“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of theLord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:1-3 ESV).
We’re starting a new sermon series this Sunday through the book of Jonah. It’s really an amusing little book. Most people think it’s a story about a big fish. Or maybe even about a man named Jonah, but really it’s about God. It’s about how God responds to man’s rebellion and running from Him. Because we’re all like Jonah. None of us want to obey God and go to Nineveh.
For Jonah, Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria and the home of Israel’s most hated enemy. For God to ask him to go to Nineveh was to request the unthinkable. Nineveh was the last place on planet earth that Jonah would want to go. So, Jonah ran away. Or at least he tried.
What qualifies as Nineveh for today? Is it the Middle East? Or across the railroad tracks in town? Is it the bully at school or work. Or the terrorist in Boston or Afghanistan?
Nineveh represents whatever puts us out of our comfort zone. It’s the place where God calls that we really don’t want to go. It’s the people who have hurt us and God sends us to tell them about His forgiveness. Nineveh is dangerous and discomforting. It’s whatever we hate or fear that God loves and cares for deeply.
Following the Lord, there will certainly come a time when we will hear His voice say, “Go to Nineveh.” And everyone of us will have to decide whether to answer like Jonah or not.
But if we answer, “No not Nineveh!” and try to run away. Then, we’d better be on the lookout for terrible storms and large fish, because God is still in the business of capturing attention and changing hearts and minds.