When are you running?

Introduce the Bible

Afternoon friends, I’ll add my welcome to Keira’s.

I’m keen and excited to continue our look in Jonah this term. I hope you are too!

We’re going to be reading the same passage as last week…

*READ JONAH 1:1-16*

Introduction

Now as was talked about last week, it’s alright if you weren’t here, I’ll be asking a question each week that leads into the talk.

Now this week’s question is probably the most bizarre of them…but please still try to answer...

[Slide] “When are you running?”

*Interact with them and get them to answer the question*

Alright, hopefully that question will make sense by the end of the talk.

For now, let’s remind ourselves where we are, or if you missed last week, let’s find out.

Walk through the Word...

[Slide] - “Where are we?”

We are following a Prophet named Jonah. Remembering that a Prophet is someone who takes the Word of God and delivers it. And Jonah here in verse 1 receives the Word of God, and is told to deliver it to Nineveh in verse 2. We saw last week that Nineveh wasn’t great, in fact they were pretty horrible to almost anyone, and had been quite horrible to Jonah’s people - Israel - for some time, around 100 years.

And so in verse 3 we see that Jonah refuses to go. He runs. Flees.

Here’s the map again [Slide]. We see in the middle right where Jonah lived in Israel, further right where he was commanded to go and all the way left is where he attempted to flee.

And in so doing, what we learned last week is that Jonah is struggling with God. Struggling to trust God. He is doubting who God is; His wisdom, His goodness, His Justice.

And so what does he do?

He goes down to Joppa (reference map) which was a place with a port, a place where lots of ships would come in so you could buy and sell stuff, but also so you could pay someone to take you somewhere else.

In Jonah’s case, he paid a fare to a little boat on it’s way to Tarshish. Which to him was the ends of the earth. The furtherest point. The greatest distance he could make, he could put between himself and this problem.

Between himself…AND GOD!

Now you might ask…

Why would he do this?

Why would he want this?

He is trying to gain control…he is trying to rip control from God.

But friends that is not how God works...

God is always in control. And will always be in control.

So…let’s see God respond to this...

Jonah 1:4: [Slide]

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.

Have you guys ever been annoyed at a brother or sister. Or if you don’t have siblings, a friend, a close friend.

And when I say annoyed, I mean really, really annoyed.

So annoyed you would threw something at them...

Maybe a pillow?...

Maybe something harder than pillow?...

…my sister may or may not have thrown a knife at me once...

But that’s a story for another time.

I’m here…I’m alive...

BUT, God one up’s us here…he out does us entirely…

In our bible’s it says “the Lord sent”

But. The word is more accurately, threw.

[Slide]

God threw a storm at Jonah.

Can we just all pause for a moment.

I want you to take 10 seconds to write down how you feel about God throwing a storm a Jonah.

*Interaction and dat*

Now hold onto those thoughts and feelings, they’ll be really good for bible study…

So…God throws a literal storm at Jonah, now there are three responses to the storm we’re gonna work through, the Sailors, the Captain, and Jonah’s.

However, first I want to andress something that happens here, that we can very quickly look over and not think about it.

God’s response to Jonah.

God tells Jonah to do something.

And remember, no matter what that is, he SINS if it’s not done.

And Jonah…doesn’t do it. He doesn’t do it.

He sins.

Then, God throws a storm at him.

Now rememeber, sin is going against God.

All of us, everyone in this room have sinned.

Jonah sin’s here because he intentionally ignores and goes against what God said.

And what God says is it.

His Word is final.

He knows best.

And if he says something, tells something, commands something…THAT’S IT.

God’s response to Jonah’s sin…is to throw a storm at him…

Now I wonder if any of you are picking up what I hinting at…?

Have you ever thought God might throw a storm at you for sinning?

Are you thinking it now?

Now don’t stress too much, I won’t say he absolutely won’t, but I can say pretty confidently that God won’t throw a storm at you…a literal one anyway…

What do I mean?

There are two popular but false teachings on God’s reponse to sin:

1. God doesn’t do anything till the person dies

2. God punishes every sin with a clear physical or mental punishment

The bible makes clear that neither is true.

Not everything bad that happens to you is because you sinned.

But, there are consequences for your sin.

[Slide]

“Not every difficulty is because of sin, but every sin will bring difficulty…”

Jonah’s consequence was great.

God threw a storm at him.

I hope that you’re starting to hear me…

God threw a storm at him.

Jonah not only brought difficulty upon himself…but also others.

What I am really trying to say…trying to push here:

We all sin.

We all have difficulty.

We all call storms upon ourselves.

Maybe not literally.

But still certainly real.

“Not every difficulty is because of sin, but every sin will bring difficulty…”

And that storm, that difficulty will effect many outside of you, as well as you.

Let us all take sin seriously.

Now coming back to people on the boat effected by the storm.

Remember Jonah wasn’t just on the boat alone.

He knew he was running from God.

He knew there would be consequences for it.

Yet he drags this boat of sailors down with him.

There are three different responses here, let’s look at each.

Jonah 1:5-6: [Slide]

5 All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. 6 The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

The Sailors.

Jonah.

The Captain.

Three key responses. [Slide]

God throws a storm.

And these veterans, these men who knew the sea very well, who were not easily frightened…the first description of them we ge is “they were afraid…”

This was no regular storm.

This was an angry God level of storm.

But even in their fear they tried two things:

Praying. It wasn’t to God, it was to a god of their homeland, but in so doing, they had starting to realise this wasn’t a normal storm. Something was going on here.

Practical. They tried to lighten the load. It was a trick sailors would do in bad storms or if a ship had been damaged so they could get back to shore.

Their response is panicked control. [Slide]

The do anything response…

Jonah’s response is less helpful…less heroic…

God throws a strom.

God throws a storm…AT JONAH.

And Jonah…has a nap.

Now he probably didn’t go down and sleep while the storm was at it’s peak, but based on the wording, something was going on when he did. The storm was starting and he most likely knew something was going on.

Yet. He left the men he had just pulled into a storm.

Jonah’s response is care-free control. [Slide]

The ignore it…and it will go away response…

Finally the boat captain.

He sees his men doing everything they can above ship.

But a good captain knows his boat, his crew, even the stowaways…

He would have quite quickly noticed Jonah missing.

He makes his way down the bottom of the ship.

And finds a sleeping man.

He questions him: “Why are you sleeping?”

He calls his into order: “Do something!”

And gets him above the ship

His response is leadership control. [Slide]

The command others…and feel control in yourself response…

Significance

The question I asked at the start was:

“WHEN are you running?” [Slide]

What I meant by that, is that we all run from God.

So, it’s not IF but WHEN.

When are you running from God?

When are you ignoring, rejecting, or going against the one who created you, knows you!

When are you trying to RIP CONTROL from the one who is always and should always be in control?

That’s what’s happening here with Jonah.

He ran in verse 3.

Trying to gain control of his situation.

God tells him one thing and he does the other!

He gets on a boat, and brings an entire storm with him…

Knowing God would respond…

We then saw three different responses.

Three different grabs at control.

The Panicked - do anything! [Slide]

The Care-free - ignore it! [Slide]

The Leadership - command others! [Slide]

[Slide]

Running from God…will not bring you control…but will bring you a storm.

We all, everyone in this room - everyone in the world! Must…Needs, to take sin seriously.

And we all sin.

We all try to gain control from God.

You know, take control for ourselves.

How are you similar or different from these three responses?

Do you panic in the storm? Or just in life in general?

Are you the type of person that is the “do anything” to regain control?

Do anything, to feel in control.

In school, maybe you’re literally the “do everything”. Sport, study, anything like it.

At home, maybe you’re the everywhere all at once. In the home and elsewhere.

At church, maybe you come, you’re here, you’re present.

BUT…you most likely aren’t doing any of these things to:

Benefit your yourself.

Benefit the relationship with your family.

Most important, for God.

But for control.

The do anything to be in control.

Or are you almost the entire opposite of that?

Are you the ignore it person?

Do you feel in control when it is out of your mind?

That you don’t need to do that homework.

Listen to that teacher.

Listen to your parents.

Do the housework.

Know God.

[Pause]

Be at church. At Youth Group.

Listen to your leaders.

Open God’s word.

Know and obey Him.

Finally. The Leadership one.

The tell others what to do one.

That we feel most in control when the ones we know are controlled.

Our friends at school.

Our siblings.

People here, in this room.

These are by no means the only response to a storm.

These are by no means the only way of trying to control.

Control a situation.

Control God.

But. We do them.

And they are ALL self-seeking in the end.

All of them show no trust of God.

We lie to ourselves that we have more control.

More security.

More safety.

We lie to ourselves that we need to do these things.

We lie to ourselves that we don’t need God.

That he doesn’t need to be in control.

That he isn’t in control.

Running from God…will not bring you control…but will bring you a storm.

We can lie to ourselves all we like.

We can tell ourselves we don’t need God.

We can claim control for ourselves.

But God is in control.

He is always in control.

Ask yourself:

“When are your running?”

“When are you trying to gain control?”

“Do you know…trust…believe…that God is in control?”

[Pause]

Father,

Thank you that you are in control.

NOT US.

Help us not to try and fight you for control.

Help us not to feel like we need to be in control.

Help us to be confident in your control.

In you.

AMEN.