‘Where can I flee from your presence?’

Jane Denniston September 18, 2022 0 3

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Jonah 1: 1-3 (NRSVA)

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2 ‘Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.’ 3 But Jonah set out 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 his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

This morning’s reading could have been written for the world today. Everywhere we look we see signs of people turning against God. From the war in Ukraine to the unfairness of society which sees a few people pocket vast amounts of cash while others struggle to put food on the table, the selfishness of society which cares more about profit and gain than global warming, we do not live in a society which is obedient to God’s will. We are Nineveh. And when we consider the magnitude of the challenges which face us, and which I believe God asks us to cry out against, perhaps we too, like Jonah, just want to run away.

I sympathise with Jonah. I feel small, I feel helpless and hopeless, I feel useless, as I observe the disintegration of society into a collection of individuals who care only for themselves. I believe our job is to be involved in building God’s kingdom here on earth and it has never seemed more difficult. I want to run away too!

Chronologically, the book of Jonah comes before the book of Psalms. This is a pity because Jonah could have saved himself some trouble if he had been able to read them. As the Psalmist knows, there is nowhere we can escape from God. Psalm 139:7 ‘Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?’ And maybe that is where our hope lies: that whatever is going on around us, whatever happens to us, and wherever we go, God is there.

PRAYER:

God, who loves us,

help us not to sink into despair

but to have faith

that you are present in all things.

Help us to pray,

with that faithful Jewish prisoner of war in Auschwitz

‘I believe in the sun, even when it is not shining.
I believe in God, even when He is silent.
I believe in love, even when it is not apparent.’ Amen