part of the story.  We’ll save our conclusions about the whole book for next week.
          The first thing that strikes me about this story is that God is actively involved in the world, desiring to reach all people, even evil ones!  Located in present-day Iraq, Ninevah was the capital of Assyria, which was noted for its oppressive cruelty and massive  pagan temples.  It was Assyria that had overrun the northern 10 tribes of Israel and carried its people off into captivity.  Those people were never heard from again.  That’s where God sent Jonah, and it’s no wonder that Jonah wanted nothing to do with Ninevah!  But God cared about Ninevah, just as God cares about us in spite of our sins.  God wanted a witness in Ninevah and chose Jonah for that task. 
          When this story was told in ancient Israel, the idea that God would send a prophet to a bunch of pagans would have been shocking.  The Israelites tended to think that God was actively at work only in Israel.  Yahweh was their God!  The story of Jonah shows a much more universal God, who is active throughout the world.  It’s a precursor to Pentecost- where Jesus promised that the Spirit would give his disciples power to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  God is involved everywhere in the world!  You see, the book of Jonah isn’t really so much about the great fish or even Jonah, as it is a story about God and God’s activity in the world.  God is referred to 39 times in its 44 verses, and is clearly the main character in the story.
          Second, we notice that God’s messengers aren’t perfect.  Jonah is commanded to head Northeast to Ninevah- an arduous 500 mile journey through barren desert lands.  Instead he heads Southwest to the port of Joppa, where his travel agent gets him a great deal on a ticket to the western-most destination he can find- Tarshish, in Spain!  Jonah is not the kind of obedient role model we’d like to see as a spiritual leader!  And, as we’ll see later, Jonah is a prejudiced, angry, bigoted man as well.
          We’ve all heard about famous religious leaders who failed to live up to their calling through greed, deception, extravagant lifestyles, or sexual misconduct.  And you should know (if you don’t already) that your pastors aren’t perfect, either.  (Well, maybe Lou is, but I’m not!)  Jonah reminds us that you shouldn’t be surprised when we fail in some way or other.  God’s messengers are not perfect.  They’re simply called to special tasks.
          And that brings us to the good news of our next observation- God can work through imperfect people!  God intervenes through the storm to call Jonah back to do what God wanted him to do.  God even used pagan sailors to help bring this about.  And even though Jonah was disobeying God’s clear command, God still used him to bring about the conversion of those sailors, who prayed to the Lord, offered him a sacrifice, and took vows- presumably to follow him.  So God can work through imperfect people, like Jonah, like me, and like you.  That gives us hope!
          Next, the story reminds us that God can deliver us from anything.  Without the grace of God, Jonah would have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea.  But God intervened and Jonah was saved.  Many of us have experienced times when we have seen God’s intervention in our lives.  Some have been delivered from addiction, illnesses or from abusive relationships.  Some have been delivered from spiritual lethargy or from a critical, angry personality.  Others have been saved from a toxic work environment or some other overwhelming situation.  No matter where you find yourself today, remember that God can intervene and deliver you from it.  Your job is to pray and ask for God’s help.
          And that’s what Jonah did.  Listen to these verses from the second chapter.
          Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2saying,
          ‘I called to the Lord out of my distress,
             and he answered me;
          out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
             and you heard my voice.
          5 The waters closed in over me;
             the deep surrounded me;
          weeds were wrapped around my head
          6   at the roots of the mountains.
          I went down to the land
             whose bars closed upon me for ever;
          yet you brought up my life from the Pit,
             O Lord my God.
          7 As my life was ebbing away,
             I remembered the Lord;
          and my prayer came to you,
             into your holy temple.
          8 Those who worship vain idols
             forsake their true loyalty.
          9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving
             will sacrifice to you;
          what I have vowed I will pay.
             Deliverance belongs to the Lord!’
          10Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it spewed Jonah out upon the dry land. (Jonah 2:1-2, 5-10)
          This prayer sounds a lot like the Psalms doesn’t it?  Jonah, for all his faults, knew the Scripture, and this prayer is steeped in language of the Psalms.  It is a prayer of thanksgiving that God has delivered him from certain death.  That’s a great place for us to begin our prayers, too.  With thanksgiving for all God has done for us.  For deliverance from difficult situations.  For many good gifts- enough food to eat, shelter, families who care about us, jobs, a good church, and faithful friends.  Like Jonah, it’s good to start our prayers thanking God.
          Jonah also repents in this prayer.  He promises to live in a new way.  He takes vows, probably agreeing to do what God is asking him to do, to proclaim God’s Word like prophets are supposed to do.  And God hears his prayer in the fish and it “spews him out” on the dry land.

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