CrossWalk Community Church Napa

Entangled Prayer Week 5: World-Transforming Prayer

The deconstruction and reconstruction process of faith – which we should expect to be an ongoing experience throughout our lives – can be extremely challenging at times.  We may certainly wonder if God is even real.  Such massive questions impact our confidence and interest in prayer. Sometimes we give up. Jesus instructs us to keep on praying, though, trusting in its efficacy. Could it be that when we least feel like praying is when we most need to pray?

Entangled Prayer Week 4: Spiritual Adventures

Prayer is about living and breathing attuned to God in a dynamic relationship. We do our best to remain conscious of the spiritual sea we’re all swimming in, responsive to the winds of the spirit, and humble enough to admit that we may have been nudged by God without knowing it was God, which should elicit awe.  When lived this way, life is truly a spiritual adventure that leads us to deepening maturity and service toward the world’s wellbeing. Note: This episode begins with a brief meditation leading into communion.

Entangled Prayer Week 3: Christ is Alive!

Christ is the
environment
in which we all live and breathe and have our being.  It connects us, comforts us, inspires us, heals us, moves us, woos us. Christ is that aspect of God that is always on the move everywhere, in everything, the Source of ongoing creative energy, novelty, ingenuity. Much larger than the focus of God’s presence on one leader (the classic rendering of Messiah-Christ), and even bigger than the individualistic anointing, Christ represents that other element, the this-ness of life. When we wake up to that, we enter reality differently. We see the world differently. We see ourselves differently – more graceful – and do the same for others. Ego takes a back seat in favor of something much deeper and greater. Our vision for life expands from self-centeredness alone to a deep respect for the wisdom of loving our neighbors as ourselves – we realize we must pursue both. Realizing we are all – everything – swimming in the same sea, we lend and direct the flow of Christ beyond ourselves toward everyone and everything.  In this we join Christ, adding to the creative, healing work, unkinking our hose, and allowing the love to flow. We become joyful conduits of love, light, grace – Christ.

Entangled Prayer Week 3: The Adventurous God

We continue moving forward, deeper into what it means to be attuned to God's wooing us to be partners in bring more and more love and beauty into the world. What does it say about God that we wold be invited to such an adventure?

Entangled Prayer, Week Two: Loving God

The teaching this week happened to dovetail nicely with the lectionary texts being used by thousands of churches worldwide this week:
Psalm 119:33-40 (MSG)GOD, teach me lessons for livingso I can stay the course.Give me insight so I can do what you tell me—my whole life one long, obedient response.Guide me down the road of your commandments;I love traveling this freeway!Give me a bent for your words of wisdom,and not for piling up loot.Divert my eyes from toys and trinkets,invigorate me on the pilgrim way.Affirm your promises to me—promises made to all who fear you.Deflect the harsh words of my critics—but what you say is always so good.See how hungry I am for your counsel;preserve my life through your righteous ways! Romans 13:8-14 (MSG) Don't run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love. But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can't afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don't loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ and be up and about! Matthew 18:15-20 (NRSV)“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”

Entangled: Quantum-Informed Prayer - Introduction

I wasn’t sure how to title this series on prayer. I landed on Entangled: Quantum-Informed Prayer because it is so abundantly clear... I could have gone with Prayer after we let go of God as Merlin or Genie or Santa... But I figured that might be too much for those who love those paradigms. In his book, Praying with Process Theology, Bruce Epperly offers seven weeks of daily devotional thoughts, affirmations, and prayers that he hopes will teach and foster a robust, thriving spiritual practice for folks who resonate with Open and Relational Theology (Process Theology fits under the umbrella of ORT). In the first section, Epperly offers some bedrock affirmations to ground our practices:Affirmations: the world in which we live.• Our world is a dynamic, ever-evolving process. Relationship is primary to reality.• We live in a world characterized by dynamic interdependence.• We live in a universe of experience, and this includes non-humans as well as humans.• Value is co-extensive with experience and reality.• Every creature has value and deserves ethical consideration, apart from human interests.• Creativity and freedom are essential to reality, including the nonhuman world.• The future is open, and our actions make a difference in shaping the world to come. Affirmations: God’s nature• God is present everywhere and in all things.• God experiences everything and God’s ongoing experience of the world is constantly growing in relationship to an evolving universe.• Although God influences all things, God’s power is best understood in terms of love rather than coercion or domination.• In all things, God works for good – even life’s most challenging situations.• God’s power is persuasive and invitational, a call forward, as the source of possibilities and ideals appropriate to every occasion of experience and our whole lifetimes.• The future is open for God as well as us.• God needs us to be partners in God’s dream of world transformation. Affirmations: our spiritual journeys• God is present in our lives as the “still small voice” speaking in our “sighs too deep for words.”• Our spiritual practices bring God’s unique and personal visions for our lives and the world to consciousness.• When we pray, we align ourselves with Gods’ vision for us and experience greater divine energy/presence.• Our prayers, in an interdependent universe, create a field of force that enables God to be more active in our lives and the lives of those for whom we pray.• Our prayers create new possibilities for divine and human activities and may influence the nonhuman world in amazing ways. While you may find yourself easily nodding your head to much of the above, realize that many of the statements above challenge long-held classic Christian beliefs. The truth is that many Christians today have one foot in ORT and the other in classic Christianity. Their stated beliefs mirror the tenets challenged by the statements above while their experience simultaneously resonates with those same statements. In my experience as a human being who has moved through and away from dominant classic Christian beliefs that have reigned supreme for at least 1,000 years, and as a pastor who has led many through the same journey, I can tell you that the deconstruction-reconstruction process is very difficult. Prayer becomes collateral damage in that process. If God isn’t “up there” then where am I directing my prayers? If God isn’t omnipotent in the way I’ve been told to believe, what is the value of my prayers? These questions are the “why” behind this series. I believe Epperly’s book will be very helpful in moving into a renewed passion for prayer. My teachings might help, too. Might... It might help to remember that Jesus was a fan of prayer. He integrated solitude into his rhythm. He encouraged us to ask, seek, knock – all directed toward God. His model for prayer: attunement more than atonement. His final prayer: that his followers would be connected – one with God like he was – and that they would continue his work. We can answer Jesus’ prayer by our decision to grow. Will you so choose? A Model for PrayerOur loving, supportive, holy ABBA:Your presence is here and everywhere!May your Divine Commonwealth come!May your will be done through us!We are grateful for the gift of foodand work for all to eat their fill.May we work for a worldwhere mutual grace and respect abound.May we foster SHALOM everywhere.Strengthen us for the work to which we’re called.Amen. May it be so.

CrossWalkMoth: Unexpected

Taking a cue from the unexpected twists and turns from the book of Jonah, we invited CrossWalkers to come share stories of the unexpected in their lives. Such good, diverse stories! So fun!

Unexpected: God in the Book of Jonah

What can God do? How powerful is God? How much does God know? How does God interact with the created world?
What do we learn about God in the story of Jonah? Given that the entire purpose of the tale is to hold a mirror to Israel’s face to point out their hateful prejudice toward other human beings as a contradiction of God’s love for everyone, we might just simply say that God is graceful. That’s a good conclusion all the time. Love is the defining characteristic of God – a higher, deeper, broader, stronger love than we can imagine. God’s love forces us to grapple with some assumptions about God that appear in Jonah’s tale. The story has God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah goes in the opposite direction, toward Tarshish. God then sends a storm to wreck the ship. The sailors repent, losing their cargo, and finally, reluctantly, cast Jonah overboard (a paradox: they were more reverent of the gods than Jonah). The storm immediately ceased. Jonah is rescued from the watery grave by a great fish who swallows him at God’s command. After Jonah has the opportunity to write a lovely poem inside the pitch-black belly of the fish filled with all sorts of stomach acid and no oxygen – for three nights – God directs the huge dogfish to vomit Jonah out on shore. Dogfish are well known for vomiting not in the ocean, but onto dry land. Not really – this is yet another reminder of how purposely ridiculous this story is. God appealed yet again to Jonah to go to Nineveh, which he did. After giving the worst sermon ever preached, the Ninevites repent, and God relents. Jonah, of course, gets pissed about God’s grace, focusing anger on a plant’s life and death (an act of God’s direction again) rather than the beauty of God’s grace and Nineveh’s salvation. What is this story saying about the character and nature of God? God apparently can change the weather instantly, can call a large fish to find and swallow Jonah and somehow keep the fish’s intestinal track from killing him, and then causing him to vomit him up on queue onto dry land, break the plan to destroy an entire city, cause a plant to grow, call a worm into action, make the sun a little hotter so that the plant withers – all to teach Jonah a lesson. Yet somehow it was impossible to affect Jonah’s mind enough to do what was asked in the first place. The stakes were high, too. The sailors lost their cargo. The Ninevites’ lives were on the line – all hinging on Jonah. It sure seems that if God were all powerful, that would include the capacity to make Jonah do his bidding. Of course, the book of Jonah is pure fiction and therefore perhaps we shouldn’t get too caught up in the details. Yet it remains a true story of human nature, and presents us the opportunity to wonder what kind of God the original audience believed in, and invites us to wonder what kind of God we believe in. Maui lost Lahaina as hurricane-force winds fanned the flamed from one house and community to the next until nearly everything was wiped out. We know how wildfire works and know that such fires can cover the length of a football field in seconds. What stubborn Jonah was responsible for such destruction? Who failed to throw him to sea to avert disaster? And what kind of God would allow such destruction in the first place if God had the power to calm the wind at will? Without a doubt, unless you are emotionally dead there certainly must have been times in your life – maybe right now – when you wondered why God didn’t show up to answer your cry for help, to calm the winds of destruction, to stave off cancer or COVID, to keep the economy moving forward, to end racism in a snap, to eliminate slavery of all forms worldwide immediately, and to move the SF Giants into first place with a wide margin over the Dodgers somewhere toward the end of September (no need to be picky about the date so long as there’s no way the Dodgers can catch us – we can be reasonable, right?). Recall that the Bible was written over centuries of time by a wide variety of authors living in very different cultures and contexts than our own. They lived in a primitive time when it was assumed that the gods controlled nearly everything. And yet in the Bible we see clear tension in God’s character – sometimes willing and able to do literally anything, and at other times not. At times it appears that everything was God’s plan, and at other times God changes God’s mind, even going back on God’s own word. This reminds us that we are people in process. Each age has the freedom and responsibility to do their best to understand who God is to the best of their ability. That’s where we are today. Jonah does not solve the problem. God is graceful (unless you were among the sailors or their customers or that big fish that got seasick or the plant or the worm that lost its meal and probably died in the blazing sun). How are we to think about all of this? I’ve already mentioned that the Bible needs to be taken in context – we need to let it be what it is – a profoundly rich library from hundreds and hundreds of years of history, thousands of years before our time. Some new information has come out, however, that reminds us of something else that is related to the Bible: sometimes our struggle with a text is a problem of our traditional understanding being off from the start. Much of Western Christian theology was heavily influenced by a Western, Platonic based worldview. That’s a big problem, especially when considering Hebrew texts which are rooted in the Eastern tradition. We assume that the ancient writers thought about power the same way we do. They didn’t. They didn’t think about omnipotence the way we do. Further, no modern theologian or philosopher worth their salt believes that “God” truly has total power to do anything God wants to do – it simply doesn’t hold up to simple logic. The Jewish creation story does not have God creating out of nothing, either even though that has been drilled into our theologies by tradition. Open and relational theology offers an alternative approach that is biblically supported, philosophically sensible, and rings true with our experience. Rather than God commanding or controlling anything, God works with and in creation to move toward deeper shalom for all. So, in the Jonah folktale, this would work out as God’s presence being one of multiple factors leading to a potential outcome. God doesn’t have full control, however, so long as there are other variables in play (and there always are). The interaction with Jonah is illustrative of this dynamic. God makes clear what he wants the prophet to do, yet Jonah does the opposite. God doesn’t override Jonah’s agency. Rather, as Jonah makes his decisions, God adjusts God’s moves like an ongoing chess game. God doesn’t know what will happen because it hasn’t happened yet. God is one (very significant but not controlling) character in the story. Jonah and all the others all have their play, too. What would have happened if the Ninevites refused to repent? Would God smite them? Or would God give them a pass since Jonah was so sucky? We have decisions to make regarding the character and nature of God. If you prefer the traditional model where God is in control and in charge, you’re welcome to it. But the story of Jonah doesn’t fully validate that, does it? Neither does your lived experience or the history of humanity overall.

Unexpected 2: Jonah’s Subversive Message Then and Now

You are familiar with the story, and perhaps have even ridden a ride taking you through it. Geppetto is an Italian clock maker who is alone in the world (save his cat and goldfish). To offset his loneliness for companionship, he crafts a young boy marionette, which he names Pinocchio. Seeing the wishing star appear before he went to bed, he wished that his puppet could be a real boy. Overnight, his wish was granted by a fairy, who also appointed Mr. Jiminy Cricket as Pinocchio’s present conscience since the boy would be starting from scratch with no bearing about right or wrong. Pinocchio was promised that he could obtain real boyhood if he proved himself to be a good boy, gauged by his ethical behavior. On his way to school he got sweet-talked by a clever fox who convinced him to join the theater instead of going to school. It worked out for a minute, but one thing led to another, and Pinocchio found himself with other young lads on Pleasure Island, where all manner of reckless manliness could be enjoyed: smoking cigars, drinking copious amounts of beer, getting into fights, vandalism, and various carnival games. Unfortunately, Pleasure Island was a trap put in place by owners of a salt mine in need of donkeys. When the boys drank enough of the beer the villains tainted, they soon turned into jackasses (or were they already?) and shipped to the mine where they would spend the rest of their days. Pinocchio managed to escape before he was totally jackassed and rushed home only to discover that his “father” had gone to search for him on the sea and was swallowed up by Maestro, the Monstrous Whale. Pinocchio plunged himself into the sea to rescue his father, managed to get everyone out of the whale’s belly through heroic efforts at the expense of his own life. His selflessness, however, wiped out all the jackassery he had engaged in before, including the lying that caused his nose to grow. The scales of goodness now tipped in his favor, the wishing star fairy not only brought him back to life but made him a real boy. It’s a fun animated film, with adult humor thrown in as per usual with Disney films. The latest version won an Oscar recently, adding some interesting twists from the original. Without a doubt, this story was inspired by the Bible’s Jonah, where errant behavior landed him in the belly of a whale for three days and nights, eventually being spat up on shore to try again. While the literal details of Pinocchio may not be factual, it is a very true story. Geppetto fully entrusted Pinocchio to be a good boy even though the wooden lad didn’t know Schlitz from Shinola. Bad decision that set up the kid for failure. The puppet’s deceit not only got him into deeper and deeper trouble, but it affected those he loved as well, landing his wood carving creator in the belly of a whale. We are prone to making decisions based primarily on our unexamined egos. When we do, there is always a price to pay, and it is often high. We don’t know what happens in Pinocchio’s next chapter in the Disney film – does the now flesh and blood boy attend school and live as a good boy? We know Jonah didn’t. He may have gone to Nineveh, but he remained unchanged in his heart. In the great American novel, Moby , Captain Ahab commanded the crew of the Pequod to join him on his pursuit of Moby , the very large white whale that took his leg. His insanity ended up costing the crew their lives and the ship’s oily cargo, save Ishmael, the slave of a sailor who was, like his biblical namesake, forsaken by the father of his ship. But there is much more to the story. Melville may have been writing a story about the pursuit of a monstrous whale, but between the lines he was actually critiquing the culture in which he lived in the 1800’s: Capitalism was doing a lot of good in the world, but it was also capable of unthinkable evil which included American slavery for the first two and a half centuries of our history on this land, and child labor to this day in other part of the world. He witnessed the power of greed and prejudice that was tearing our country apart. He was fully aware of what was happening in the deep south after reconstruction ended – slavery may have become illegal, but there were many other ways that white people could subjugate black people. We are still paying the price for that today. Melville couldn’t call it out too directly, however, because of family ties. He wrote an incredibly long book where he could write deeply so that there was much to be read between the lines for those sensitive enough to recognize it, while those who couldn’t or wouldn’t simply enjoyed the story at face value. The Book of Jonah is like that. For those who simply want a crazy folktale with lots of humor along the way, it stands alone. Yet for those who wonder why the book was written in the first place and study the context, the textual peculiarities, and undertones, there is so much more. The prejudice held by Jonah is obvious – he goes toward Tarshish because he doesn’t want the people of Nineveh to get any kind of warning because he would rather see them suffer God’s judgment. He knows that God’s desire to warn them is an act of grace that speaks volumes about the nature of God. Jonah believes God is graceful so much that he refuses to give Ninevites a chance to hear out of his hatred. Paradoxically, the non-Jewish sailors showed more grace and godliness than the supposed holy man from Israel! They all worshipped as hard as they could to no avail and were distraught at killing Jonah. The Ninevites even put their animals in sackcloth and ashes to appease God’s wrath! Note: Please laugh out loud at the ridiculousness of this detail clearly indicating it’s folklore-like genre. These foreigners who would not consider the God of Israel a threat suddenly become holy – much more so than Jonah who still cannot get over himself (even after a near-death experience). Centuries later, Jesus was teaching in the northern part of the country where he grew up. He was renowned for his teaching, healing, and miracles. But his magic show could be explained away by his critics (religious leaders), so they demanded a clear sign that he was anointed by God. Jesus said the only sign he would give was the sign of Jonah, who was in the belly of a what for three nights before rising again at the will of God. Similarly, Jesus was alluding to his own experience of death, burial, and resurrection three days later. Remember that the Gospels were written decades after Jesus’ life and ministry. For many believers at that time, the resurrection became their “proof positive” that Jesus was anointed (endorsed and empowered) by God. The Jewish leaders, however, dismissed this “Sign of Jonah” altogether, claiming it to be a fabrication, or covering up what they couldn’t understand. They didn’t experience the resurrected Christ, and certainly didn’t want to change their lives based on the ramifications thereof. History has a way of repeating itself, especially when those who are living fail to give due attention to their own history which always informs the present. Prophets of old are not to be looked upon like wizards with crystal balls who can foretell the future. Prophets were and are those who are so familiar with the vision of God, the heartbeat of God, the harmonies of God, the authenticity of God that when they see something that is out of line with the vision, sense that there is a miss-beat, hear something off key, and smell something foul they simply call it to attention. Jonah was a joke of a prophet given his prejudice and hatred, mirroring the prevailing attitudes of the people he represented and served (can it ever be dangerous for leaders and their followers to simply echo each other?). The writers of the story perhaps took this approach because the temperature in the room was too hot to speak directly, like Melville writing about serious issues thinly veiled in his whale of a tale. What would the writers of Jonah see today? What would they hope would be considered by a country that claims Christian roots? Given their vision of God, what might they wonder about how we are treating each other in the public square? Women’s rights to their own bodies? The LGBTQ’s freedom to live authentically and love who they love? The treatment of human beings hoping to work for a better future here and abroad? Nuclear threat? Our role in global warming and our reluctance to take it seriously because of money? Our care of the environment to ensure that we don’t ruin it for the generations to come? How about income disparity? Obsession with arms while wanting greater peace? And of course, our ongoing reluctance to own and address America’s greatest sin – the enslavement of others with the blessing of the Church. Statistically, American Christianity is Jonah. Publicly, Christians – painted with one wide brush – continues to be viewed not for their desire to live into shalom, but for the disturbance of it. It is no surprise that we are witnessing more people leaving not just church but the faith than ever before. Why would someone consider Jonah when the sailors enroute to Tarshish, and the ruler, people, and animals of Nineveh appear to be more aligned with shalom than the one who is supposed to proclaim it? As Jesus followers – and as people of faith in general – we are called to live by the vision of shalom. For everyone and everything. Are we taking any time to wonder what that looks like and compare it to our personal lives, our family systems, our work and friendly relationships, our community governance, our country, and our world? The presence of God woos us ever forward toward shalom. Are we paying attention? Do we care?

Unexpected: Jonah’s Whale of a Tale

As we begin this series, take time this week to simply become familiar with the story.
Chapter 1: RUNNING FROM GOD One day long ago, GOD's Word came to Jonah, Amittai's son: "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer." But Jonah got up and went the other direction to Tarshish, running away from GOD. He went down to the port of Joppa and found a ship headed for Tarshish. He paid the fare and went on board, joining those going to Tarshish—as far away from GOD as he could get. But GOD sent a huge storm at sea, the waves towering. The ship was about to break into pieces. The sailors were terrified. They called out in desperation to their gods. They threw everything they were carrying overboard to lighten the ship. Meanwhile, Jonah had gone down into the hold of the ship to take a nap. He was sound asleep. The captain came to him and said, "What's this? Sleeping! Get up! Pray to your god! Maybe your god will see we're in trouble and rescue us." Then the sailors said to one another, "Let's get to the bottom of this. Let's draw straws to identify the culprit on this ship who's responsible for this disaster." So they drew straws. Jonah got the short straw. Then they grilled him: "Confess. Why this disaster? What is your work? Where do you come from? What country? What family?" He told them, "I'm a Hebrew. I worship GOD, the God of heaven who made sea and land." At that, the men were frightened, really frightened, and said, "What on earth have you done!" As Jonah talked, the sailors realized that he was running away from GOD. They said to him, "What are we going to do with you—to get rid of this storm?" By this time the sea was wild, totally out of control. Jonah said, "Throw me overboard, into the sea. Then the storm will stop. It's all my fault. I'm the cause of the storm. Get rid of me and you'll get rid of the storm." But no. The men tried rowing back to shore. They made no headway. The storm only got worse and worse, wild and raging. Then they prayed to GOD, "O GOD! Don't let us drown because of this man's life, and don't blame us for his death. You are GOD. Do what you think is best." They took Jonah and threw him overboard. Immediately the sea was quieted down. The sailors were impressed, no longer terrified by the sea, but in awe of GOD. They worshiped GOD, offered a sacrifice, and made vows. Then GOD assigned a huge fish to swallow Jonah. Jonah was in the fish's belly three days and nights. Chapter 2: AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA Then Jonah prayed to his God from the belly of the fish. He prayed:"In trouble, deep trouble, I prayed to GOD. He answered me.From the belly of the grave I cried, 'Help!' You heard my cry.You threw me into ocean's depths, into a watery grave,With ocean waves, ocean breakers crashing over me.I said, 'I've been thrown away, thrown out, out of your sight.I'll never again lay eyes on your Holy Temple.'Ocean gripped me by the throat. The ancient Abyss grabbed me and held tight.My head was all tangled in seaweed at the bottom of the sea where the mountains take root.I was as far down as a body can go, and the gates were slamming shut behind me forever—Yet you pulled me up from that grave alive, O GOD, my God!When my life was slipping away, I remembered GOD,And my prayer got through to you, made it all the way to your Holy Temple.Those who worship hollow gods, god-frauds, walk away from their only true love.But I'm worshiping you, GOD, calling out in thanksgiving!And I'll do what I promised I'd do! Salvation belongs to GOD!"Then GOD spoke to the fish, and it vomited up Jonah on the seashore. Chapter 3: MAYBE GOD WILL CHANGE HIS MIND Next, GOD spoke to Jonah a second time: "Up on your feet and on your way to the big city of Nineveh! Preach to them. They're in a bad way and I can't ignore it any longer." This time Jonah started off straight for Nineveh, obeying GOD's orders to the letter.Nineveh was a big city, very big—it took three days to walk across it. Jonah entered the city, went one day's walk and preached, "In forty days Nineveh will be smashed." The people of Nineveh listened, and trusted God. They proclaimed a citywide fast and dressed in burlap to show their repentance. Everyone did it—rich and poor, famous and obscure, leaders and followers. When the message reached the king of Nineveh, he got up off his throne, threw down his royal robes, dressed in burlap, and sat down in the dirt. Then he issued a public proclamation throughout Nineveh, authorized by him and his leaders: "Not one drop of water, not one bite of food for man, woman, or animal, including your herds and flocks! Dress them all, both people and animals, in burlap, and send up a cry for help to God. Everyone must turn around, turn back from an evil life and the violent ways that stain their hands. Who knows? Maybe God will turn around and change his mind about us, quit being angry with us and let us live!" God saw what they had done, that they had turned away from their evil lives. He did change his mind about them. What he said he would do to them he didn't do. Chapter 4: "I KNEW THIS WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!" Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at GOD, "GOD! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That's why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness! "So, GOD, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead!" GOD said, "What do you have to be angry about?" But Jonah just left. He went out of the city to the east and sat down in a sulk. He put together a makeshift shelter of leafy branches and sat there in the shade to see what would happen to the city. GOD arranged for a broad-leafed tree to spring up. It grew over Jonah to cool him off and get him out of his angry sulk. Jonah was pleased and enjoyed the shade. Life was looking up.But then God sent a worm. By dawn of the next day, the worm had bored into the shade tree and it withered away. The sun came up and God senta hot, blistering wind from the east. The sun beat down on Jonah's head and he started to faint. He prayed to die: "I'm better off dead!" Then God said to Jonah, "What right do you have to get angry about this shade tree?" Jonah said, "Plenty of right. It's made me angry enough to die!" GOD said, "What's this? How is it that you can change your feelings from pleasure to anger overnight about a mere shade tree that you did nothing to get? You neither planted nor watered it. It grew up one night and died the next night. So, why can't I likewise change what I feel about Nineveh from anger to pleasure, this big city of more than a hundred and twenty thousand childlike people who don't yet know right from wrong, to say nothing of all the innocent animals?" (The Message Translation)The story of Jonah is not to be read as a literal story of an historical event. Even though it the central character is noted elsewhere in the Bible, it is unlikely that they are the same person. It is uncertain when the story came about – somewhere between 800 BCE – 400 BCE, when Israel was quite bitter toward the more powerful nations that subdued them. Scholars are mixed on what genre best characterizes this writing. Not exactly a folktale, not a parable, not midrash, but rather a little bit of each. One thing that scholars do agree about: it’s a masterpiece that continues to be relevant today.What stands out to you in this story – what are you noticing, what would you like more information about, what is striking?How do you think the original Jewish audience might have received this tale? What do you imagine was the hoped-for outcome in its sharing?How is this story relevant in our day and age?How does this story hit home with you? What characters do you resonate with? Have you ever had a moment or a season when you resembled Jonah?