One of the things I like to do in my free time is watch sports. While I haven’t quite warmed up to curling or Nascar, if the event is competitive and I’m not doing anything, I like to see how it ends up. What always strikes me about a close game are the final moments when time is running out. For example, this past Tuesday evening, The Blues were playing Toronto. They were losing by a goal with less than two minutes to go. Once they got the puck into the Maple Leaf’s zone, they pulled the goalie and worked like wild men to keep possession of the puck. All their hard work payed off when they scored with less than a minute left to force overtime where they eventually won. We see the same thing in football with the two-minute drill. In the final moments of the half or game, teams often go the length of the field without wasting any time. Earlier drives might have taken seven or eight minutes and stalled! But with the urgency and effort of the final drive, often points are put on the board. In both cases, the thought crosses my mind, “why couldn’t they play with this energy and intensity the whole game?!” A ticking clock is a powerful motivator, especially when time is running out!
This notion of time running out is coupled with repentance in our readings today. If we wanted to summarize the message of God’s Word, we might simply say, “Life is short. Turn to God immediately and stop putting it off for tomorrow!” The message is loud and clear but doing it is another story! In the First Reading God says to Jonah, “Set out for the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it; their wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah does exactly the opposite, like an ornery child does sometimes (I know because I was one, my mother might still say I am). He drops everything and races off in the opposite direction, apparently trying get as far from God’s words as possible. It’s not smart to try and run from God but Jonah gives it a shot. The message of repentance he was called to deliver revealed a need in his own heart to turn back to God. But he wasn’t ready, not yet, so he tries to delay, to put it off, to hide from God.
In response God sends a terrible storm. Jonah admits to the crew that he is fleeing God. He says, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea and then the sea will calm down for you, for I know that this great storm has come upon you because of me.” When nothing else works, with great reluctance, they toss him overboard. The sea turns quiet. Jonah in turn is swallowed by a “large fish,” usually referred to in tradition as a whale.
Three days in a whale’s belly gives one a lot of time for reflection, among other things. Jonah decides to stop putting God off and repents. He prays a psalm-like prayer about what he has done. God hears him and saves him and tells him a second time to go to the great and sinful city of Nineveh to announce the Lord’s message. Jonah submits at last and as a result the whole city is saved.
Why in the world didn’t Jonah just follow God’s command instead of running off in the opposite direction? It is always more difficult and exhausting to run from God and resist his call to conversion! One reason is that Jonah did not want Nineveh, the pagan city, to convert and be saved because these people were an enemy of the Hebrews. They were ruthless and terrible. He probably thought, “why should they get mercy when they have shown none to us?” In any case, if we are honest with ourselves, we also know what it is like to run from God at times, so we aren’t so different from Jonah.
We can ask ourselves, are we running away from God in any way right now, like Jonah? Is there an area of our lives, perhaps a relationship, or an addiction that requires conversion and repentance? Do we keep putting it off and distracting ourselves with the thought we have plenty more time? Might it be time to start the two-minute drill and drive down the field to victory with God?
We have as inspiration the example of the apostles in the Gospel. Certainly they had no idea what they were getting into when they dropped everything and followed Jesus. Would they have been so quick if they had known about the crucifixion?
But for all their naïveté and misunderstandings, they didn’t run away. They followed Jesus with passion and conviction and over time he was able to convert their hearts to be like his. With Jesus’ gentle guidance they found out what following the Messiah really meant. Whereas Jonah had imagined the worst and run away, the apostles imagined the best and ran to follow Jesus. As it happened, they ran into the worst: the passion and crucifixion. But even in that darkest moment they saw that God’s love cannot be defeated and He will always protect those who belong to Him.
Take some time today to reflect on that simple and challenging question, “Am I running away from the Lord and what he wants, like Jonah? If so, why? Do I really think God is going to give up? Can I possibly be happy and at peace as long as I avoid the God who loves and redeems me? On the other hand, what needs to change so I can start running, like the apostles, toward Jesus? Whichever way we run, there will be sufferings and trials. But take comfort knowing God will keep after you, pulling you out of fishy environments, pushing you, over and over, asking you to learn, in your obedience, what love is really about. Let’s not wait until our final moments to find out what his love can do in our lives because His Love never fails, it never gives up, it never runs out on me!
