"Hunkered Down"

Jonah 1:1-3; 3:1-10 

November 8, 2020

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood 

First Congregational UCC of Manhattan, KS

Breathe in, breathe out. Choose love. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Feel lost at sea. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Seek peace. 

Breathe in, breathe out. Lose hope. 

You know, some say that God’s name - YHWH - is the sound of our breath. And so, when we breathe, we are uttering God’s name in each moment. God is so intimately present with our bodies that God is the very source of life - our breath. 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

Breathe in, breathe out. 

We are still here, friends. Still breathing. Still together. Even after this week. 

And God’s loving presence is here. Still breathing. Still present with us. Even after this week. 

As I stand here, I am actually not quite through this week yet. One of the limitations of our current way of worshiping is that the service has to be pre-recorded and then put together to reach you on Sunday mornings, so it’s only Thursday for me right now. 

And I know that many things may continue to shift and change between now and Sunday morning when you receive this message. Together, we pray with every breath that there will not be violence. Together, we pray with every breath that those who are so anxious about their civil rights and lives will find the strength they need to make it through whatever comes next. Together, we pray AND commit ourselves to action. To “take our stand for justice and peace, confident God’s concern embraces the whole world.”

No matter the outcome of this particular election...no matter what happens in the next few days or weeks or months, there are some things that have not changed. Our work as followers of Jesus has not changed. Our scriptures tell us that we are to “do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.” And when Jesus was asked about the most important thing in life he said it’s to “love God, and love our neighbor as ourselves.” 

That is our work, friends. It has not changed and will not change. It is work that will always need to be done. 

You may not feel up to it today. That’s okay. There are moments in our lives where we reach for Love but cannot find it. There are moments when all we can do is pray through tears. There are times when we want so desperately to be our best selves but fall short. 

Last week in worship we heard the story of Elijah and a widow who lived in Zarephath: two desperate people, running on empty, leaning into God to make it through the day. I closed the sermon last week by saying that when we are feeling desperate...when we are running on empty….we can cling to the stories of our faith ancestors as we pray. When we can’t take anymore of the bad news happening right at this moment we can hold on tight to the stories of our faith to sustain us. 

And so, today, we hear the story of that famous prophet Jonah. And this story is certainly a good one to cling to in the midst of troubled times. The book is just four chapters long, short enough to read in one sitting. And the main character is Jonah - who is really a caricature of a biblical prophet, almost certainly not a historical figure at all. The story begins in storybook kind of way, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah saying ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah doesn’t go to Nineveh. Instead, he goes in the opposite direction, catching a boat to Tarshish. Along the way God causes a big storm and Jonah begs to be thrown overboard in order to make the storm stop. God sends along a big fish to swallow him up and he offers a heartfelt prayer from the belly of the fish. Eventually, Jonah is spit out and washed ashore. 

Again, God tells him to go to Nineveh and this time he obeys. He walks through the city shouting that the people there need to turn and repent of their evil ways or their city will be destroyed. Lo and behold, the people listen, repent, and are forgiven. Jonah gets mad that God is being so merciful to them and then there’s this whole weird thing at the end of the book involving Jonah and God and a bush that I don’t have time to go into today, but you should definitely pick up a Bible and read the whole story when you have time. 

Who are we, if we choose to enter this story? Are we Jonah? Weary prophets who have the best of intentions but really just want to run away? We may not want to answer when God calls. And so we try to run away...going in the wrong direction. We may toss and turn in tempestuous seas. We may wonder if God has abandoned us. We may find ourselves hunkered down in a deep, dark place praying with all our might to a God that we’re not really sure is listening. 

Or maybe we’re the people of Nineveh. 

People living in a land that’s been going the wrong way for a long time. We may look around at the terrible sins that are alive and well in our nation and feel a connection with the people in Nineveh. Are we listening for the prophets in our midst? Are we open to learning, changing, growing, moving in new ways together? And if and when the mercy of God falls upon us, are we ready to receive that gift and move into a new way of being….together?

No matter where we place ourselves in the story, I want to focus our attention for a moment on what God is doing in this story. Because God is moving in a consistent way. 

Even though Jonah runs from God and goes the wrong way for a time, God persistently stays with Jonah, calling him back to the work that is his to do and using him in important ways. God’s hopefulness, God’s love, God’s grace are much bigger than Jonah could imagine...much bigger than WE can imagine. God is moving faithfully.

Even though Nineveh has done evil and is has been going the wrong way for a long time, God persistently calls out to them, calling them back to the people they can become. God’s hopefulness, God’s love, God’s grace is much bigger than the people of Nineveh might have imagined...much bigger than WE imagine. God is moving faithfully.

God’s faithfulness, God’s love, God’s grace is so BIG in this story that even Jonah is annoyed by it. Jonah wants the wicked to be punished, the tables turned...but God has other plans. God’s mercy, God’s grace, God’s love flows through this story in ways that can make us uncomfortable. After all, it can be so easy to point our fingers at other people who are “going the wrong way” and say we want God’s justice to rain down on them. And sometimes in the Bible that certainly happens. But in THIS particular story, God is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Ps. 145:8)

This God is steady and sure. This God is Love so big it bothers us. This God is so intimately present that we can’t run away...even if we want to, even if we really, really try. This God is the one who keeps holding out hope, even when we’re sick of it. This God is the insistent voice telling us we are still called to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly, even if we don’t wanna. 

This God is the one who pursues us in love even when we’re running the wrong way. This God is the one who never loses hope that we humans can still turn it around...turn from our evil ways and finally build the Beloved Community together. 

This God is the one who is with us even when we’re in the storm...or in the belly of the fish. 

And so, beloveds, that image of Jonah in the belly of the fish is where I want to end today. 

Because as we go forward together into whatever comes next, that’s the image I’ve been carrying with me. God’s beloved people….exhausted, struggling….hunkered down in a deep, dark place just praying for the storm to pass. 

We are hunkered down together, friends. And we are not alone. Our God is with us and will not forsake us. No matter how the seas swirl...no matter how long we go the wrong way...no matter how far we try to run away. The One whose grace and mercy is big enough to make us uncomfortable is with us even now. And forevermore. 

Let’s pray together, shall we? While we’re hunkered down here together? Let’s pray a familiar prayer. Let’s pray the prayer that Jesus taught us. I invite you to use whatever version of the prayer is most familiar and meaningful for you, praying….

Our God who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power,

and the glory, forever. Amen.