Jonah and the Road to Nineveh

After preaching about Jonah for one of the Downtown Albemarle ecumenical services, I became intrigued with his story.  I believe Jonah's life and the way that he dealt with his call from God has an impact on how we live our lives and follow our calls in this season of Lent.

Walls of Nineveh

When Jonah was called by God to go prophesy to the people of Nineveh, he turned away from the path which God laid out before him.  We often think that the reason Jonah turned aside from God’s path was because he was afraid or because he feared the difficulty he might face.  This is not too much of a stretch of the imagination, since Nineveh was one of the primary cities in the Assyrian empire, an enemy of Israel.  We can understand why Jonah might be afraid to go prophesy to people whom he feared.  Yet this was not the reason Jonah turned aside.

We may also feel that Jonah turned aside from his calling because he was unsure of himself.  Perhaps he didn't know if he was up to the task.  Perhaps, like Moses, he didn't believe he had it in him to prophesy God’s message.  We can also relate to this.  Many times in our lives we come across situations which make us fear our inadequacy.  But this is also not the reason that Jonah turned aside from God’s path.

It was not fear or lack of self-confidence that caused Jonah to run away from God’s call in his life.  We find out in the final chapter of the book of he that he ran from God’s calling because Jonah already knew what was going to happen.  He already knew that God is, “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (Jonah 4:2).  Jonah knew from the very beginning that if he went to Nineveh, a city which he loathed, and proclaimed God’s word, the people there would repent and God would be forgiving.

Jonah made many mistakes in the course of his journey.  But there is one mistake which he made that we often find ourselves making:  Jonah thought he was God.  This was not in the sense that he believed that he was all-powerful or super human. Jonah thought that he was the one who could decide the fate of others; he thought he knew how things should be done best.

So often we think that we have a corner on the market.  So often we think that we know the right path, that we know what God would want.  We think that we know what judgment is right and we are too quick to act on that judgment.  When we judge others and find them lacking, we are trying to take God’s place. Romans 2:1 says, “You have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.”

While we may think we know God’s ways and while we may think we understand who’s in and who’s out, we are constantly reminded that it is God who is in charge of all things, including any kind of judgment.  Just as God is the one in control throughout the book of Jonah, God is in control of our lives. It is a useless practice for us to pass judgment on those around us.  Was it not the least likely person who stopped on the road to Jericho to help a beaten man?  Was it not the Samaritan who aided a stranger in need?  When we act like Jonah and try to limit God’s forgiveness, or try to act like we are God when we judge others, we disobey the command to love our neighbors.

During the season of Lent, as we turn our focus to aligning our lives with God’s love, we have a chance to set aside our misconceptions about who is God and who is not.  We have the chance to set aside our foolish belief that we know the boundaries and extents of God’s love.  We have a chance to let God be God, as we seek to follow the road to Nineveh.