yom kippur

today was yom kippur, and it was also the day i (accidentally) volunteered to preach my senior sermon at the seminary's daily chapel.

so, given the choices of leviticus 16, or the book of jonah, i chose jonah.

the text was Jonah 3:10, 4:5-11.  Or here's the whole passage in context.

Jonah’s story ends so unresolved that can we even speak of it ending? Thousands of years later, are we still waiting for Jonah’s answer? He has been arguing with God, and God gets the last word here, but the question lingers, waiting for an answer? “Should I not care about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

Jonah knows from personal experience that God is loving, forgiving, righteous, merciful, filled with loving-kindness. We sang his song a bit ago. “In my trouble I cried out to the Lord my God... from the depths you heard my cry.” He’s glad when God’s saving grace and mercy are offered to him. But not so much when the same God treats Nineveh the same way.

Today is the Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. In synagogues all over the world this afternoon, the Book of Jonah will be read. Why Jonah’s story?

I will tell you a secret: it’s not because of the fish. Sometimes, I think we do our kids a disservice by telling them the story of “Jonah and the whale” and leaving out the rest of it. Although, really, the rest of it doesn’t make a really good story, does it?

Jonah goes to Nineveh, and he preaches destruction, the people repent, and Jonah gets cranky and argues with God. “No! NO! I didn’t want you to be righteous and loving towards them! They’re my enemies!” He goes out from the city, and made a booth so he could see what would become of the city. He’s prepared to camp out for as long as it takes until God does what Jonah wants God to do, not what God does by God’s very nature. And then there’s the weird part with the plant, and the worm, and God’s question. No resolution, no denouement, just the question echoing in our minds. “Should I not care?”

You know, when I first read through Jonah quickly, I thought, oh, he’s forgotten what God did for him when he was rescued from the storm on the sea. He forgot his prayer of despair that turned into thanksgiving. But then I realized, he absolutely did not forget. Jonah knew exactly what kind of God the Lord is. He doesn’t forget and he doesn’t need to be reminded. In fact, he doesn’t want to be reminded, because that would mean seeing God’s grace and kindness and compassion extended to Jonah’s enemies.

That’s a big reason the book of Jonah is read on the Day of Atonement. It reminds us, because sometimes we forget, or we don’t want to see, that God’s nature is to forgive, to be gracious in the face of repentance. God is creator of everything, and all people are made in God’s image, even them.

Who are they? Are they the people who have the wrong view of the Bible? The people who have bad theology? The people who vote for the wrong person? ... The people who fly planes into buildings?

Jonah’s story reminds us that God’s atonement is for everyone. And it reminds us how like Jonah we are. There is always someone on whom we want to see God’s wrath come down, not God’s love. And God’s question echoes in our ears. Is it right for you to be angry? Should I not care?

As followers of Jesus we are reminded of God’s gracious love and forgiveness, not only by the story of Jonah and Nineveh, but also by the letter of 1 John, which reminds its readers, “If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”

As followers of Jesus we can say with Jonah, “You heard me!” We have our atonement. We rest in God’s amazing love and grace. We are baptized into death and resurrection, as Jonah journeyed into the sea, the fish, and then back onto land, as Jesus died and rose. This is who we are: forgiven, atoned for, resurrected people. And we are confronted with that question: “Should I not care?”

Maybe we don’t need to be reminded of who God is, maybe we need to be reminded of who we are. We are forgiven, atoned for, resurrected, loved as God’s own children. Isn’t that too good to keep to ourselves? Even Jonah, overwhelmed with his salvation from the depths, went and preached to Nineveh, knowing the probable outcome. May we be as overwhelmed with the joy of our own forgiveness!

May we learn the lesson of Jonah, not about a big fish, but about how loving and gracious God is to all of God’s good creation.

Amen.