Jonah Was Not a Bullfrog

“Jonah Was not a Bullfrog” by The Rev. Dr. Fred G. Garry

Matthew 16.1-4

The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test Jesus they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. He answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” Then he left them and went away.

It was my birthday; I want to say a decade ago. I remember this because I was heading to the office very early to clear my calendar for the day. As I backed out of the drive it was that moment in the morning between first light and sunrise. All of a sudden I spotted our skunk. I say “our” skunk because he lived at the back of our yard in a neighbor’s abandoned barn for many, many years. This was clearly our skunk because he had a distinctive coat: he was nearly all white.
Our skunk was heading back from his nightly rounds of foraging trash cans. I would not have given him a second thought except his head was stuck inside a Campbell’s soup can. He was obviously in a bit of pickle or chicken noodle most likely.

The first person I relayed this sight to asked if I tried to help the skunk dislodge the can. “No,” I said. “I am pretty sure this was not the first time for him. He seemed to be making his way just fine.”

I was bothered by this sight though. Assuredly the skunk would be fine, and he was. He lived for many years after this without the soup can stuck to his head. What bothered me was the coinciding of events. It was my birthday and I saw a skunk with a soup can stuck on its face. What does that mean? Is it a good sign, a good omen, or a bad one? I was pretty sure it was a sign, but of what? Hence my concern.

In the words of Michael Scott, I am not superstitious, just a little “stitious”. I don’t look for lots of signs; clouds are clouds; broken mirrors are simply not as useful. People who look for meanings in all things, or seek to interpret events based upon prophetic texts, make me nervous—a recipe for a lot of foolishness. Yet, this must mean something. But, what? The best I could come up with was: the joy of the day would be so great I could bring some home with me, leftovers so to speak. Or, the joy of the day could lead to awkward discomfort if I was not careful. I thought the sign of the skunk could go either way.

Not too long ago I was relating my last few years to a friend, you know the way you give the high lights and low lights when you catch up. Going through the list of events, the highs and the lows, my friend surprised me when one event made him gasp and say, “oh, man, what a sign!”

The event he believed was a sign was the day a century oak fell on the manse crushing a part of the house. “A sign? Sign of what?” I asked. “Hard to say,” he started. “At the very least it must be a sign that God was trying to get your attention.” We argued about this for quite some time. I was unconvinced that God drops trees on people’s houses to get their attention. My friend believed that is exactly what God does all the time.

In the end we came to no agreement. For me signs that God gives are about obvious things; there are signs everywhere and following them, paying attention to them is very important to living in harmony with nature, with God, with other people.

For instance, the cherry blossoms are a sign for me each year that spring is here. Until the cherry blossoms come all bets are off. Or when small children are anxious or quick tempered it is usually a sign they need to eat something, use the restroom, and go to bed in that order. There is an island in Lake Ontario where the sun sets on its southern tip at the beginning of summer and then the sun sets on its northern tip at the end of the season. Those are signs for me.

For my friend though, these are more like markers. Signs are the odd moments, the moments that don’t fit, the strange occurrence. These “signs” are there to wake us up, roust us from slumber, even cause us to stop in our tracks.

Our reading is about signs, the demand for a sign, and the pledge of sign, the sign of Jonah. Before I venture into an interpretation of the passage, I offer you a heretic’s caveat: I disagree with thousands of years of interpretation. The classic interpretation of our passage today, most specifically the pledge of Jesus that the religious leaders would receive the sign of Jonah, the classic view of this is that Jesus is referring prophetically to his three days in the tomb. Jonah was three days in the belly of the whale; Jesus would be resurrected on the third day. Obvious connection. Pharisees and Sadducees are just so hard hearted they cannot see it yet. But they will. Right?

Other than a similar number of days, there is no obvious connection between the tomb and the whale. The resurrection is a sign, no doubt about that. It is a sign of how the life we give away is returned to us; the resurrection is a sign of radical obedience. If you lose your life, you will gain it.

The sign of Jonah, on the other hand, is about disobedience. If you follow your own path, in your own way, on your own terms, disaster will surely follow. The sign of Jonah is not about life being saved, returned to you; the sign of Jonah is about ruin and dissatisfaction, and restlessness. I say this not to be a stickler or trying to demean the resurrection. I am pro-resurrection. It just doesn’t work here no matter the coincidence of the number three or the darkness of the tomb being like the darkness of the belly of the whale.

To understand the sign of Jonah, we need to understand the disobedience of Jonah. God said to Jonah go to Nineveh, go east. Jonah hopped on a boat to Tarshish; he went west. Again, not trying to be a stickler, but that is the opposite direction. In his disobedience, Jonah causes great difficulty for the sailors on the ship to Tarshish. In his one act of kindness, Jonah tells them to throw him overboard. That he is swallowed by a whale and spit up on a shore is not so much a moment of salvation, but a hard knock lesson. God redirects him to go East.

At this moment, and this moment only, Jonah complies. But we soon find out he is not a willing prophet. The people of Nineveh repent and find salvation in his message. This happy moment, though, is dashed because Jonah hates the fact the people were saved. He is angry about their salvation. Now, again, I might just be a bit of stickler here, but none of that sounds like, reflects, embodies, is comparable to the life of Jesus.

When Jesus tells the religious leaders they will receive the sign of Jonah, he is not telling them: hey, when I am resurrected this will all make sense and you will see who I really am and be convinced. They didn’t take his words that way when he spoke to them; and they didn’t take the resurrection that way when it happened. The Pharisees thought the resurrection was a lie and hoax. Of that they were convinced.

No. The sign of Jonah is not a convincing image of God’s love; it is the moment, the possible moment, when we are convinced that we are wrong, we are going in the wrong direction. The sign God gave to Jonah was not that he was loved; the sign God gave to him was, You are going in the wrong direction; your life is less than it ought to be. Jonah was going west when he should have been going east.

Many years ago I read a story about a woman, Mrs. P, who was struggling. Her mother was dying, her career was on hold, she was frustrated and feeling trapped by circumstance. She left her life to care for her mother and it wasn’t going well. Her only solace was that once a day, when the hospice folks came, she could sneak out to the beach and just sit in the solitude of the wind and the waves in the cold of winter.

This wasn’t a great solace, it didn’t really ease her burden, but it was better than nothing. And then one day, a young girl came and intruded. She was a slight child bundled in a heavy coat who just started talking to her out of nowhere. At first Mrs. P. tried to be polite, tried to conceal her annoyance, but the girl just would not take a hint. When the girl asked what she was doing, she said, she was looking for sandpipers.

From that point on, day after day, the young girl came and chatted with her, joining her on the driftwood log and tried to spy sandpipers with Mrs. P. The young girl was an endless stream of chatter. Thoughts, ideas, hopes, dreams. It was as if she wanted Mrs. P. to know every part of her life.

After a few weeks of this and a very bad night with her mother, Mrs. P.finally had enough and told the young girl she needed to be alone. This was her time to be alone. She needed to respect people who are hurting and she was hurting. The only thing that helps in this moment is being alone and watching for sandpipers. She needed to leave her alone. The young girl apologized and walked to a cottage not far from the beach.

The next few days were so filled with struggle and then death, Mrs. P. could not return to the beach. As you would expect she felt guilty and awful for dismissing the child that way. A few days after her mother died, she went to the beach, to the driftwood log. With no sign of the girl, she headed to the cottage and knocked on the door.
A very tired looking woman answered and when she found that she was Mrs. P. invited her in. The mother explained, the young girl’s wish as she was dying of leukemia was to spend time on this beach as a family. She died yesterday. The mom said, “she left something for you.” After a few moments the mother returned with a simple drawing of a bird. Above the drawing it read, “A Sandpiper for Mrs. P.” She said, “this way you can always find one.”

I remain unconvinced that God pushed the century oak onto the manse to get my attention, and it never came clear what the soup can stuck to the skunk really meant for my birthday. But I have had moments like Mrs. P, of this I am convinced. Those are the signs where I feel assured God is talking to me.

This is the sign of Jonah, the small child who conceals her suffering more than you and then you see your pettiness or frustration as terribly unnecessary. I have had moments where my mountains became molehills, when my confidence was revealed as arrogance. That’s the sign of Jonah.

To see how life has gone in the wrong direction, my life, your life. Not to the point of no return, not beyond repair, just wrong. We hate instead of love; clinch our teeth instead of laugh; we choose bitterness instead of compassion and forgiveness.

You see, bitterness is a clear sign your life has gone the wrong direction. And if there ever was a bitter crowd, it was the pharisees. I do believe God sends us signs that we are going in the wrong direction. Signs of Jonah. You see, I just also believe the resurrection is a sign from God we are going in the right direction. Amen.