“Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea was growing more and more tempestuous. He said to them, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great storm has come upon you.” Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring the ship back to land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more stormy against them. Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, O Lord, we pray, do not let us perish on account of this man’s life. Do not make us guilty of innocent blood; for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” So they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea; and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord even more, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. But the Lord provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah; and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” Jonah 1:11-17

“Jump the shark”

The idiom “Jump the Shark” is a rather new addition to the vernacular in our society today. It means the moment when a form of entertainment reaches a decline in quality by including gimmicks to maintain interest. The origin comes to us from the show Happy Days, where the character Fonzie literally jumps over a shark while water skiing. It was from this show that the radio personality Jon Hein popularized the phrase “jump the shark” to describe the decline of the show.

Did you even feel like you wished you were just swallowed up by a fish so you could disappear from a situation? For example, you find yourself in a really uncomfortable situation, like a funeral where the family is arguing with one another, or a wedding where the bride and groom are fighting, and you just wish you could sink into a hole and disappear? In life we might be able to slink away from an uncomfortable situation, but with G-d, well, that is a different story.

Jonah was charged by G-d to preach to a people he did not like, about a message he did not want them to have, and so he thought he could just disappear – run away from G-d and all his problems would go away. What Jonah learned is what the Psalmist declared:

“Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.” (Psalm 139:7-8)

If we think we can hide something from G-d, or just hide from G-d, well, it would be easier to jump a shark than to run from the All Mighty. But instead of running from G-d, we should always run to G-d: run to G-d with our fears, our doubts, our questions, and our laments — as well with prayer, praise and thanksgiving. This is what G-d wants, after all.

Pastor Dave