| October 28, 2007
You are welcome to reflect on this message “Hearts Two Sizes Too Small” (Jonah 3:10-4:1) – October 28, 2997
As kids, we all watched the movie “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. Dr. Suess’ poetry resorts to humor, spoofing a guy who couldn’t stand it that people were happy; enjoying life summed it up with this classic line trying to explain something so out of the ordinary: “It could be his head wasn’t screwed on right; it could be his shoes were too tight but the most likely reason of all, was his heart was 2 sizes too small. A that sums up the root of every problem we face today. Dr. Suess has a great classic line.
As far as I’m concerned, the book of Jonah has the best last line in the Bible: “And should I not be concerned about Nineveh,” God says to Jonah, “that great city, in which there are more than 120 souls who don’t know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” It’s a good thing it was the end, for if there was a response from Jonah, I suspect it would be something like: “No, God, you should not be concerned about Nineveh, no matter how many people or animals live there. Not only do they not know their right hand from their left; nor the Lord God from a hole in the ground. Just wipe ‘em out! Problem solved.
Jonah’s a hard guy to defend. And the Book entitled with his name throws us a curve in the OT. Plus its a little weird. In it God “repents,” and a preacher is the goat of the story ‘cause he gets mad when his preaching is effective! I told you it’s odd! Called by God to a little mission work in a despised country, Jonah wanted nothing to do with it. It was so distasteful that he got on the next boat headed the other way and nearly got everyone on board killed before God sent a taxi in the form of a whale to turn Jonah around and spit him out in the right direction! It that outlandish or what? But that’s not the real story.
It’s not that Jonah was afraid to be a prophet. He just despised the people God wanted spared. Nineveh was gentile territory, the capital of Assyria, (now known as Iraq) which was as hostile to Israel as it is today. Things haven’t changed much between the two nations over the years. Jonah didn’t want any part of it. 1) Because he knew what usually happens to God’s preachers. And 2) because he had no desire to participate in Nineveh’s salvation. If the city was bound for hell, then so be it. He for one wasn’t about to intervene. But God had a different idea, which Jonah eventually realized he was going to be a part of it whether he liked it or not. So the 2nd time God sent Jonah to Nineveh he went, not because he had a change-of-heart, but because he had no choice. His only consolation was the enjoyment of pronouncing judgment on the Assyrians.
Jonah had good reason not to like ‘em. (About like the Socks have reason not to like the Yankees). They had devastated Jewish cities and deported the survivors to become their slaves. If Jonah was to be their next victim, he wanted to make sure he got in a few good licks before he went down. So the reluctant prophet showed up in Nineveh, with a Bible in hand and fire in his heart, spreading the word that there was going to be a revival in town tonight. Hoping nobody would show up, man was he in for a surprise! Everybody came. There was standing room only. Even the king was there on the front row decked out in his purple robes.
Jonah can’t wait to get started. So he pulls out his white handkerchief and clears his throat, rocks back on his heels and lets it fly: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall perish!” he shouts into the microphone, shaking his index finger in the air. And that’s it. The sum total of Jonah’s preaching is a 7-word sermon! And as soon as he blurted out his message of judgment the whole town repents! “Yes! You said it, we believe it and that settles it!” The king orders a city wide fast and leads the people in changing into sackcloth and ashes...and there stands the successful, recalcitrant prophet all alone before he even breaks out into a sweat. Anybody who’s had to do something they didn’t want to do ought to understand Jonah.
Meanwhile the Ninevites cry mightily to God and God spares them because the revival was declared a stunning religious victory. With one 7-word sermon, no illustrations, not even a scriptural text, Jonah has accomplished more than all the other prophets combined! Amos preached for days and never had a single convert. Jeremiah was mocked and repudiated. Micah cried, “How long?” and here’s Jonah, who hoped he would fail, converted the biggest city in the enemy empire!
Jonah should be happy, right? But he’s so mad he could die. The last thing Jonah wants is for the Assyrians to be spared. He wants the whole place to burn in hell. But more important than this--Jonah wants to be right. But God is right: “Um, excuse me, Jonah, but I changed my mind.” Everybody’s changing and repenting--except Jonah. The Ninevites repent. God repents. Even the cows and goats repent! But Jonah does not repent. And the more they repent, the worse he looks. So he slinks off to the outskirts of town and hopes God will change his mind again, because he can’t accept the possibility that God’s idea of justice might not coincide with his. I mean, whose side is God on here anyway? That’s the underlying question of the story.
Whoever wrote this treatise must’ve had a “twinkle in her eye,” because there’s a divine sense of humor running throughout it. And even Jonah’s sulking can’t keep God from playing around a little bit. Jonah’s hunkered down in his hut, hoping for an earthquake and God tries to make him happy by appointing a castor oil bush to grow up over his head, to shade him from the sun. And Jonah liked the bush as much as he didn’t like what happened in Nineveh. But his happiness is short-lived. The next day God appoints a worm to attack the bush and Jonah again threatens to die, as if this will ruin God’s day or something.
“Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” God wants to know. And it is a trick question if there ever was one. If he says “no,” he shouldn’t be angry about the bush, then it’s really God’s business and that’s tantamount to admitting that the job of running the world is already taken. So he can’t go there. But if he says “yes,” he should be angry about the bush, then he opens the way for God to compare the fate of the bush with the fate of the Assyrians and Jonah would get a good look at his pettiness.
So “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” “Yeah,” says Jonah, “Angry enough to die!” Now if you’ve never felt like that, then you probably won’t get the story’s punch line, whose author is poking a finger into the ribs of those of us who want God’s mercy for ourselves and God’s justice for everybody else. We love it when undeserved blessings come our way, don’t we? Even cook up reasons why we may deserve them, like “This little castor oil bush grew up to shield me from the sun’s heat because God gave me an unexpected bonus for my faithful obedience.”
Undeserved blessings are supposed to go only to the deserving. We are such bookkeepers! But God’s not. When those we think ought to go to hell end up in heaven, and when people we judge most harshly receive the love of Christ, that’s when we start whining, that there’s something unfair about grace. Or is it that God just doesn’t keep track of things like we do; nor spending time deciding who is worthy and who is not. Apparently God sees enough good in the worst of us and bade in the best of us to send his only begotten Son to redeem all of us. The Book of Jonah is saying God doesn’t give any of us what we deserve, only what we need. And living in this world from day to day makes it very difficult to trust God’s judgment on that score.
There’s not a child alive who appreciates the favoritism of a parent towards a brother or sister, when he doesn’t get any. There is a clock and a calculator installed in the head of every kid. Spend five minutes more on his homework than her homework; offer a nickel more to this one than that one; buy one a new pair of shoes for school and a toy for the other one, and you know what comes next: That’s not fair! If it were fair it wouldn’t be grace. That’s justice. Justice is getting what’s coming to you. Grace is not getting what’s coming. That’s amazing. God’s sense of grace trumps his justice and we make the mistake of thinking God sees things the way we do.
The Grinch turned out all right, once his heart grew three sizes. But Jonah never made it. Bitterly disappointed in his success and God’s mercy. God’s pouty-prophet was bitter to the end. And where did that get him? Its hard to see that from where GOD sits, we’re all a mess! Some of us clean up better than others and some have figured out how to manage our fears by trying to control what can’t be controlled. But when you get right down to it, we understand Jonah’s misgivings about embracing God’s inclusiveness. Because isn’t there something within us that makes all of our hearts are about two sizes too small? Coming back and forth to The Meeting House ought to swell our hearts, to be kinder, gentler, fairer, big enough to include those who are not like us, who don’t deserve it, or live up to our standards. Only I don’t think God would put it like that because from where God sits, I suspect we look more like bewildered, hurt, lost children...all of us in need of mercy. Is there anybody here today who doesn’t need that?
So Jonah is a parody on prejudice, and how bad we look when our outlook is so narrow. Jesus must’ve preached on Jonah often. Because he was always running into religious people like Jonah, who got mad at God’s blessing policy. Too inclusive! He answered the sign seekers “There is no sign but the sign of Jonah!” Jonah’s satire could be where he got the notion to say, “Not everyone who says ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven.” His classic about the prodigal son ends just like Jonah, with the elder brother on the outside, pouting, unwilling to go inside because God forgave his rascal brother.
If the Assyrians are spared, who won’t shout hallelujah? As I see it, only those who’ve forgotten who they are. The rest of us will be at the party, whooping it up with the others “Who don’t know their right hand from their left...and also much cattle.”
Pastoral Prayer
We praise Thee for life’s intangibles: the lift of a loving voice; the strength that comes from accepted sorrow; the excitement of a shared purpose. We praise Thee most for faith to light our way; for everything within us that urges us to call Thee Father, for the gift unspeakable, your only Son, full of grace and truth.
Make us grateful for one another’s presence this morning; open to each other’s needs; careful of each other’s rights; and happy for each other’s gains. Let Thy presence fill those homes where death looms; let Thy healing light kindle trust in those who are sick; and your joy overcome the bitterness of those who’ve forgotten how to laugh. Shape your grace around our inmost needs so that this congregation has an outward, forward look, through Christ our Lord, amen.
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