May the mumbling commence!
Are you running from God because you fear that your enemies or those you count as outcasts might have the potential for repentance? Do you realize that repentance before a compassionate God means they will be forgiven – even if some of the offenses that they committed were against you? Jonah struggled with these issues when the Lord asked him to preach at Nineveh. Jonah knew the potential for repentance and forgiveness. He experienced just such potential as he was running from the Lord’s command. Read from Jonah Chapter 1:
But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, "How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish."
Then the sailors said to each other, "Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity." They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
So they asked him, "Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?"
He answered, "I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land."
This terrified them and they asked, "What have you done?" (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, "What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?"
"Pick me up and throw me into the sea," he replied, "and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you."
Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the Lord, "O Lord, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O Lord, have done as you pleased." Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. (Verses 5b-16)
Though the crew was heathen, they knew the sanctity of human life. They had already thrown over their cargo and probably sailed on this trip at a loss, but then they tried to return to land instead of throwing Jonah overboard. Only at the most perilous conditions did they obey the word of Jonah and throw him overboard. But, before they did this, they asked forgiveness for taking Jonah’s life. When the seas grew calm, they feared the Lord and offered sacrifices unto Him. In many ways, the ship crew was more faithful to the Lord than Jonah.
Jonah, after a time in a big fish, finally succumbed to the will of the Lord for his life. Jonah went to Nineveh to preach repentance. I wonder how much Jonah’s heart was in his preaching. His only recorded proclamation was, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” It seems like a half-hearted attempt that encouraged ignorance.
But the entire city (including the livestock) went to the Lord repentant. They knew their sins – even if Jonah did not declare them. They gave up their evil ways and violence. And the Lord had compassion on them. Jonah was furious. Like a sulking child, he waited to see what he thought would be the eventual destruction of Nineveh. He waited under the shade of a vine that miraculously came up one day only to wither the next day. Read the Lord’s instruction to Jonah through this lesson of the vine:
"You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" (4:10b-11)
We are called to be faithful to the Lord – regardless of the outcome we might prefer. May we not complain when we see those who persecute us and make our lives miserable standing alongside us forgiven. God has forgiven our sins – those things that we do outside the will of God. Why should we begrudge the forgiveness of those who have sinned against us? Each one of us belongs to the Great Creator. Let us trust in the wisdom of righteousness of our Lord.
Enough mumbling for today…
Peace Out
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