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12 October 2007
Theme for this week: The Sign of Jonah
Jonah 4:5-11
Jonah went out and sat down east of the city. There he made a shelter for himself and sat in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city. The Lord made a plant grow quickly up over Jonah, which gave him shade and helped him to be more comfortable. Jonah was very pleased to have the plant. But the next day when the sun rose, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it died. As the sun rose higher in the sky, God sent a very hot east wind to blow, and the sun became so hot on Jonah's head that he became very weak and wished he were dead.
He said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you think it is right for you to be angry about the plant?" Jonah answered, "It is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!" And the Lord said, "You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died. Then shouldn't I show concern for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know right from wrong, and many animals, too?"
Grief, bereavement, loss and change. These four powerful words perhaps evoke painful feelings or memories. Jonah is living through a bereavement. His whole worldview that had helped him make sense of the way things were has just been completely turned upside down. His whole identity, which had for so long rested in his being part of God's Chosen People, has been challenged - and by none other than the Almighty himself.
Grief is such an important stage in our lives. The losses that we fail properly to grieve can keep eating away at our lives. Jesus says, "God blesses those people who grieve. They will find comfort!" (Matthew 5:4)
But something else is happening in this story, something hard to understand, especially when we live through it. What does the vine, that God causes to grow for a shelter for Jonah and then causes to wither, mean?
Perhaps sometimes as we are faced with bereavement, loss and change, we find shelter in something or someone as a way to shade us from the truth before us. For a time, this shelter can be helpful and can even be a gift from God. But for us, as for Jonah, there comes a time when that shelter needs to wither away to allow us to see things through God's loving eyes.
You have blessed us loving God.
You have enfolded our past in the heart of Christ
And of our future you will take care.
Amen
Brother Roger of Taizé
Written by Pete Sandford of FaithMatters
Theme for this week: The Sign of Jonah
Jonah 4:5-11
Jonah went out and sat down east of the city. There he made a shelter for himself and sat in the shade, waiting to see what would happen to the city. The Lord made a plant grow quickly up over Jonah, which gave him shade and helped him to be more comfortable. Jonah was very pleased to have the plant. But the next day when the sun rose, God sent a worm to attack the plant so that it died. As the sun rose higher in the sky, God sent a very hot east wind to blow, and the sun became so hot on Jonah's head that he became very weak and wished he were dead.
He said, "It is better for me to die than to live." But God said to Jonah, "Do you think it is right for you to be angry about the plant?" Jonah answered, "It is right for me to be angry! I am so angry I could die!" And the Lord said, "You are so concerned for that plant even though you did nothing to make it grow. It appeared one day, and the next day it died. Then shouldn't I show concern for the great city Nineveh, which has more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know right from wrong, and many animals, too?"
Grief, bereavement, loss and change. These four powerful words perhaps evoke painful feelings or memories. Jonah is living through a bereavement. His whole worldview that had helped him make sense of the way things were has just been completely turned upside down. His whole identity, which had for so long rested in his being part of God's Chosen People, has been challenged - and by none other than the Almighty himself.
Grief is such an important stage in our lives. The losses that we fail properly to grieve can keep eating away at our lives. Jesus says, "God blesses those people who grieve. They will find comfort!" (Matthew 5:4)
But something else is happening in this story, something hard to understand, especially when we live through it. What does the vine, that God causes to grow for a shelter for Jonah and then causes to wither, mean?
Perhaps sometimes as we are faced with bereavement, loss and change, we find shelter in something or someone as a way to shade us from the truth before us. For a time, this shelter can be helpful and can even be a gift from God. But for us, as for Jonah, there comes a time when that shelter needs to wither away to allow us to see things through God's loving eyes.
You have blessed us loving God.
You have enfolded our past in the heart of Christ
And of our future you will take care.
Amen
Brother Roger of Taizé
Written by Pete Sandford of FaithMatters
