Erin Campbell Naman, Church Member since 2009, Member of Children’s Council, Member of Lay Leadership Council

Jonah 1:1-3; 2:2-4; 4:1-4
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me. But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.”

“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me: out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.  For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me: all your waves and billows passed over me.  Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’”

“But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.  Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”  And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Reflection:
God opens doors, or in the case of today’s story, the mouth of a great fish, and it is up to us to decide what we do with that open door. In some cases, we willingly walk through the door, grateful for the change, the opportunity to change and to grow. Other times we grudgingly walk through that door, not sure it’s what we want or that we want to change and grow. Still, other times we continually shut the door in God’s face, saying no thanks, not ready for that change and growth.  

Jonah, a man of God, falls into that last category. When God called him to go to Nineveh to warn them of God’s wrath because of their evil ways, Jonah didn’t just say “no, thank you,” he fled in the opposite direction. When God brought up a great storm, instead of turning to God, Jonah had himself thrown overboard. I think we can say with confidence that Jonah wasn’t ready to cross that threshold. 

But God had a plan and rescued Jonah through the help of a great fish. Jonah lived in the belly of the great fish for three days and nights before finally calling out to the very God he had been running from. Jonah finally found a “door” he couldn’t shut in God’s face. Jonah finally gave in to God’s steadfast pursuit of him. 

After being spit out on dry land, surely Jonah is a changed man. Jonah goes and warns the Ninevites that God will surely destroy them. The Ninevites immediately repent of their wickedness. God in his great love and mercy calls off their impending doom. Even after repeatedly trying to flee from God, God saves and uses Jonah for what we’d consider a successful mission. Surely, Jonah is a changed man.

Or is he? Was our hero’s heart truly changed? Instead of praising God and celebrating that the Ninevites had repented, Jonah grew angry with God. He grew angry at God’s love and mercy, the two very things that had saved Jonah’s life! Jonah grows so angry that he tells God “please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” These are not the words of a changed man. These are not the words of a man standing in awe of God’s love and mercy.  These are the words of a man still trying to flee God, to control God. Jonah is still fleeing from God, this time because God is showing love and mercy to a people Jonah finds unworthy.  This is not the softened heart of a changed man.

This is a cautionary tale for us, and Jonah shows us what not to do. Jonah had the chance to be a changed man. He had the chance to cross a spiritual threshold and deepen his relationship with God. Haven’t we all been Jonah at some point in our spiritual journey? We have all been to God’s open door—the one whose threshold we don’t want to cross—and have tried to flee instead of walking through. But we have a God who loves us enough to continue to pursue us, lovingly leading us to where we need to be. When we finally open our hearts to God’s love, then we can cross that threshold and become changed people.

Prayer:
Lord, you know I do not like change. And you know that if change must happen, I want to be in control of it. Help me Lord not to flee from you but to embrace the plans you have for my life.  Help me to embrace the change in my heart even when I don’t understand. Help me Lord to cross those thresholds willingly, holding tightly to your hand, always trusting in your love for me. And Lord, for those times when I resist, thank you for always being on the other side waiting to embrace me with your love and mercy. Amen.