Retirement has been considerably less conflicted than many of my years in the work world. I’m sure I cannot escape all conflict and I take the position that I probably wouldn’t want to anyhow. The mornings that we wake up to scenes like this one are not to be wasted. They are given to us so that we might enter into the world well fortified. The Gospel is not a sentence or command or request from God. It is a way of life offered to us by the One who knows the way. To Be the Gospel is to bring Peace to the places and people that are Peace Depleted.

One ancient place of No Peace was Ninevah. The prophet Jonah was called to go there and warn the inhabitants known for their wickedness that they were about to be exterminated. Jonah tried hard not to Be the Gospel, not to go. God sent him an Uber, and Jonah went for a whale of a ride, you might say.

And Jonahs message was accepted by the Wickeds. I think this disappointed Jonah more than anything. He seems to have wished for their destruction. But they picked up what Jonah was putting down and changed their ways.

I find so much in this ancient story for us today. Indulge me for a minute. I’ll play Jonah. I’m reluctant to enter into the world of Ninevah, or any place full of chaos and conflict. But God get’s me a ticket. And the story is off to the races at this point. I don’t think it will track Jonah’s perfectly, it may not have the same wonderful outcome. But we have to try. That’s the thing with God. He never quits loving us, even the wickedites among us. He might be a bit sneaky and love them even a bit more.

Here is a bit of the ancient story,

1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Am I heading to Nineveh or Tarshish? It makes a difference. It sure did for Jonah, not to mention thousands of Ninevites. What are we waiting for?