There was a young dedicated but rather reserved girl reading her Bible on a bus.  A pushy loud mouthed, quarrelsome man sat down next to her and confronted her about the Bible. 

He asked, “Do you believe what you’re reading in the Bible?” 

And she said, “Yes, I do.” 

He kept on, “You mean to tell me you believe that Jonah lived for three days in the belly of a whale?” 

The girl answered, “Yes.” 

The man persisted, "Well then how do you explain it?”

The young woman answered, “I can't, but I believe it.”

The man became more agitated and said.  “Lady, you should be able to explain whatever you believe!”

The young woman replied, “I don't know exactly how Jonah survived … maybe I'll ask him when I get to heaven.”

Then sarcastically, the man asked, “And what if Jonah didn't make it to heaven?” 

And she replied, “Then you can ask him.”

The story about Jonah and the big fish has always been a favorite with children.  It has something of a fairy tale quality about it.  It’s a story that appeals to the imagination.  I don’t know if it really happened or not – but it has a lot to teach us.

It’s main character is Jonah, one of God’s most reluctant of prophets.  He is told to go to Nineveh – that hated, despised, Near Eastern power that had caused so much suffering in Israel. 

The Ninevites were apparently not very nice people - they were mean, vicious, and brutal in their conquests. They were purported to  bury their enemies alive in the sand with nothing but their heads sticking out so they could play polo with them until they whacked the life out of them. Then what remained became a vulture buffet.  

And they were Israel’s enemy.  Jonah didn’t like them one bit. As far as Jonah was concerned, they only deserved God’s condemnation and punishment.

So he did what many of us would do when confronted with something we don’t want to do – he ran – in the direction exactly opposite the one God wanted him to take. He got on a boat bound for Tarshish, a place on the edge of the world. Jonah did not want to preach to the Ninevites.

Now, don’t get the wrong idea...Jonah was no coward. He did not avoid God’s assigned task because he was afraid of what might happen to him. He tried to skip out because of what might NOT happen to Ninevah. He did not want them spared.

So he gets on the boat that’s headed directly AWAY from Ninevah, there is a storm, Jonah’s thrown overboard. Of course, he doesn’t drown. The story has him being swallowed by a big fish. After three days in the fish’s belly – he finally relents, cries out to God, and is coughed up and deposited on the beach, none the worse for wear, ready to do God’s bidding.

As far as most people are concerned, the tale ends there except for the little postscript that lets us know that Jonah did indeed finally go to Ninevah to preach.

The message that comes through is that you cannot run away from God, no matter how hard you try. Jonah comes across as a sympathetic character...a little misguided to start out, but one who eventually sees the light.

A nice story.   We all have these kind of stories in our lives.  I tried to run from ministry.  I actually tried to run away from marrying DeLynn – at least that’s what she says.  God reeled me in both times and luckily I didn’t have to spend any time in a fish’s belly to finally see the light.

But if that is all we get from this wonderful little fable – that we can’t run from God, we are missing the boat!  If we leave the story with Jonah on the beach, we miss the last half of the book.  

Chapters three and four fill out the picture of this ancient preacher and show a man completely different from the one of popular understanding. Instead of a slightly bumbling but nice enough fellow, we see a petty, irritable, mean-spirited … dare I say … bigot.

Follow along with the story. True, Jonah was deposited safe and sound on the shore after his attempted escape.

The Lord came to him again. “Now have I got your attention? Good. Then, go to Ninevah and do what I told you to do.” And this time he went.

The story continues as the reluctant prophet goes to Nineveh though his heart is clearly not in the project.

He must have made quite a scene. After spending three days in the belly of a fish, Jonah most surely was reeking of whale barf. He must have looked a mess when he strolled into the center of town and belted out his message.

And what a sermon he delivers! His sermon is the shortest and the worst ever. In English, it consisted of just eight words: “Forty days from now, Nineveh will be destroyed!”

In Hebrew it took only five words.  Jonah doesn’t bother with a catchy introduction. We find no carefully orchestrated three point sermon, no illustrations, no heartrending stories.

He doesn’t even present the truth of his message very well. Clearly, God’s message was conditional. If the people of Nineveh did not repent, then God was most likely going to judge them harshly. But Jonah never mentions the “if” part. He only pronounces judgment.

There is no call to repentance, no message of God’s grace, only the threat of destruction. It seems as if Jonah is making his message as offensive and as blunt as he possibly can. 

He just blurts out his five word sermon to get it over with as soon as possible. We can almost hear Jonah say, “There! Are you satisfied, God? I went. I preached. It’s done.”

But now hear the amazing response. Everyone, from the poorest peasant to the highest official, repented in sackcloth and ashes and “believed God.”

Even the king hears about the message and repents. We find people repenting and converting right and left. Even the animals were clothed in sackcloth!

Can you imagine Jonah’s surprise and shock? In spite of his reluctance, despite his half-hearted attempt at speaking God’s message, regardless of his lousy attitude that the people of Nineveh weren’t worth it, and apart from his rather poor sermon, the whole city falls on its knees in repentance and prayer. 

Well, God saw what was happening and relented in his plan to do them in. Once again, God’s mercy proved stronger than God’s anger.

So, how does Jonah react? Any preacher worth his pulpit would have been thrilled at the way his message had been received...but not Jonah. He is mad...not just a little peeved...he is really hot!

He said, “See, Lord, I knew this would happen. These Ninevites would hear the word of repentance and, sure enough, they would repent and you would spare them. It ain’t right, I tell you. They are not WORTH saving.

“That is the reason I wanted to go to Tarshish...because I knew if I came here, this is exactly what would happen. They would repent...and you are so merciful, nothin’ would happen to them. Why do you make me suffer like this, Lord? Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”

So God tries to appease him. He points out that Jonah had no right to be angry. But Jonah would not hear any of it. He just goes outside the city walls up on to a hill, makes himself a little lean-to and sits down to pout and watch what would happen.

Maybe their repentance would not last long enough to make any difference. Maybe God would wipe ’em out anyway. Jonah would just sit and wait.

As a little peace-offering, God made a vine to grow up over Jonah’s shelter to provide a bit of shade. That seemed to cool the preacher down ... some. But he was determined to sit it out and see what would happen.

When Jonah woke up the next day, he rubbed his eyes, looked out of his nice lean-to, and could not believe what he saw.

That nice vine that God had provided yesterday ... was now shriveled up and dead. You see, besides the vine, God had also provided a worm and the vine had been the worm’s breakfast.

For the rest of the day, Jonah just sulked until finally the hot east wind and the scorching sun made him feel faint.

Again he said, “God, why don’t you just let me die?” Now, the prophet was madder about what had happened to the vine than about what had NOT happened to the Ninevites.

Finally God spoke to him. “Jonah, boy you really are a piece of work! You are all upset about what happened to a vine that grew up in one day and was gone the next.

“You think that poor little vine got a raw deal. But right down that hill there, you will find a lot of people, 120,000 of them, in fact. I do not want THEM to get a raw deal!”

And just like that – the story ends.

But now, at least, you have the REST OF THE STORY ... not just the romanticized part about survival at sea.

So, what does this have to do with us? Is this a story telling us to quit running away from God and come home? Is it about God using us even when we don’t want to be used? 

Is the story of Jonah about facing our own prejudices? Or is this about God taking our worst effort and turning it into a miracle of grace? I think the answer to all of these is “Yes.”

The message we’ve always heard is that it is about not being able to run away from God – and that’s part of it. Even when we run, God can guide us back. And that is because he loves us.  It is because he won’t ever give up on us.  It is because he is all about giving us second chances. You see, God loves us enough to give all of us a second chance.

Jonah 3:1 reads: “The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time.” God gave Jonah a second chance. Jonah had deliberately, consciously, stubbornly, willfully disobeyed God. Jonah turned and headed in the wrong direction.

He ran from God in a fit of rebellion, yet God came to Jonah a second time and allowed Jonah to carry out his ministry.

Why? Because God is a God of second chances. For Jonah, for the Ninevites.  For each and every one of us.

And that’s what Jonah didn’t understand. Jonah wasn’t reluctant because he was afraid of the Ninevites.

Jonah didn’t want to preach because he was afraid they WOULD repent and God would forgive them – and give them another chance. Then Jonah would have to deal with his own prejudice and accept the Ninevites just as God accepted them.

And he didn’t want to do that. He wanted the second chance but he didn’t want to give them one.

And that’s the other message of Jonah.  Often we get stuck in our own prejudices and forget that God is bigger than our bigotry, our narrow mindedness, our intolerance. But God wants us to help him break down the barriers that separate us – not create them.

God’s love is so all encompassing that often we can’t comprehend it.  Jonah certainly couldn’t.

In the story God cannot bear the thought of destroying Nineveh, not only because there are one hundred and twenty thousand people within its walls, but also because there is much cattle. Did you catch that?

The story of Jonah holds before us a picture of God that is so loving, so patient, so relentlessly gracious that it pushes us to extend our boundaries of love as well.

I read a wonderful story on the Internet recently. Unfortunately, I cannot vouch for its truthfulness. But it’s the kind of story that, if it isn’t true, it ought to be.

On a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, a middle-aged, well-off white South African lady had found herself sitting next to a black man. She called the cabin crew attendant over to complain about her seating.

“What seems to be the problem Madam?” asked the flight attendant.

“Can’t you see?” she said. “You’ve seated me next to a kaffir.” (a derogatory term for a South African black man). “I can’t possibly sit next to this disgusting excuse for a human being. Please, find me another seat!”

“Please calm down Madam.” the stewardess replied. “The flight is very full today, but I’ll go see if we have any seats available in club or first class.”

The woman cocks a snooty look at the outraged black man beside her. All the other passengers were horrified at the lady’s rudeness.

A few minutes later the stewardess returns. “Well, I have good news. We do have one seat in first class.”

Then she turned to the black man, and said, “Sir, if you’d like to get your things, you can follow me to your new seat in first class.”

At which point, the surrounding passengers stood and gave a standing ovation while the black guy walked up to the front of the plane.

The love of God means that we should give every person first-class treatment. Jonah didn’t want God’s grace to come to his enemies, but God showed him that God shows no partiality.

Jonah never expected his enemies to repent and believe in God. And sometimes we find ourselves doubting that some people in our lives can change either.

 Do you know someone on whom you have given up? Who are the people you have closed the door to or turned away from because you have lost faith that they will ever change? Or maybe you have given up on changing you?

We keep telling ourselves, “People don’t change.” We keep saying God can’t use us. But the Bible would warn us that, like Jonah, we may be in for some big surprises!

In fact, just when we have our world settled, fixed, finished, God comes along with his amazing grace and turns our whole life around.  That’s what happened at Nineveh when Jonah preached.  And that’s what happens when God and his never-ending love touches our lives. 

AMEN!