Jonah

Jonah is a comic figure: he does everything wrong, almost, yet through him the LORD God of Israel does everything right. All's well that ends well, as another great comedian once put it, but of course in the middle or the story things can get to be quite a mess. Jonah is a ridiculous excuse for a prophet-the holy man as screwup-and we are just like him.

Jonah does nearly everything wrong and gets into the deepest trouble imaginable, yet all the while he remains God's beloved and chosen one, not to mention one of the most successful prophets in the whole Bible. He is Israel, bur he is also us. And we need his story.

The mission that God has for his people is often quite different from the mission statements they write for themselves. But the LORD God of Israel has a way of getting his way with his people, for the blessing of the nations.

The lesson is that there is a deep beyond deep, beyond the furthest limits of the world. Look beneath the waves to the very bottom of the sea, and all you find is rocks and fish. Call the latter a sea monster if you wish, it is no big deal. Wherever you go in the world, the LORD who created it is there before you and can prepare a way for you, even if the way is just a great big fish. For what is deeper than the depths and before the beginning of the world and beyond its end is the word of the LORD who created them and you, who keeps faith with the people of his covenant.