A Disciple's Trust Pt 1
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Gertrude was about to make her first parachute jump. The instructor said, “First, you pull the big cord. If it doesn’t work, you pull the little cord. There will be a red pickup truck waiting for you when you land.”
Gertrude jumped. When she pulled the big cord, nothing happened, so she pulled the little cord. Still nothing happened. “That’s great,” she muttered. “Now I suppose the red pickup truck won’t be there either.”
Trust
For the next two weeks we’ll be looking at our trust level…maybe ourselves a bit…and the One we trust in. Why do we trust? …I think that may be a big question as well.
Jonah - TWO WEEKS
We’re going to do some reading today…some commentary…some questions....all concerning this well known story - an account from the OT. the book has 4 chapters and today we’ll look at the first 2...
I would guess that when I say the name Jonah from the Bible…you get the picture of a guy being swallowed by a fish. That’s what is often thought of as the biggest part, most famous part, of the story…and no doubt right? It is a huge miracle.
Is there something in this story we can find that is an overarching theme…that directly applies to us being disciples....disciple makers....of Jesus. Ultimately, disciples who trust in God.
And I think there is. Actually a few things....
There’s encouragement
There’s a struggle
There’s a picture of God’s character
I believe that looking at these things…thinking about them personally a bit…that we’ll find out trust in God grow.
So as we go through this…I want you to watch for places where you might be able to place yourself in this account.
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This is a short book…just takes a little bit of time to read. I won’t read the full text, but will highlight some of the major pieces as we walk through this account.
Let’s first look at something that is a struggle for many people. Is this historical? It’s a good question…because it does seem kind of fanciful. A fish swallowing someone…and then days after, spitting them up on dry land.
My go-to is this…there is another couple of references in other books that Jonah really was an historical person…a prophet of Israel 2 Kings mentions twice. So we have other people attesting to his existence and his MOS…his job with God…He was a prophet.
The other person who attests or gives witness to veracity is....drumroll…Jesus himself. Jesus basically said…as Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days…so will I be in the earth. And then Jesus references Nineveh…and Jonah’s work there. As historical.
So if the guy who walked out of a grave, back to life, said it…I tend to believe it. Jonah…in my book…historical figure. The miracle…historical event.
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1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:
2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.
HEBREW
*He’s fleeing the Lord’s presence. Not quite running from God…but from the place where a prophet would hear the word of the Lord and get his instructions.
*And He’s going as far as he can from the Temple…where the presence of the Lord is. (Jonah 2:4 we see that he says that he will look again towards the temple…the presence of the lord).
Now ....let’s pause for a second and ask a question about this book.
A guy runs from God. (DISOBEDIENCE)
Swallowed by a fish.
Get’s burped up on the shore from said fish.
Walks downtown in a violent and pagan city.
Tells them they’re all going to be judged by the Lord for their sin…so stop it (repent).
They repent…and God shows mercy.
Jonah is upset that they received mercy.
The end.
There’s a key theme in all of this though. And it doesn’t necessarily have to do with Jonah and his obedience or disobedience. I think that this idea of disobedience…or not trusting God on the outset…in our humanness… I think that this is definitely part of this book…but I think there’s another theme that goes all the way through the book that is much more helpful to us in … helping our ability to trust God.
So when we think about being followers of Jesus, disciples of Jesus, saved and changed to bring God’s love to the world, I mean we can think about what God is doing…for us, through us, for others....right? And I think we can narrow it down to a simple phrase that will be a theme through the book of Jonah...
....God is at work to save… through each incident through this book, we’ll see that God is at work to save...
And if you focus on God’s work through this account, rather than just Jonah’s disobedience or his being swallowed by a fish…I think you’ll see God working…and then through this a bigger ability to trust Him as you walk through each day.
So as we begin…remember that phrase…no matter what we do…God is at work to save.
So again through this all…we’ll see God’s encouragement…Humanity’s struggle with God…and God’s character...
Jonah 1: 3-5. Paraphrasing....Jonah gets on the boat, heads out…big storm, all the sailors begin to pray…pull out their idols…minus one who is sailing, Jonah, who’s asleep in the belly of the boat. Captain goes down and says this...
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.”
Their (g)ods are not responding…no duh...
The book does not say that Jonah gets up right away and prays with open arms to heaven…save us Lord! … he doesn’t pray… he wants no part of hearing from God. Remember what’s he running from? How many times is it hard for you to pray…when you know you’re running or disobeying…or at odds with God? You don’t want to hear…probably because you kinda already know the answers....
Sailors cast lots - lot falls to Jonah (I can imagine him going…come on please just leave me alone)… sailors say what have you done?
8 So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”
9 He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)
Even these other guys know…you don’t run from this God.
Jonah’s like…what? I know I know…throw me overboard....they don’t…they try to row back…it doesn’t work…then he says…guys…throw me overboard and the seas will become quiet. They pray to Yaweh....please forgive us…we don’t want to do this....but...
They do it, the seas become still (quiet)...
Jonah now is going to die in the open waters of the Mediterranean sea.
Meanwhile back on the ship, we find this happening...
16 The men were seized by great fear of the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
Already, in the story, in spite of Jonah’s disobedience and distrust, we have people turning to God.
Now lets step back a second here and give johah some credit here. it’s not that he’s a god quitter…
Jonah, a prophet, does not look afraid to die…in fact he kind of understands this idea of death and sacrifice. Not afraid…but kind of embraces it. He’s angry but he’ll save the sailors....
And now they are calling on God and making vows to Him.
Can you imagine the stories they tell when they get to Tarshish? Evangelism taking place among people who aren’t followers of God? They met God through a distrustful prophet. Were saved through him.
God is at work to save.
And what happens next? Jonah is by himself in the sea. Nothing to save him.
17 And Yahweh provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The fish saves Jonah…we we’ll see that in a second in chapter 2. What looks to us like just an act in the food chain cycle…is actually something through which Jonah will see life.
Jonah is a captive of the fish…but it is also His Good News…His way to life. He’s not going to die…and somehow it looks like he understands this.
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Chapter 2 - begins with a Psalm of thanksgiving...
1 From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
2 He said: “In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.
READ....No slides
4 And I said, “I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look once more toward your holy temple.
7 As my life was fading away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, to your holy temple.
verse 8 …some people worship worthless idols…but you’re the one who answers....
I think sometimes…maybe secretly…we want God to be like this in our lives. To just throw us overboard and then ....save us…put us back on the exact set of train tracks You wants us to be on…despite our attitudes and actions. Right? Anyone!?
What’s our common theme here? God is at work to save.....
Remember we’ve talked about this recently…when Paul says, “I’ve been taken captive by Christ”… this is kind of a picture of this for us…we were in the sea with no life-vest. And God comes in and saves us. I think what most people in the Bible are saying is this…allow God to take hold of you. Don’t allow the world to take hold of you.
Paul also mentions this phrase when talking about his being saved…but then waiting for His glory from Jesus to be made perfect....he says that his “immortality” will be swallowed up by “life.” Kind of a really cool phrase right?
A bit ironic when thinking about Jonah…dying but then life through something that doesn’t seem to fit.
I think that’s the same with us. Jesus said…die to yourself to receive full and abundant life....give me your life…all of it…everything in it…so that…I can give you life like you can’t even imagine.
This is truly a picture of Jonah having the chance of rebirth....we still see that he struggles. But Jesus, looking back calls this a “sign.” Meaning we can find a big purpose from God in this account.
Its a big picture of Grace. Not punishment. The fish saved Jonah…put him back on a path. Relentless grace.
10 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
What a way to be saved....but does God do anything normally? I mean really… God gets our attention in so many weird and ironic and fanciful and dramatic ....and fearful ways. Right? And do we stop, when those things are happening…do we stop and think about what’s happening…that He might really be trying to save us…to stop us from something…to help us do something…for our own life or for someone around us who needs life.
Now…we’re going to pause…and I’m going to go to Jesus words.
Matthew 12....
Jesus here is talking to some religious leaders…they wanted a miraculous sign from him....
He basically said…looking back at the account of Jonah said…the only sign you’re going to see is the sign of Jonah...
As Jonah was in the belly of the fish 3 days…so shall the son of man be in the earth...
That sounds familiar right? I wonder what those guys thought when Jesus died…was buried and then after three days...
Here’s the picture … give up your life…so Christ can raise you with new life.
Jesus said it this way…daily deny yourself…so you can daily receive life… another ironic thing right???
I’m going to invite someone up here.