Third Epiphany, January 25th, 2009

Third Epiphany
January 25th, 2009

Poor Jonah!
He’s come down in song and story as the guy in the Hebrew Scriptures who was swallowed by the whale.
Do you remember why Jonah was swallowed by the whale?
It’s pretty simple: “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah, son of Amittai, saying, ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ But Jonah set out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board.”
Not a good move. On the way to Tarshish, God gave Jonah a little time out—in the smelly belly of a whale.

To give Jonah credit, Nineveh was a tough assignment.
It lay far off to the northeast of Israel in what is now the northern part of Iraq.
It was a huge city full of people who had never heard of Israel’s God (in fact had probably never heard of Israel). Jonah could only reach it by trekking across miles of barren salt flats.
Not a plum job. . . .
. . . . . Ah, but Tarshish, Tarshish . . .
A far-off land across the sea, so far-off that it had taken on the glow of legend. It was a land of riches and easy life, a Shangri-La. When King Solomon sent off ships to Tarshish,, people said, they sailed back laden with gold, silver, ivory, monkeys, and peacocks.
Jonah succumbs to a completely understandable temptation. He wants to be the prophet for fantasyland Tarshish, not all-too-real Ninevah.

Nineveh--------Tarshish—which would you choose?
Hot dusty city or Mediterranean beaches?
Daily struggle or streets paved with gold?
Risk of failure vs. guarantee of success?
And the bottom line----reality vs. fantasy?

A priest friend of mine recently had to make a Jonah decision.
He’s in a small rural parish contending with the usual problems of not enough money, too few members. This year things have gotten a bit tense, especially about money.
Online he found a job listing for a church in another diocese. The membership is about the same size as his present church, but they have—get this!—a two million dollar endowment.
Because of that the church can pay a full-time rector and music director, choir section leaders, a full-time custodian, etc., etc.
My friend’s foot poised to skip up the gangplank for a sea voyage to Fantasyland. But then, luckily, he perused the Parish Profile more closely.
Between the lines he read that members don’t reach out to the neighborhood or the large and troubled city surrounding them. They’re nicely settled into their own comfy nest, thank you very much.
And they weren’t particularly interested in some other things. Working together, for example— Why bother when you can pay a professional to do anything you need done? Why bother with stewardship, giving one’s own back to the Source of all gifts, when the church has everything it needs?
With a little sigh, my friend changed his mind and headed back to Nineveh,.

And what’s is so wrong with Nineveh after all?
Sure. it isn’t perfect—it’s a little gritty, a little stressful, a lot of hard work, but it has some great things going for it.
Look what happened when Jonah began his preaching tour through the city. After only one day, the people repented.
They changed their ways! They weren’t so stuck in their old ways of doing things that they couldn’t hear a life-changing challenge from a stranger’s God.
The second thing great about Nineveh: the people all worked together. Regular folks, king—they all did what they needed to do to save their city.
The third thing great about Nineveh?—God cherished it. That’s why God sent Jonah there in the first place.

Today is our Annual Meeting. We’ll take stock of the place God has called us to—this Church of the Holy Spirit.
During the meeting, I’d like us to remain firmly in Nineveh mode. I mean this in three senses: First, let us look as clearly and honestly as we can at our real situation. What’s going on with us? Where are the growing, lively areas and which are the places that are looking a bit wilted? No fantasy, just the honest truth as well as we can tell it.
Second, let us openly discuss where we might need to make changes in the way we do things.
And third, let’s figure out how we can help each other do what needs to be done. How can we get our way-too-hardworking Jr. Warden more help? How can we support and expand the choir? Do you like to sing?—try it out! How can we more fully support the life of the diocese? Can something exciting and new come out of the reduction in the rector’s hours? With God’s help could it inspire every person in the congregation to figure out what God is calling them to do in this place?

In Nineveh mode, most of all, let us trust that God cherishes us. Cherishes us.
Listen to this. At the end of the story, Jonah is still in a sulk. God says to him, “And should I not be concerned 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.”
As we gather in the Undercroft, God will be saying, “And should I not be concerned about the Church of the Holy Spirit, that great little church, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty persons . . . ?”

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