The past couple days one of our daily readings was from Jonah. I think the story of Jonah is a parable. Whether it intends to give us straight history or not is not my concern. What the story means, what it speaks to us today, is very much my concern.
Two things that jump out in the story are the nature of God and the nature of (the) man. Jonah, sitting in the 'big fish' cries out to God. His prayer is obviously a psalm and while thematically it resonates with his situation, it is not a prayer composed for the situation. The actual language is generic and no specific to the narrative which is unfolding in this short story. So one take away is the value of psalms for our own prayer life. I have advocated the use of psalms (using, for example, the Book of Common Prayer or the Roman Catholic Office) as a foundation for our daily prayer discipline.
Today centers on Jonah's prayer to die. He does this twice. Such prayers are not unusual in the OT. I believe Moses made a similar prayer himself. While Jonah sound pretty whine-y as he makes this request, I fight the urge to judge him. After all, I am part of a large group of people who have felt the same way from time to time. The desire to escape life and the struggles of each day weigh heavy on many of us. "I wish I were dead" or "I wish I had never been born" are not foreign desires. There is a reason why "It's a Wonderful Life" is such a big part of the holiday tv viewing habits of many of us. We have been there and done that and we want to believe life is worth it, and that we are worth it.
Jonah's motivation for his crisis of hope has to do with the nature of God and I think that is the most important element of the story. The reluctant prophet has proclaimed God's judgment on the pagan city of Nineveh. The response is mindblowing. Everyone, including the king, repent in ashes hoping God will relent and change His mind. And Jonah is mad. Basically, he complains, "Why did I have to preach to these people when you are going to show them mercy." His gripe is that God is slow to anger and abounding in kindness. For Jonah that is a problem.
And if Jonah's depressed death wish is something so many of us are familiar with then his frustration with God's mercy is also a common feature of our lves as well. For many of us, God's wrath (on others) is a welcome friend. We cannot wait until Heaven opens and pours flames of fierce judgement down upon the deserving heads of all those people "who disagree with us." Like the psalmist (on occassion) we pray God's mercy on our sins and His judgment to destroy our enemies.
Jonah did not want success in his preaching. He wanted to see blood. What is it about us that we are so motivated by such desires? Yet, one must admit that there are two streams in Scripture. Mercy and Judgment both occupy a place in Sacred Writ. There is something abominable about Universalism. Do we want a world where there is no accountability? Is the rapist and murderer to go free because "it's okay"? Are the martyrs beneath the altar (Book of Revelation) to be silent as their persecutors add daily to their numbers; maiming and massacring without concern?
On the other hand, would we deny the venue of repentance? Are sorrow, penance and reform of life to be limited only to "people like us"? Would we sit with Jonah and await impatiently for the mushroom cloud or would we hear God's concern, "it is a city of 120,000 ignorant people, besides all the animals."
The role of evangelism is to invite people to love and serve the Lord. We need to hear with both ears. We need to understand the reality of judgment. We must also trust that the heart of God is set on salvation. We prayed Psalm 87 on Wednesday morning. It is part of the Jonah stream of revelation. It is part of the story about God's mercy for all people, even those "outside." "I count Egypt and Babylon among those who know Me; behold Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia: in Zion were they born. Of Zion it shall be said, "Everyone was born in her,..." Everyone??!!?!
God's word is a mirror. Like an ancient mirror, it does not reflect perfectly the face of God. There is distortion. There is also the problem of 'too much' and 'too little.' How can human concepts convey the eternity of God? So instead we get facets, streams and currents which mix and mingle in the great ocean of God's revelation.
Am I Jonah? Do I despair at the salvation offered others? Do I long to see "those people" destroyed? Or do I understand His grace is manifest in the call, and human response unlocks the treasure? Do I use Universalism as an excuse for not proclaiming Judgment and Wrath? Do I shirk my divinely appointed responsibility to warn the wayward and hide behind a (non-Biblical) optimism which has no ground in reality (beyond my wishful thinking)?
"Repent," Jesus said, "The Kingdom of God draws near, Believe the Good News." And in saying this He continues God's plan, a plan which Jonah seems uncomfortable with. Jesus faithfully preaches and more faithfully desires the life of sinners. He is also clear that there is a choice. Two paths; life and death. Do we share that belief and that burden for our fellow wanderers on the planet?
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