I went to church today. I haven't visited a church in a long time, for many reasons that I won't get in to right now. This church was a different experience, and it was refreshing. Talking afterwards, I realized something about myself that made me able to see from a new perspective.
In general, when I hear hear a sermon/study/lesson/etc, there are certain things that bother me immediately which I get stuck thinking about- most often what is being inferred about the nature of God, and whether or not the story/idea is realistic. For instance, today we read the book of Jonah and discussed the story. My first thoughts were cynical; why would a loving God threaten all the sailor's lives with a storm when only Jonah had sinned? Why would God punish Jonah for disobeying anyway- what kind of free will is that? Besides, plants don't grow tall enough to shade someone in a few hours, and people cannot survive living inside of sea creatures, and taking this particular story literally (as most Christians do) bothers me because of these types of issues.
Anyway, these types of thoughts usually upset me so much that I gain nothing from the study other than frustration. And they are important issues that need to be thought about and discussed, at the appropriate time and place. But obviously these types of side-tracking, huge theological issues cannot really be discussed in any helpful way by a group trying to do a 1-hour or less study, and to some extent stories need to be taken at face value just to make an orderly discussion possible. So I asked myself, "If I temporarily suspend my disbelief and questions regarding big issues, and for now just focus on the point of the story, what would I learn?". This was a revelation that allowed me think in a more helpful and clear way. In this moment, what can I learn by focusing on the point and waiting to think about the other side issues?
With the story of Jonah, what can I learn with this new perspective? Initially it seems to be a story about disobedience, the moral being that it's not a good idea to disobey God. But upon further consideration, I don't think that's really it, as God showed Jonah mercy and the story did not point to Jonah's horrible punishment or anything like that. Instead, it seems to be a story about God's love and mercy. Jonah finally gave in, thinking he would go to Ninevah and preach pointlessly just to watch the rebellious people reject his message and God's judgement come down on them. Instead, these people that he knew as evil and possibly cruel were shown mercy, and he was devastated and angry with God. And God basically says to him that it's not Jonah's say who gets mercy and who doesn't- that God has the right to show mercy to whomever, however he chooses.
In this story, we see that God's mercy and compassion are far greater than our own, apparently sometimes even beyond our comprehension. That seems to be the lesson of Jonah, as far as I can tell, which is interesting and worth considering. I hope to take this new perspective with me into future situations, so that I can be more constructive instead of cynical with my learning.
