Over or Just Beginning*

A Homily on Jonah Chapter 4

Congregation = Cohort 14, Aquinas Institute;) 

My congregational exegesis tells me

That you remember how

the Word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai

Calling him to the exceedingly large

And exceedingly seedy

city of Ninevah

You remember how he went

The OTHER way

You know about the storm

And how it came to light that Jonah was to blame

and how the only answer was him going down down down into the sea

And you know of Jonah’s despair in the belly of that exceedingly great Fish

And how Jonah erupted in pious psalmnody

And you remember how God was there

How God ordained the storm

How God ordained the fish

And how God ordained that stomach

And I know

you remember

how the Word of the Lord came to Jonah yet again

And how Jonah finally went

Begrudgingly…certainly

Whispering…maybe…at least I think so

Wanting the Ninevites smashed to smithereens…absolutely!!!

He went

He went and he preached his 5-word sermon

And the people heard

The people heard God

And God relented at Ninevah’s exceedingly public display of sorrow and contrition

Do you remember though

How all along this kinda crazy tale

there is no shred of evidence…no convincing movement in Jonah at all

He has good creed…

I am a Hebrew, he proclaims…

He knows perfectly the Yahweh of the Exodus

The one who is gracious and compassionate,

slow to anger and steadfast in love

He has this down pat

He has good creed

But his praxis…

That’s Jonah

But chapter 4

I think that’s where things get interesting

the stubbornness

the drama

the re-iterated Sylvia Plath death wish

In the end

We are left with a Jonah

Stuck in his anger

A tantrum throwing Jonah

who refuses to respond to God’s provoking:

“Deal with this Jonah!

Fess up

I know you want the NINEVITES to DIE!

Come clean

So we can move on!”

He Doesn’t

The Book of Jonah

Has a NON-ENDING

The book is left open

Unfinished

The word of the lord came to Jonah

And the word of the Lord came to Jonah again

I don’t know

Did it?

Did it…really?

In the Joy of the Gospel

We hear that God speaks to us

The Lord wants to make use of us preachers

We are living, free and creative beings…

We are perfect for preaching

We are creative beings who let God’s word enter deep into our own hearts

WE do that so. That. We. Can. pass it on to others. 

The word Francis uses is POSSESSION…

We are to be preachers POSSESSED

Christ’s message must truly penetrate and POSSESS the whole of us,

not just intellectually but in our entire being. 

The Holy Spirit calls to us

“ALLOW ME to POSSESS you!!!“

I’ve heard a fair number of ‘call’ stories

(I’ve even made up a few of my own)

I bet Jonah tells a good one

I’ll bet it is good and well practiced

Me?

I’m Jonah

I’ve been called by God

To preach God’s Justice

(notice I didn’t say MERCY)

Funny you should ask

It happened one day

I was just relaxing under the shade of a sturdy Gourd

You know

Come to think of it

That was a sign too

those gourds that have those really big leaves

They are kinda rare around these parts

But there it was

Popping up FOR ME…like a portable ceiling fan

Doing exactly what I needed it to do

Keeping me comfortable while God ‘called’ me by name

It felt sooooo good

Being called and cared for like that

Was I scared?  Well sure

…I suppose…a little anyway…

But I could tell…I just knew somehow…

Me…and God

We were on the same page

You know the ole sayings
'two peas in a pod'

‘great minds think alike ’ and all

I bet Jonah told a good one

A good and sturdy call story

I don’t know about you

But I get a little suspicious

When the call stories are so tidy

If you think about it

Who really ought to tell the call story anyway

Wouldn’t you like to hear God’s side of that story!

Here is how I see it:

What I see is that when Jonah thought the story was over

…it was only just beginning

In the Bible there are 4 chapters to the Book of Jonah

But there IS a chapter 5

There is always a chapter 5

maybe there are even MANY chapter 5's

And I see
that what we have here is a grammar problem

A problem of tense usage

Did the word of the Lord Come to Jonah?

Or Kurt or Charlie or Honora?

Did God call Jonah? Or Ian or Heidi or Ray?

Or is the Word of the Lord coming

Is it always Coming

Is God always calling

“Allow me to possess you!!!”

Some days

Some weeks

Some months…maybe even some years

We might be too OTHERWISE possessed

by busy-ness

by feelings of unfruitfulness

Too Possessed by frustration with the dimwitted and stoneyhearted people of God

Too possessed by our neat and tidy call stories

Too DIS-possessed

Sometimes

When we think the story is over

…it is really just beginning

The Book of Jonah isn’t really a story about Jonah…is it?

It seems to me to be a much better story about God

As a God-Story it really is a great tale for sustaining the Preaching Life

However stubborn Jonah is…

However…Pouty, Dramatic, Angry beyond comprehension, 
however Truly unlikable

God WILL outlast him

God never gives up on Jonah

God keeps sending his word

He keeps asking the question

He keeps offering mercy and understanding

That is comforting!

SURELY

If God does it for Jonah

…well surely!!!

Did the Word of the Lord come to Jonah?

We must watch our tenses

The Word of the Lord didn’t come

It didn’t just come to Jonah

It didn’t just come to me, or Ben, or Lou

It is coming

It is always coming

BECAUSE
Preaching is a present tense activity

My friends

God SIMPLY will not be outdone in steadfastness

That is the Grace I name

And I say

In the name of all us preachers

Thanks. Be. To. God.