Click here to listen to the sermon.
First Reading: Jonah 3:1–5, 10
Psalm: Psalm 62:5–12
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29–31
Gospel: Mark 1:14–20
A little girl was talking to her teacher about whales. The teacher said it was physically 
impossible for a whale to swallow a human because even though they were a very large mammal their throat was very small. The little girl stated Jonah was swallowed by a whale. The teacher reiterated a whale could not swallow a human; it was impossible. The little girl said, “When I get to heaven I will ask Jonah.” The teacher asked, “What if Jonah went to hell?” The little girl replied, “Then you ask him.”
The familiar and outrageous story of Jonah tells of the one swallowed in the belly of the whale. In fact, some have quipped that the most believable aspect of the whole story is that Jonah was swallowed in the belly of a whale. Jonah was called by God to go preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah says no thank and instead Jonah runs to Tarshish, as far away in the known world as he could go. But God doesn’t give up that easily. God sends a storm at the ship that Jonah is riding on, and Jonah jumps off the ship. And God sends a whale to swallow up Jonah. When Jonah gets spit up onto shore, he goes to Nineveh, preaches the shortest sermon on record, and gets the whole city to repent. Jonah gets depressed when the people actually do repent. We could berate Jonah for his lack of faith or courage, but it is more helpful to identify with him for a moment.
He was given a mission impossible. Nineveh was one of the greatest cities of its day. It was a city of conquerors, with a strong commercial base, superior technology and a powerful war machine. Nineveh was the central city of the Assyrian empire or the center of brutality and torture of the other 12 kingdoms. The Assyrian Chronicles describe horrendous acts of torture, which were employed to create fear and, thus, submission in the enemies of the empire. Jonah had no credentials for such an act of international diplomacy. He would get even less respect than Ambassador of Tuvalu would get in Washington, D.C. (You get extra credit if you actually know where Tuvalu is!)
You might imagine being sent to the Sudan as the government is perpetuating genocide of Christians in the southern area. God tells you to march through the hot desert and tell their leaders to repent, to stop the genocide, to hold democratic elections and respect everyone’s civil rights, use their wealth for the good of all the nation’s people. Surely everyone is going to immediately stop and listen to your every word and repent immediately, right? Or you might be one like those yesterday standing on the steps of the California capital demanding that elected officials stop the legalized bribery of our campaign finance system or the greed of corporations. Immediately the legislators are going to act and corporations enforce new policies, right? We could almost laugh. Jonah had a mission impossible.
The world conspires to make Jonahs out of all of us. The world beats us down and tells us that you can’t change the big picture, so just fall in line and make the best living that you can for yourself and your family. Our faith, our values, our conscience or even our hearts may tell us we need to head East to Nineveh, but we turn around and walk west and get on the boat with Jonah, because it is just too hard. We spend some of our precious time in the belly of the whale, out of touch with our calling, our sense of meaning and purpose.
Michael Lerner wrote a book called “The Politics of Meaning.” Lerner said that to often we give up on our deepest held values of compassion, caring and community because they do not seem practical in the real world. Instead, an ethos of selfishness and materialism prevails by our default human nature. These are the values that we settle for when our deeper values seem out of reach. We may not have meaningful work or chances to make a difference, but materialism tells us that we can at least “Do the Dew”, a diamond is forever, or drive in luxury. We may not be able to bring about racial reconciliation, equal rights or even have the kind of relationships we want, but individualism tells us that we can pursue our own happiness, use others, and carve out our own little niche for peace of mind. Ironically, these attitudes give us less freedom and power. Selfishness and materialism erode community and make it less possible to live the life we want. Possessions can in the words of our second lesson for today put us more out of purpose. Jonah’s way seems easier at first, but in the end we will get too can thrown overboard in foreclosure, divorce, without a job or just feeling broke. But God provided a large fish for Jonah to be swallowed up, some shelter as all the waves pass over him, and the fish eventually spewed Jonah up onto the dry land he was to go. Even later when Jonah gets angry with God for showing mercy and forgiveness to the evil Nineties, God appoints a bush so Jonah can rest from his anger. And when Jonah still doesn’t get it, God appoints a worm to eat the bush and Jonah’s attention about God’s real business and purpose to keep showing love and mercy and forgiveness, even to those who are in the midst of what seem to be evil systems of power.
God has a way of choosing the least and unlikely. God also has a way of getting us to hear God’s call for mercy and forgiveness, even though we more often than not – like Jonah – run in the opposite direction. Even if we miss the boat, there is still the train and I-80 or a bicycle, and God may appoint a whale, bush and worm to get our attention.
God is near, God’s power is at work, hear this good news and follow me. We find many distractions, life-changing power of the call of Christ?
• Love your neighbor as yourself.
• Feed the hungry,
• Visit the sick and you have done it to me.
• Abide in my love and I will abide in you.
• You are the light of the world; so let your light shine before all that they may see the glory of God.
• The reign of God is among you, within you.
• If you have faith, the mountain shall be moved for you.
Yet, God finds ways to get our attention and direct us into God’s purpose. There is this immediacy of the call story in today’s Gospel lesson. I imagine when the first disciples heard God’s call for Jesus saying, “follow me,” I just imagine Simon, Andrew, James and his brother John, that they took off in a mad dash to head God’s call for them and the big plans God had for their life. God is calling all of us to build up the kingdom, to share God’s love, to care for one another, to share the good news. So, let the race begin! And when you run in the wrong direction, God will direct you, rest assured.
The Rev. Jason E. Bense
Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer
Sacramento, California
