When All Means All Y’all... (a Plan B Prophet for a God with no Plan B)
A Homily on Jonah 3:10-4:11
by Griff Martin
For the Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (and the Twenty Seventh of Covid Worship)
For the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of faith
September 20, 2020
*This document comes from an oral manuscript.
Let’s pray… Incarnate God, we ask that you once again take the Word and transform it into a living and breathing reality we can all together experience. Be present here in this space and in these words God, for if you are present here then nothing else will matter, but if you are not present here then nothing else will matter. In the name of the Creator, the Christ and the Comforter.
Early on in the quarantine there was a video that has given the Martin household language we are still using. The video featured a parent listening to a voiceover that comes on and says, “Because of Coronavirus, you are going to be quarantined but you have a choice. Do you A) quarantine at home with your spouse and child, or B)..?” And before option B is even named, the guy goes, “B… I choose B… option B.”
So in the past few months, each time we have found ourselves facing a choice from how to school this fall, to what is for dinner tonight, to who is taking the dogs on the next walk, someone always yells out, “B… I choose B… option B.”
Jonah is option B. It’s why I like Jonah.
God comes to Jonah to tell him that he has been chosen to be a prophet and he has a message that he would like Jonah to deliver to Nineveh, and before God can even say what the message is, Jonah has picked option B. And for Jonah, option B is getting as far away from Nineveh as possible.
So he goes and he gets on a boat heading the exact opposite way. If Nineveh is north, Jonah is headed south. He has packed for the tropics -- speedos and suntan lotion -- and has no cold weather clothes or coat to go north.
Which, to be fair, Jonah has not asked to be a prophet or to be called by God. We don’t know anything about Jonah, but what we do know tells us nothing about him being prepared for a job like prophet or desiring a job like prophet. In fact, what we know of Jonah tells us the exact opposite.
And on top of that, Jonah wants nothing to do with Nineveh. These are nasty people, deplorable, they are violent, fear based, will do whatever it takes to destroy folks and they only care about themselves. Nineveh First.
And because we have the whole story from our vantage point, we know they are an evil ruthless empire and it’s not long after this story that Nineveh obliterates the Kingdom of Israel, God’s people. Keep that in mind. Jonah knew it -- these people were ruthless and evil and would stop at nothing to have power.
Think of the group of people who you fear the very most -- these are the Ninevites. Those who will stop at nothing to have power, to be in charge, those who keep you up at night worried about "what happens if…" Name that group right now.
And now, what if… If God called you to love them, you might head out of town, too. We never like it when we realize God does not hate the same people that we hate. Which is another reason I like Jonah -- Jonah wants a God who despises the same people Jonah despises.
So Jonah runs, we run. We can’t seem to understand that running from God does not help anything ever. And yet, we keep doing it. As if we think we can run from God. Hide from God. Distance ourselves from God.
Which, of course, we can’t. It’s God as the Hound of Heaven who never gives up the chase. It’s the Generous Father watching for the Prodigal Son and then running to embrace his return. It’s the woman looking for the coin and tearing her house apart until she finds what is hers. It’s the reckless shepherd leaving 99 behind to find the one. It’s divine love becoming flesh and blood and pain and death to show us the vastness of God’s love.
So of course, Jonah runs, and of course, God chases. Jonah gets on a boat headed south and the trip takes a turn because the journey is rough and these are storms so strong they scare the sailors. They do all they know -- they throw cargo overboard, they each pray to their own gods, they confess their wrongdoings and nothing is working. Finally, they start casing lots to see who has wronged the divine and the lots fall to Jonah, who is being rather quiet -- the quiet you get when you know you are in the wrong but you don’t want to be right yet.
And finally, Jonah fesses up, kinda. He says it’s him, that God is angry at him because God asked something and he has refused to do it and Jonah is committed to Plan B, he does not repent or offer to do the thing now, instead he says, Throw me overboard. I would still rather die than go to Nineveh. Who is it that you would rather die than be at the table with?
And overboard he goes and then a big fish swallows him up; he is there for a few days and then he offers a prayer which ends with a key phrase, “Salvation belongs to the Lord.” Which would seem he might have understood it, salvation could be bigger than he thought, like maybe even include the Ninevites.
Which I think would be a great ending to the story -- Jonah changes his mind and confesses the proper belief and all is well. The problem with God is God is so rarely interested in our right believing, God is only interested in our right living. God knows we don’t think our way into living better, we live our way into thinking better. Living always comes first. It’s not what we think and say, it’s what we do.
So God puts Jonah to the test: Salvation belongs to me, right? Let’s see how strong you mean that… and the fish spits Jonah up on the shore of Nineveh where Jonah is supposed to be God’s prophet.
So Jonah takes God’s word, which we are never told. We get Jonah’s recap of it, one of the shortest sermons in Scripture… Jonah walks into Nineveh and travels for about a day (the city is so large it’s probably 3 days worth of travel). So he goes a third of the way and preaches this: “In 40 days, Nineveh will be destroyed.” And then he turns around and hightails it back out of the city, finds a shade tree and sits to watch the destruction begin.
And again, it’s why I like Jonah. He goes to the group of people he never wanted to preach to and he gives them a message of fire and brimstone and judgement and then he goes to sit in the shade and watch it all burn. I like that about a preacher.
And then nothing happens as it’s supposed to happen. Nineveh does not burn; it does not crumble. In fact, it actually sounds like there might be a revival of sorts going on and there is not going to be destruction, it’s all salvation. It’s glad tidings of joy and not judgement. It’s cries of hope and not pain.
Because the truth that we never want to accept is that God might love our enemies as much as God loves us. God might want to save them. God might be as in love with them as God is in love with us.
And of course, God wants to right all the wrongs in the world but God might want to do it by righting the hearts of those who do the wrong.
And maybe, just maybe, if there is any part of me that is not okay with that and would rather see my enemies destroyed than changed, well, maybe there is some righting that needs to happen in my heart, too.
It means maybe I don’t understand Jonah’s prayer that "Salvation belongs to the Lord," and it surely means I have not understood Jesus’ command to love your enemies.
This is not my favorite thing about God, in particular in an election year where our enemies seem so real and so tangible and where it seems we are all so ready to judge and destroy those we don’t agree with.
And in the middle of that, here God gives us that annoying little prophet once again, who this time is here to preach to us… Salvation belongs to the Lord, First Austin, you beloveds who claim All People.
Love all.
Now, to be clear, this is not an excuse for not voting, for not engaging, for not caring, for not advocating, for not fighting for all that you believe in. We have to do all that, we need to vote, we need to advocate, we need to fight for all we believe in.
We just have to do all of that knowing that God loves the opposite side from where we stand as much as God loves us (and that truth -- the truth of this sermon -- works on both sides). And pay attention to the verb, God loves them. It does not mean God agrees with them; there is a right and there is a wrong and I hope to be standing on the side of the right more often than on the side of the wrong, but I know this: when I stand on the wrong side, I need God to love me there as much as when I stand on the right side.
And I know this: I need you all to love me there, too. I need you all to love me as much when I stand on the wrong side as when I stand on the right. This is being community to all people.
That is key to being all people together… we don’t agree on everything, there is a right and wrong, but God’s love is still for all and all inclusive.
It means that if I am sitting back in the shade just waiting with glee to watch the judgement and destruction of someone else, well, it means there is still a part of me that needs saving.
Because with God there is no plan B, there is only plan A… love and keep loving until everything turns toward love. It’s all about that. Which means I need to try and see things more like God sees things; Jonah has to learn to see Nineveh as God sees Nineveh and I need to learn to see those I disagree with as God sees them.
God might not agree with their actions; in fact, I feel certain that today there is a lot of action that God does not agree with, but God will never stop loving.
Which means that this political season, feel free to disagree, feel free to fight for what you believe in, feel free to name right from wrong, feel free to stand up against all you believe you need to stand up against and to stand for all you believe you need to stand for… and do it with all of your heart… and at the same time, do it with love because here is a truth our world has lost: you can disagree with someone and still love them. You can think they are so off-track and lost and still love them. You can know that they are so wrong and still love them. I think that is the very heart of Incarnation.
And in the end, I would rather be with Jesus than with Jonah. Which means standing up for what is right, making justice/peace/equality priorities, standing up for those no one else stands up for, bringing about the very kingdom of God and doing it all with love in my heart for all.
Because in the end, there is one table and it’s a lot bigger than most of us even come close to realizing, and until the end of my days, I hope all I do is bring about the Kingdom of God by righting all that needs to be righted and by adding chairs to the table. Those are my only jobs, and both of those begin and end with love for all.
*artwork by Galal Yousif
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