Jonah, the Rest of the Story!

Message shared at worship service with the Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation

Friday, February 9, 2007

Rev. Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor

Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, 9248 E. Riggs Road, Sun Lakes, Arizona 85248

(480) 895-8766

Jonah 3:10 NCV

¹⁰When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil; he changed his mind and did not do what he had warned. He did not punish them.

Jonah 4:1-2 NCV

¹But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry.

²He prayed to the Lord, “When I was still in my own country this is what I said would happen, and that is why I quickly ran away to Tarshish. I knew you are a God who is kind and shows mercy. You don’t become angry quickly, and you have great love. I knew you would choose not to cause harm.

Jonah 4:10-11 NCV

¹⁰And the Lord said, “You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died.

¹¹Then shouldn’t I show concern for the great city of Nineveh, which has more than 120,000 people who do not know right from wrong, and many animals, too?”

[A note from Rev. Jim O’Neal: In worship I read Chapters 3 and 4. I encourage you to read the entire book at home. (Jonah only has 4 Chapters.) It is a delightful story, and I make these suggestions: If you’re a “liberal” person of faith stop worrying about the scientific and historical questions. Don’t get caught up in doubts about Jonah being factual or authentic. Just read the Book of Jonah and listen for God’s message! If you’re a “conservative” person of faith enjoy the thought that God can do anything, and that includes supplying a big fish to swallow Jonah. However, don’t get caught up in trying to prove the factualness of this book, and arguing with those “doubters.” Once again, just read, enjoy, and listen for God’s message!

A. Introduction

1. Three Cheers for the Protestants!

a. One fall season the four churches in a small town decided to organize a Community Thanksgiving Eve Service. The service would be held at the Roman Catholic Church and one of the three protestant pastors would give the message. This was a first for this community and naturally everyone was quite excited!

b. The priest was about to lead the his three protestant colleagues down the isle when he realized that he had forgotten to set up extra chairs for his guests to sit on behind the pulpit. In a state of panic he whispered to his custodian who was sitting in a back pew, “Please get some chairs for the guest pastors.” Now the old custodian was a bit hard of hearing so he asked, “Father, what is it you want me to do?” The priest spoke a little louder, “Please get up and get three chairs for the Protestants.” So the old boy walked down the isle, turned and said, “Father says we should get up and give three cheers for the Protestants… Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray! Hip, Hip, Hooray for the Protestants!!!” Tonight indeed is a time to give three cheers for all of God’s children!

2. Tonight’s Scripture: The book of Jonah

a. This story seems an appropriate introduction for tonight’s Scripture text. For one of the themes of the Book of Jonah has to do with our feelings about persons of other religions, races, and nationalities. Now this always surprises some people. Too many folks at least from my faith tradition simply know the Book of Jonah as the story about this guy who got swallowed by a really big fish. A few would add that it is a story about the futility of running away from God. And all of that is true. However, there is more to the story. As Paul Harvey would say, “And now for the rest of the story!”

b. Before I tell the “rest of the story” of Jonah, I remind us of what we probably already know.

B. The story of Jonah, as we know it.

1. Go to Nineveh and cry against it.

a. God tells the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh that wicked and sinful city and “cry against it.” Jonah is to go and condemn the Ninevites for their sins.

b. Now Jonah agrees with God that Nineveh is a sinful city. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire and the enemy of the Israelites. Indeed, the Assyrians would ultimately conquer the northern Kingdom of Israel and haul the people off to be slavery and death. The captives would become the “Lost Tribes” of Israel. As far as Jonah was concerned, the people of Nineveh were evil.

2. To Tarshish to escape.

a. However, Jonah is, also, convinced that God is merciful, and that God would find some reason to forgive and not punish the Ninevites. (See Jonah 4:2) Therefore, Jonah tries to run away from God by going in the opposite direction to Tarshish, which is modern day Spain.

b. Jonah, and too many of us miss seeing two important truths: You can’t run away from God. And God is the God of all Creation and of all people.

3. Ship, Storm, Big Fish.

a. Next comes the part we all remember from our childhood days be it in Sabbath School or Sunday School. God causes a storm: A horrible, terrible storm! The Gentiles try to placate their “gods”, but to no avail. All is hopeless. The ship is going to sink and all will drown. Then Jonah confesses that it’s his fault, because he has disobeyed God, and that the only solution he sees is for them to toss him into the sea. The sailors don’t want to toss him overboard, but Jonah insists. So they throw him overboard and the sea calms.

b. Then a big fish swallows the cantankerous prophet. Three days later the fish can’t take any more of Jonah and has a big bellyache. The fish, and there is no real polite way to say this, barfs Jonah up on the beach!

C. And now for the rest of the story!

1. Jonah obeys and the revival is a total success!

a. And now for the rest of the story! The duly chastised Jonah does as God says and goes to Nineveh. Jonah walks through the streets of Nineveh telling the people of their sins and God’s punishment. The people believe. Everyone including the King repents. The revival is a total success!

b. One Christian comic has joked about this. He said just imagine you’re at the beach and suddenly a whale beaches itself momentarily. The whale vomits out a huge pile of stuff. Suddenly something begins to move in the middle of this disgusting and stinky pile. It looks sort of like a man, but it is all a sickly white. The stomach acids of the whale have bleached all Jonah’s clothes, hair and skin. Seaweed and dead fish cling to his body. He walks up to you and says, “Repent!” I think I would repent!

2. Jonah is angry and God has some “fun” with him!

a. Jonah does not like the Ninevites. He does not care that they did repent. In his mind they have done and will do evil, especially directed toward the people of Israel. They are evil people, period. He wants God to destroy them. But just as he predicted, God does not destroy the city. Jonah is very angry with all this. So he goes out of town, makes a crude shelter, and sits there on a hill pouting.

b. Jonah seems to think that if he pouts hard enough that God will listen to him. Now it’s one thing to pout, but it’s quite another thing to sit under the hot mid-eastern sun! God seems to have some fun as He tries to teach Jonah an important truth. God causes a plant to grow up and give Jonah shade. Jonah really likes this plant. The next day God sends a worm and kills the plant.

3 The Message of Jonah: God’s Universal Love

a. Now Jonah is sad for himself and still angry with God, but he is, also, genuinely sad about the poor plant dying. That’s when God says to Jonah, “You care more for that plant than you do for the lost people of Nineveh.” (See Jonah 4:10-11)

b. God is telling us to have mercy and to love, as He has loved us. But above all else the message of the Book of Jonah is this: God loves all people. We are all God’s children!

D. Sometimes we have not understood the message of Jonah.

1. Cecil Poole.

a. A few years back Cecil Poole was an Assistant District attorney in San Francisco. He is an African American and was living in a predominately white neighborhood. One day his six year old daughter came running into the house with a message that shocked her father. She said, “There’s a cross on our lawn, all burned. Why is it there?” To which Mr. Poole quietly responded, “Some Christian has lost his way.”

b. As a Christian I find few things more repulsive than a burning cross. Racism is bad in and of itself. It is even more disgusting when someone tries to justify their hatred by invoking the name of God.

2. Recent events

a. Recent events continue to remind us that as human beings we have failed to grasp the message of Jonah. Now it is easy for us to point our fingers at terrorists, who obviously do not look upon all people as God’s beloved children. And, of course, it’s easy for us to hate them for the evil that they do to other human beings. The hard part is for us to see these modern day Ninevites, also, as God’s children.

b. Even in our own beloved country we see that there is still much work to be done. It was not that long ago that Rodney King was beaten by police and that the angry mobs then assaulted innocent people. It was not that long ago that a gay student was killed in Utah and a black man was chained and drug to death behind a car.

c. Do you and I understand God’s message from the Book of Jonah? We live in a world that no longer contains faraway places. Modern transportation and communications make every place close at hand. We live in a world with a proliferation of weapons of destruction. We live in a United States of America where today one in four people are not of Anglo-Saxon heritage. We will either learn the message of Jonah or destroy ourselves. But there is hope. Some have understood.

E. Sometimes we have understood the message of Jonah.

1. Gregory Alan-Williams.

a. The beating of Rodney King was appalling to most Americans. Likewise most Americans, including Black Americans were against the riots that followed. During the riots Gregory Alan-Williams saved the lives of two men. The first man was being beat by four young black males, because they thought that this light skinned black man was white.

b. The second man Gregory saved was named Takao Hirata and he is of Asian ancestry. A mob beat Takao unmercifully. Gregory intervened and carried Takao to safety. Several others helped including a fellow with a “doo rag” that drove them to the hospital. Actor Gregory Alan-Williams understands the message of Jonah.

2. Young Peoples Convention

a. The children, youth and young adults of my Church seem to understand this message better than we who are older. They are our best hope! Several years back, my son Jason was the Young Adult Leader of Young Peoples Convention, which is a big gathering of the youth and young adults of our Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church.

b. During every worship service the young people would get up, hold hands, or place their arms around each other, and make a long chain. It was just like that song from my faith tradition: “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” Indeed, “red and yellow, black and white” were all together in love, and singing God’s praises!

F. Conclusion

1. Three cheers for all of God’s children! Today, at our Inter-Faith Worship service we proclaim “three cheers” for the Methodists and “three cheers” for the Jews! And three cheers for all God’s children!

2. The message of Jonah: May we come to understand that all people are the children of our Creator. They are our brothers and sisters. And it’s time we live as people who understand this great truth!

Jonah 3:10 NCV

¹⁰When God saw what the people did, that they stopped doing evil, he changed his mind and did not do what he had warned. He did not punish them.

Jonah 4:1-2 NCV

¹But this made Jonah very unhappy, and he became angry.

²He prayed to the LORD, “When I was still in my own country this is what I said would happen, and that is why I quickly ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a God who is kind and shows mercy. You don’t become angry quickly, and you have great love. I knew you would choose not to cause harm.

Jonah 4:10-11 NCV

¹⁰And the LORD said, “You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died.

¹¹Then shouldn’t I show concern for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know right from wrong, and many animals, too?”

Jonah, the Rest of the Story!

1. The forgotten message of Jonah is this: “God loves all people.”

2. We must ask ourselves: “Do we understand the message?”