Page 8...The Portland Observer.. June 17,1992
Portland Observer
RELIGION
Charles Luebbert
Joins Human
Resource
Strategies
Insight on the Word: Jonah on the Rebound. Lessons ° n Acceptance
BY MICHAEL LINDSEY
Dean of North Portland Bible College
The Bible text fo r our Sunday School
classes this Sunday w ill be Jonah 3:1-
5 ; 3:10— 4:4,10,11. 1 suggest we ju st
read and meditate on a ll o f Jonah 3 and
4, and get the whole impact o f the
message o f the Scripture.
This week we study “ the rest o f the
story” o f Jonah, fo llo w in g his rescue
from the b elly o f the great fish (1:17;
2:10). Perhaps the greater miracle hap
pened when Jonah d id obey the com
mand o f the Lord, and went out to
preach against Nineveh.
W h e re and w ha t was the city o f
Nineveh? Nineveh was one o f the great
est cities o f the ancient Near East, lying
on the T ig ris R iver in the land o f
Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). It was
one o f the m ajor accomplishments o f
N im rod, the great Cushite (H am itic)
prince o f the early years fo llo w in g the
Flood (Gen 11:8-12). B y the tim e o f
Jonah, the city o f Nineveh had become
independentof Babylon and was laying
die foundation fo r an awesome m ilita ry
state. The Assyrian E m pire’ s heyday
was s till over a hundred years ahead,
but Nineveh was already a m agnificent
symbol o f the power o f humanity to
create its own destiny.
Then w hy d id n 't Jonah ju s t go
and preach against it as he was to ld,
the fir s t tim e? Racial prejudice. T hat’ s
the simplest answer. But it was more
than that, I think. Israel, in spite o f a ll its
failures, was s till the people o f Yahweh
(the Lord). He had rescued them from
slavery in Egypt and brought them into
the promised land. The people o f Israel
and Judah thought they were superior
because o f their relationship to the Cre
ator God. Even the true prophets o f
Israel, like Jonah, suffered from this
mistaken sense o f pride.
God had set apart the nation o f
Israel fo r a purpose. As He told their
ancestor Abraham, “ 1 w ill make you
into a great nation and I w ill bless you.
. . and all peoples on earth w ill be
blessed through you” (Gen 12:2-3). It
wasn’ t enough that Israel grow into a
great kingdom under the rule o f the
L o rd ’ s Anointed King (D avid, and
someday Christ Jesus), but that they
also share the blessing o f knowing the
Creator to all peoples, everywhere on
the earth.
I think Jonah knew that, but he
didn’ t want to share the blessing w ith
others, outside Israel. He foolishly tried
to outrun the Lord, and ironically he
ended up sharing the blessing o f the
knowledge o f God w ith those pagan
sailors, and they worshipped the true
God. So, given a second chance, he
decided he had better “ just do it,” and
preach against the city o f Nineveh.
W h y d id the L o rd w a n t H is
p ro p h e t to w a rn the people o f
Nineveh? That’ s the kind o f God He is.
He is a “ gracious God, and m erciful,
slow to anger, and o f great kindness,
and repentest thee o f the e v il” (Jonah
4:2). D on’ t let anyone tell you that the
God o f the O ld Testament was purely a
w rathful God o f a small tribal comm u
nity in Palestine. He is a holy God, and
ready to judge those who break His
righteous commands. But He is a God
o f great love as w ell, and wants to give
all people adequate opportunity to turn
from their e vil ways, and obey Him and
worship Him . In this sense God is even
ready to “ repent” o f doing “ e v il” to
people— changing His mind about ex
ecuting the judgm ent He announced
through His prophets.
So w hat happened? Did the people
o f N ineveh listen? Jonah went to
Nineveh and preachedall around it, that
God was going to destroy the city in 40
days. (Notice that the peopleof Nineveh
never referred to God as “ the Lord.”
They knew Him only by Jonah’ s preach
ing, and His place as their Creator.)
T h e y lis te n e d and they re
sponded— like their lives depended on
it! Perhaps they had heard about the
wondrous storm and the L o rd ’ s amaz
ing rescue o f Jonah w ith the great fish.
In any case, the whole city, from the
king to the people on the street, adm it
ted their e vil and believed God. They
showed this by fasting (going w ithout
food as a sign o f h u m ility) and putting
on sackcloth (like burlap bag material).
God saw their works, and their hearts,
and changed his mind about the de
struction.
Is n ’ t there any record o f this
among the Assyrians? We haven’ t
found any record yet. But that’ s not too
surprising, given the piecemeal nature
o f much archeological work. We do
know that this change was not perma
nent; in later days the Assyrians were
s till worshipping the old idols and the
same heavenly bodies as before. And I
doubt later historians o f Nineveh would
want to recall the powerful works o f an
Israelite God. So maybe there’ s no other
record to be found.
S houldn’ t Jonah have felt some
sense o f accom plishm ent? I would
think so— look at all the people who
had turned from idols to serve the true
and liv in g God. This was even better
than the “ revival” on the ship!
But instead, Jonah got depressed,
angry, and fit to die. He really wanted
to see the sinners gel their due! And
now instead, the Lord was showing
mercy on them, and they were going to
live through it.
Notice that Jonah had a wonderful
opportunity here to teach the people o f
Nineveh about the Lord, while they
were receptive. He could have really
been a blessing to them, and they in
term could have spread the good news
o f the Lord to other people. That really
was God’ s plan, you know. (See Joshua
2:8-12; Isaiah 49:1-7 and many other
Old Testament texts.)
So w ha t was left fo r Jonah to do?
He went out on the east side o f the city,
probably on a mountainside overlook
ing the city. And there he made him self
a little shelter, and sat down to see what
the Lord would do. What a waste o f
time!
B ut the Lord patiently taught Jonah
a lesson about human self-centered
behavior, and about prejudice. He “ pre
pared” a “ gourd,” (4:6) a fast-growing
vine, which grew up overnight and pro
vided Jonah w ith much better shade
than he’d had before. This vine was
foreign to him , but it treated him good,
so Jonah was “ exceedingly glad” fo r it.
But the next day, God “ prepared” a
worm to eat the roots o f the vine, so it
dried up. He also “ prepared” a strong
cast wind, which added to Jonah’ s m is
ery. By midday the man was ready to
die (again). And the Lord was able to
speak to Jonah in the style o f a parable.
You see, by Jonah’s standards, that
vine in the desert was wonderful and
valuable. But by G od’s eternal values,
that vine was only a passing thing; in the
desert heal it probably would have only
lasted a few weeks at best.
Yet by Jonah’s standards, the people
o f Nineveh had no real value, and he
s till hoped (I believe) that the Lord
would destroy them. By G od’s value
system, every person has immeasurable
w orth, and there were 120,000 people in
that c ity! M orally speaking, they were
as ignorant as babies; shouldn’t God
have cared about them, and their des
tiny?
And even by Jonah’s standards,
weren’ t the cattle w orth something?
(4:11) This is subtle humor from the
Lord: when a person is prej ud iced against
any group o f people, he/shc w ill always,
in some ways, treat them like animals—
not as intelligent, not as dignified, not as
lovable, as one’s own group.
D id Jonah ever come around to
G od’ s p o in t o f view? I really think he
did. A fte r a ll, he’ s the most lik e ly au
thor o f this little book, and I don’ t think
he could have so clearly pointed out his
own faults, i f he hadn’ t come to admit
them.
The real question for us is this: are
we ever g u ilty o f treating people like
things, or valuing things higher than
people? Nearly all o f us know first-hand
the sting o f prejudice, and yet i t ’ s very
easy fo r us to mistreat those around us.
No wonder so many people come to our
church meetings, and revivals, looking
fo r hope and salvation— and so many go
away w ith heavy hearts, feeling re
jected and used. L e t’ s all resolve today,
to live lives o f love and acceptance o f
our fe llo w human beings, and to share
the jo y o f Jesus C hrist w ith every one,
everywhere.
Charles Luebbert, form er V ice
President o f Personnel fo r Freightliner
corporation in Portland, Oregon, has
recently been named an Associate w ith
H um an Resource S trategies, In c.
Luebbert specializes in assisting com
panies w ith long-term personnel plan
ning, placement o f women and m in o ri
ties in mid-to-upper-level management
positions and providing confidential
internal employee audits to ensure that
a company is in compliance w ith State
or Federal equal opportunity legisla
tion.
Human Resource Strategies, Inc.
is a Vancouver, Washington business
consulting company providing Human
Resource support to organizations in
the Pacific Northwest.
Time
Through the years w e’ ve had good
times as w ell as bad. Through time
we’ ve had a chance to grow together
like a mother and daughter should.
From the tim e I was little g irl I
wanted to be just like you, courageous,
strong, and all around beautiful woman.
Sometimes I think what a lucky black
g irl i am to have a mom ju st like you.
Tim e, what is time? Is it the memo
ries we share? Is it the old saying tim e
flies when your having fun? What ever
time is, 1 know I want more o f it w ith
— xxz— xjlx — xxx
M eals-on-W heels
a program of Loaves & Fishes
One lunchtime a month. That's all it takes to be a Meals-on-Wheels
volunteer. No committee meetings. No fundraisers. No phone soliciting.
Just delivering meals to people who need them.
You choose the day. And the neighborhood. We'll give you exact
directions, and provide the meals.
And something interesting happens. You’ll find you're delivering a whole
lot more than just meals. So call Loaves & Fishes at 777-2424 to find out
more.
Then skip a lunch one day this month, so someone else won't have to.
Join O u r D rivin g Force.
Wigland
One of the Northwest Largest Wig Displays
Wigs and Hairpieces For all Nationalities
E va G abor
N aomi S ims
R enee of P aris
Synthetic & Human Hair
For Braiding & Weeving
you.
M y love fo r you is strong, my
memories o f you are bookshelves, your
heart is open, so take my love and store
it. L e t’ s take one day at a time, live day
to day, hour fo r hour, you never know
our time together m ight be cut short.
In any case i want you to know you
arc and w ill always be loved. In tim e we
w ill meet again.
By: Tanisha Nicole Vann
Mon - Fr. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Saturday 10 - 5:30 pm
Near Lloyd Center
2 8 2 -1 6 6 4
1105
Call & Volunteer Today!
N.E. Broadway
777-2424
J» y — y —/A"LX—/C,
Michelle Lee Graduates
From Harriet Tubman
With 4.0
JA fZ” ^TTX xt Ir X TX x ix >L,x X,X— Xfx À.1r ¿Or- X,X 1 X
AIZ
Z I z
X fr XÍ/" x'
Does it Better for
SAFEWAY
Ad Prices Good June 17 through June 23,19 92 At Safeway.
Fresh Wheat or
White Bread
Quality you can trust. Northwest Best Valu. Freshly
baked in Clackamas, Oregon. Enjoy this wonderful
bread with all your family meals. Stock-up
this week & save! 22.5-Ounce loaf.
M ichelle graduated from Tubman
in June o f this year. She w ill enroll at
Lincoln High School in the fall.
She won a Student Acheivement
Award given by the Oregon Alliance o f
Black School Educator. She was se
lected on the basis o f her academic
acheivement, demostrated leadership
and service to others.
Grocers
Support
Jobs For Teens
Continued From Front Page
sonable and unfair,” M cCoid says. “ We
value all o f our workers and work hard
to ensure their safety and com ply w ith
our understanding o f the law .”
Them ajority o f fines assessed were
fo r the operation o f a cardboard baler or
a meat processing machine by teens.
According to the U.S. Department o f
L ab or’s interpretation, cleaning and
loading constituted operating even when
the power was turned o ff or the ma
chines were disassembled.
The Association o f Oregon Food
Industries is the trade association repre
senting the food distribution industry in
Oregon. Oregon Food Industries’ 420
corporate members operate over 1,000
places o f business throughout Oregon.
Red Seedless Grapes sweet & juicy, add to »aiad*.
Top Sirloin Steak Family Pack, quality grain-led beef.
Look In The This Week
Magazine for your Safeway
Shopping Guide for a complete
list of specials on sale this
week at Safeway!
W ESTERN
U N IO N
Lb. 6 9 c
Lb.
$2.49
The Fastest Way To Send
Money....Available In All
Safeway stores in Oregon &
S.W. Washington.