Investigating the Bible: Finding mercy for those who do us wrong

By DAVID CARLSON PASTOR

Harry Truman’s Vice President, Alben Barkley, enjoyed telling the story of a preacher who asked his congregation if anyone had conquered the sin of hate. One person stood up, a 104-year old man. The parson asked, “You don’t hate anyone, Uncle Bo? That’s wonderful! Tell us how you did it.” Uncle Bo replied, “Well, all of those skunks who done me dirt, all of them blankety-blanks I hated — they’re all dead.”

Mercy toward those who mistreat us is uncommon. In one Bible story, a prophet was unwilling to share God’s forgiveness and suffered drastic consequences.

God gave the prophet Jonah a hard command: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” (Jonah 1:2, English Standard Version used throughout). Nineveh was home to the Assyrians, brutal enemies of Israel who executed their captured foes by impaling them on tall stakes. Jonah rejected his divine assignment and went the opposite direction, to the coast of the Mediterranean, where he boarded a ship. Far out at sea, a great storm came and the sailors pleaded to their gods, but the winds intensified.

Jonah told the sailors that he was responsible for the raging sea. He had disobeyed God. “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you.” (Jonah 1:12). Reluctantly the sailors did so and the sea calmed. Jonah saw a huge beast swim under him and expected its jaws to crush his body. Instead, the massive mouth opened and sucked him into darkness. “And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” (Jonah 1:17). As he was dying Jonah “remembered the Lord” and his prayer was heard. Three days later, “…the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” (Jonah 2:10), and Jonah revived. Jesus used this story to illustrate his destiny: “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:40).

Then “…the word of Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message I tell you.’” (Jonah 3:2). This time he obeyed, preaching repentance three days. The Assyrian king led all the city by repenting and asking for mercy. When God withheld his judgement and destruction, Jonah was furious. He complained to God, “…for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (Jonah 4:2).

Jonah retreated to a desolate place where God caused a large plant to grow high overnight, giving Jonah shade from the hot sun. However the next night, God had a worm attack the plant and it died, exposing Jonah to scorching heat when daylight came. Jonah grieved his loss. “And the Lord said, ‘You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow…And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in in which there are more than 120,000 persons …?’” (Jonah 4:10-11).

March 30, 1981, just two months after Ronald Reagan’s first inauguration, John Hinckley nearly succeeded in assassinating the new President. His .22 caliber bullet, designed to detonate on impact, stopped one quarter inch from Reagan’s heart without exploding. As Reagan lay in the emergency room waiting for surgeons, he started to pray for himself. He later wrote, “But I realized I couldn’t ask for God’s help while at the same time I felt hatred for the mixed up young man who had shot me …We are all God’s children and therefore equally beloved by him. I began to pray for his soul and that he would find his way back into the fold.”

David Carlson Pastor (yes, that is his last name, not his profession) is a Polk County resident and graduate of Bethel Theological Seminary in Minnesota (M.Div., M.Th.).