“Mercy abounding”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, October 17, 2024
Jonah 3: 1 - 4: 11 (Forward, p. 80) CEV p. 940
Taking my lead from an illustrated children’s Bible, I have often thought of Jonah as a Jewish bigot, a zealot and nationalist who valued his own nation and people so much that he despised all other nations or peoples. And, of course, this would certainly include the Assyrians, Israel’s notorious and particularly evil and ruthless enemy. After all, it was Assyria that had conquered and decimated the northern kingdom so savagely and that had dispersed, scattered, many of that kingdom’s people into exile through the world. Jonah would have no love at all for that nation or its people, no sympathy at all.
Putting this into a modern context, it is like Hamas or the Israelis having sympathy for each other, or Ukraine and Russia. After all, there was too much bad blood, too much ‘water under the bridge’, to wish each other anything by way of mercy or sympathy.
So, in coming to Nineveh and the Assyrians with his message of judgment, Jonah was sincerely hoping and praying that this judgment was indeed what would befall them. After all, he savagely thought, “they deserved it.” He relished the very prospect and looked forward to it. He had indeed ‘written them off.’
What he had not counted on was that the people of Nineveh might actually listen to him, and respond with sorrow and repentance, even to the king, to the palace itself. Imagine the entire city turning in repentance from their evil deeds, fasting and wearing sackcloth, praying, and turning to God. Jonah would have never expected it, nor believed it, had he not seen it for himself. And, most certainly, it was not what he wanted! He didn’t want them to turn: he wanted them to burn. And so, quite understandably, he was very upset when God heard their change of heart and decided to have mercy upon them and spare them.
Indeed, according to Jonah’s own words, this is what he had feared might happen, why he resisted God’s call in the first place and tried to flee from it. He was fearful that God might indeed spare them, which was the very last thing that he wanted.
So, what was God’s rationale in suspending judgment and justice, both of which were so obviously warranted. It was because there were countless people, more than 120,000 people by God’s count, and animals, who hadn’t shared, taken part, in the evil that had been perpetrated by previous generations. This was because they hadn’t been alive back then, and so didn’t deserve the judgment that the others deserved. And so, God concluded, this new generation deserved mercy and a new beginning. After all, the entire city had expressed its sorrow over its past deeds and wanted to start over again, so certainly these little ones should be spared.
God’s example here surely is one that we today should heed. We are most zealous in blaming previous generations for various ills, ills ranging from colonialism to damage to the environment to world economic policies to our political and judicial systems and like to hold the present generation to account. But maybe we should follow God’s lead in this. Just as the people of Nineveh repented and promised to do better, our present generation has sincerely done the same. And so, should they not be given a new start, just as God did with Nineveh, one where the past is not held over their heads endlessly? I think that this certainly bares consideration.
Forward notes: ”I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (chapter 4, verse 2b).
“During my Methodist days, I sometimes felt envious or even upset when the bishop assigned certain clergy to a great church. I would be frustrated because I thought they were not a good fit and undeserving of such an appointment. Have you experienced a situation in which someone you felt was ‘unworthy’ had good things happen to them?
“In today’s passage, Jonah is upset that God is giving a second chance to people that Jonah doesn’t like. Jonah laments that God isn’t being fair. But we should get used to it because God is an unfair God—and instead of lamenting, we should be grateful. God is not fair, but God is generous—with grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness. I have been on the receiving end of mercy and grace when someone might have deemed it unfair.
“Slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from punishment, God isn’t fair but generous. What great news that is for everyone!”
Moving Forward: “When has a situation seemed unfair? How can this passage cast new light on the situation?”