Well, Jonah is finally in Nineveh spreading his cheerful message of 40 days more and Nineveh will be overthrown. And an amazing thing happens. Instead of being picked up and thrown out the city gates by the city guards, everyone from the king on down believes him and calls for a fast. This has got to be one of the biggest mass conversions in history. Too bad it doesn't last because a few decades later Nineveh is going to go after Israel and cause a lot of trouble. Don't worry, the Israelites brought it on themselves (they always do).
Now the pastor made a pretty good point, that the message of Jonah is not about the fish at all, but how we relate to others who are not like us. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because they were pretty awful people. They were idol-worshiping pagans. They were so wicked that their wickedness got God's attention. Now, the Bible doesn't say what exactly they were guilty of; the translation he uses says "violence" and my Tanakh (Jewish translation) says "injustice", but all in all it had to be pretty bad. Well, I can think of quite a few contemporary examples that could use God's attention; for example I don't see too many Jonahs going into areas where genocide is being practiced and calling them out on it. Anyway Jonah wanted nothing to do with those people and who can blame him.
We all have "those people" in our lives, says the pastor, and the challenge is how do we react to them? When we preach the Gospel to them, do we secretly or not-so-secretly want to make them over into our image? Unfortunately, I hate to say, all too many times that is exactly what it is all about. And that is because the very nature of what he is preaching calls for an us and them response. I know what he is trying to say, that we are all equally sinners and that the only real difference between those of us gathered here on Sunday and those who aren't is that we have been saved and they haven't yet. Maybe so. But it is still "us and them". And when we go out into the world to interact with "those people", it's not to meet them as equals, it's not to meet them on their terms, no, it is to change them. To make them like us. Because you can't just be friends with one of "those people." God only knows what wickedness they might entice you into. There can be no dialogue with the world, only a monologue.
Now they want to send out a mission into my neighborhood, even though I said I did not think it was a good idea. They do not understand that the main reason they will encounter opposition and rejection is that they are coming in with this attitude of we know what is best for you. We have the solution to your problems. We don't need to listen to you, because we already know the answer. And then they will go home to their nice middle-class neighborhoods and leave me to deal with the fallout because I have to live here. They think they are being Jonahs responding to God's call. Now God knows my neighborhood has a lot of problems and certainly could use quite a bit of help from the Almighty, but this isn't the way to go about it. They want to reach out to the kids and save them from their parents' lifestyles. Well, maybe the parents might have something to say about it. The problems my neighborhood faces stem from poverty, from ignorance, from lack of education, from lack of skills, from lack of jobs, from despair, from bad choices, from bad health and no health care, from landlords who take advantage of tenants who don't have anywhere else to go, and they think a few hours teaching the little ones Bible stories is going to change that?
But it's easier to get a table and some handouts and crayons than it is to try and change the system. And besides, they've made it clear, that this is not that kind of church.
Now the pastor made a pretty good point, that the message of Jonah is not about the fish at all, but how we relate to others who are not like us. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because they were pretty awful people. They were idol-worshiping pagans. They were so wicked that their wickedness got God's attention. Now, the Bible doesn't say what exactly they were guilty of; the translation he uses says "violence" and my Tanakh (Jewish translation) says "injustice", but all in all it had to be pretty bad. Well, I can think of quite a few contemporary examples that could use God's attention; for example I don't see too many Jonahs going into areas where genocide is being practiced and calling them out on it. Anyway Jonah wanted nothing to do with those people and who can blame him.
We all have "those people" in our lives, says the pastor, and the challenge is how do we react to them? When we preach the Gospel to them, do we secretly or not-so-secretly want to make them over into our image? Unfortunately, I hate to say, all too many times that is exactly what it is all about. And that is because the very nature of what he is preaching calls for an us and them response. I know what he is trying to say, that we are all equally sinners and that the only real difference between those of us gathered here on Sunday and those who aren't is that we have been saved and they haven't yet. Maybe so. But it is still "us and them". And when we go out into the world to interact with "those people", it's not to meet them as equals, it's not to meet them on their terms, no, it is to change them. To make them like us. Because you can't just be friends with one of "those people." God only knows what wickedness they might entice you into. There can be no dialogue with the world, only a monologue.
Now they want to send out a mission into my neighborhood, even though I said I did not think it was a good idea. They do not understand that the main reason they will encounter opposition and rejection is that they are coming in with this attitude of we know what is best for you. We have the solution to your problems. We don't need to listen to you, because we already know the answer. And then they will go home to their nice middle-class neighborhoods and leave me to deal with the fallout because I have to live here. They think they are being Jonahs responding to God's call. Now God knows my neighborhood has a lot of problems and certainly could use quite a bit of help from the Almighty, but this isn't the way to go about it. They want to reach out to the kids and save them from their parents' lifestyles. Well, maybe the parents might have something to say about it. The problems my neighborhood faces stem from poverty, from ignorance, from lack of education, from lack of skills, from lack of jobs, from despair, from bad choices, from bad health and no health care, from landlords who take advantage of tenants who don't have anywhere else to go, and they think a few hours teaching the little ones Bible stories is going to change that?
But it's easier to get a table and some handouts and crayons than it is to try and change the system. And besides, they've made it clear, that this is not that kind of church.
