is this my life

or am i breathing underwater

A Sermon on the book of Jonah:

A a life-long Cubs fan, it’s great the club no longer lives under “the curse.” Truth be told, though, I never stayed up to watch the games. Not an inning, not even a pitch. 

Perhaps it’s because being called to live in the church has given me something more interesting to do. Honestly, though, it’s because watching the chagrin of the Cardinal’s fans was even better. 

Deep down, I love a little “schadenfreude.” You know, that sweet joy of witnessing someone else get theirs. 

As someone who constantly has little heathens like you throwing my words back in my face, I relish the chance to watch others wince as something they said comes back to bite them.

Which why I just love this book of the prophet Jonah…

Jonah. All we remember, though, is the whale, the big fish. 

In confirmation every now and then, an inquisitive student will ask if it really happened, if Jonah was actually eaten by a whale. 

And all there is to say is, with everything else that happens in the book, that’s the most believable part!

Jonah, who should, and certainly thinks he knows best. And Jonah, who at every turn, has what he thinks he knows turned upside down and inside out.

Jonah doesn’t know he can’t get away from God. He hasn’t a clue what it could mean that God has noticed the Ninevehites’ wickedness. Finally, he doesn’t even know what the fulfillment of his prophecy looks like!

The book begins by saying the word of the Lord came to this Jonah, sending him with a message to the capital of his country’s worst enemy.

We all know that instead of going, though, he ran away. It’s not just that he ran away, though. The first thing he does it hightail it out of Israel. Then, he goes the opposite direction of of his assignment. Jonah is doing everything he can to desperately try to get away from God.

Not that he knows how to, or even can, do it. 

It’s a funny detail, when he reveals his identity to the mariners. “I’m a Hebrew,” he mumbles. “I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 

Jonah knows enough about God to give the right Sunday School answer. But he doesn’t know enough to realize going to sea won’t get him out of God’s presence!

Jonah thought he knew how to get away from God. As the mariners toss him off the boat, though, he goes head over heels right along with what he thought he knew!

Then the whale. Then he’s spit-up on the shore. Then the word of the Lord comes to him a second time. Not telling him after that stunt he’d better run, but instead saying, “let’s try again, Jonah.” 

At least Jonah gets it through his skull that he can’t get away from God. That’s about all he learns, though. Because he goes only goes a third of the way into a city that takes three days walk, and then gives the most half-hearted sermon in the history of the Bible. 

Remember that next time I give a stinker.

“Forty days more,” Jonah says flatly. Adding, “(T)hen Nineveh shall be overthrown!” In the greatest understatement in the Bible, the narrator informs us, “(T)he people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth(!)”

Jonah figured it was all a matter of formality, that he was to go and tell those Ninevehites it’s their turn, that God’s going to get them.

The people of Nineveh, though, take Jonah’s word as a heads-up. They all repent! From the pauper to the prince! They repent. 

As we hear in scripture, that’s exactly the way God wants the word to be taken! Instead of razing the city, God turns from the wrath and let’s the people live! 

Repentance is what God is after…

Jonah thought he knew what God’s message meant. As he runs from Nineveh, his turns tail the same way his expectations were.

It’s at this point that our passage ends, but there’s still one another chapter in this great book. 

Jonah goes to a bluff overlooking Nineveh. Sulking, he shouts at God. This is just the sort of thing I figured you’d do. Forgiving sinners like these! Eww. 

Trust me, I know how Jonah feels…

The books ends with Jonah still sulking.

Because although there’s a great conversion. (And I’d be happy just to convert a few of you heathens!) The problem for Jonah is his prophecy didn’t come true. It was wrong.
He gave God’s message, telling the people it was only a matter of time before God let them have it.

When God relents from the punishment, Jonah’s prophetic career crumbles. As fas as Jonah sees it, he’s a failed prophet…

Don’t you just love it? What? Sorry, but I take pleasure in seeing some other man of the cloth take a few knocks…

Because me and all the Cardinal fans out there, we aren’t the only ones who know what it’s like to have our expectations upended. Are we?

Today is a day we call “All Saints.” Today the Church has us remember those we’ve laid to rest. Today the Church tells us that those we think we know everything there is to know about, are also granted the extraordinary designation of “Saint.”

“Who,” we protest. “Him? Sure he served on the council once, but he missed half the meetings.” Or “her,” we ask. “Okay, she quilted blankets. But She was an old crank most of the time.”

All of us, along with Jonah, we think we know all there is to know about God. And God’s people, for that matter. 

And we too know what it’s like to have God’s grace upend all our assumptions. When that wag is buried, only to have the pastor rhapsodize about another saint lost. Or getting a pastor that’s no better than the rest of us. The way he mocks us over it, just shrugging. Quipping, that’s the way God likes it; choosing sinners to be saints…

Because that’s what at stake with this day and our passage: God’s grace that turns everything upside down. That Jonah, the prophet, is outdone by the pagan mariners and the wicked Ninevehites.

That we too, the good ones who made it here this morning, have to hear about God making saints out of those who are sleeping in as we speak!

Because that’s the Good News of this day and our passage, too: God’s grace that turns everything upside down. 

Right?

It’s not just that God could make someone like _____________________ into a saint. And it’s not just that God could could convert some heathens or even turn a runaway, crybaby like Jonah into a saint. It’s that God makes you into a saint. 

That something like “saint” is who, what you are…

Does that flip your expectations? Good.

Because we’re not done just yet. 

At the end, when God doesn’t let Nineveh have it; Jonah thinks h his prophecy failed. That the conversion and God’s grace, undermined his prophecy.

Here’s the thing, though; Jonah’s prophecy was fulfilled. Fulfilled in all the wrong ways, sure. But still fulfilled.

Because here’s the kicker, Nineveh was overthrown. Only not by wrath; with mercy. 

Mercy. Or as we Lutheran’s like to call it, “Grace.”

This is how God overturns, not just Nineveh, but also Jonah. And us, too. Finally God overturn the entire world with mercy!

That is what happens, not just in this passage. Not only to the Saints we remember this day. But to you, right now.

God takes notice of you, and your wickedness. That’s right. 

If I were you, I’d repent. Who knows, maybe instead of letting you have it, God will forgive you.

It’s a long shot, sure. But with the kind of God you have, it’s the best bet in the house. 

That’s the thing about Grace, isn’t it? 

It overturns everything. Nineveh. Jonah. And you. 

Your assumptions. Your life. Everything

Look out, God’s noticed you.

Everything is about to be overturned; inside out & upside down.