For our sermon today I'd like to take a look at one of the most celebrated stories of the Bible. The story of the prophet Jonah is one that almost any Sunday School child is virtually certain to have heard and perhaps can describe in detail. It's also a story that has fascinated people for a long time.

The book of Jonah is a short one, only four chapters, and the outlines of the story are quite simple. Starting in Chapter 1:

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.

During this journey there's a tremendous storm and, in fear, the sailors on the ship throw Jonah overboard in the hopes that sacrificing Jonah will stop the storm and save their lives. Probably the most celebrated aspect of the story occurs next:

17 But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.

During his stay in the great fish, commonly referred to as a whale in many popular renditions of the story, Jonah prays to God about his distress and pledges songs of thanksgiving and sacrifice. God then speaks to the fish which vomits Jonah onto the shore and God instructs Jonah a second time to go to Nineveh . This time Jonah obeys but, much to Jonah's surprise, the Ninevites actually listen to him and turn from their wickedness. You would think that Jonah would be pleased by this, after all his efforts have been successful. But, no, Jonah vents his anger at God for sparing their lives.

1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." (Jonah 4:1-3)

The book of Jonah presents us with a dilemma. How are we to interpret this story? On the one hand, Jonah's sojourn in the fish is so outlandish that it seriously strains our credulity. How could such a thing have happened? Certainly there's no fish or whale that could swallow a human being. And, how on earth could Jonah have stayed alive all of that time in a fish's stomach? This seems quite at odds with what we know about physics and physiology. ! But this is the Bible and those who favor a literal interpretation of scripture argue strongly that the book of Jonah is to be taken as historical fact, pointing out that Jesus made reference to the Jonah story in his teachings. As such Jonah's survival in the great fish is seen as a miracle.

On the other side of the argument are scholars who interpret the book of Jonah as really an allegory or even satire – a story designed not to be taken as literal fact but one that conveys spiritual truths. For example, one commentator on Jonah notes that “…it is in the style of a comic writer to take the old motif of heroes who are devoured by marine monsters and then miraculously survive the sojourn in the monster's belly, but in Jonah's case the manner of ingestion and especially regurgitation finds a ridiculous portrayal that can best be called comic…what a way to deal with a rebel prophet: to give him a lengthy ride in a sea monster that finally vomits him up on dry ground. One notes also that God acts silently du! ring the whole episode. It is surely ironic that during and after this scene of a fantastic submarine ride that [God] speaks to Jonah only after he has spoken to the fish. All in all it is a scene that shows a hilarious comic touch that probably evoked laughter in its ancient context.”

In my view getting hung up on the question of whether Jonah was really swallowed by a fish or not is to lose sight of the real meaning of the Jonah story. Despite all of the attention that has been paid to the great fish or whale, as a matter of fact, this is actually a relatively minor part of the story. The important point of the story isn't how Jonah got to Nineveh to preach to the Ninevites but rather the human response to being called by God to do God's work.

The underlying theme of Jonah's story is one that runs throughout the Bible, namely the theme of the reluctant servant, the person chosen by God for specific ministry who really doesn't want to do it. In fact, the person would often rather do anything but what God asks. Jonah hears God's calling but runs the other direction. And even when he finally does go to Nineveh he's shocked and angered by his success and God's response to the repentance of the Ninevites and sulks, wishing he were dead. Moses receives his call at the burning bush but argues at length with God that he's not capabl! e of leading the Israelites out of Egypt . Paul starts out as the chief persecutor of early Christians and has to be blinded on the road to Damascus before he responds to God's calling. Even Jesus was reluctant, praying fervently in the Garden of Gethsemane to be spared the ordeal of the cross.

And what about us? How do we respond to God's call? Actually, I suspect that we're very much like Jonah in this respect. In fact, one of the reasons that I like the Jonah story so much is that I identify very much with Jonah and his response. I too am a reluctant servant.

When I first came to Singapore I didn't have a clue about my future involvement in work on HIV/AIDS or with Safehaven or FCC. I actually originally came to NUS and Singapore on a one-year visiting appointment. That was in 1991. Through a series of events after a while it started to become clear to me that there well might be a calling for me to be involved in issues related to sexuality and faith and to AIDS. And that made me very uncomfortable. At that time I! was still working through some issues in my own life and the idea of becoming involved in issues of sexuality and AIDS was, in many respects, the last thing I wanted to do. Those are sensitive issues and being a foreigner if the government doesn't like what I'm doing they can easily just revoke their permission for me to be here and I'm out of a job and gone. And that scared me.

In fact, one night while discussing this with my wife, I expressed my discomfort and how if I'd known that I'd be called on to address such issues I might not have come. I then launched into a take off on the opening of the book of Jonah that went along the lines of: “Imagine if you will, and the word of the Lord came to George, living in San Antonio, and said, ‘Go to Singapore, that great Southeast Asian city, and tell them of God's love and compassion for gay people and people with AIDS.' And George paled with fright and fled screaming in the opposite direction.”

Now I meant it as a joke, a situation so preposterous and over the top that nothing like that had, of course, ever happened. When I finished my parody she pointed out to me that something like that had actually happened, although perhaps not specifically in that way.

Perhaps the reason I had to be reminded is that it involved events that, in many respects, I'd really rather forget. Without boring you with details, in brief, it had to do with my job situation in Texas which had, in many respects, been a difficult one, with a difficult relationship with my department head and I'd been quite frustrated for some time. In my efforts to deal with my frustration I had interviewed for a position with a medical school in Norfolk, Virginia, that had all of the earmarks of being my big break in pursuing what I've always considered to be my calling in research and education. When I went for the interview it couldn't have g! one better. They were excited about the prospects. I was excited about the prospects. They had inquired about employment opportunities for Jane, my wife, and had arranged several interviews. We did some house hunting while we were there and had found a house we really liked, near schools for our children. I was offered a salary that was a substantial increment over my salary at the time. We agreed on a starting date. In my prayers about it I came away increasingly convinced that this was absolutely the right move and what God had in store for me. Everything was lining up.

Everything, that is, until the Dean, who had been away during my interview, came back a couple of weeks later and announced that he was changing the job description for the position which meant that I no longer qualified. I was incredulous and devastated. My dream job gone up in a puff of smoke. To make matters worse, as a courtesy I had told my department head about the pending offer, although, fortunately, I hadn't actually resigned or I would have been out of a job. However, the fact that I told him about it at all produced additional strains in our relationship and it became clear very soon that life was to become much more difficult. Finally, it got to the point that I just needed to be away. It was at that point that, quite by surprise, the offer came to spend a year at NUS. At that time NUS was in the beginning stages of developing their psychology program and, although I'd applied for a position, I hadn't heard from them in some time and had more or less forgotten about it. Then the offer arrived and, as they say, the rest is history.

Interestingly, Norfolk is north and east of San Antonio . Singapore is south and west. Without realizing it, like Jonah, I had been doing my best to head in the wrong direction.

Now I don't take the parallel with Jonah to its extreme. I wasn't vomited onto the beach in Singapore from the belly of a great fish. I'm fascinated by marine life and a scuba diver but, believe me, I much prefer to experience whales and great fish from the outside and not the inside, thank you very much. No, instead I was disgorged from a large garuda onto the plains of Changi. After all, this is Asia and these events took place in the last decade of the 20 th century and we must, of course, be culturally appropriate and in tune with the times.

Another very important aspect of the Jonah story is the way in which God is in charge. Throughout the narrative God is causing events to happen and providing for Jonah's needs even when Jonah's being disobedient, childish and petulant. God provides the great fish to scoop up Jonah after he's been thrown overboard. And when Jonah goes into his angry funk after the Ninevites repent and God relents on his threat to destroy them, God prepares a vine to shade him from the hot sun.

And, likewise, when God calls us to do something, he provides for our needs in doing so. This came home to me very clearly in March 2003 when my marriage fell apart with one of the complaints being my involvement in Safehaven and participation in a Safehaven leadership retreat. The pain of that was excruciating and it seemed at the time that my life was falling apart. But God provided. Soon after these events began unfolding we had a combined Safehaven meeting at the end of which Clarence talked a little about what was happening and asked for a time of prayer and laying on of hands.   I can only describe what happened next as being the most intense experience I have ever had of God's ever abiding love. At that moment those of you present were as Christ to me. You couldn't make the pain go away but you did something far more important. You provided a tangible reminder that we are in the hands of an all loving God who knows our every need and who in times of trouble sends his angels to watch over and sends them in human form. In doing that you helped me to find the courage and will to continue on.

And that's what community is all about – being there and supporting each other in time of need. In responding to God's call our community plays a critical role. Our calling most often relates to and is enacted in community. We are called to minister both within and outside our community. And God works through community to provide that essential source of strength to follow our calling, providing us with the boost we need keep going when our own strength flags.

Lest we think that calling is all about reluctance, pain, or anger it's important to note the joys as well. Jonah seems somewhat immune to those, what with his angry outbursts when his mission is successful. And in this way let us not be like Jonah.

Among the events that led to my sense of being called to address issues related to sexuality, faith and AIDS was conversations I'd had with young men at the anonymous testing site and elsewhere who, hearing what their ministers said about gay people were in despair and absolutely convinced that God couldn't possibly accept or love them as they are being gay and that they were outside of the reach of the Gospel. When I hear all of you raise your voices in praise and at the same time think of those conversations the enormity of the transformation that has taken place hits me in a wave and I can scarcely take it in. I'm completely in awe of what God has wrought. And in comparison to the joy of seeing the way this co! mmunity and the individuals in it have grown and matured, any hesitation, fear or pain that may have been involved is absolutely trivial.

That's not to say that there aren't still concerns and conflicts, both within individuals and within the community. There are and there's still a long ways to go on many fronts. But, in reality, those concerns and conflicts will be with us until the end of time. They're part of the continual struggle of life and the result of our human condition. And as for the hesitation, fear, pain, anger that seems so often involved in being called, I can only say that, even though at times they may seem so senseless and gratuitous, they're just part of the process. I've asked why it's that way and tried to make sense of it. In the end, usually find I'm no closer to explaining them than when I began. All of those things just are and are part of the process.

And coming back to the celebrated great fish, in reality it makes no difference how we get to where God calls us to be. We may get there in a whale, a garuda, a VW bug, on a skateboard, or using good old shoe leather. How we get there isn't important. The key thing is that we get there. And, yes, there's often reluctance and fear and perhaps anger and pain. But when we hear and respond, oh, the rewards! Let us pray.

Prayer

Oh Lord, we are all reluctant servants. We hear your voice but are afraid. Or your calling brings pain and we recoil. Or things don't go as expected and we respond with anger. Remind us, oh God, that regardless of our reluctance, our fear, our anger, or our pain that you are a great and loving God who has a grand plan for our lives if we will but listen and follow. Give us the faith and courage to accept your call and to say with Samuel, “Here am I, Lord, send me.”