Don’t Make Me Go!
(a Steve Orr Bible reflection)
I love a good time-travel story. In most of them, characters use technology or some kind of power to intentionally travel through time. My favorites are the unintentional time travelers, the reluctant ones. They have no control over when they vanish from their present life, none over where and when they travel, none over how long they are gone, and none over when (or if) they ever return to their original time. Also, and this is key: They don’t want to go.
Maybe you know some of my fictional friends: Claire Randall in Outlander, Billy Pilgrim in Slaughterhouse-Five, Henry DeTamble in The Time Traveler’s Wife.
And then there’s journalist Dan Vasser in the short-lived (but much praised and much missed) TV show Journeyman. Dan might be sitting at his desk, or even at home with his toddler when, with almost no warning, he is swept into the past. Plus, upon his return to the present—also beyond his control—he cannot provide a credible excuse for his absence. His relationships suffer. The disorientation, alone, would be reason enough to not want the experience. No matter what, he has to go. He has no option.
The main way we differ from Dan? We almost always have a choice. We can say “No.”
You might think the prophet Jonah was more like Dan Vasser than us, but that would be wrong. Jonah had free will. In this week’s scriptures, we read the final part of Jonah’s story. You may recall he had been told to go and preach in Nineveh, a very wicked mega-city similar to Babylon. Jonah resisted. God insisted. Jonah strongly objected to what God instructed him to do—so strongly, he actually went in the opposite direction!
You know the story. When Jonah fled aboard a ship, God prepared a "great fish" to swallow him. Eventually, he prayed and (somewhat) repented. Upon his release from the fish, he went to Nineveh and preached what God had instructed him to preach in the first place—but he was not happy about it. In this week’s passage, God attempts to reason with Jonah, to help him understand why he was sent to Nineveh.
Jonah’s tale is not really about Nineveh, nor about the sailors on the ship, and certainly not about the fish.
It’s about Jonah's relationship with God.
Don't think for a minute God had to send Jonah to Nineveh. God could have sent anyone. God chose Jonah for a reason. Jonah needed some lessons: about obedience, about God's priorities, about grace, about second chances.
And a lesson about God's sovereignty.
Our reluctant time-travelers have no choice: They must go. Jonah had—and exercised—free will. He had a choice, and he chose to disobey God. Why? Because he didn't agree with God's willingness to redeem some wicked people. Like the vineyard owner in this week’s Matthew passage, God could have asked Jonah: “Are you envious because I am generous?”
God is sovereign. He can do as He wants. And what God wants is to be generous, to forgive people their sins. If we're saying “No” to that, what are we choosing instead?
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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday mornings at 8:00am. Please join us for scripture, discussion, prayer—and laughter. We gather on Zoom* and in Waco at Our Breakfast Place.
Blessings,
Steve
*Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard)
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Jonah 3:10-4:11
Psalm 145:1-8
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16
Proper 20 (25) (September 20, 2026)
