View as Webpage

Morning Devotion for the Season of Lent

February 19, 2024

The Invitatory

Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord you God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and repents of evil.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading: Jonah 3:1-10

The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’ So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, ‘Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’ And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth.

When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: ‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.’

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones

One commentator’s examination of this passage gave a great deal of time and attention to the history of Israel. All that is important and dramatic, but too much attention to that history and the actors in it, whether mentioned here or not, detract greatly from what is of greatest importance in Scripture and, therefore, should be, to us. We should not be captivated by the desire of the nation of Israel, lest we overlook what God is doing and fail to be thankful for the wideness of God’s mercy and grace. In this passage God transcends national boundaries and assigned ethnicity. What is highlighted for us is God’s mercy and grace.

Nineveh is the capital of Assyria, a city of a large population who do know know or worship YHWH.. And we are given a sense of its power through a physical description of its size. It takes Jonah three days to walk across it. But these characteristics are of no moment to God. And this is quite a moment of Jonah - to preach a message of repentance to inhabitants of a world-class city, a capital that is known for its terrorism. What a dramatic reversal for Jonah, as the people’s response to Jonah’s eight word homily is to embrace reform in its entirety. It is totally unexpected that The extent of God’s grace is immense. It ranges over the entire city, touching the population of many tens of thousands. Even the animals respond to the call to repent. Every place and every creature falls within the reach of God. This is a poignant reminder and expression of God’s love and care for all of God’s creation. The magnitude of God’s grace is stunning. Even God’s patience with Jonah here is large.

Recognition of the expansive range of these attributes of God so early in this season of Lent should be a boon to us as we journey in a time of self-reflection. We have the opportunity to feel freer to examine ourselves knowing that even in our worst moments the love and mercy of God are available to us to work through our shortcomings. We can pursue this with hope, confidence and even with imagination. All kinds of possibilities loom before us. The extravagance and generosity of God to humankind are welcome sources of inspiration and hope for us. The opportunities for growth and development are many. We might slowly, yet confidently find our way to growth and development that reflect our faith. The infinite possibilities of God in his being and action, in the variety and extent of God’s creation - these are laid before us. It is all wonderful to behold.

The Lord's Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven,

hallowed be thy Name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation,

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory,

for ever and ever. Amen.