Pentecost 10

Reformation, Media

Larry V. Smoose

So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea.  Jonah was going down.  Have you ever almost drown?  One summer before I could swim very well, I was in a public pool sort of doggy paddling along, and I began to go underwater and realized I was not able to grab onto the side of the pool!  For some reason I did not make a big spectacle or splash around a lot I got a quick breath and as I went down and my feet hit the bottom, I pushed up and got another breath and went back down and pushed up again and eventually bounced my way over to the side of the pool. 

Some years later, when I was doing my seminary internship in Akron, Ohio the church had a family retreat.  During the Saturday afternoon free time the camp pool was open and so a bunch of kids and some adults headed down to the pool.  I had learned to swim better and had my Water Safety Instructor credentials, so I was the lifeguard.  I hadn’t even had time to take off my shirt, my moccasins or my glasses when I saw one of the kids thrashing in the middle of the deep end and going down.  I jumped in and pulled him out and said – “What were you doing?”  He said, “I saw all the kids run and jump off the diving board, and it looked like so much fun I forgot I couldn’t swim!” 

But there was no side of the pool for Jonah.  No sailor was jumping in to pull him out.  He was going under.  Have you ever felt as if you might drown?  We’ve all been through some storms in our lives, some worse than others, and it may be that in one of those storms you felt as if you weren’t going to make it – maybe it was at that moment that you voiced an unspoken prayer, one of those deep prayers that rise up from within you and speak out of the depths of your being.  It doesn’t matter whether you are in this situation because you did something foolish, or because someone pushed you under, or, like Jonah you were trying to run away from something.  When you feel yourself going under, almost sub-consciously, a little prayer bubbles out – Save me, Lord.  That’s what Jonah did.

We know that with his last gulp of air he said a little prayer because of this best known scene from the story of Jonah.  We know the whole story of Jonah is about Jonah and the _____(Lord)   but this particular chapter is why we sometimes call it Jonah and the Whale.  It says that Jonah prayed from the belly of the fish, but actually the prayer came earlier – these words from the belly of the whale do not comprise a prayer, they are a Psalm – a song – a song of thanksgiving.  The writer Aldous Huxley pictures it this way:

Seated upon the convex mound

Of one vast kidney Jonah prays

And sings his canticles and hymns

Making the hollow vault resound

God’s goodness and mysterious ways

Til the great fish spouts music as he swims.

That’s a great image isn’t it – Jonah, singing God’s praise from the belly of the whale.  It tells the whole story – You cast me into the deep . . . your waves passed over me . . . the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head . . . I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;  As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer came to you. – I called to the Lord in my distress and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried and you heard my voice.  Deliverance belong to the Lord.

Interesting isn’t it – Jonah is still in the belly of the whale.  I don’t know about you, but while the immediate danger is over, I’m not sure I would feel very secure.  Yet here, in the belly of the whale Jonah sings this Psalm.  Maybe he has finally remembered the words of that earlier Psalm --  

Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning and travel to the farthest limits of the sea,

Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.”

As the truth of those words sink in and Jonah sings his own song, and he also includes a few verses that are designed to be instructions to the congregation – to those of us hearing the song.  It is a word especially for those whose lives are shipwrecked, who are in distress or about to go under.

Verse 2 – I called to the Lord in my distress and he answered me.

Verse 7 – As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord.

The only thing we can do in those moments of life’s distress is to pray.   But, Jonah reminds us, my prayer was answered.  So, he concludes in  Verse 9 – Deliverance belongs to the Lord.

As I read that, the Hebrew words popped out at me – Yeshuata leyahweh.  Yeshua (Deliverance or Salvation).  You shall name him Jesus, the angel said, for he will save his people.  In those times of distress, when you are going under, voice your prayer, for Jesus Saves – Deliverance/salvation belongs to the Lord! 

I was reminded again of that just last Sunday.  After Church I went to the housewarming at Immanuel Lutheran in East Lansdowne.  It was a delightful time.  Toward the end Linda and  I were talking to Franklin, one of the church members who has just completed seminary, and a few others, all of whom were Liberian refugees.   Linda said to Franklin, “I work at Elwyn and several of the nurses are from Liberia.  I’ve noticed that they all sing as they work – and it is very soothing to the patients and to all of us.” 

“Yes,” said Franklin, “That is partly an African tradition, but it is also because all of us have been in refugee camps, and we have been singing and praying to God that we might be able to start a new life.  If you’ve ever been to a camp, you will see that there are thousands and thousands of people, and all of them want to be able to come to America – so when we are chosen to come over, we know that God has heard our prayer and answered it, and we want to always sing his praises.”

And so just as on Easter, when Jesus rose out of the belly of Sheol and angel voices joined Jonah’s song of praise, once again out of refugee camps and the lips of people who have a chance of new life, the song resounds – Hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.  Deliverance belongs to the Lord.   

It is the witness of those who have been there – the witness of those who have been in times of distress, who felt as if they were going under and who experienced the power of God to save – that gives us our hope to voice our prayers and our courage to sing songs of praise, even from the belly of the whale.  The one who gave a second chance to Jonah can give us new life too.  

Amen.