By Omar Rojas
We all enjoy movies with great endings. Not too long ago I saw a Spanish movie on Netflix called Contratiempo (The Uninvited Guest) and it had such a satisfying ending. The plot was well crafted and impressive; it left me fascinated. But then there are others make you fall asleep before you even get to the ending. If you are that family member that falls asleep to any movie, I lost you at this point. Stick with me. There are also those endings that are designed for a sequel. You know, those cliffhangers that leave you in suspense and in an imaginative state of mind. Some of you just cannot stand those. You lose sleep over them. Okay maybe not. Well, there’s a story that has an untold ending that I’ve carried in my mind and heart. I am intrigued by it, but the ending is tough on me and there’s no sequel recorded! It is the story of Jonah.
For almost a year, this story has struck the hardness of my heart. Sermons and messages that don’t speak of this story end up leading me back to it. I find this narrative coming alive and speaking to me.
A man named Jonah is called by God to go preach to the people of the city of Nineveh. However, Jonah decides to “run away.” He buys himself a one-way ticket on a ship that is set to sail in the opposite direction! This is quite the impossible feat. The problem is that it is both physically and spiritually impossible to “run away” from God. It is foolish, and we can spend a lot of energy and time attempting to run our own show. I am reminded of my stubbornness here.
Fast forward, Jonah is in the belly of a fish. It is where the consequences of his disobedience led him. Actually, it was the tweaking of God’s grace–Jonah’s life could have been swallowed by death in the unrelenting seas. In solitude, God impresses upon him some form of conviction, at least that is what I notice from the repentant prayer of Jonah. After “three days and three nights” God commands the fish to release Jonah, and “it vomited Jonah onto dry land” (2:10, NIV). Think about it. You know God is gracious when the vomit of a fish was meant to be a tremendous blessing to a whole city. Wow!
On God’s second command, Jonah obeys and preaches to the people of Nineveh. Something incredible takes place. From the King to the peasant, the people of Nineveh repent before God. This calls for a good ending.
But Jonah happens to be angry at God because God happens to be gracious to the people of Nineveh. We’re talking about the same God who saved Jonah from the consequence of his own disobedience! And Jonah is angry at God’s awesome character displayed upon thousands of people? At this point my dirtiness is revealed before the mirror that is being held up. Selfishness, anger, pride…
It doesn’t end there. Jonah retreats to a place bordering the city. He sits there gazing at the city while God provides him shade with a leafy plant. The plant grows and extends its leaves over Jonah. He is grateful. He falls asleep. The next morning, the plant withers and a “scorching east wind” blew. Jonah wakes up to the sun beating on his face and dust burning his eyes as it made it past the protection of his lashes. His comfort was stripped away and the first thing he says in the morning is that he wished he was dead!
I don’t know if you are getting this, but this narrative is full of irony. The internal inconsistencies of Jonah are exclaimed as the plot unfolds. Truly there is a conflicted individual. Aren’t we all? I know I am. Jonah has to be one of the most successful evangelists in such short time if we define it by how many and how quickly people came to God. Of course, it is not a matter of defining success here. I see this story as one where we see the depth of God’s grace working through one individual to save a city. This individual clearly has some issues.
Twice Jonah expresses he wished he was dead. The third time he affirms it when God questions him. His last words were “I am angry enough to die.” And the story ends with God questioning Jonah. It ends with a question. What was his next response? What did he do?
I have found myself relating to this man more than any other character in the scriptures. I relate to his character. His brokenness shouts from within me. You see, it is possible to be obedient to God’s call and resist him. It is certainly not desirable. I don’t want to lose myself in the process of working for God. Like Jonah, my knees bend but they also lock in resistance. I scratch my head as I reflect on this untold ending of Jonah. It is ultimately God’s story, and what He wills is what He does. He is gracious enough to engage in a conversation with a man whose dialogue consisted of an emotionally charged, illogical death wishing and ungrateful narrow-minded nearsighted thinking.
I step back to see the panoramic view and can only scratch my head a bit confused yet captivated by the magnitude of God’s grace. It is there. I am somewhere in there–consumed by it. The book of Jonah ends with a question. We don’t know Jonah’s answer and won’t know in this lifetime. But the question serves a purpose. It leaves us with a blank script for us to to write a response with our lives. What is it?
