Planting gourds in our lives

Lord, you are merciful and gracious. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving. (Psalm 86)

Jonah embodies the human quality of resistance to change.  He is stubborn to his core; and, especially considering the length of his book in the Old Testament (only 4 short chapters), Jonah is the king of digging in his heels before the will of God. 

The way I read it, Jonah’s story is intended to be an opportunity to look within ourselves, a challenge to find those areas in our lives where we might be silently (or perhaps not so silently) refusing the will of God.  On some level, even the best of us struggle with change and stepping outside of the comfort zones we have unknowingly built for ourselves and had built for us.  We accept things that improve our lot in life (as Jonah easily accepts the gourd that God grows for him outside of Nineveh), but when it comes to planting gourds ourselves the matter becomes a bit more intimidating.  When we reach out to forgotten friends, when we challenge the status quo at our places of work, when we try to make amends for past mistakes, or when we see a problem and actually stop to become the solution, we are planting gourds.  God is constantly calling us to step out of our boxes.  He works within our lives as they are, calling us to love our friends, families, and neighbors, but, at the same time, due to our restless hearts and God’s divinity, He may also be constantly hoping for us to do more, to challenge ourselves on a deeper level than we ever have before. 

God did this with Jonah, forcing him to confront people he disliked, warn them of God’s displeasure, and then watch as Jonah’s enemies changed their ways and became people of God.  After witnessing Nineveh’s conversion Jonah clung to his enmity, maintaining the narrow mindset that he had had his whole life.  The book ends with God pointing out Jonah’s irrationality, because, much like Jonah’s anger over the gourd plant suddenly dying as he sat outside of Nineveh, Jonah’s hatred for the Ninevites is fruitless. (Jonah 4:1-11) Jonah shows us that anger is a destructive emotion, and it is capable of blinding all people (even God’s prophets). It is not worth investing oneself in, especially because it is usually directed at things beyond our control.   Yet, in one form or another, we have all been there, and we will almost certainly be there again.  What will we do the next time anger clouds our judgment? 

We are called to plant our own gourds, and one of the best is forgiveness.  We are so lucky to be Christians. Imagine what it would be like to worship a god who did not forgive; a god who expected perfection; a god who punished our every mistake—maybe a god who didn’t even like us. Instead we worship a loving God whose forgiveness is beyond our understanding. The idea that Jesus died as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of my sins is sometimes hard to take in. God makes it quite clear, in scripture and with Christ as our model, that forgiveness is essential. My prayer today is for anyone who has a hard time with forgiveness.

In Wednesday’s readings, it’s fitting that Jonah’s story of belligerent, blind anger is followed by Christ sharing the Our Father with His disciples. (Luke 11:1-4)  The prayer is not only a means of communing with each other and with God, it is a way of life.  We can be daily bread for each other, and, by those actions, we bring God’s kingdom that much closer to our reality.