Jonah and the big G

Part one of our Lent Course on Jonah - tonight at St James with a repeat at St Anne's still to come on Saturday morning.

Chapter one sees our hero on the run from the Lord. For some reason he regards Spain as the ideal spot to escape from his master's troublesome call.

But the Lord sends a 'strong wind', a violent storm engulfs the getaway ship, while Jonah sleeps on regardless. The pagan sailors seem to have turned to the Lord, but Jonah, resigned to his watery fate, shrugs his shoulders and says 'throw me in the sea, I deserve it.' (Why doesn't he just repent, we asked ourselves?)

And then God acts in what someone tonight brilliantly called his 'supreme mercy.' In the vivid language of the King James Bible he 'appoints a fish' and...well, you know the rest.

Some really good stuff came from the group's reflections on the story.

One person talked of the 'God with a big G' (the God of Jonah, the God of the Bible, the God of the wind and the God of the fish), contrasted with the small 'g' gods of the nations.

Others spoke of the faithfulness of God, contrasting with our (and Jonah's) faithlessness. Someone else spotted what theologs might call the 'Christological overtones' of the story - the hints of Jesus - not only the 'three days and three nights' that Jonah spent in the fish, but that the sailors drew lots beforehand, like the soldiers gambling with dice for Christ's garments. And there was lots more besides.

Excellent. There is a lot in this book that is going to help us as we travel through Lent.