Midweek Reflection On Jonah Chapter 2


Midweek Reflection Wednesday 1 April 2020


And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.
And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish,
saying …
And the Lord spoke to the fish,
and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

What on earth do you make of Jonah, and the Big Fish?
If your reading this at all, thank you. Two weeks ago, I had never blogged, I had a Facebook page with 6 friends, and didn’t know anything about live streaming. Today, I wonder how much of the Sunday service some 776 people watched, what it means for the parish to have 224 friends, and if anybody reads the blog.
In this new age of virtual communication, I’m realizing that I prefer to be affirmed by real human beings. Today though, I’m feeling more and more reduced to Facebook thumbs up, a heart symbol or an Amen hands in prayer.

If you don’t Facebook, don’t worry. I, like many, have been unwillingly thrown into a great sea of online communicating, and I’m trying to learn to swim!
But, it is great at least to see fellow parishioners by Skype, as I try to carry on with pastoral work, and offering Spiritual Direction. Having never heard of Zoom, or cared less about the Wi-Fi signal at home,
on Monday last I hung up on a conference call, because the signal was so poor.

My week now is shaped by trying to remember to write a sermonblog for Wednesday, and a sermon for Sunday; by trying to set aside time to ring the church bell on Wednesdays and Sundays, and whether or not I have disinfected the door handles we all touch. I try to remember to defrost food for the family who are all at home, and have a growing list of grocery items which have to be ordered weeks ahead because we’re trying to stop running to the shop. And on it goes.
I hope you are well, and managing your own cabin fever.

And to stick with the nautical Jonah theme, we‘re all in the same boat, whether feeling overboard or not.
Tonight, however, I will miss the Lent service, the quiet hour, the lit candle, the gathered few.
Modest as attendance has been, it seemed purposeful.
God willing, I will be in St John’s this evening and record a service. I will take hope from the quaint and challenging words of Compline, and its well-worn prayers. I will keep the faith,
and choose hope.

As we stay with Jonah, in these days before Holy Week, what on earth do you make of him,
and the Big Fish? Do you actually believe these events happened?
I do. I believe that there was a prophet called Jonah.
I believe that he ran away.
I believe that he was thrown overboard.
I believe that he was swallowed by a great fish.

One day, God might say to me, Kyle, that was only a story … He might.
But I think there are other clues.
I’m deeply struck by the phrase that God appointed a great fish to swallow the prophet.
I’m drawn to the God, who spoke, and at His words the fish regurgitated the penitent man onto the shore.
It reminds me of the God who spoke the world into being…sun, moon, stars, wind and snow.
He appointed the days and weeks, the seasons, and the fish of the sea. It’s entirely believable to me,
that as God, our Creator has brought us into being, He has authority over prophets, whales, my weekly routines, and these very demanding days.

Jonah’s life seemed lost to Him; but to God, who was forever in control, He ordered the events of Jonah’s life which brought him to his knees, his senses and onto a dry seashore.  Jonah learned in his watery prison, to look to God’s Holy Temple. In my quieter moments in these days,
I am learning to see the signs of His creation;
in the Spring growth as it exerts itself in colour and form,
I am choosing Hope over despair, and committing myself to trust the God who offers the shelter of His wings to all who seek refuge in Him.
The Psalmist was writing of a different day, and differing events, 
but he too looked to the Living God,
the Creator who spoke and had authority over His world.
May he speak in these days, and bring us again to His throne of Grace.

Psalm 91  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “You are my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”
Surely He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly plague.
He will cover you with His feathers; under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and rampart.
11For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
14“Because he loves Me, I will deliver him; because he knows My name, I will protect him.
15When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him
and honor him. 16With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”   Amen.

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