Fish Slappers!

Kelly, you are awesome with the history. Anyone reading this blog is getting WAY more out of the Bible than they ever have.

Who knew the minor prophets could be so exciting?

I couldn't help but think about the Jonah story and especially the Veggie Tale, since I just quoted it in my sermon last Sunday, "Our God is a God of 2nd chances." That's why these 7 words from today's reading were so disturbing, "Sorry. Too late. Your wound is fatal."

What? Too late?!?

The saddest funeral I've ever attended was a grave-side for a guy named Joseph. Joseph and his wife had one son, Walter. They were Gospel singers who used to travel with James Brown. One day, a Minneapolis city bus made a turn too tight and Walter was picked off the curb. Normally, the death of a child ends a marriage, but Joseph and his wife struggled along, singing about God and trying to drink their pain away. When I met Joseph, he was 55, separated from his wife. He really wanted to turn his life around, but his "wound was fatal." His liver couldn't support his body and he died. Heidi, the kids, and I were the only ones at his funeral, other than the gal from the funeral home.

Someone from our church donated a headstone, because they knew how important Joseph had been to us. He had impressed our kids with a "trick" he could do, folding a piece of paper and tearing off the edges. Two things would emerge: a cross with the scraps reading hell. I have no idea how he did it, but it was his ministry and message.

If Jonah was written before the fall, I'm saddened, because the fish slappers from Nineveh never really learned their lesson. If it's written afterward, they had a compelling reason to turn around, since they fully understood the consequences of not doing so. Jerusalem fell, Adam and Eve did. Maybe it's just a part of the deal. You've gotta wipe out completely before you understand that you're not the king of the world.

The good news is that we have a God who will pick us up, dust us off, and get us going in the right direction. Now that'll preach.