‘And the Lord
appointed
a great fish
to swallow
Jonah.’
Jonah chapter one verse seventeen
During Lent we have been making our way through the story of Jonah’s
disobedience to God.
Who knew that we wouldn’t make it to the end, by meeting
each week in our usual way?
Who knew that I would have to come to terms with Facebook,
and learn to Blog?
Who knew that Church
buildings would be unexpectedly closed or that the BBC would virtually
broadcast Sunday services. These are
indeed ‘unprecedented days’, and ones in which we are learning to observe new
rules and guidelines, whether set by government, or indeed by the expectations
of our friends and family.
One thing remains constant
however, and it was tucked away in last week’s reading from Psalm 22:
‘All the ends of the
earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of
the nations will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to
the Lord
and He rules over the nations.’
I need to be reminded in these days that God rules over
the nations. How easy it is to be swept away by the rising tide of fear and
anxiety. There are appropriate responses that need made to a developing and
serious situation. And it is extraordinary how quickly a society can be made to
change. But there are precedents set down for us in scripture, where we are
reminded of the nations being in uproar. Doesn’t an unexpected streak of colour
in the sky remind us vividly that God will not destroy the earth by flood? As
Noah and his family emerged from their anxiety riven times, so too will we. And
then God reminds the reader and them, that they are people made in the image of
God. And there are signs of that too in Jonah’s story. In his day, a whole city
and people come to their senses and turn to the Lord God, who made the land and
the sea and everything in it.
So far this Lent, we have been amazed at Jonah’s
determination to run as far away as possible from God’s purpose. He does not
want to go to the Assyrian people. Perhaps he is terrified of them, and the
reputation they have. He wants to see the borders of his own nation being
strengthened.
He does not want to take the mercy of God to those
beyond.
And so he runs, in the opposite direction. He buys a
ticket. He boards a ship. He hides in his cabin. He shelters from the storm. It
is the unbelieving Captain who tells him to get up and pray. It is the unbelieving
sailors who try to work out the right thing to do. It is they who ask God’s
forgiveness for what they are about to do.
Jonah, the prophet, was asked to call the people to
repentance and bring a message of mercy from the Living God. But he does not
want to. He does not want to see his enemy prosper. How does He know that they
will repent? Because He knows how merciful God is.
A key phrase appears in the translation by Tim Keller,
that ‘God appointed the great fish to swallow Jonah.’ ‘Appointed’ speaks of
orderliness, and purpose. It speaks of God’s intention. How much of this
narrative unfolds as intended by God? Certainly
the disobedience and running away is Jonah expressing his free will. Jonah’s
descent to the fish belly is marked by his own poor choices.
Tim Keller notes that Jonah goes down into Joppa, down
into the ship, down into his cabin, down into the watery depths, and down into
the fish’s belly. His physical descent
is at his own hand. Yet, in the depths, stripped away of everything, including
his freedom and future, he is able to meet with the truth of who God is, and
who he is. Jonah recognises, that ‘You, Lord, cast me into the depths of the
sea. There is a strange overlap of his own poor choices and God’s ordering. Just
as the nations are in uproar, still God is ruling over them.
How any of this relates to our own unprecedented day, I don’t yet
know. What I do know, however, is that despite the sweeping tide of change I
see in the streets and faces about me, that there is a Creator God who made the
land and sea. And He rules over the nations. How do I know it? Because
scripture reminds me of it, because our forebearers have written of it, and
even in these trying days, I see things of great hope and beauty in the lives
of others, and in the day around me. Today I will look more closely into the
faces of those I love. Today I will listen more carefully to the voices who
telephone. Today I am learning to skype so I can see my parents. Today I notice
the yellow daffodils ready to burst with Spring. Today I notice the black lambs
sleeping in the field beside my home. And today I will write to an older couple
from past days, to reconnect with them in these difficult times.
Jonah came to his senses in the depths of the belly of a
great fish. Our own days may prove to be very trying and difficult for all of
us. But perhaps too we will learn the value of life, of family and friends, and
neighbours. Perhaps we will come to our senses and look to the God who made the
land and the sea, and who rules over our nation.
In Jesus, Precentor Hanlon.
