One thing you must understand is that Jonah is not the only reluctant prophet. Okay, so he was the only prophet to be swallowed by a large fish, and he was the only prophet to run away to another country in an attempt to get away from God. But taking God’s message to the people, any people, was a scary thing. Jonah, perhaps of all the prophets, did the most human thing when he tried to run away.
What is unique about Jonah?
I wonder what we might see as the defining moment for Jonah?
Was it right at the start when God said: Go to Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.
Certainly this is a clear and distinctive call from God. The job description is unequivocal, the task unmistakable.
Perhaps the defining moment came when Jonah decided to run away. Surely fleeing from the Lord under normal circumstances would have defined Jonah as the prophet who ran away.
In truth, life is full of defining moments.
Both the call and Jonah’s reaction are moments of great significance in the shaping of Jonah’s life and ministry. Let’s list out the other defining moments that shape this story.
There’s the storm in which God gets Jonah’s attention; the moment Jonah takes responsibility; his submission to God by being thrown into the sea.
God’s provision of a huge fish to rescue Jonah in a most remarkable way.
Perhaps the most significant moment of all is when Jonah prays from inside the fish: What I have vowed, I will make good.
There are still more moments to define the shape of Jonah’s ministry; the response of the Ninevites, Jonah’s anger at God, and his petulance over the weed.
But in all this, what defines Jonah most is not what he does or says, where he goes or where he doesn’t. What defines Jonah most is his relationship with God.
It is God’s call, God’s message, God’s persistence, God’s grace, God’s rescue plan, God’s granting of a second chance, God’s concern for Nineveh, God’s eternal purposes. These are the things that define Jonah. Not big fish and personal misery.
When God looked at Nineveh he saw the sin of the city and its people. He knew that the only logical thing to do was to judge the city and be done with it.
But our God is full of compassion and love. A compassion that Jeremiah reminds us is renewed every morning. So, when he sees sin he judges it, but he also looks for a way to bring the message of grace to bear upon it. He looks for a man, a person, who will speak his truth into the situation. And as he looks, he waits for a response.
Jonah’s message was simple: Forty days more and Nineveh will be overthrown. The people of the city clearly understood what this was all about and the decree goes out: give up your evil ways, and they do, and God sees and God does not destroy them.
Jonah’s message, much to his surprise is a message of hope wrapped in the grace of God. A message that both Nineveh and Jonah needed to hear.
So where does that leave you and me?
Well we could ask ourselves where we would put ourselves in the story.
Are you:
Running away from God?
In the middle of a storm, but asleep, hoping it will go away?
Have you reached the point of taking responsibility and preparing to put yourself in God’s hands?
Do you feel like you are in the darkest place?
If this is where you would put yourself then let me ask you this: Are you praying in that place?
Are you out of the fish, on dry land again and ready to do what God has asked you to do?
Are you doing it?
Are you angry with God, with other people?
Are you sitting under a weed, miserable with yourself and with God?
Where are you?
