Taking a Mulligan?

Have you heard of “taking a mulligan”? Mulligans are most common in golf, although I have also encountered them in shooting sports. A mulligan is a second chance. Sometimes it’s informal. If you get distracted or just miss, your teammates might give you a mulligan out of the kindness of their hearts. You get to try again, and the last score doesn’t count.

Preaching to the enemy about taking a mulligan

I was thinking about mulligans when reading the Book of Jonah not long ago. I’ve heard the story of Jonah since I was in preschool. You may know it too. God tells his prophet, Jonah to take a message to Ninevah. It’s hard to imagine a place that was more outside Jonah’s comfort zone than this capital city of the Assyrian empire. They were Israel’s most formidable enemy, known for their brutality and efficiency in battle. 

So, I understand Jonah’s point. He was no fan of Assyria, and the feeling was mutual. There were only 2 potential outcomes for him there. He could be tortured or killed for his unwanted message.  Or worse,  they might listen to the message and repent.  And Jonah knew God to be a forgiving God.  If they repented, he feared God would relent and not punish them. 

Fight or Flight?  

So, Jonah ran away.  I guess he figured that if he laid low for a while, God would either forget or send someone else to Ninevah. So, Jonah booked passage on a ship headed away from Ninevah. It seemed like the perfect solution until the storm hit. The ship’s crew was terrified. They knew this was no ordinary storm and prayed to every deity they knew. Finally, scared and exhausted, they went to awaken their passenger. Maybe he knew of a god they had forgotten. Jonah knew he was the culprit. And he tells the sailors the only solution is to throw him overboard. 

Trouble at sea! 

The crew wants nothing to do with murdering Jonah, even if he is the source of their calamity. But the storm intensifies, so they throw the recalcitrant prophet overboard. The storm ends as abruptly as it started, and the sailors have a worship service to Jonah’s God.

Taking a fishy mulligan

Jonah must have figured that he got in the last word of the argument. He wouldn’t have to go to Ninevah if he was dead, right? But God wasn’t done. He sent an underwater Uber, a huge fish to swallow Jonah and deposit him  in a soggy heap on dry land,   

But before Jonah can protest the unfairness of his current situation, God speaks again. “Go to Ninevah”. Jonah may be stubborn, but he’s not stupid. He gathers himself and heads toward Ninevah. He preaches the sermon God sent him to deliver.  “The God of Israel says you have 40 days until He destroys you.”

The city taking a mulligan

He walks through the entire city, preaching the message as he goes. I doubt he was an enthusiastic orator. But his message was effective. The king was shaken by the prophet’s words and he ordered everyone in the city  to repent. Not even the livestock were exempt from the order to fast and wear sackcloth.  And God responds to their plea, and relents from destroying the city. 

Anger at God’s mercy? 

Most of Jonah’s prophetic colleagues would have been ecstatic at this kind of response to their message. But Jonah grows more surly than before, finding a spot outside the city limits to watch these people die.

When God speaks to Jonah again, he spews venomous words at the Almighty. “This is why I disobeyed. I knew you’d forgive them. They deserve judgment.” 

Mulligans are for pagans too.

There’s no climactic ending to the Book of Jonah.  God reprimands the prophet for caring more about his own comfort than he did about a city teeming with thousands of people, including children not old enough to tell their left hand from their right.

But this time when I read the story, I saw how many mulligans, or second chances, God provides.  First, He  spared the ship and its crew of pagan sailors. None of them knew Him as the God who made the earth and dry land until Jonah told them in his rapid-fire confession. But the last glimpse we have of them, they are worshiping the one true God. 

Next, God sent a prophet to Ninevah, a nation with no covenant relationship with Him or His people. Yet he sent someone to warn them, and they listened and repented. 

Pocket full of mulligans

Jonah used up a pocketful of mulligans here. God didn’t kill him for his disobedience. Instead, God prepared a fish to take him back to the starting point. And He is gentle with Jonah’s insolence. 

I needed to take a mulligan

Jonah’s story, and sadly, his attitude, mirrors my own. Too often, I have been disobedient and entitled. And my story is full of grace. And second and third chances. 

I grew up going to church. A lot. My parents were the kind of church member every pastor wants, and they raised my brother and I to be the same. We were in church every service. Looking back, I realize that most of the rules we were expected to follow were put in place to protect us from things we weren’t ready to experience. But in my mind, following rules was synonymous with being a Christian. 

A rule follower

Unlike most of my friends in High School and college, I didn’t rebel. I was too scared of God, and my parents. Instead, I became a more rigid rule follower, judging others who had different convictions than mine. 

I had a good job, a decent apartment. And though I continued to be a good church member, I don’t remember having a sense that I needed God. 

A wet wake-up call

On the night of September 7, 2004, my carefully constructed theology came to a soggy, sudden end. About 10:00 that evening, a young firefighter dressed in turn-out gear knocked on my door and told me to get out. The town I lived in was being evacuated.  I packed a few things in a duffle bag and headed to a friend’s house in the next town.  

Within a 24 hour period, the remnants of Hurricane Frances had dumped over 15 inches of rain th mountains of Western North Carolina.  The  Pigeon River flowed past my apartment, and it couldn’t contain the mass of water pouring off the mountains. Within hours of my departure, my apartment was under 6 feet of water. 

A theological wreck

Not only was my home wrecked and most of my stuff ruined, my theology had been dealt a crippling blow. I knew God could have prevented the disaster, but chose not to do so. 

Over the next few months, I was forced to re-evaluate my life. But more importantly, I was forced to re-evaluate my relationship with God. Just as Jonah had to come to grips with a God who could love Ninevites, I had to realize that God was so much bigger than my self-imposed rule book. 

Going through the motions. Then taking a mulligan. 

Life goes on though. And with the help of a lot of people, I got back on my feet. For a while, I busied myself with the complexities of starting over. But my attitude toward God had changed, and I was just going through the motions.  I kept going to church, mostly because I knew if I stopped, I would have to answer too many questions. But I held God at arm’s length. I was angry because He hadn’t held up His end of the bargain. Like Jonah,  I thought I had the right to be angry. 

Taking a mulligan was a new chance at life. 

He didn’t strike me dead for being a spoiled brat. He sent people to show me what His love looked like. He was patient with me, just like He is with all of us. 

One night at a Christian retreat, He spoke to me. Was it an audible voice? I don’t think so. His words penetrated my spirit, though. An audible voice couldn’t have been that real. If you’ve been there, you understand. 

What did He say?  “I love you. Period.” His love didn’t depend on my lists. It didn’t depend on me at all. He just loved me. 

A mulligan for a spoiled brat? Yep!!

He was offering me a chance at taking a mulligan. And I took it.  The truth is, I grabbed onto it like a drowning person grabs onto a life ring. 

It only took a moment for God to tell me He loved me. But it took months for me to learn to trust Him again. A lifetime of flawed theology had convinced me that God owed me something, so I had lost trust in His goodness. 

But He was patient with me. I learned to value relationships more than rules. I had quit praying because I quit trusting. I had to put aside my list of demands and learn to talk to God as Father, and to trust that His answers were the right ones. 

Did Jonah change?  

We don’t know the end of Jonah’s story. But most people believe he wrote the book. Only a man who had been restored by God would tell this story without at least trying to acquit himself.  I like to think that he returned home a more humble prophet, a man who could declare God’s word with love instead of anger.

Finally a new point of view

This year marks 20 years since Hurricane Frances. From this vantage point, I am thankful for what happened that September night. I’m thankful that God allows mulligans. Starting over isn’t easy. But it’s worth it!