I never did like fishing!

Back in the summer news came up on my phone of a man by the name of Michael Packard who whilst on a fishing trip found himself thrown out of his boat into the mouth of a whale! Having survived the ordeal in 45 foot of water off Cape Cod the lobsterman told news reporters that he thought he was going to die. Fortunately for Mr Packard the whale didn’t like the taste of his breakfast and spat him out leaving him with a few bruises. The story of James Bartley (1870-1909) was far more dramatic. Bartley it was said was swallowed whole by a sperm whale. Bartley (so the story in the St Louis Globe Democrat tells us) was found still alive having lived inside the whale for a few days. He was saved by people who killed the whale having harpooned it. This rather exciting tale of Bartley’s whaling expedition off the Falkland Islands left him with bleached skin from the gastric juices and blind for the rest of his life. It would have been nice having a vision of Bartley sat comfortably inside the stomach of the whale eating Lobster Thermidor, but the story is not thought to be true. A person would be crushed, drowned or suffocated in the whale’s stomach.

The story of Jonah and the whale (Big Fish) in the bible is a fascinating one. Jonah represents the Jewish people swallowed up in Babylon during the exile of 586/7 BC. This is the story forecast by the prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel that the Jewish people were not keeping their covenant with God.  They had failed to support the weak, the young and women and had found themselves losing the Temple, and the Promised Land. They did return to the land and started to rebuild their lives. Many people of the time laughed at the story of Jonah but they were in fact laughing at themselves. This is a parable and God tells Jonah to share the news that he is present to offer salvation to the people of Ninevah. Jonah says yes to God but then thinks to himself that the people of Ninevah are horrible. It’s a terrible place with rough people why on earth do I want to help that lot!? Instead I will run away.

You all know the story but I will share some highlights. He buys a ticket on a boat and settles down to lobster thermidor only for the ship to start being buffeted by a terrible storm. Wishing he had enjoyed a simpler meal he is faced by frightened sailors who notice that the storm is very localised! They wonder if he is the problem. Jonah realising that he should have headed for Ninevah offers to throw himself off the boat. The sailors having pity for him try to sail on until the sea gets too rough. Jonah is thrown and lands in the whale or big fish. He spends three days in the whale which represents the time of the exile. He prays and God has the whale throw him out onto a beach.

Jonah rather promptly rushes off to Ninevah to speak well of God to the Ninevites. Unfortunately for Jonah they believe his story and they all turn to God for salvation. Jonah is saddened that God will save the people. He goes off into a desert and seeks shade. God sends him a plant that gives him shade ( I found one in the Mesata Desert in Northern Spain on the Camino and had sympathy for Jonah). Then God allows the plant to wither and Jonah gets sun burn like Rodney when Del Boy turns the sun tan machine on full! Jonah wants to die but God tells him why do you worry about a plant when thousands of people have changed their ways and believe in me.

This story is about Israel being the chosen people of God and they continue to be so. However the belief is that God came to save the Gentiles too and that sharing the hopes to the world was part of the plan. The nature of God is one of love and care for the whole world whereas Jonah seems to want to keep God to himself and for a chosen people.

We may want to think about this parable in terms of our own world view. Do we keep faith to the chosen few? (if numbers in pews are anything to go by I’m pretty good at this!) Do we see the church not just as the local body of Christ but as being connected to the church world wide? Yes our mission is both local and further afield and I give thanks that members of All Saints have seen fit to support ministry in Kenya over the years, as well as Christian Aid, WaterAid and various other organisations that support people across the world.

As a footnote apologies for any added additions by myself to the story of Jonah. Also James Bartley was not a crew member of the Star of the East Ship (as reported) nor was the ship a whaler and scientists confirm that it is not possible to survive 15 hours within a whale. Also Mrs John Killam, the wife of the Captain of the Star of the East said that her husband never lost a man overboard while he was in charge! However the parable of Jonah sure is a good parable and maybe we can learn a good message from it.

Blessings,

Fr Jeremy