I once read a commentary that stated that if we do not think that God has a sense of humor, we ought to read the book of Jonah. Sadly, the only part of the the story of Jonah that most people claim to know is the story about the fish. Note that the story describes a fish, and nowhere states "whale!" Jonah hated the behavior and attitude of the people of Ninevah, who were especially offensive to the Lord. The Lord would have destroyed the city outright, but then decided to give the people another chance. He asked Jonah to go and preach to the populace and to warn them to turn from their wickedness. Most folks don't know that the reason that Jonah ended up in a fish story is because he was running away from the directive that he had been given to preach to the citizens of Ninevah. So, with nowhere else to go, he went into the city and preached the need for repentance. And lo, and behold, the people repented. Though the rest of the story is not contained in the pericope for Epiphany 3, Jonah was so upset that the Lord forgave the people of Ninevah that he went away and sulked, and the humorous part of the story ensues. Go and read it for yourself.
I will never forget the time in my life when this passage came around in the lectionary cycle and I knew that I had to preach on it. I was serving as a college chaplain in rural Virginia, and was also filling the pulpit of a church who's pastor had been called up into the first gulf war. The first President Bush was posturing and talking tough about the need to get Sadaam Hussein (Some things never change, do they?). It occurred to me that, as hell-bent as the country was on going after Hussein, it would be very difficult for someone to stand up and call for peace. So, I stood up in the pulpit of a church that I had been serving for just a few weeks and asked if we as a people would relent of our desire for war if Hussein was to miraculously repent and turn away from his violent ways. I stated that I did not think that we would relent, and that we really wanted to get him. We were experiencing the kind of feeling that Jonah was having regarding Ninevah. He wanted them to get what was coming to them. And then I uttered the most frightening phrase I had uttered from a pulpit up until that time: I told that congregation that I was opposed to the war and that war is a symbol of humanity subverting the will of God. I also told them that it was difficult for me to say those words, with their pastor's family in the pews and him serving, though not in a war zone.
The service ended and I greeted folks at the back door. The first gentleman through the door extended his hand, but would not look at me. Others greeted me in their normally friendly way, but did not comment on the sermon. And then a man about my age, a school teacher, came through the line with tears in his eyes and hugged me and sobbed and thanked me for my words. Immediately, I felt that I had done the right thing. Looking back on it, one would think the incident was of a very minor nature. But we forget how silent the church was about that war, and how few people were speaking out against it. The next Sunday, the man who had thanked me for my words was in charge of the children's sermon. He had cut up pieces of paper and had asked the children if they could assemble them. When they put the pieces together, they formed the image of a dove, and he talked about peace. On his way out, he looked at me and told me that the children's sermon was offered because of me and what I had said the week before.
I haven't always said the right thing at the right time. As a matter of fact, I have been known to suffer from "foot in mouth" disease. But never have I been more certain that I was being directed to speak truth to power than when that lesson from Jonah jumped off the page at me. If you have not read the book of Jonah in a while, or ever, do it now. Who knows what God has in store?
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