Salem Lutheran Church 

Pastor Jon Enter                 SalemLutheran.org 

Theme: What A Miracle!

Text: Jonah 3:1-5,10

There is a story of a whaler named James Bartley, who in 1891 reportedly fell into the sea while harpooning a large whale. When the whale was killed and dissected, the fisherman was found in the whale’s stomach, unconscious but alive. He was in the whale for 36 hours. His skin was bleached by the gastric juices and he was blind for the rest of his life. But he survived and returned to work three weeks after being rescued. James lived another 18 years and his tombstone in Gloucester says, “James Bartley-a modern Jonah”. 

It may be questioned if the story of James Bartley is true, but we have certainty the story of Jonah is true because Jesus Himself said it was. In Matthew 12:40 we read that Jesus said, “Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish.” Jonah, and his whale of a tail, wasn’t a made up story. It’s a story showing another miracle of God’s mercy.

Jonah lived under King Jeroboam II, who ruled the Northern Kingdom of Israel from 793 to 753 BC (2 Kings 14:25). God called Jonah to go to the Assyria and its capital city of Nineveh—a city built upon pride, power, and brutality. Just for fun, when the Assyrians conquered a land, they skinned people alive, cooked people in boiling oil and killed babies in the most inhumane ways possible. They were evil. 

One day, the word of the Lord came to Jonah saying, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before Me.” But Jonah ran away from the Lord. (Jonah 1:2-3) Jonah went down to the port city and said, “One ticket to NOT NINEVAH please” and sailed in the opposite direction! Jonah wanted nothing to do with Ninevah. It’s interesting; the reason Jonah didn’t want to go preach in Ninevah wasn’t because he feared he’d be captured, tortured and killed. He feared he wouldn’t die. He feared they’d repent. (Jonah 4:2) And they didn’t deserve it! Jonah wanted the Assyrians and the Ninevites to get a healthy dosage of righteous justice from the Almighty Lord! Jonah didn’t think those savages deserved mercy.

It’s a bit shocking to hear a prophet of God not wanting people to be forgiven. But really, is it? Is it that shocking? Who do you know that is kind of a jerk? Who do you know who is self-centered and self-promoting? Who’s got an ego? Who doesn’t seem to care how others are affected as long as that person gets their way? In other words, who just gets under your skin and deserves to be taught a lesson in humility? It’s hard to show mercy when the person doesn’t “deserve” it.

That’s what Jonah struggled with too. That’s why Jonah ran from the responsibility God gave. And you’ll see. It’s never wise to run from God. Your life smells gross fast.

Rather than traveling North-East to Ninevah as commanded, Jonah headed South to the city of Joppa and boarded a ship to Tarshish (somewhere in modern Spain). Jonah figuratively and literally wanted to get as far away from Ninevah as possible.

But God had other plans. Instantly, the sea grew so fierce so suddenly it caused the large shipping vessel to come apart. They started throwing cargo overboard to lighten the ship, but the storm grew even angrier. Knowing this was no natural storm, they cast lots (basically throwing dice) to determine who caused this divinely sent destruction. And the lot fell upon Jonah.

Jonah knew he was running from the responsibility God gave him. He told the crew, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea and it will become calm.” (Jonah 1:12) But the crew refused. They tried rowing the boat to shore. God, however, increased the intensity of the storm again. Finally, the crew relented to the will of God and cast Jonah overboard to a watery grave. And the storm instantly grew calm. Amazed, the men onboard placed their trust in the Lord Almighty.

The Lord had not forgotten Jonah even though Jonah had forgotten God. (When the other sailors were calling on their false, fake gods to save them in the storm, Jonah went below deck to take a nap!) But amazingly, miraculously, God didn’t forget Jonah although that’s what he deserved. God responded in mercy, in grace, in action. Out of nowhere, a great fish likely bigger than a city bus appeared from within the deep and swallowed up Jonah whole! Here’s a graphic showing the comparison of a blue whale compared to the size of a human! [show graphic] Seventeen divers head to foot in a row are the same length as a blue whale! What a miracle! Jonah was alive but…he wasn’t staying a luxury hotel. No. No. No. He was being digested by a fish. Rather than being dipped in boiling oil by the Assyrians he was submerged in stomach acids. It was painful. It was hot. It was stinky. But Jonah thanked the Lord in prayer. “In my distress I called to the Lord, and He answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and You listened to my cry. But You, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.” (Jonah 2:1,6) 

The Lord caused the great fish to do an about-face and ferried Jonah back towards Nineveh. “And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:10) When you abandon the Lord’s commands, your life gets stinky. With new determination but smelling like rotten fish sticks, Jonah started his 375 mile march from the sea to Ninevah. “What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.’” (Jonah 1:9) Jonah meant it. He set out to Ninevah to preach a message of repentance that Jonah himself just lived.

Despite the resurgence of trust in God that Jonah had, the task before him was seemingly impossible. Have the wicked, unrepentant city of Ninevah repent? The whole city? Jonah briefly mentioned in chapter 3, “it took three days to go through it.” (vs 3) Modern day Bible commentators believe that Ninevah included not only the city of Ninevah itself but three other nearby cities an area covering roughly 25 miles.

Jonah paid no attention to the impossible nature of this task. He trusted the Lord and boldly preached a message of repentance. Imagine telling Vladimir Putin to his face, “Repent for invading Ukraine!” How well do you think that’d go over? But the mighty king of Ninevah listened to Jonah and this foreign, heathen, enemy king repented. He ordered all the people to repent as well, from the richest noble to the poorest slave. The Ninevites did not eat or drink; they filled their day, instead, with prayers for mercy. 

“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened.” (Jonah 3:10) Jonah’s preaching worked! The Spirit moved their hearts to repentance and God responded with mercy! 

The next verse of the next chapter is very revealing of Jonah’s character. “But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.” (Jonah 4:1) Angry? That God, the God of grace, showed grace? Angry? That God showed the same grace to the Ninevites that God showed to Jonah? Angry about that? About grace? Yup.

Jonah isn’t alone. We lose our tempers. We want justice to be done! How upset are you when the driver on the interstate dangerously weaving in and out of traffic suddenly is pulled over by police? You cheer. You celebrate. I do too. But what if that police officer let that 100+ MPH lunatic off with no ticket, no tough talk, no penalty? What if the officer gave that driver a hug, instead, and invited that driver over for dinner?

We struggle to show mercy to those we don’t think deserve it. If you doubt that truth, look at how fans yell at refs and argue at grade school basketball games! If that’s how we treat refs, how much worse do we treat those who truly harm us. The manipulator at work who got the promotion you deserved. The liar in your family who stirs up trouble. The student who cheats on tests when you study and study and study yet you get a lower grade. The athlete whose parents are friends with the coach or the coach’s kid who plays over you. The friend who backstabbed you and told your delicate secret. Your ex who promised to treat you with respect only to stomp all over your heart and couldn’t care less what they did to you. 

There are so, so many people who seem to get away with doing what’s wrong and evil and…well, that feels so wrong. 

That’s where Jonah’s heart was. Jonah was convinced that the brutal, evil Ninevites didn’t deserve God’s grace. And Jonah was right. The reckless driver, the ref yeller, the manipulator, the liar, the test cheater, the backstabber, the adulterer…none of them deserve God’s grace. I could say “amen” right now and this would all be true. But to say “amen” right now wouldn’t be the full story. To say amen would leave you feeling vindicated in your want for justice for others but immediately fearful of your pending judgment before God. For we aren’t right with God; we don’t deserve grace.

Jonah was right that the Ninevites didn’t deserve God’s grace. But it’s also right that Jonah clearly didn’t listen to God. None of us do. Yet we become so self focused like Jonah that we hoard God’s grace thinking it’s right for God to generously lavish His grace on us but it’s only right for God to strategically squirt small portions of grace onto those we feel are worthy. 

What is it that makes anyone worthy of God’s mercy? It’s God. It’s the fact that your God is a God of grace who mercifully shows you and me grace. The greatest miracle in this story is not the sailors casting lots and correctly discovering the storm happened because of Jonah. It’s not God sending a whale as a nautical Uber. No, the greatest miracle is that the sailors on the boat, Jonah in the water, the Ninevites in their city all repented. Repentance and especially God’s forgiveness is the greatest, mind-blowingly awesome miracle of this story. Don’t let that truth slip by you without spending time on its unimaginable grandeur! 

Jonah was overwhelmed at the thought of walking the path God put before him. So he ran away. About 800 year later, there was another who was overwhelmed at the thought of walking the path God put before him. So overwhelmed, in fact, his heart was filled with sorrow to the point of death and He sweat drops of blood. But He didn’t run away; He ran to that path. With words that changed your eternity, “Not My will but Yours be done” Jesus left the garden to go through hell for you. Where Jonah and where we refuse forgiveness for those we deem unworthy, Jesus looked out from a cross seeing a world of unworthy sinners yet the God of grace while suffering on the cross spoke into your heart, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” God made you worthy. You are worthy of His love because He said so. And He continues to nurture you with His grace, with His guidance, with His love. 

Jonah’s story ends in chapter four with God scolding Jonah who was still mad that God showed grace to the Ninevites. May that not be our story. May that not be your story. Who do you know that doesn’t know peace in Christ? Who do you know that doesn’t deserve God’s grace but who needs to know it? Pray for them. Go to them. Tell them about Jesus. And maybe, just maybe, another miracle of repentance and forgiveness will happen before your eyes. God grant it. Amen.