Anybody but the Phillies!

As a transplant to the vast Philadelphia suburb known as South Jersey, I've always been a Philly sports outsider.  In fact, I'm the worst of all evils in the mind of most Philly Phans.  I'm a Pittsburgh Penguins fan… a Dallas Cowboys fan… and an Atlanta Braves fan.  But wait!  It gets worse.  I'm still bitter over the 1993 NLCS.  And therefore, next to my Braves, the team I want to win most is… anybody but the Phillies!  (And there goes half my blog readership!)

So just call me Jonah.  I mean, after all, his outlook on life was "anybody but the Assyrians."  And given the brutality of the Assyrians, who could blame him?  Daniel Luckenbill's Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia describes pyramids of heads, flayed skin wall hangings and many other atrocities committed as Assyria rose to world power status.  In that historical context, "The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh (the capitol of Assyria) and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me'." (1:1-2)

Now be honest.  Put yourself in Jonah's sandals.  Walking into Nineveh to "preach against it" was suicide.  So you can't help but feel somewhat sympathetic toward the reluctant prophet when he "ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD." (1:3)

But wait!  It gets worse.  Jonah's flight was not motivated solely by fear.  The real reason Jonah ran away isn't fully revealed until chapter four, after God has spared the Ninevites.  "Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.  He prayed to the LORD, 'O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity'." (4:2)

Jonah was not just afraid of the Ninevites.  He was bitter to the point of disgust when they repented and God relented.  Here was God's prophet wanting the very opposite of God's will.  Jonah's desire was Nineveh's destruction.  God's desire was Nineveh's deliverance (obviously conditioned upon their repentance).  And that battle of wills, as we'll see throughout the month, is really what the book of Jonah is all about.

Now, what if, "The word of the Lord came to Lee Martin and said, 'Go to the great city of Tehran and preach against it'."  Certainly I would be afraid.  But I must admit that a part of me would probably also say, "Why?  Those people torture and kill Christians.  Let them get what they deserve!"

So just call me Jonah… again.  I've found over my life that it is indeed a struggle to embrace and exhibit God's heart for those who are so antagonistic toward Him and His people.  But like Jonah, I need to realize that God delivered me when I didn't deserve it.  Though I was under His wrath, when I repented, He relented.  And if His compassion and mercy toward me doesn't soften my heart toward others, perhaps I need to read the book of Jonah a few more times!