I reckon I'm pretty good at running away. As a child, I was always the fastest as I ran away from the horrible boys who thought it would be funny to play 'kiss chase'. As a teenager, those tables turned and I frequently favoured 'kiss chase' over seeing my parents. It was my teenage prerogative to try and run away from them. The NSPCC reckons that 1 in 9 children in the UK run away from home, most commonly as a result of problems in their home. Despite my occasional hormonal threats, I feel blessed to have grown up in a home full of love, where such drastic action wasn't necessary.
A couple of years ago when I was working as a youth worker; my boss and I planned a youth programme for our church weekend away based on the story of Jonah. I'd never really read this book of the bible before, or really scrutinized it. I'm ashamed to admit that my theology of this story was based entirely on my Sunday School teaching, and an episode of Vegetales that I watched in RE once. Both were riddled with inaccuracies that I had absorbed as biblical truth.
At some point in preparations, I stupidly suggested adapting 'Ultimate Frisbee'. There aren't any Frisbees in the bible, so we played the same game with a large Haddock - eyes, tail and everything. I had to have three showers to get rid of the smell; but watching a bunch of 14 year old's chuck a fish at each other was worth it. This game is also all I can honestly remember about that weekend - and at least it was tenuously thematic.
There's been a lot that's happened this year. I finally feel like I might be getting to grips with what Jonah must have been going through when he tried to run away from God. I've done some running away of my own this year. I've watched people that I love run even further away, and that's probably been one of the hardest things I've done in my life so far.
What strikes me most about God is that he continues to love us, no matter the cost. He loved Jonah so much that even when he had blatantly attempted to ignore him, he chose to keep him safe. In this day and age, we'd probably expect Mi5 level protection. Unconventionally, God chose for Jonah to be swallowed by a large fish. (Note 'large fish' NOT 'whale'.) Sometimes I guess God keeps us safe in unconventional ways too.
A while ago I moved somewhere that I fully expected to make home for the next three years. Within twenty four hours I had moved home again, an emotional exhausted and unhappy wreck. I was devastated, as unlike Jonah I was pretty sure that I was running in the same direction as God. As a result I spent a couple of months trying to run away... I rarely went to church and refused to pray to a God that I thought wasn't listening.
But God never gives up on us - his love never fails. God continues to love us, no matter the cost. Whilst I was trying to run away from God he was simply chasing after his Daughter, desperate to be back in relationship with me. The difference between us and God is that we can't keep running forever, but God can keep chasing us into eternity. Inevitably we will be the first to give up.
Jonah inevitably gave up on running - and so did I.
'When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit God's love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say 'Salvation comes from the Lord'. (Jonah 2:7-9)
Everyone has a 'Nineveh'. There will always be something that we'd rather not have to deal with. I think we are all capable of having 'Jonah Moments'. I'm starting to realise that I'd rather have a running mate, than a running competition. Life is so much better when you're not being chased.
