A tradition we’re trying to start in our family is family devotional night. When the kids were younger, I would read to them Children’s Bible stories about creation and Noah’s Ark and Moses, as well as stories about Jesus and His miracles while on earth. Now that the kids are a bit older, we have mostly been reading to them from my Bible. We've mostly so far chosen passages of the teachings and healings of Jesus and the early church that the Children’s Bible doesn’t necessarily cover.
Recently, in a moment of nostalgia, they requested one of the old children's stories. Specifically, they wanted to read the story of Jonah. So, we settled in for a children’s version retelling of the book of Jonah from the Old Testament.
My oldest loves to read, so we let him have the honor. As I was listening to the story, letting the words flow over me in his dramatic storytelling voice, one thing in particular jumped out at me that I don’t know I’ve ever really thought about before.
You're probably familiar with the story, but just in case: The story opens with Jonah receiving a message from God. Go to Ninevah, God says, and tell the people to repent from their sin and turn to me. Instead of listening, Jonah does the opposite. Deciding to try to run from his calling, he hops on the first boat he can which is heading in the opposite direction. While in the boat in the middle of the sea, a great storm strikes. The seasoned sailors are frightened for their lives. This was no small storm. This was a boat-sinking, we-are-not-coming-back-from-this, type of storm. The sailors are largely superstitious, and assume the storm is the sign of an angry god, though they are uncertain which one. They cast lots to discover who's to blame (kind of like drawing straws), and the lots fall on Jonah.
The sailors turn to Jonah and ask him, What have you done? In other words, what have you done to bring this upon us?
Jonah admits he ran from God, THE God, the one who made the land and the sea.
Terrified of the power and might of God, they ask him a second question: What should we do to make it stop?
And he tells them to throw him in the sea.
Curious.
After all, Jesus calmed a storm with merely a word. God had sent the storm, surely He could have calmed it if Jonah asked. If Jonah had knelt down in the boat right then, begged forgiveness and mercy, and asked God to save them, I believe God would have listened.
But no. Jonah asks to be thrown in the sea. He had no way of knowing that God would save him by sending a large fish to gobble him up. Being thrown in the sea was certain death. Did He think God wouldn't listen? Did He think God wouldn't forgive Him?
To the sailors, apparently this made sense. Perhaps to the gods they served, a human sacrifice such as that would be something that their gods would have asked for, so it fit within their cultural paradigm.
But Jonah served THE God. A God who distinguished Himself from the gods of the time by asking for substitutes of animals for sacrifice, not human beings.
Jonah, a Jewish man, would have known this, but the sailors did not. They willingly take him at his word, throwing him into the sea, and immediately, the storm stops. It was an odd way to make a testimony, but it was successful, in that chapter 1 ends with the sailors vowing their lives to Jonah's God.
If we wanted to believe well of Jonah, we might assume his sacrifice came from a good heart, and his offer to be thrown off the boat was simply to save the lives of the others. A martyrdom, so to speak.
But I don't think so.
I think Jonah asked to be thrown into the sea because he wanted to die.
I don't think he cared if God saved him or not. I don't think he cared to ask for forgiveness. He did not want to go to Ninevah. Perhaps he was even angry at God for asking him to. He wanted to escape the call God had given him, but the storm made it clear God meant business. So, he decided death was better.
In his prayer in chapter 2, however, Jonah explains what happened. Verse 7 states, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple."
Faced with the actual fear of death, it was no longer a game. It was suddenly serious to Jonah, too. He regretted his decisions, and he cried out to God.
And God answered.
Then there, in the belly of the great fish, Jonah finally repented and submitted to God's will. The fish spit him out on dry land, and he went to Ninevah.
Sometimes people mistakenly believe Jonah didn't want to go to Ninevah because he was afraid. Because the place was dangerous or the people were unkind or his life could be at risk. But chapter 4 makes it clear the reason he didn't want to go was a lot more sinister.
Ninevah was not a Jewish city. It was a Gentile city. A pagan city. They worshipped false gods and lived godless lives. They had a certain reputation. In chapter 4, Jonah admits he did not want to go because he did not want the people to repent. He knew if they did, his "gracious and compassionate God", would relent from sending judgement. He didn't believe they deserved the same mercy and grace God extended to the people of Israel.
I wish that didn't sound so familiar.
I wonder if perhaps we are not all like Jonah sometimes.
We, too, have a call. A call to do something, or go somewhere, or tell someone about Jesus... and we don't want to do it. We don't want to go there. We don't want to tell them.
We would prefer to die.
Maybe not die in the literal sense of throwing ourselves into the sea, but in a sense of pursuing other things, things which only lead down a road of destruction. We would prefer to chase the emptiness of this world, the pleasures of the flesh and the temporary but addicting pursuit of power and prosperity. We would prefer to seek our own comfort. Our boats are headed in the opposite direction of where God has called us to go.
Is it because what God calls us to is too difficult? Too uncomfortable? Does it cost too much? Or are we afraid of repercussions? Are we afraid if we answer, if we obey, if we follow, the results will not be what we desire to see?
After all, God clearly calls us - every one of us - to love our neighbors in practical ways. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the one in prison, welcome the stranger. God calls us to held those in need, to aid the orphan and the widow and the foreigner. We are called even to love those we see as enemies.
God also calls us specifically to people, places, and actions that only we each hear and know in our hearts.
But we don't want to listen. Do we not want others to have the same mercy and grace we have found?
Today I posted on my Facebook page this quote from Rev. Benjamin Cremer: "If our Christianity is somehow offended by the idea of everyone having food, shelter, drinkable water, and a livable wage, not only does this paint a deeply uncaring picture of our faith, but it also reveals that capitalism informs our beliefs more than the gospel of Jesus."
It seems in White Evangelical Christianity in particular, we see Ninevah everywhere. And we don't want to go there. We hide in our church buildings and in our sanctuaries and we hoard the blessings and the privileges we have to ourselves. We don't want others to have it. As though by sharing with others we will lose it for ourselves.
I've heard the analogy - if you discovered a cure-all for cancer, which you keep it to yourself? I would hope not! Capitalism says you would sell it to the highest bidder or make it available only at great cost. God's Kingdom, however, says we should give it away with an open hand to all in need.
There are many in need. There are many waiting for their miracle. There are many waiting for their Jonah.
Will you answer the call, or will you run from it?
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