“All God’s Critters Got a
Place in the Choir”
Rev. Penelope Erin Taylor, FCC Gainesville, TX
September 21st, 2014
You
know, in a conversation I had earlier this week with Anthony he mentioned how
much he appreciated Mark talking about Jesus in his sermons because that hasn’t
been the case with every preacher he’s experienced. I then challenged him to count how many times I
reference Jesus in my sermon today. Shortly after that conversation I
remembered that I was preaching from an Old Testament text. Anthony… I don’t think you’ll need both hands to count anymore. In fact, I’m
going to go ahead and tell you the answer. It’s one.
Our
scripture today comes from the Book of Jonah.
Jonah
3:10 – 4:11
"When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God
changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them;
and he did not do it. But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became
angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country?
That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a
gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and
ready to relent from punishing. And now, O Lord, please take my life from me,
for it is better for me to die than to live.”
And the Lord said, “Is
it right for you to be angry?”
Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down
east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the
shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.
The
Lord God appointed a bush, and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over
his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush.
But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the
bush, so that it withered. When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind,
and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that
he might die. He said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”
But
God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.”
Then the Lord said, “You
are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not
grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 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?”
The Word of God for the people of God.
Will
you please pray with me?
God,
May
the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in
your sight, our rock and our redeemer. In these ancient words may we find a living
word to guide us and sustain us.
Amen.
----
I
have something shocking to share with you…
is everyone sitting down? Inhaler in hand? Both
feet firmly planted on the ground? First responders on alert? Wally? Terry?
Okay
then, here it goes: I love my dog.
Shocking,
right? It’s true though…
I really love my dog. Many of you know Barney
quite well and for those of you who don’t, just look at
that face! How can you NOT love him? Many of you are most familiar with Barney
looking like he does in the bottom right picture, but Barney wasn’t always the well coifed, regal cocker spaniel that he is today. No,
Barney had a bit of a dark past. I don’t know too much
about it, but I know that he was found wandering the streets of Dallas during
the summer of 2012 and was rescued by the Dallas Fort Worth Cocker Spaniel
Rescue. He was 2 and a half years old, about 10 pounds under weight, his fur
was a mess, and he had a really bad sore on his head. We think he was born in a
puppy mill and had experienced abuse prior to his days on the street. He was
taken to a veterinarian to be treated and the medicine used on his head is what
temporarily dyed his hair purple. Once he was healthy, he was moved into a
foster home where he anxiously awaited his new family.
Now,
I have known for quite a while that when the time came for me to get a dog, I
would get a cocker spaniel. I knew I would be ready to adopt around August of
2012. That being said, I browsed the DFW Cocker Spaniel Rescue website
CONSTANTLY just waiting for the right one to catch my eye. Finally, in the
middle of July, I saw Barney. He was everything I wanted in a dog, not to
mention HE WAS ALREADY PURPLE! I submitted my 8 page application, completed the
home inspection, vet reference, and even bought all of his accessories PRAYING
that I would be approved to adopt Barney. On the last day of our Mission Trip to
Waco, I got the call that I had passed all of the criteria to adopt Barney and
could pick him up from his foster home the next day, August 3rd –
which is when the bottom left picture was taken.
Yes,
Barney had come a long way before I finally got him but he still had a long
journey ahead before he would become the devilishly handsome and dapper doggy
that we have all come to know and love. Barney needed someone to believe in him… Someone to see his potential…
Someone to not give up on him… Someone to deliver him to redemption… Someone like Jonah.
The
story of Jonah is one we know well. God calls on Jonah to go to Nineveh, to
tell the Ninevites that their behavior is unacceptable to God, and that they
must repent. It seems easy enough right? Well, not for Jonah. Jonah decides
that Ninevites are too far-gone and that he does not have what it takes to
bring them into the light of redemption. Instead, Jonah hops on another boat – a boat to Tarshish. This seemed like a great plan to Jonah! He heard
what God had asked of him, he considered it briefly, but then decided his time
was better spent elsewhere. As Jonah relaxed on the lido deck, a great storm
began to build. The passengers frantically look to one another, wondering what
or who could have caused these raging waters. Unsure of whether he was seasick
or experiencing a guilty conscious, Jonah comes clean. “It
was me! It was me! I ummm got on the wrong boat…?” THUNDERBOLT! “I
ummm inherited Moses’ sense
of direction? LIGHTENING! “Okay fine! I’m running away from God! I was supposed to go
Nineveh but there was a Groupon to go to Tarshish and I thought I deserved a
vacation… I’m sorry…”
And as the remaining passengers began to play ‘Taps’ on their bugles,
Jonah saluted, and walked backwards on the plank into the raging sea.
God,
aware that Jonah may pull something like this, decides to go with Plan B. Jonah
is then swallowed by a large fish and lives in it’s belly for three days, where he is conveniently spit out on the shore
of Nineveh. Jonah emerges from the fish’s belly, takes a
moment to get his bearings, and then realizes where he is. God smirks and says,
“Game
on, Jonah. Game on.”
Jonah makes his way into the town square, clears
his throat, and declares that it is time for Nineveh to repent. Contrary to
what Jonah had predicted, Nineveh repents, God is pleased, and Jonah sulks.
Jonah, caught up in a ball of despair and self-pity, leaves Nineveh and finds a
nice spot to sit and pout. And this is where our story picks up. By this point,
Jonah has had it with the Ninevites and with God. He has thrown in the towel
and just wants to forget that any of this has ever happened.
As
Jonah sulks, God anoints a plant to grow over Jonah and give him shade. Much
like how I felt when I first saw Barney’s picture, Jonah was ecstatic! This plant was everything he had ever
hoped for and he loved this plant with more depth and sincerity than he knew
was possible. As Jonah drifted off to sleep, God sent a worm to devour Jonah’s
beloved plant. As Jonah wakes up, ready for the new adventures that he and his
plant will embark on, he realizes that his plant his dead and consequently,
Jonah’s
heartbreak has lead him to full blown tantrum and he begs God to kill him too.
Jonah curses God for killing his plant and begins an incredibly intense stage
of grief. God, calmly twiddling his thumbs, asks Jonah the question that not
only leaves Jonah in a daze, but demonstrates the power and vastness of God’s
grace, “You are
concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not
grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 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?”
Nineveh
was undoubtedly a wicked city. The people of Nineveh committed sin after sin.
They exploited one another, they disregarded God’s commandments, and they lived only
to please themselves. To Jonah, the Ninevites were too far-gone to be salvaged
and felt as though his time would be wasted if he went there. To God, the
Ninevites weren’t hopeless. Sure, they were disobedient and irresponsible, but
certainly not hopeless. They needed someone to believe in them. Someone to see
their potential. Someone to deliver them to redemption. Someone like Jonah.
When
I was 7 years old I was in a musical called “Go Go Jonah!”
and it was QUITE the production! We had a large
glittery fish that chased Jonah until he got to Nineveh and after Nineveh had
repented, Jonah, the Ninevites, God, and even the large fish rejoiced in an
extravagant musical number and then the curtain closed. It was much later in
life that I realized that the Jonah story does not end with rejoicing, much
less an extravagant musical number. Instead, the ending is unsettling. Rather
than a jubilant orchestra, I imagine it was more like one sad violin. Jonah
raises a feeling that many of us have probably experienced. Jonah questions
what God has done and questions why “those people”
deserve God’s grace. We don’t see any resolution and if you’re like me, you immediately begin thinking about who would be your
Nineveh – who do you think is beyond God’s grace and forgiveness? Who is so loathsome that you cannot fathom
why God would ever love them? Personally, I immediately think of a certain
college football coach who used to live in Louisiana… There may have been many times where I have yelled at my television
screen, “GOD!
How am I supposed to love Nick Saban?!”
and much like Jonah, I then find myself in a
ball of despair and self-pity or hiding under a table.
We
laugh, and clearly this is a silly example, but if we think hard enough, we all
probably have our own Ninevehs…
People or groups that are for some reason or
another give us a bad taste in our mouth and rage in our souls. Rapists. Drunk
drivers. Murders. Child molesters. Tyrants. Dictators. Drug lords. All of which
were most likely encompassed in Nineveh. People, who when we think about the
scope of God’s grace, we grapple with how they could ever be a part of it. By the
way, Jonah never answered God’s question. God asked Jonah if these people, whom he had made and
loved, were unworthy of being forgiven, and then the text ends. It’s an
unsettling question, it truly is. Who is worthy of God’s
grace? Is grace abundant but limited? Is grace unquantifiable and therefore
immeasurable? We are left feeling unsettled…
The story of Jonah does not joyfully end or
present a resolution, but instead it raises the question that many of us would
struggle to answer –
Is anyone truly beyond the scope of God’s
grace? God saw something in the people of Nineveh… He knew what their
potential was and He believed in their ability to repent and to change for the
better. We may never see one another or see our own Ninevehs from God’s
perspective, but that doesn’t mean that we are so far gone that God will give up on us. And as
hard as it may be for me to admit it, I need to put the past behind me and just
deal with the fact that God does indeed love Nick Saban. God does indeed love
those we have called “unlovable”, “unworthy”, “unforgivable”, “useless.”
When
we are like Jonah, when we question who is worthy of God’s
grace and who is undeserving, we limit the power of God’s
grace and confine it to our own limited comprehension. Yes, the story of Jonah
doesn’t
have a clear resolution or a happy ending –
at least it doesn’t for Jonah. For the Ninevites,
however, they’re given a second chance. They are given someone to believe in them… Someone who sees their potential…
Someone who does not give up on them… Someone who delivers them to redemption… Someone like Jonah….
Someone like us.
There
are also times when we will be like the Ninevites or like Barney. We will need
someone to see our potential and to deliver us into redemption... Someone to
love us, fight for us, and give us a place to call home. There will be times
when we fail to do what God has called us to do or when we feel like so beaten
down that we have no hope. It is in those times that we must remember what God
told Jonah about the Ninevites. - God is concerned for us. God labored over us,
strived over us, and watched us grow. God will not stop fighting for us.
My
sermon title came from one of my favorite camp songs that we sing in New York
and, you guessed it, it is called “All
God’s
Critters Got a Place in the Choir.”
The words to the last two verses are:
Everybody here is a part of the plan
We all get to play in the great critter band
From the eagle in the sky to the whale in the
sea
It's one great symphony
All God's critters got a place in the choir
Some sing low, some sing higher
Some sing out loud on the telephone wire
And
some just clap their hands, or paws or anything they got now
Yes,
all of God’s critters –
the Ninevites, Jonah, us… We all have a place in the choir. Like Jonah, we may come across
people, ourselves included, who make us question one's worthiness of the grace
of God, yet we must also remember that God’s grace is unlimited, uncomprehendable, and far deeper than we can
ever grasp. Like Jonah, we will probably get mad at God. We will question God.
We will cry and want to hide under a table. We will not understand God’s
grace. We don’t always have a clear resolution and we may be left with questions
that we cannot answer, but indeed, ALL of God’s critters have a place in the
choir.
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor
depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the
love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Amen.
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