Jonah 1:1-3 - The Poopy Prophet
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Big Idea:
Big Idea:
The spiritually mature run to Jesus, even if it’s messy.
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning [Church Online]. Today we start Phase 2 of our 2023 Vision of “Moving on up.” This year, I believe God is calling our church to “grow up” - to spiritually mature.
And in Phase 1, we spent a couple of months studying Ephesians 4, which has a lot to say about growing in Christ. And in this next phase, we will discuss something that is often overlooked, maybe even ignored or rejected, but is nevertheless an important part of spiritual maturity.
Without oxen a stable stays clean,
but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.
I believe God wants a large harvest in your life.
I believe that He wants you to be fruitful and flourish.
I believe He wants this for our church.
I believe He wants this for our community.
I personally believe revival is coming to New England and I’m asking God to start with Glastonbury!
But… in order to have a large harvest, you need strong oxen. You need spiritually mature laborers! Which is why I believe God is calling us to “move on up!”
As your pastor, can I speak something over your lives right now? When I look out over this room, I see a room full of strong oxen! Men and women (of all ages), called by God to change this community for Christ. A church that will be used to bring forth a large harvest.
…but… there’s another part of the verse, right? It says, “Without oxen the stable stay clean.”
Somebody told me the other week that I’m known as the “poopy pastor.” I’m not sure how to take that. But I’m assuming it’s not bad and more related to the fact that I’m not afraid to say the word “poop” in church.
Well, as the poopy-pastor, I think the first part of the verse is about poop.
Now, I may be willing to say “poop.”
I may joke about “poop.”
But honestly, poop is gross. I think most of you will agree.
I think the biblical authors felt the same way. Therefore, some people think, “The best way to avoid poop is to get rid of the poopers. I’m tired of cleaning the stable, where oxen are dropping bombs all day. Here’s an idea… If I get rid of them, the stable will stay clean, and I don’t have to worry about poop.”
Makes sense, right? Now, we should understand this verse isn’t just talking about oxen. I believe it also represents people. And we can apply this proverb to ministry.
I believe every church wants to see a harvest in their community.
We want to see God move powerfully to save families and neighborhoods.
But we also want to keep the stable clean, because no one likes poop.
And if the stable is the church, nobody wants poop in the church.
But here’s the thing, people poop a lot.
Sinful people create a lot of mess. And if we’re doing this church thing the right (if we’re bringing in the harvest). There should be a lot of sinful people invited into church, bringing their brokenness with them, which… creates more poop in the stable! Because that’s what a harvest is. Isn’t that what Jesus said?
Looking out over the fields of PEOPLE needing salvation...
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
There are a sea of people ready to find hope in Jesus, if only there were laborers willing to deal with the mess in the stables. But all too often, we’ve valued the clean church instead developing (DISCIPLING) laborers who both expect poop, and are willing to pick up poop, so we can experience a harvest of people. So, God’s great salvation and abundant life can be experienced in our community!
And this is what Phase 2 is all about...
Phase 2 is spiritually maturing (moving on up) by learning to expect messiness and learning how to deal with the messiness of ministry.
We don’t value mess.
We don’t intentionally create mess.
But we do understand messiness is part of the maturity and harvest process.
And I believe the Book of Jonah will help us learn these lessons. Because as we’ll see, Jonah was a true prophet of God. A man called to change the world. And God was preparing a harvest for him to experience. But he was a sinful mess. That’s why I call him the “poopy prophet.”
And this book is not the typical story where problems are neatly resolved at the end. This book is a mess. And it helps us deal with, and expect, that biblical reality. But this book will also help us move on up in a broken world.
So, let’s start this phase by looking at the first couple of verses of book...
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”
Exegesis:
Exegesis:
Jonah was a prophet to the Northern Kingdom of Israel under the rule of Jeroboam II. A little Bible history (for those who need it), Saul was the first king of Israel. Then, God chose David. The Kingdom flourished under him, and also his son Solomon. But after Solomon, the Kingdom split. The northern Kingdom were 10 tribes (and were known as Israel). The southern Kingdom, where Jerusalem was, had two tribes - Judah and Benjamin - and were known as Judah. The southern Kingdom wavered in their faithfulness to God, while the northern Kingdom was always wicked. And that was the environment Jonah preached in.
However, when the word of the LORD comes to Jonah, he isn’t sent to preach to Israel, but to Nineveh - the capital of Assyria, the current ruling empire of the world, which is why God refers to Nineveh as “that great city.” And the Assyrians were assassins. Ancient John Wicks. They were ruthless, which in a way, is the reason why God says, “their evil has come up before.”
Think about that word-picture. Now, consider the words of the prophet Isaiah, who said...
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
One idea this verse communicates is God is infinitely higher than us. And, the wickedness of Assyria is so great, that it has scaled the mountain of God to come before him. That’s how evil they are.
And the implication is, “I’m about to open up a can on you.” Because God doesn’t play with sin. He is holy.
Don’t get me wrong… He is patient. He is abounding with loving-kindness. But sooner or later, when sin continues to come before Him, and sin isn’t repented of, God will judge the situation. And when He does, watch out. His holy wrath is no joke!
That’s the sense of the message given to Jonah. However, there’s something else we need to remember. The prophet Ezekiel says...
Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Though Ezekiel is speaking directly to Israel, we have the benefit of looking back from our point of view 2000 years later, having the whole counsel of God’s complete word in our hands, and know God takes no pleasure in ANYBODY dying...
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
So, we can conclude that while Jonah’s message is intended to severely warn Nineveh of the coming judgment, God is also being merciful. He could just pour out His wrath. That’s what they deserve. But in His amazing grace, He’s giving them an opportunity to turn from their sins. To stop acting wicked. To repent and get right.
And in these first two verses, it feels like the unfolding of a perfect, prophetic, gospel-filled scene. Look again… Verse 1 says, “the Word of the Lord”...
God’s perfect word is being spoken.
The word for “The LORD” is the Hebrew word “Yahweh.” The covenant, personal, relational name of God, used between Him and His special people.
And the “Word of Yahweh” comes to the prophet, “Jonah the son of Amittai.” In the Bible, names have meaning and purpose.
Jonah means “dove.”
And Amittai means “faithfulness.”
So the “Word of the LORD” came to the “dove of faithfulness.”
God is calling Jonah to fulfill His calling and operate in His special giftings and purpose! To prophesy against and warn the wicked city of Nineveh. God’s judgment is coming. Yet, there’s also a hint that God is about to do the impossible - something gospel, something GOOD. He’s not just threatening to judge the world’s most powerful empire… He might even save them, which seemed impossible!
The opening verses of Jonah seem to be building spiritual momentum that leaves the reader believing God is about to show us His glory! There’s a harvest coming!
But... there’s a problem...
But Jonah rose 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 the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Okay, God calls the dove to go preach, but instead he goes to the beach...
I grew up in San Diego. I grew up at the beach. You know what birds at the beach make me think about? That my head is about to get pooped on! Because birds drop bombs at the beach.
…and that’s what Jonah (the dove, the poopy prophet) starts doing. He starts making of mess of the miracle God wants to accomplish! Instead of being who God has calls him to be, he runs away.
And, upon studying this verse, I noticed a specific literary device being used that was common to the biblical authors. It’s called a chiasm.
Chiasm use parallel phrases, in specific positions, to strategically communicate an idea. And sandwiched in the center of these chiastic parallel phrases is the main point. This is different than the way we typically think in our day, because we like to put main points at the beginning or end of a passage, not the middle.
We have modern chiasms. Let me give you an example… Have you ever heard, “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going?” That’s a chiasm.
The outer parallel thoughts communicate “going.”
But sandwiched in the center is the main point: Get tough.
Make sense? I believe we see a chiasm in Jonah 1:3:
Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
He went DOWN to Joppa.
And FOUND a ship going to Tarshish and PAID THE FARE.
and went DOWN into it...
to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
The flow of thought (according to the chiastic structure) may have been intended to sound this way...
Jonah ran from the presence of the Lord. He likely had his own reasons for doing so. Hosea and Amos (other contemporary prophets) had already prophesied that God would use Assyria to discipline rebellious Israel. This thought was disgusting for the prophet of God! How could God use such a wicked people to disciple God’s special people. Jonah may have ran because he hated Assyria but also didn’t want to preach the gospel to those who would one day destroy his own people.
So, he ran and went “down” to Joppa, and then “down” into the ship. The repeated word “down” in this context is not just direction, but destiny. The sense is “he left behind what God had for him.”
And then we get to the main point: Jonah paid the fare! Some scholars believe Jonah rented out the entire ship for his own use, which may indicate that God had richly blessed this prophet. This prophet had bank!
Putting it all together, verse 3 tells us that Jonah left everything God had for him because he wanted to do his own thing instead. And… he used the blessings of God to finance running from Him.
And just as a sidenote:
Really consider what’s being said here… what it means for Jonah to have enough money to run from God...
We often pray for provision, but what if a lack of funds is God’s grace to keep you in His will?
Additionally, when we do have the financial resources, are we willing to honestly examine our motives and decisions by asking the question: Do we use God’s blessings to finance rebelliously running away from Him?
Because that’s what Jonah did. But why?
...Because Jonah is spiritually immature. Jonah needs to grow up.
We’ll clearly see this as we progress through this book, but if that’s not already clear, think about it this way. The greatest, most mature person ever was Jesus. And when Jesus faced something He did not personally desire (like going to the cross), what did He do?
“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”
Jesus didn’t run. He could’ve. Actually, early in His ministry the devil gave him an opportunity. In the wilderness...
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”
In other words, “Jesus, you don’t have to do the difficult thing the Father is calling you to... You can run from the cross. I know you’ve come to reconcile the world to Yourself, but I can give it back to You. It’s easy... all you need to do is run from God’s way.”
But Jesus teaches us that spiritually mature people don’t run, they say, “Not my will, but Your will be done!”
Jonah was a true prophet of God. God wanted to use his life to bring forth a huge harvest, but he was spiritually immature. And in the stable of God, he was pooping everywhere. However, in the coming weeks, we’ll see two main things over and over again:
God desires Jonah to grow into a strong oxen.
Spiritual maturity (becoming a strong oxen) is worth the mess because it brings forth a harvest!
So, how are we supposed to respond to these truths, and God’s word, today?
Response:
Response:
We respond the way Israel was supposed to respond. Jonah is intended to be a divine mirror revealing our personal poopy mess. Because the truth is... we need to grow up too. Furthermore, growth is necessary if we want to experience the harvest God has for us.
So today (and throughout our series), get used to asking yourself, “Is this about me?” That’s what Jonah’s original audience (the ones who first read this book) would ask… or should’ve been asking. Remember, Jonah was from the Northern Kingdom of Israel...
They constantly disobeyed God’s word.
They ran from whom God called them to be.
They were God’s chosen and blessed people, but they consistently followed their own sinful desires.
They were spiritually immature.
In many ways, Jonah represented kingdom he was from. And we ain’t that different. Let’s be real… we could live in the Northern Kingdom of Israel...
We disobey God’s word.
We run from who God calls us to be.
We prioritize our sinful desires instead of being God’s special people.
Therefore, the prophet Jonah is a great place to ponder what kind of poop we got in our personal lives.
As you hear the Word of the LORD this morning, what does it reveal about your spiritual maturity?
Where are we too much like Jonah?
What needs to change so we can be strong oxen bringing forth a great harvest in Glastonbury?
As we close, I believe another Scriptural chiasm can help us respond to our spiritual immaturity. In Luke 16, Jesus uses a chiasm...
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Can you see the chiastic structure?
Two masters on the outside.
Hate/despise themes working inward.
Then, the main point in the center: Love God. Be devoted to the Master/Lord!
[Response slide] Do you want to grow in spiritual maturity? Then, don’t run from God, be devoted to Him - love Him! Don’t be like Jonah, be like Jesus.
Jonah is the poopy prophet. Jesus is the perfect prophet.
Jesus always obeyed the will of the Father.
Jesus always faithfully preached the gospel.
Jesus never ran from God, but always pressed into His presence.
That’s what spiritually mature people do. That’s how you grow in spiritual maturity.
You stop running from God’s presence.
You start running towards Jesus.
I believe God’s got a harvest for us. But we can’t experience it if we’re always running away from His presence.
You may be running for various reason.
Maybe some of them make perfect sense in your mind.
Nevertheless, a running heart is an immature heart.
And it reveals that we need to repent and start running towards Jesus.
Can I be honest with you? As I was studying this week, I was personally convicted about the poop in my life. As I looked into the mirror of Jonah, I realized I’m scared of leading a church this big.
Our church is growing faster than my experience and expertise, and I’m scared I’m gonna mess this up. And sometimes my response is to want to run from the responsibility God is giving me. But I also realize that I’d be consequently running from the harvest I’ve been praying for!
I need to stop running, because I can trust Jesus with my weakness, challenges, lack of understanding, and inexperience. I can trust God will provide everything we need for the harvest coming to Glastonbury. I simply need to repent and run to Him.
And I’m confident that...
Jesus is a calling you too. The Word of the Lord is coming to you.
Jesus has a gospel mission for you that’ll result in a great harvest.
But you need to be real about the poop in your life. All the areas where you are running from Him. Repent. And run to Jesus with me.
Together, as a church family, let’s grow into the people God is calling us to be. Then, when we experience the harvest, we can also celebrate together!
Let’s pray...
Father, we hear Your Word. And it’s a little bit scary. Maybe we don’t understand it. Maybe we don’t like it. Maybe it makes us want to run. But we also realize that if we run, we’d be running from the very thing You created us for. We’d be leaving behind our God-given destinies! So, instead, we repent. We turn from our sin and put our faith in You Jesus. Clean up our mess. Today, we’re running into Your arms. In Jesus name, amen.
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