Christ Kona?

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Biblical Studies BY J. HAROLD ALOMÍA The narrative is well known. Most of the time it is summarized in rhyme and song as the tale of the man swallowed by a whale. However, in four short chapters this chronicle has a depth that moves the reader to reflective contemplation; the sad satire and biting irony that describes the runaway prophet goes beyond words to spur our introspection about our own wayward ways. 1 The story begins with a call. A mission dossier is handed verbally to the prophet. It is a common occurrence in Old Testament narrative. A formulaic illustration © ralph butler 14 (430) | www.AdventistReview.org | May 16, 2013
The Problem With the Agenda Running in the wrong direction won’t take us home statement of “the word of the Lord came to Jonah” (Jonah 1:1) 2 denotes the significance of the event. The prophet Amos expresses the immensity of such an experience poignantly: “The Lord God has spoken! Who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:8). The divine command to Jonah was: Go and preach. The human reply: Go and flee. Somehow I can understand the desire to flee—at least a tiny bit. As a recently graduated seminarian, anxious to receive “the call,” I found myself answering a phone call from my conference’s vice president and wondering to which big city in Colorado I was going to go. After all, I was ready for a call. Nothing prepared me to hear him describe the 200-plus-mile radius that encompassed my nine (!)-church district. To the num- ber of congregations and vastness of covered territory the added discouragement involved the location: unfortunately, and The true intention of the agenda always defeats the masked intention it hides. quite inaccurately, Wyoming is not viewed as a popular vacation destination. I wanted to flee; I wanted to imitate Jonah. I thought about calling some other conference, or simply not showing up to work; what was the worst that would happen? Jonah’s feet were indeed swift, not to announce the good tidings, but to flee. One of Jonah’s problems seems to have been that he was following his own agenda. Agendas are not necessarily evil. However, most of the time they tend to be problematic. Jonah’s story shows us why. Our Agendas Are Often Opposed to God’s Agenda The order given to the prophet is very simple and concise. Jonah has a direction to follow; the word of the Lord has come to him. Three verbs characterize his mission: Get up, go, and proclaim. You www.AdventistReview.org | May 16, 2013 | (431) 15
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Christ Kona?

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