The Old Testament tale of Jonah appeals to our imagination, with the whale swallowing up Jonah and the great adventure that takes place in this book. However, its great adventure aside, there is a spiritual message found in the book of Jonah; this message gives us an opportunity to grow in our understanding of God and the salvation we received from the beloved son of the Father. It doesn’t matter if the story of Jonah really happened or not, whether it is non-fiction or just a tale. The truth contained in the message in the book of Jonah is what matters to us.
Today, we hear about Jonah’s second call from God. Jonah responds to this call, but not enthusiastically at all. Jonah is called to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the nation that had destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and held the southern kingdom of Judah as a vassal state for almost one hundred years. Assyria was a brutal occupying force that forever changed Israel's future. We can imagine how difficult and challenging it is for Jonah to prophesy to the people of the capital city of Israel’s bitter enemy and rival.
We could criticize Jonah for his lack of faith. Yet, it might be more helpful for us to identify with Jonah for a moment rather than berate him, to empathize with the difficult mission to which God called him. Sometimes God gives us a calling that we don’t understand or that seems impossible. Sometimes we respond like Jonah did, by attempting to escape. Perhaps we find it too difficult or too lonely to walk the way of faith, since it can be out of step from what is mainstream in our secular world. Like Jonah, when we run away from God, we can find ourselves trapped in the belly of the whale, or out of touch with our calling from God, or distant from a sense of meaning and purpose if our life of faith.
Let our Lenten journey wake us up from the ways we try to flee from God in our life of faith.
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