“ Nice Try Jonah ”

We’ve been reading from the short book of Jonah this week at Mass. Boy o boy, Jonah was a difficult character; he was certainly a reluctant missionary. He was not happy to have been chosen by the Lord for this mission. In fact he tried to sneak out of town and sneak away from God. As we know, this strategy didn’t work and he landed in the belly of the whale….. so much for trying to slip away from the hand of God.  

You would think that Jonah would have learned his lesson, but even after the initial disaster, Jonah still resisted. Later Jonah was greatly upset and became angry that God did not carry out the evil he threatened against Nineveh. “And now, Lord, please take my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.”  It’s hard to imagine the nerve of Jonah; it seems that he thought he was God and that God was his servant. Then he quibbles over the gourd plant that God provided for him,  again pronouncing ” I would be better off dead than alive.” God continues to explain things to Jonah, but there’s no indication that he ever got the message. Yikes.

Two things amaze me. One is the stubbornness and stupidity of Jonah; the other is the patience and kindness of God. God is first of all so kind to the people of Nineveh making sure they get reminded to repent and then quickly forgiving them when they do. Jonah did have this right about God…. “I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish.” God is so patient with Jonah. God continually tries to reason with him and help him.

As I was pondering this intriguing book, I have to admit that Jonah does remind me of someone. Can you guess who I’m talking about? Yes, you’re right, Jonah reminds me of ME. (and maybe you) The difference is that Jonah’s self-centeredness is more blatant, while mine can be more subtle. Jonah doesn’t try to disguise his disagreements with God, he just does what he wants until God drags him back to the task at hand. I can be a bit more sneaky, a bit more calculating. I can be more like the son who “says yes, but doesn’t do it.” (Mt. 21:28) What’s encouraging is that despite our duplicity, God doesn’t give up on us. 

So whatever happened to our friend Jonah? As the book ends, we don’t see any change of heart from him. Did he get any more assignments from the Lord, any more trips into the belly of the whale, any more arguments over the value of a gourd plant?  Knowing the wonders of God, I believe he kept loving Jonah and trying to bless him. Hopefully this constant love ultimately changed Jonah’s heart and he truly was able to accept that the Lord  “was a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loath to punish.” 

And may you and I no longer contend with the Lord and receive this same great mercy. And this would be very good news.