The Reluctant Ones

When I was a pastor in California we used to go on big service project trips around the country during Spring Break. This particular year we were going to Mississippi to help continue the clean up efforts of Hurricane Katrina. In fact, 2009 was the first year that youth could go and help with cleanup efforts. The majority of our high school youth group was excited to go and do the work, but there were a few that didn’t really want to go. I mean sure they were good with traveling to different states and getting to see cities like New Orleans, but the whole idea of cleanup wasn’t really something they wanted to do. They were reluctant to go and do the work that we were going to do.

When we got to the cleanup sight it was a total disaster. It was hard to believe that four years after and there were entire areas just littered with debris from the hurricane. I distinctly remember looking around the site and the director telling us that there was a fridge on the site and while we may have the urge to open it up and look inside, we needed to remember that this place was just discovered. That meant that that fridge had not been opened for four years. Please leave it closed. We had plenty of other labor to do by hand and the fridge would be handled by a work crew that was equipped to deal with large objects.

As the work went on you could even see the reluctant youth starting to appreciate the work they were doing. It wasn’t pretty. It was rather remote. In fact we were told this house and all the debris around it had been picked up and moved several miles from where it had originated which is why it was in such a remote area. But we started to make a dent in the area and we could begin to see what this natural habitat was supposed to look like. No we didn’t clear the area, which meant we didn’t see the final product. But we did see and talk about how much we had accomplished and how with our help and countless others like us, we were impacting people’s lives and helping to restore nature. As we recognized and talked through all of it we could see the beginning of the transformation of these youth. It wasn’t immediate and it may not have been complete, but they came and they did the work and they at least recognized some value in it.

And let me tell you that youth are not the only ones who are reluctant. When we are faced with things that aren’t exciting. When we face things that are difficult or go against our instincts, any of us tend to shy or outright walk away from those kinds of situations. Perhaps it was the person we interacted with that set us off. Or maybe it was a particular group or stereotype. Perhaps it was our own preconceived notions about it. There are lots of reasons why we choose not to do things or talk ourselves out of doing things that might have a positive impact on someone else.

And that is exactly what Jonah does. We don’t get the narrative insight initially, but it is very clear that Jonah does not want to go to Nineveh. Part of that clarity comes from the fact that not only does Jonah flee, but he wants to flee to Tarshish which is in the polar opposite direction of Nineveh. It is literally in what is modern day Spain. That might not seem like a lot by today’s standards but at that time period it was pretty much the opposite side of the world from where God told him to go. Talk about being reluctant to not just do what someone else asked him to do, but what God has asked him to do.

Admittedly this is a bit of a weird assignment. This is the first time that God has ever sent anyone specifically on a mission to Gentile people. Not only was this a Gentile nation, but this was the capital of a nation that was hostile toward the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They were outright oppressive toward Israel and would eventually be the country that would cause the first exile for them. Nineveh is the capital of Assyria. So we’re not just talking about some youth being reluctant to pick up garbage in another state within our own country, we’re talking about speaking God’s word of repentance to a literal hostile country and people.

Can you imagine what the must have felt like for Jonah? Imagine what it must have felt like for anybody to have to go into the face of someone you want nothing to do with and announce to them that God will ruin them unless they change their ways. But he does it anyway. Reluctantly but he does it. And what he discovers is that the people actually repent and pray that God’s wrath would not be carried out.

It’s at this point where I’m always surprised. Which I know I shouldn’t be since I know the story so well, but the reason why I am is because there are so many other stories where we see kings and leaders not listen to God. We see it with Pharaoh in the Exodus, we see it with kings within Israel and Judah. There seems to be a trend with people in power having, as Exodus describes it, a hardness of heart. I don’t know if it is the power and the desire to not lose that power, but rulers tend to prefer their power over God’s. So it is totally shocking to see that the king of Nineveh declare a fast and a mourning…even the animals.

Then instead of Jonah being shocked that they repented and God spared them, Jonah knows this. He knew that God would be a merciful and compassionate God, very patient, full of faithful love, and willing not to destroy. And instead of being happy about this Jonah is upset. Which is also just something that blows my mind. In fact I just love the passage when Jonah says that, “Yes, my anger is good—even to the point of death!” Jonah is upset that God is loving and gracious and more importantly that if God intended to spare them in the first place why is it that God even sent Jonah in the first place?

Which is a perfect question for us today. If God is the same loving, merciful and compassionate God that God has always been and always will be then why send Jonah? Or why send teenagers on a mission trip when they don’t want to go? Why send any of us to people we don’t like or don’t agree with if we know that God loves them anyway?

I believe the answer is that it’s not about God. It’s about us. We need to remember that people we disagree with, people we don’t get along with, people we might consider the enemy, and even people that might want to persecute us like the Assyrians did to Jonah’s people, are all the same family of God that we are. We need to engage with and love and pray for those who are different from us. We need the reminder that God is a God of all people. We need to remember that we are called to pray for the transformation of hearts and minds in people that like the people of Nineveh they would come to see the love, mercy, compassion, and patience of God. The same forgiveness we receive and rely on is meant for all people and perhaps we can be that one small voice that helps to bridge those gaps and change hearts and lives one person at a time. We know God loves us but does our neighbor? Go and share the love of God and know that as hard as it might be, it is exactly who God was, is and always will be. Amen.