"Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me."
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
God sends us to those in need. The people of Ninevah need to hear his message.
"Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it;
their wickedness has come up before me."
But Jonah made ready to flee to Tarshish away from the LORD.
The victim of the robbers is in need of help. Let us not flee from the call of the LORD nor cross to the road on the other side. The LORD asks us to widen our hearts to care about people and situations about which we are by nature indifferent or worse. This comes as a challenge to us. We feel like we have enough concerns already. We think we have to preserve our own purity and don't have time for these others. But Jesus leads by example. When we are half-dead from sin Jesus heals us by bearing our burden himself, by bandaging our wounds, by pouring the Eucharistic wine over us to heal us, and by entrusting us to his Church. We are much more profoundly unclean than the victim of the robbers. Jesus is much more pure than the priest and the Levite. Yet he does not hesitate to help us.
It is best to heed God the first time he calls. But even if we do not he does not give up on us. He will do amazing and sometimes frightening things to set us on the path he intends for us. The lengths to which he will go to keep us on the right path should ultimately comfort us.
But the LORD sent a large fish, that swallowed Jonah;
and Jonah remained in the belly of the fish
three days and three nights.
God helps Jonah to let go of his own control over his life so that he can obey him and live inside of his will. If we cling too rigidly to our own control we may well find ourselves in the belly of a whale, brought back to the LORD's purpose for us, a purpose from which we all, at one time or another, try to run. This is a mercy, even though it can be severe. It is because the LORD refuses to leave anyone half dead on the side of the road. He doesn't want to allow us to be such people either. Let's help the first time. Let's cross to the victims of sin and violence and hate. Let us love them from our own resources. And if we find ourselves fleeing from such love, let us allow the LORD to bring us back.
Then I said, "I am banished from your sight!
yet would I again look upon your holy temple."
No comments:
Post a Comment