Sermon for June 18th, 2017

Jonah 2:1-10

1 From the belly of the fish he (Jonah) prayed to Yahweh, his God; and he said:

2 Out of my distress I called upon Yahweh, And he answered me; from the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice. 3 You cast me into the abyss, into the heart of the sea, and the flood was all about me. All your waves, your billows washed over me.

4 And I said: I am cast out of the sight of your eyes. How shall I behold again your holy Temple? 5 The waters surrounded me even to my throat, the abyss encompassed me. The seaweed was wrapped about my head 6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down into the countries beneath the earth, to the peoples of the past.1 (I descended into a region whose bars were shut upon me for ever) But you raised up my life from the pit, Yahweh, my God.

7 While my soul was fainting within me, I remembered Yahweh, And my prayer came before you into your holy Temple. 8 Those who serve worthless idols forfeit the grace that was theirs.

9 But I with song of praise will sacrifice to you. The vow I have made, I will fulfil. From Yahweh comes salvation.

10 And Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the shore.

Jonah: From the Belly of the Whale

The NRSV, as well as the translation I used today (and most translations, to be honest) have Jonah speaking to us from the belly of a "big fish" rather than a whale. But to be fair, in the ancient world, there wasn't really a solid distinction between mammalian and non-mammalian aquatic creatures. If you saw a whale, you'd probably call it a big fish.

So on that basis, I feel reasonably justified in telling you some very juvenile "whale jokes" today:

Why did the whale cross the road? To get to the other tide.

What do whales eat? Fish and ships.

How are a dog and a marine biologist alike? One wags a tail and the other tags a whale.

Fact: Did you know that a blue whale is so long, if it were laid out lengthwise on a football field, the game would totally have to be cancelled?

How do you make a whale float? With root beer, ice cream and a whale?