Are You A Jonah?

by the Rev. Dr. Beverly Wallace

In reading the book of Isaiah, while the Jews were in exile, they were instructed by the spirit to move to a new arrangement. They were to move from oppression to liberation (see Isaiah 66,). They were told, "Don’t go back to conducting yourself in the way you were used to because it has not served you well."

There was a need to move to a different place, a different way of being and doing, worshipping and living; something that would serve the people, especially those who were disenfranchised in the existing arrangements. They were to move for a particular purpose, to again become the people God had destined them to be.

I’ve been reading a book entitled, “Liberating Jonah – Forming an Ethics of Reconciliation.” According to the author Miguel De La Torre, reconciliation is more than coming together, agreeing on a particular point, forgiving and moving on. Reconciliation is hard work. Reconciliation is becoming the people God has destined us to be. Reconciliation, La Torre writes, is manifested as love for God AND our neighbor. Estrangement among neighbors brings about separation from God and salvation can occur only if reconciliation has taken place. Reconciliation helps people become the people God has destined them to be.

Think about the story of Jonah—Jonah, the one who ran away when God told him to go to Ninavah; yes the one who was swallowed by a whale, that Jonah—he could be called the reluctant prophet. I can just hear Jonah cry or even singing the song that some of our kids hear on television advertisements during the holiday season, “I don’t wanna grow up, I want to be a Toy’s R Us kid." Jonah probably didn’t want to grow up, but as it is with life, as we are born, we are to mature, even if we don’t like it; even if it is one day at a time. For Jonah, he had to grow up and deal with some hard realities. Reality as it was was harsh and yet God called Jonah to be an agent of reconciliation. Reconciliation is not a political strategy but a process of spiritual healing. Reconciliation is about Salvation. Reconciliation, as defined by people on the margins, must be understood as a process of arriving at a new state of being; one perhaps that no one has ever experience before – focusing in on being something new.

In last Sunday’s lesson, we heard the words of Paul who wrote, “You who were once estranged and hostile in mind, he (Jesus) has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death.” Here we can see how NOT easy reconciliation is. It is through death that reconciliation comes. Something must die in order to create something new. It can be crazy-making, especially to get to the point of something more constructive, more beautiful.

So how do we reconcile? How do we make something new? Often times we think of reconciliation in terms of forgiveness. No, it is not simply about forgiveness. Forgiveness is part of reconciliation, but reconciliation is more than forgiveness. Reconciliation takes place when one moves to rectify the existing estrangement. Reconciliation takes place when one gives of oneself for the purpose of wanting new life for another and by extension for oneself. It is about working on the part of loving, truly loving God’s people even if it means losing one’s power and privilege. Reconciliation is what Jesus has done. And, reconciliation takes place when one remembers who they are and what is their purpose.

Again, when the Jews were in exile, they remained in captivity because they had lost their sense of God. They had forgotten who they where and whose they were. They had lost their purpose. They had gotten use to the way things were, their oppression, and stayed in captivity. But being reconciled, God’s people begin to understand their purpose.

So what is our purpose? I believe our purpose is to love God with all our might; to love our neighbors, to seek justice, act with mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. According to La Torre, knowing our purpose and working toward reconciliation leads to freedom. It frees those who need to be freed in ANY WAY to truly be free - especially free in the spirit. And it is about justice - work that is not easy.

We all have work to do regarding issues of justice. Yet it is not just those in power who are called to assist with the work of reconciliation. But as is the major theme of La Torre’s book, it is that those who are on the margins who are called to the formidable task of taking the first steps toward reconciliation, EVEN to those who will not listen. Reconciling all of God’s people and creating back to God is what we are called to do. Are we willing to be such a person? Are we willing to be a new person, a new creation? Are we willing to be a “Liberated Jonah”? Not easy – but I am!