I love the story of Jonah. The part of the story right before the reading for today is probably the one that is most familiar. God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah decides to head in the opposite direction. God’s answer to Jonah’s disobedience comes in the form of a whale. With three days to do some praying and thinking inside of the whale’s stomach, Jonah decides that it might make more sense to do what God has called him to do. So at the beginning of today’s passage, off Jonah goes to preach repentance to the people of Nineveh.
The joy of Jonah is his true humanness, all of our weaknesses included. Despite having the close encounter with the whale, Jonah’s effort to fulfill God’s call is feeble at best. I can picture Jonah on some crowded street corner in Nineveh, mumbling his prepared speech, “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown,” and making a quick exit out of the city smiling to himself that he has done his duty and now the people of Nineveh are really going to get it.
Then the unbelievable happens. Jonah’s half-hearted attempt to get the people of Nineveh to repent works! And then comes the real aggravation for Jonah—God hears the people’s cries and much to Jonah’s great displeasure God changes his mind, accepts the people’s repentance, and spares them. This is just too much for Jonah so off he goes to pout, which is where the final part of the Jonah story picks up.
While the section of Jonah that is our reading today is less well known, it has a wonderful message for all of us. Simply, we are called by God to act in this world. Sometimes what we are called to do is big, sometimes it is small. God expects us, as God did with Jonah, to fulfill the calling we have—just do it. And the astounding thing we see in this story is that no matter what we are called to do, we know that God will do the heavy lifting. While we may not act in a half-hearted way like Jonah, we also don’t always have the perfect word for the moment, the perfect response to someone in need, the perfect patience needed for the tough moment, or the limitless courage to handle the frightening situation.
Still God calls us to act – to do what God wants us to do. Maybe we are called to feed a few children in a small town in South Africa, not the whole nation. Maybe we are called to teach a few youth about HIV/AIDS, not solve the problem of AIDS in the world. Maybe we are called to care for 75 HIV positive people, not find a cure for AIDS. We do what God calls us to do and know that with God’s involvement our effort will be enough.
Jonah’s effort should never have changed a single person, but because God was involved, Jonah’s effort started a wildfire and ultimately God’s will was done.
We listen for God’s call and we act. We use what God has given us, do the best and most we can, and count on God to be a part of the story. With God as a part of the story, our feeble human actions will be enough.
Joel Tjornehoj
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