This is the time of year when our thoughts turn to summer holidays. Flaming June seems cooler than we remember whereas Mediterranean beaches or the rolling hillsides of Tuscany are by contrast so appealing.

However have you ever considered where you would least like to visit? We have all heard horror stories about hotel blocks not finished, poor sewerage, long delays in hot and stuffy airports - all essential ingredients in the "Holiday from Hell", places where the reality falls significantly short of the promise.

But what about those destinations which you would never consider, even if you were paid to go. Where's that for you? At the risk of being blackballed by the respective local tourist boards, let me suggest a few places to see if they strike a chord.

If you have ever watched the degradation captured in the film "Midnight Express" then I would be surprised if Turkey appealed.

Or what about Bangladesh, not exactly the ideal spot for anyone who hates crowds or is fastidious about their personal hygiene and cleanliness.

North Korea is not generally regarded as an ideal holiday destination, even if you could get the visa. Nor Azerbaijan, Georgia or any number of smaller states in the former Soviet Union where crime is rife, the political situation unstable and personal security a problem.

And just in case people feel I have a western bias then I can think of many US cities which would definitely be on my "avoid at all costs" list.

The problem for us this morning is that anyone of us could be asked by God to go to just such a place. I can see the colour draining from some peoples' faces at the thought of it. You see the Bible is full of stories about people who God called to be somewhere else. So why should it be any different today ? God could be calling you. How do you respond ?

Consider Abraham. God spoke to him and told him to leave the land of his forefathers, around Ur in the Chaldes, and to go where God led him.

Jesus, when he called the disciples, simply said "Follow Me". He didn't specify where. On the contrary he explained :

"The foxes have their holes, and the birds of the air have their nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head"

Today and for the next few weeks we will be considering Jonah. It is a great story, one that is well-known. Yet as we study the book together we will find much to challenge us.

Jonah was the first person to escape from Wales, and people have been leaving ever since. But what else do we know about him.

Although Jonah is remembered because he ran away from God, in fact he had already demonstrated his closeness to God and his obedience (2 Kings ch.14 vs.25) when God called him to speak out.

Jonah was one of a handful of Israelites who still worshipped the true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who had brought the Jewish people out of slavery in Egypt.

Jonah was the most recent in a line of prophets to Israel, including Elijah and Elisha, who had sought to point the way back to God. He was the son of Amittai, from a village called Gathhepher, near Nazareth. And in many ways the story of Jonah holds striking parallels to Jesus, the only other great prophet and teacher to hail from Nazareth.

Against this background it is somewhat surprising to find that far from obeying God's command to go to Nineveh, Jonah did the exact opposite (refer to the map). Here is Tarshish, located in Spain, and here is Joppa (nr modern day Jaffa). But who can tell me where Nineveh was ? That's right, instead of heading east, Jonah went west.

To understand why Jonah reacted in this way, we need to get into our "Tardis" to go back in time nearly 3,000 years when the world was a very different place.

At that time Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire, a great city located on the Tigris river in what is now modern day Iraq. A trading centre which had become the focal point of the ancient world because of its wealth and the power of its leaders like Sennacherib. It was so big that it took 3 days to walk from one side to the other. In the 3rd millnia BC it was also known as a religious centre to the Goddess Ishtar.

The neighbouring countries and their leaders were mindful of Assyria's power and fearful for their independence. Israel was split into the northern Kingdom with its capital in Samaria, and Judah, with its capital of Jerusalem. And if you read the book of Kings you will an intricate web of alliances and counter-alliances akin to the complex set of agreements which pre-dated both the first and second world wars as the leaders tried to shore up their positions.

The closest parallel for us today is to regard Nineveh as the Bagdad of its generation with its stockpile of weapons, political regime which had its mind set on expansion, and was intent on holding onto power whatever means were employed. Against this backdrop it is easy to imagine why Jonah would choose not to go to Nineveh. After all his life would be in danger. Who in their right mind would go to such a place?

The irony is that Jonah did not care about his safety. He knew that God would protect him. Jonah's issue with God's instruction was that he felt the Ninevites didn't deserve to experience God's grace. They were the foreign power, the enemy, people who hadn't shown any sympathy for those who they had conquered.

When it is spelt out starkly like this the idea that destruction is the just reward for some people is abhorrent. But before we condemn Jonah out of hand let us examine our own attitudes. People who profess a Christian belief can be equally judgemental.

When the Aids virus was first discovered, certain sections of the Church described it as God's judgement on the unrighteous, those who used drugs or were homosexual. Yet in South Africa today over 4.7m people are HIV positive, and more than 200 children are born with the HIV virus every day. What crime have they committed ?

Tomorrow Timothy McVeagh will be executed for planting the bomb which killed over 180 people in Oklahoma City. Despite flaws in the judicial process, few believe he is innocent, many of the victims families want to see him receive his just punishment. Where do you stand ? If he was to repent of his action and genuinely seek forgiveness, what is the appropriate punishment for his crime ?

Or what about Myra Hindley, or Ian Brady. Notorious for their wickedness in the 1960's. If you were a parent of one of their victims could you forgive them ?

It is easy to fall into the trap of condemning the person as well as the action. Yet the repentance of the people of Nineveh is an inspiration to us to repent, as well as reminding us that repentance can over-turn a Divine decree. A central tenet of Christian belief is that everyone, no matter who they are , falls well short of God's standards. And as a result we cannot expect to live happily ever after.

You may find it difficult to accept but God calls upon us to repent from all our wickedness, in the same way that he gave the Ninevites the opportunity to repent. And in that Jonah played a pivotal part, he was God's mouthpiece, someone who was close to God and could explain what would happen if they ignored God's command.

This brings us to a second central theme in Jonah, that of Mission. The Church is not called upon to condemn people, on the contrary our role is to acts as beacon of light, to show people that life can be different. One of the 3 areas that your PCC is seeking to lead the Church is in the area of Mission.

Jesus's final command to his disciples recorded in St Matthew's gospel was to

"Go to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you" Matthew 28 vs 19-20

Note how inclusive this command is - to go to all people, everywhere. In the history of Christian Church, there are periods of revival, when Christians were outward looking and a sense of Mission filled their hearts. At other times the Church appears insular, wrapped up in its own problems, and inevitably it is in decline.

The idea of Mission seems to be absent from too many Churches today. Rather than go out, we are quite content where we are. "Onward Christian Soldiers" have set up camp and will remain there for the duration of the conflict. After all everyone knows that God speaks English so our job is done. Jonah thought that God only spoke Hebrew, I bet Nineveh wasn't on Jonah's prayer list anymore that countries like Iraq or Zimbabwe are on ours.

Over the past week I have been watching events develop in Nepal with great interest and concern. Six months ago it would not have registered, one more state experiencing political unrest is hardly front page news despite the UK's ties with that part of the world. But my perspective has changed.

A couple of months ago, friends of ours, Brad and Morna Lincoln left the UK and went to work in Nepal because they felt God was calling them there. They didn't get a blinding flash of light on the road to Chester, rather a series of "coincidences" made it clear that Nepal is where God wants them (for the time being).

Brad had a good job, he is talented and has helped establish a church in Tattenhall, a village where there is plenty of spiritual need (like Bunbury). Morna is a qualified vet. Joshua their young son is less than 1 year old. There are plenty of logical reasons why they should have stayed put.

Recent developments in Nepal would have vindicated the position of anyone who believed that it was absolute madness to go. But Brad and Morna had no doubt in their minds, they heard the voice of God speaking clearly and they went where God led them confident that God has a way of preserving his own.

So how do we recapture that spirit of Mission at St. Boniface? Who are we supporting both financially and in prayer? Do our thoughts ever turn to those people who are less fortunate than ourselves, and need our assistance? How would we react if a family clearly heard the call of God to work overseas?

Jonah heard the call but believed that God was mistake. Those Ninevites didn't deserve to be saved. So to make absolutely sure Jonah ran away from God

The idea that one can run away from God who is omnipresent, who is omniscient as well as omnipotent is laughable as the Psalmist reminds us (Psalm 139).

If God is leading us in a particular direction, as we will see the story of Jonah illustrates it is foolish to ignore his command.

Simon de Bell