Runaway

 

             The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

 

We love to look down on others, and Jonah is a great example. We read something about him, and we smirk. How stupid, weak, unspiritual, disobedient, or _______ he was. God told him to go to Ninevah and he ran away. Yes, and God taught him a thing or three. And we chuckle. And then God calls on us to do something -if you’re like me – the answer is “Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no.” I treasure the knowledge of that reaction because it’s one of the ways I can discern whether something is from God. Then God and I get to work on my attitude. This is especially true when God calls on us to love our enemies.

Jonah ran away to Tarshish. We laugh again. God is omnipresent. How would running to Tarshish help? But we tell God that someone is a sinner, or we get busy doing all sort of “important” and “urgent” things – even for God. We use the Law, or we use God or good works to hide from God. Tarshish is laughable, but those things aren’t?

No, we should not laugh at Jonah, because sometimes, he is who we see when we look in the mirror.