Running Away from God

Let’s see what we know about the story of Jonah. Oh, yes, he was the guy who was swallowed by the whale. Everyone knows that whales don’t swallow people; gullet too small. So it was a big fish. Probably not. There are no fishes that big. No, this is a story; a fantastic story like any good science fiction piece. The fish’s name could have been “Leviathan”.
Leviathan means  “coiled” is the largest or most massive thing of its kind; a monstrous sea creature mentioned in passing in the Old Testament. Clearly Leviathan in this case was intended to be seen as an agent of the living God.

Jonah ended up in the drink because he was running away from God. God had told Jonah to deliver a liberal, yea, radical spiritual message to the high-rolling, business dominated city of Nineveh. Jonah was no fool. He knew that Nineveh was a tough, maybe impossible sell. He knew that anyone who delivered a message such as God demanded could end up on the noose end of a rope. It would not be hard to think of Rockdale County examples which would probably end in similar failure.

Instead of getting on a ship to Nineveh as he was told, Jonah took a different vessel going in the opposite direction. He had decided that cutting and running was the prudent thing to do. Trouble was, he was running away from the living God! God troubled the waters under Jonah’s getaway cigarette boat and the crew threw him overboard into the jaws of Leviathan. After three days the beast deposited him on the shores of Nineveh.

Up to this point this is a fantastical story, a great story about the endless interplay between God’s requirements God’s children’s desire to avoid God.

The real miracle isn’t that Job cut and ran; nor is it that he was swallowed by the giant reptile or even that he got spit up safely on land.

No the real miracle is that he went and did what God told him to do and the people of Nineveh took him to heart. They stopped short, got out their penitential rags and acted real sorry. I guess some preachers really have what it takes.

Now the miracle is over and the real life drama begins. Jonah gets in a snit; he sulks; he whines. The fantastical legend is complete. Now the reality show begins. Jonah gets mad because God reneges on his resolve to punish Nineveh for its past behavior. You see, Jonah fully expected Nineveh to do what people usually do to preachers—he expected to be ignored. Jonah knew that God had asked him to switch from ‘preachin’ to ‘meddlin’, something the powers that be never appreciate. The Ninevevites did not ignore Jonah. They believed his prophetic utterances and repented. Jonah had been looking forward to some celestial fireworks and when they were called off, Jonah felt cheated and went off and sulked.

God grew a tree over Jonah overnight to keep him comfortable while he sulked. Jonah appreciated the tree, but kept on sulking. Then God burned up the tree with scorching sun so Jonah gave up sulking to take up full time whining.

No wonder we like to focus on the fictional whale. It is easier to make fun of fantastical stories we know are fables than to pay attention to the real life drama which is often so uncomfortably close to our own reality.

The bible teaches us that when God wants us to do something, God will go to a lot of trouble to encourage us on that mission. I remember sitting in a bishop’s office once when he said: “If God wants you to do it, you don’t have any choice.” I accepted that position and stayed 10 years longer than I intended. By the same token I have taken jobs that I thought might be life-long and they ended in 5 years. A couple of years ago I was offered a contract to serve in Taiwan for a minimum of two years. It occurred to me that the offer might not be coming from God. I must confess I have checked the airlines which go in the opposite direction. I also checked the ones that go West. The best you can do is 20 hours. And when you get there the giant leviathan is 100 miles further west with 1200 missiles pointed directly, well, east.

The challenges at any parish including St. Simon’s involve listening to the voice of God. Many people report hearing God say: “Make parish vital and strong by being faithful to me and empowering the ministry of each and every member.” Others hear the voice of God saying “You need to run this place like a business.” Others hear the voice of God saying “You need to be fervent in prayer and study.”  Others hear the voice of God saying “You need to spend at least 20% of your budget on gifts to those who are not part of the church.”

God is probably sending all of these messages. Your job is to hold fast and not run away when your parish leadership announces what they have heard God tell them to do.