JONAH AND … GOD’S MERCY

 [Jonah] prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.” – Jonah 4:2 

Jonah’s prayer sounds like praise. It’s a complaint. Upset that his barely-delivered sermon of judgement to evil Nineveh actually worked, inspiring repentance from its people and mercy from God, Jonah goes away to sulk. Jonah ran away from God, ultimately landing himself in the belly of a fish, all to avoid the possibility of God’s steadfast love reaching as far as his enemies.  

Too often, Jonah’s story gets oversimplified. We want it to be a cute story for kids (look at Jonah inside a whale!) or a cautionary tale on not running from God’s will (God will even find you at the bottom of the ocean!). Those things can still be true, but there’s an even harder story at the depths of it. Jonah’s story is about God’s love and mercy for absolutely everyone even – especially – for those people you hate.  

In Sunday’s sermon, I talked about how Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, a nation notorious for its violence and oppression. At the time the book of Jonah was written, the entire Northern Kingdom of Israel had already fallen to Assyria and been completely wiped out. Jonah didn’t just dislike Nineveh. Nineveh meant the erasure of his people. Jonah would rather see them destroyed in kind. God takes another route and offers them forgiveness.  

In the aftermath of a contentious election season and acrimonious vote count, we know just how easy it is to dehumanize those we don’t like. We, like Jonah, might pout and sulk that God’s love and mercy can be known by them. But God clearly loves all that God has created and desires reconciliation. It doesn’t mean you have to be friends with your tormentors, but you do have to leave space for God’s action in their lives. You don’t get to decide to whom God shows mercy. Hold onto that when you find yourself tempted to deny that God’s love could even come to those people. 

Let us pray: 

I confess to you, God, my unwillingness to share and live out your love. Make me compassionate and merciful in the same way that you have shown me your love and mercy. Turn me into an agent of your grace, offering accountability and forgiveness to any who seek it in your name. Amen.