Jonah. The greatest and largest fish story ever -- indeed, a whale of a tale! Yet, a real story of a real live prophet who lived in a real time and place and really did preach to the people of Nineveh. Yes, I know, many would like to disbelieve this story, but what is so far-fetched about it -- can God not rescue through some huge sea creature? Is anything too hard for the Lord? Rather than argue about veracity, let’s listen for what we might learn of God and ourselves through the plight of this prophet. You don’t have to read very far into the words of this story before encountering yourself, your own heart, your own tendency to flee from God when faced with things that scare, or worry, or hinder you in your own life.
From the first line we recognize that this prophet heard from God and believed God to be good. You with me? Do you believe God is a good God? You and Jonah already have lots in common. The issue for Jonah is he didn’t want to reach out to the people God wanted him to reach out to. He then demonstrated something else he believed, that he was trickier than God, that if he ran, God wouldn’t or couldn’t find him. Ever think that way? “God can’t come in here.” Where are the places you are convinced God isn’t? Surprise, Jonah found out that God even works in the dice (the lots) of godless sailors. Talk about where you don’t expect God to show up.
So, this story, this prophet tells our story in a way -- our own desire to flee from what we don’t like in order to find our own way. And to flee as far as we can from the calling God may have placed upon us. The interesting thing is that every action of Jonah has consequences in the lives of others, indeed, nearly leads to their deaths.
Do you remember the foolhardy beliefs of the captain and crew of another big ship who ignored warnings from multiple sources because the captain wanted a winning time across the Atlantic for his retirement voyage? The iceberg the Titanic hit sank that ship and the impact was that 1517 people died because of the sin of a few. The collateral damage of sin is immense.
“No one sees. No one knows. It isn’t hurting anyone.” These thoughts are always false, for our lives are intricately connected to many, many other lives, and those things done in secret, in the dark, do immense damage upon others.
This story takes us along such pathways and on this Sunday into a movie theater with a 14-year-old boy who believed that God couldn’t go to the movies and certainly not into an R-rated movie. But, just like Jonah, this boy was wrong. And what God did in that boy’s life in that theater has rocked many lives.
Don’t miss Jonah and don’t miss reflecting upon your own life through the life of the only prophet who is directly connected to Jesus, who said more than once, “Just as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of the fish, so much the Son of Man be in the belly of the earth three days and nights.” This story -- relates to Jesus and let me tell you, I have found, it relates to you and me too.
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