When God Says 'Go' and You Say 'No'

Introduction:

Kids have you ever played the game Hide and seek?

At camp we used to play a giant game of hide and seek called the counselor hunt!

The counselors would go and hide someone on the camp ground and then all 400 jr. campers would run around a search everywhere to find the counselors.

Most counselors where found pretty quickly, But some where pretty Good hiders . These counselors hid in places the human body should never fit. They were in trees and under cabins, One person even buried himself in the sand by the lake, Another climb into the camp dumpsters and even almost got hauled away. They hid in ever nook and cranny they could find.

But they all had one thing in common- They did not want o be found!

In many ways, this scenario mirrors the story of Jonah.

But the difference is that Jonah wasn’t playing a game, He was trying to run and hide from God.

And as we will see, Jonah’s story is a story about a divine call to tell people to look out, a rebellious response, and the far-reaching consequences of one man's decision.

But more than that, it's a story that should challenge each of us to consider how we respond to God's voice in our own lives.

Today, we're diving into the book of Jonah, specifically chapter 1, verses 1-6.

Would you stand with me as I read the word of the Lord together as His church

[Read Jonah 1:1-6

Jonah 1:1–6 (ESV)

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 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. 4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

This morning I want us to unpack this text together, and as we do my desire is that it will speak to each one of us today,

Our story begins with a remarkable event: Look at the text ” Now,The word of the Lord came to Jonah."

Jonah 1:1–2 (ESV)

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

Let that sink in for a moment.

The God of the universe, the Creator of all things, The one who is sovereign over all existence chose to speak directly to one man. (maybe act out a little bit)

And a man who we will discover soon had a rebellious heart at that.

Point # 1 is

I. God's Divine Commission (vv. 1-2)

This wasn't a random occurrence or a stroke of luck. It was a deliberate act of a sovereign God choosing to use whom He sovereignly chose to use.

God's call to Jonah was very clear and specific:

"Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. And proclaim the gospel of Mercy - Announce my judgment against them is coming because I have seen how wicked they.”

Now, to understand the weight of this command, we need to understand who the Ninevites were.

Nineveh was the capital of Assyria.

The Assyrians were ruthless and feared by every other culture of that day. They were, known for their brutal conquests, where they delighted in the extreme torture and humiliation of their captives.

And At this time in history they were the greatest enemy the Israelites had ever faced.

Their wicked cruelty, stained the land with blood and terror, leaving nations trembling at the mere thought of their name.

Imagine living in constant fear, knowing that at any moment, an army greater than you have ever faced could storm your city, mercilessly slaughtering everyone including women and children in its path.

To a Jew the Assyrians were their greatest enemy of all time.

And it is very likely that Jonah in his own life had lost friends and family during the Assryians raids into his country.

. From Jonah’s human perspective, the Assyrians were the last people who should ever deserve God's mercy.

Yet what we see in this opening verse of Jonah is that God's Almighty concern for mankind extended even to them.

This reveals something beautiful about God's character.

His love for mankind is not based on our ability to be good enough.

Think about it: God could have simply wiped Nineveh off the map for their great hatred and offenses against His people, But instead, He sends a prophet to warn them of their coming judgment.

Church family we need to understand this truth …This is the heart of God's mission. He desires all people to come to repentance.

and in response to this truth We in this room who are great sinners ourselves ought to proclaim AMEN!

As Peter writes 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" NIV

The first truth we see from our text this morning is that God is in the business of saving undeserving sinners.

God did not wait for the Ninevites to clean up their lives,

He didn't wait for them to love his people,

He didn't wait for them to figure out how to be religious.

His plan was to save them while they were still in their sin.

These first two verses are a beautiful illustration of how far God is willing to go to save sinners.

We see this same truth reiterated in Romans 5: 8

Romans 5:8 (ESV)

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Friends what we need to understand this morning is that there is no limit to how far God’s saving grace will reach into our sinful lives.

This is the heart of God's mission. He desires all people to come to repentance.

This means that your sinful soul is not too sinful for God to Save

So God, in great love for His creation Commissioned Jonah to be the voice of salvation to a nation who desperately needed God’s loved in their lives.

Now, given this divine commission, you might expect Jonah to immediately pack his bags and head to Nineveh. “ WOW GOD SPOKE TO ME AND ASKED ME TO BE THE ONE TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS With TTHESE PEOPLE!

But that's not what happened.

look with me at verse 3

Jonah 1:3 (ESV)

3 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.

II. Jonah's Rebellious Response (v. 3)

Think about what must have been going through Jonah s head at this time,

God you know I love you

BUT you also know what those people have done to my family.

God they don’t deserve your grace.

Your asking me to go tell the people who have brutally killed my friends and family how they can escape yoru wrath, the people who we all know deserve it the most!!

Nope! God, thats too far, Ill go wherever you want but I am not going to tell those people how to be saved .

Jonah's response is a stark reminder of our own tendencies.

How often do we, like Jonah, hear God's call and feel a surge of resistance because His will clashes with our desires or fears?

How often do we Instead of trusting His plan, run in the opposite direction, choosing comfort or control over obedience?…. convinced that we know better then God?

Friends, Jonah's attempt to flee reveals a common misconception: that we can somehow escape God's call on our lives.

To often we think that if we ignore it long enough, or run far enough, away, that God will give up and leave us alone.

But brothers and sisters as we'll see, God's call is persistent, and He pursues us even when we try to flee.

In the next 3 verses we find the ripple effect of Jonah’s Rebellion,

Jonah 1:4–6 (ESV)

4 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

CHURCH do you see whats happening here?

Jonahs Rebellious heart was so hardened towards God that He literally went down into the bottom of that ship, curled up and Said “I dont care”!!

I believe that it is at this point in Jonah’s story that he said to himself I would rather die then do what God has asked me to do!

III. The Ripple Effects of Rebellion (vv. 4-6)

Picture this scene with me. The ship is being tossed about by a violent storm. The seasoned sailors are terrified, frantically throwing cargo overboard and crying out to their gods.

And where's Jonah? He's fast asleep below deck!

Can you believe it?

The whole ship has gone to prayer Begging for something greater than themselves to step into their storm ands save them., but Jonah, God's own prophet, doesn’t even care- He’s taking a nap!

But here's the real tragedy: these men are desperate to escape death, They have been crying out for anything or anyone or any god to save them….

With every passing moment, with every wave that crashes over the deck, these desperate sailors – are inching closer to their doom.

The sailors think that if they just pray harder to their gods or throw more stuff overboard, they'll be saved. But to no avail, everything they have tried still leaves them at the doors of death.

They are running out of options and so the captain goes Down to Jonah and says “Why are you sleeping we are all about to Die!!!

You see, unlike these lost sailors, Jonah knows the Lord! The true God, the only One who can truly save.

And yet, his rebellious heart is ensuring that these sailors perish – not just physically, but eternally.

Let that sink in for a moment church . Jonah is denying dying men the chance to know the hope of the Lord's salvation.

Why? Because he’s angry that God wants to save undeserving sinners!

<<<<<<PAUSE>>>>>>>>

He's surrounded by people desperate for a solution, desperate to escape death. And he's trying to run away from the very One who is the Solution!

And we as the church today look at this story and think what a fool he must have been to only care about himself.

and yet, if we were truly honest with ourselves this morning many of us could probably be looking into a mirror and say the same thing about who we see in that Reflection.

As we consider Jonah's story, we need to recognize that we too have been given a divine commission from the Lord!

IV. Our Divine Commission and the Cost of Our Rebellion

I fear that too many times, we, as the commissioned messengers of God s’ gospel of grace, act just like Jonah.

Have we as the church forgotten the mission Jesus gave us as His church, the mission of the Gospel?

May I remind you of that mission?

Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

As Christians, we have been called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus in this community.

But like Jonah, we often become so consumed with our own comfort, our own ambitions, our own prejudices, that we grow numb to the spiritual needs of the people around us.

brothers and sister we are on a sinking ship and there are many people around us who will perish unless they hear the gospel message that God loves and he has provide a way of escape through belief in his only Son Jesus!

When is the last time you went out and obeyed God’s command to share His message of Hope with lost people?

In Romans 10, Paul speaks of the transformative power of the gospel.

in verse 9 He lays it out and says

Romans 10:9 (ESV)

T0 believe in Jesus is to Believe that When Jesus died on that cross He was dying i n your place He took all of your sins upon his shoulders and He carried that debt in full to the grave!! and it was through His resurrection that he conquered death and brought you new life.

T0 beleive in Jesus is to Believe that When Jesus died on that cross He was dying i n your place He took all of your sins upon his shoulders and He carried that debt in full to the grave!! and it was through His resurrection that he conquered death and brought you new life.

In verse 13 Paul tells us how simple it is to receive Gospel grace in your life

Romans 10:13 (ESV)

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Just like Jonah, This is the mission God has given us to proclaim in our community.

“Call on the name of the Lord and You will be saved”!

But notice Paul's words in the following two verses.

Romans 10:14–15 (ESV)

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

We need to understand, church, that when we are not sharing the gospel that God has commanded us to share, we are like Jonah in our rebellion.

And that rebellion has great consequences not only for us but for those in our community.

“How will our family, our friends our community hear unless we as God’s church go?!

Church, we can't afford to be like Jonah.

We can't afford to run from our calling.

The stakes are too high. Lives - eternal lives - hang in the balance.

So today, I challenge you: Stop running. Stop sleeping. Stop making excuses. Instead, embrace your calling. Be the messenger God has commissioned you to be. Share the hope you have in Christ. Because if we don't, who will?

Bring it Home

in Verse 1-2 We saw God's Divine Commission -

a reminder that God calls each of us to a purpose greater than ourselves.

in verse 3 - We witnessed Jonah's Rebellious Response -

a sobering picture of how easy it is to run from God's call.

in verse 4-6 -We observed the Ripple Effects of Rebellion -

how one person's disobedience can endanger the eternal lives of many others.

And finally, we confronted Our Own Divine Commission and the Cost of Rebellion -

a challenging look at our responsibility as Gods chosen bearers of the gospel.

Church, it's this fourth point that I want to drive home as we conclude.

We've seen the story of Jonah, we've shaken our heads at his rebellion, maybe even chuckled at his futile attempt to flee from God.

But now, we need to look in the mirror.

How many of us are Jonahs?

How many of us have heard God's call and decided it's too difficult, too uncomfortable, or too inconvenient?

How many of us have chosen the ship to Tarshish over the road to Nineveh?

Brothers and sisters, I implore you today: Don't be a Jonah!

Don't be the one who sleeps while others cry out for hope. Don't be the one who runs from your divine purpose of Sharing the gospel .

Don't be the one who, through rebellion or apathy, robs others of the chance to hear the life-changing message of Jesus Christ.

Remember Paul's words: "How will they hear unless we go?"

You are that someone! You are God's chosen messenger to your family, your workplace, your neighborhood, your community.

May the words of Romans 1:16 ever be upon our hearts

Romans 1:16 (ESV)

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believe..

The choice to obey or rebel is yours. But know this: your choice doesn't just affect you.

It affects everyone who might hear the gospel through you.

- don't be a Jonah!

Instead:

Be an Abraham, willing to go where God calls.

Be a Moses, willing to speak God's words even when it's difficult.

Be a Peter, bold in proclaiming the truth of the gospel.

Be a Paul, considering everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ and making Him known.

Most of all, be like Jesus, who came not to be served, but to seek and save the lost

This morning Lets confess our unfaithfulness to the gospel

Lets confess our own rebellion to the commission God has given us

Let's commit to being the messengers God has called us to be.

And Let us strive to be a church that Makes and equips disciples of Jesus in North Iowa and around the world!

I believe that when we as a church commit to being faithful to the gospel together we will see God do immersible more than we could ever ask or imagine.

Will You join me in boldly Proclaiming Jesus Christ and him crucified?

Lets be the church God intends for his church to be!!!

Lets Pray!