Scripture text: Jonah 3:10 - 4:11
Today is Reunion Sunday at Canadochly. We have invited back all those who were once a part of the church who have scattered to the four winds by life and circumstance, family and jobs. We did this two years ago expecting an attendance of 100 or so folks and we got 175. It was such a great experience so we wanted to do it again.
But, in our fervor to get ready for this weekend’s festivities, we got a little ahead of ourselves. Made some mistakes. Upset some people. We had a bit of a metaphorical brush fire here at Canadochly. We were fighting, a church that almost never fights. Emails were flying back and forth. And phone call were coming in. “Pastor, did you see what so-and-so said? RAWR RAWR RAWR!” “That wasn’t Christian for them to say that.”
But, in the end, we did what Christians do. We admitted our errors. Pledged to not make the same mistakes again. We apologized for hurt feelings and misunderstood statements. We cooled our jets and forgave one another. Because that’s what Christians do. It’s what makes us different from the world. We love, even when it’s not easy to like one another. We forgive, even when we’ve been hurt and rightly offended.
The world avenges. The world retaliates. The world seeks recompense for wrongs committed. It’s the way of history. Nation destroys nation. Families feud for generations. Lines are drawn. Accusations fly first, with bullets and missiles to follow. Swords for everyone!
But that is not our way. Or at least, it’s not supposed to be.
This contrast is at the heart of the well-known and beloved story of Jonah. Everyone remembers from Sunday School the tale of the man who got eaten by a fish because he didn’t do what God asked of him. But there’s a lot more to the story than that. The whole reason Jonah disobeys is because he wants God to destroy the Ninevites. He’s trying to game the system so God has no choice but to smite the enemies of Israel, a people Jonah hates with every fiber of his being. And with good reason.
Ninevah is the capital of the Assyrian Empire. History has taught us that of all the brutal tyrannies and dictatorships of the world, the Assyrians are very near the top. These are not nice people. The “Lost Tribes of Israel” you may have heard about? Yeah, the Assyrians are the reason why. They pretty much raped and murdered them out of existence. Ruthless in war. Cruel to their own people. Human sacrifice (including, and perhaps especially, infant children) was the norm in their religion. We think Kim Jong Un is brutal (he is), but he’s amateur hour compared to the Assyrians.
Angus McBride did some amazing paintings of Tolkien and history. Look him up sometime.
And Jonah is being called to go to their capital and call them to repentance for all the wrongs they’ve done to God’s people. But that’s not what Jonah wants. Jonah wants revenge. He wants retribution. He wants the Assyrians to suffer as Jonah’s people have. He wants to do as the world does. Fire, blood, violence, and death!
But that’s not God’s way and the whole story is about how God tries to bring Jonah around to his way of thinking. And we the readers along with him. “...should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” God asks at the conclusion of the book, a question left to us to answer.
Of course, God is to be concerned. Like it or not, he has created all of us. Every human who has ever lived and ever will. Fashioned each of us from the genetics of our parents and ancestors. Billions upon billions of us. Each one fearfully and wonderfully made as I love to quote from the Psalms.
And, in addition to all that, each one of us the reason Jesus came to Earth, incarnate of a virgin. He who lived, died on a cross, and then rose again for our sakes. ALL of our sakes. Everyone of us humans everywhere.
Your worst enemy? God loves them. Kim Jong Un? God loves him. Donald Trump? God loves him. The leaders of ISIS? God loves them. Adolf Hitler? God loved him. Hard to swallow, but true. It doesn’t excuse what they may or may not have done. It doesn’t mean we have to passively accept any and all evil they may do. But it does mean we are called to love them too. It means we are called to bring them to repentance. It means we are to hope that they may come to see the error of their ways and change. It means that we, both as individuals and collectively, are called to show them a better way.
All too often, the Church has wanted to go the way of the world. A way of hatred and violence, retribution and vengeance. We want God to smite our enemies, since they’re so deserving of it. And they are. But that’s not what this is about. It’s not about who deserves what. It’s not about deserving at all. By all accounts, we’ve all sinned. By all accounts, we all deserve smiting. But because of the cross of Christ, we don’t get what we deserve.
God’s way is different. Our way is different.
The classic Christian rock band Degarmo & Key’s final album was something of a critical and commercial failure. When the opening track is titled “God Good, Devil Bad,” you know the creative well has run dry. But there was one gem of a song on that album: “Dare 2B Different.” Probably one of their best songs ever.
We brave the tide
And by the crowd we stand condemned
Living for Jesus
Is never popular with them
We'll take our stand
Like the one who bears our scars
Faith is the badge
That we wear upon our hearts
We dare to be different
Dare to be called strange
Dare to be different
And the cross you wear
Should mean you've truly changed
That is who we are. We are Christians. We are the different ones. Amen.
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