FAMILY DEVOTIONS: More Jonah

This week our young folks continued their study of Jonah. This is the opening words of Jonah:

Jonah 1:1 - 3 (NRSV) 1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai, saying, 2“Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” 3But Jonah sets out to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid his fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

Did you catch why Jonah didn’t want to obey God? God wants Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah flees to Tarshish which is in the opposite direction. Nineveh is the capital of Assyria (near modern day Mosul in Iraq). Tarshish is a port is Spain or a reference to any place that “is very far away”. Ancient Israel was at war with Nineveh of Assyria and would eventually suffer defeat, deportation and captivity under Assyrian rule. They were sworn enemies of Israel. Jonah wanted nothing to do with them. He wanted nothing to do with delivering God’s word to them. He would resent it when God eventually has mercy on Nineveh.

But, one of the undercurrents of this story is prejudice and discrimination. Nineveh is the ‘Other” to Israel. They are the people who are not like them. They are a different race, a different religion, a different language, and a different culture.

This is a good chance to talk with your children about other kids in school who are ‘different’. Let the kids tell you what they mean by ‘different’. Wonder with them what it might feel like to be different. Wonder with them about the times when they feel different.

From Jonah to Jesus the Bible calls us to seek out, reach out, invite and welcome everyone, especially, those who are treated as different. In Matthew 25:34-26 Jesus talks about treating the ‘least of these’ as though they were Jesus. Part of that is the teaching to welcome those who are strangers. Jesus asks us to help those who are ‘different’ feel welcomed. Talk about ways to help kids in school or the neighborhood feel welcome, safe, invited, comfortable in games, school, playtime, etc.