Comfort or the Common Good
Notes
Transcript
Handout
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. 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.”
INTRODUCTION
My family and I like to travel. And we have seen that you can really learn a lot about a city and its people by going to a baseball game and going to the zoo.
Between these two locations we typically get a good view of the entire city and the people within it.
And as we drive to get to those places, the thing that seems the same in every city we visit, is that the big fancy homes are within a block or so of the most impoverished homes.
I always say this is God’s clever way of reminding those who live comfortably, that real poverty is just around the corner.
But as I was looking at this passage of Jonah, I was convicted about that this week, because we used to live near the zoo in Fort Worth, not in an affluent area, but not in an impoverished area either. And I was reminded as we lived there that I was able to remain in my comfort, near those areas of poverty because I tended to live with blinders on. If I don’t look at it, it isn’t there.
And a lot of us do this if we are honest, like when you pull up to a light with homeless people around, we avoid making eye contact, we roll up our windows and lock our doors and keep our eyes straight ahead. We put our blinders on.
And this can cause us to devalue those who are struggling right next to us.
Pastor Esau McCauley says,”Societies tend to value people based solely on their usefulness. Those without resources are often tossed away. We speed past them on the way to our jobs, vacations, and leisure pretending we do not see. But Christians serve a God who sees, so we must stop and see too.”
One of my favorite scenes in Scripture is in
And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
And the reason I love that is that Peter does not avoid looking at the struggle of his neighbor. He does not put his blinders on, but says I don’t have any money, but I’ve got Jesus, and I want you to have him too. What a scene.
But the subtle reason we often put blinders on, devaluing others around us who are struggling, is because we are not wanting anything to disturb our comfort. Which makes sense. I worked hard for my comfort. How dare you try to steal it from me in your struggle.
In 2 corinthians 1 Paul says that God is the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our trouble. But he goes on saying, “so that we may be able to comfort those in affliction with the comfort God gives.”
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Meaning that comfort that causes us to devalue other human beings, is a comfort that is not of God. It is actually an idol that is closer to our heart than God and his word. It is a good thing that we have made a God thing.
And remember that last week we said that sin is anything that causes us to turn our face from God, even good things.
TRANSITION
And today, in our text, God’s word reminds us of just how in love with comfort we can be, and as a result, how oblivious to the hardships surrounding us, we can be as well.
So today we are going to look at how
Awareness of our neighbor's suffering can transform us from passive observers into active participants in God’s mission of calling people to himself. (Repeat)
The past few weeks in Jonah we have been looking at the call of God and how we can either be obedient to the call or turn our face.
Which is how Jonah received the call. He heard the word, didn’t like it, so he ran to Tarshish. The furthest place away in the known world.
He was running away to somewhere more comfortable. And God immediately answered by throwing a great storm on the sea that was carrying the boat. But he wasn’t alone on that boat.
And just like most people who bring destruction and damage along with them everywhere they go, Jonah doesn’t even seem to notice. He is sleeping, enjoying the comfort he desired over the word of God.
Now I have heard others say that Jonah’s sleep was a stress induced sleep. That he was so anxious, and depressed at his avoidance of God’s call, that he just went to sleep. And I have for sure experienced something similar to this. There is so much on our mind or in our schedule that we just want to sleep and avoid it all for a little bit. This is a real medical condition, known as hypersomnia, or “depression nap,”
But that is not how Jonah is sleeping here, Jonah's sleep in the Bible story is not described as anxious, but rather as deep and undisturbed despite the raging storm around him.
The Hebrew for fast asleep, could be better translated into, heavy sleep or deep sleep. Jonah is not experiencing hypersomnia, he is experiencing comfort, while those around him are experiencing real struggle.
TRANSITION
And the entire Bible is to be read Christologically. Meaning it should always point us to Jesus Christ (John 5:39; Luke 24:25-27).
And reading the Scripture Christologically, some of you might be thinking, didn’t Jesus do the same thing? Didn’t he sleep comfortably during a storm while everyone around him was terrified and struggling?
Let’s look at the incident.
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
“Where is your faith?” is how Jesus answered.
He was not running away from God and trusting his desire for comfort, as Jonah was, and as we so often do. He was trusting God, and teaching his disciples to trust in God through the storms.
Jesus teaches us that it is not Jonah’s action of sleeping in the storm, but it is the heart behind the action.
Remember when you were a kid and an adult would tell you to, “go say your sorry,” and you would comply and then they’d tell you to “say it like you mean it.” The action was right but the heart behind it was self righteous and ugly.
Such is the case with sin, it reveals our self righteous and ugly hearts, demonstrating our need for God. It can make good things like sleep and comfort into God things that we worship. Which leads me to my next point.
TRANSITION
Look at the first part of
Jonah 1:5 (ESV)
Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god.
The mariners that were on this ship each had something they worshiped. They each had a god. And when hardship came they turned to that thing.
This happens to all of us. Whatever we put the most faith in, is what we will turn to when storms come.
In verse 6 the captain reprimands Jonah for not calling out to whoever or whatever it is that he worships.
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.”
He told Jonah, the one thing we know won’t save us, is you just laying around.
Wake up and call to the one you worship, maybe he’ll save us. And in this, you are given a glimpse of just how flimsy our faith can be.
This is why Jesus so often admonishes his disciples for having little faith.
We tend to only rely on that which brings us the most comfort until the storms come and we need someone or something to save us. And if the god that I worship is not saving us, then maybe the god that you worship will save us, and if he does, I will worship him.
There is no real allegiance. There is no real faith. There is only self preservation. Revealing our self righteous and ugly hearts.
If Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel will make us feel good and makes us feel safe we’ll worship him. But if he threatens that, we’ll go looking for other gods. We want Yahweh as long as he can manage to keep our lives easy and comfortable. We want to make Yahweh our assistant.
Hear me now, a God who created everything… the earth, the animals, the people, and sustains it all with a word of his mouth, is not a being we make a genie in a bottle. No, he is the one that shapes us into his image, we do not get to shape him into ours.
So often we read the Bible saying, “I like this thing, but I can do without this thing,” picking and choosing what we like and don’t like. We do not have the right. We do not reserve the right to critique Scripture. It reserves the right to critique us. It is the word of God.
I once tried to cut down a tree with the chain on backwards. I failed math three years in a row. And I want to shape God into my image? I would be a terrible god. I thank God that he reveals my self righteous and ugly heart. I thank God for my inadequacies and limitations, they are all gifts of grace that keep me going back to him. He is not a personal assistant. He is God.
And even though we might want a personal assistant, he wants so much more.
TRANSITION
I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
That is what he wants from us. Our whole hearts. Every self righteous and ugly inch of them. So that he might give us a new one. And what will that new heart allow us to do? Know that he is the Lord.
And that is what we see displayed by Jesus as he sleeps through a storm…a heart that knows God. And knowing that the God who is the source of the power displayed in this storm loves me and is for me, even when it doesn’t feel like it, gives us a peace that allows us to rest, in those storms.
Jonah on the other hand, just like all the other mariners on board the boat is displaying the god he really worships as he sleeps, his comfort.
We turn to what we worship. What are you turning to in the storms of life?
Is it your money? Is it your marriage? Is it your job? Is it your children? Is it you?
Listen to me. They all make bad gods. They will let you down, or you will crush them under the weight of your expectations.
The book of Jonah is intended to be a mirror. And because of this we must look closely at what is going on here.
Jonah, is a prophet, a holy man of God, and he is sleeping on board this ship during a storm.
While the unbelievers are praying to their gods, and throwing over the cargo that was surely their source of income, for the common good of everyone on board.
And the captain, an unbeliever tells the one that we know is a prophet of God that everyone on board is perishing while you sleep. These nonbelievers are outshining this man of God in everything that they do. They are for the common good and he is for his comfort.
And knowing that this book is intended to be a mirror for the people of God, we can look at this and see the nonbelieving world all around us saying, “we are in the same boat, why are you sleeping while we are all perishing? If you believe that God can do all that you say he can do, then call out to him, why do you not care about us, why do you just wish to judge us, when your God is capable of saving us?”
There are two relationships that are beginning to be healed when we put our trust in Christ. Our vertical relationship with God, but also our horizontal relationship with our neighbor. We will love God like Jesus does. But we will also love people like Jesus does. Even when their hearts are self righteous and ugly. That is how he chooses to change people. He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. He is reconciling the lost to himself through us. He is making his plea to them through us. But we are saying leave us alone you arrogant, struggling, broken people, you are disturbing our comfortable spiritual sleep. And we put them blinders on.
Brothers and sisters, the world is dark and divided. Depression and anxiety are having a field day with humanity, and only the Word of God, poured out for everyone can save us. Do you believe that?
Jesus, is the Word. Jesus poured out his life to remove the power of sin and darkness, for everyone that God is calling to himself.
Where Jonah failed, where you failed, where I failed, he conquered. He pleads with us to answer his call of making disciples, or returning people to what it means to be in the imago dei. The image of God. He pleads with us to help more people turn to him, and learn from him, so that he might do what he has always done, set the captives free.
He doesn’t tell us to go and sit on our hands until he comes back. He tells us that darkness will not win. He tells us that the storms of the world will never prevail. He tells us that we can have peace even in those storms. But if that peace leads us to comfort over the common good, you are worshipping the wrong gods! He reminds us church, that we are all in the same boat. Believers and nonbelievers alike.
Some practical ways that this can be lived out is through the rhythms of service and witnessing. When we serve people, we see people. There are places here to serve, not a ton, but there are places where you can use the gifts God has given you to see people. And if you don’t want to get plugged in here to serve, or if we don’t have a spot that fits your giftings, center of hope is an incredible ministry in Parker County. You can serve with your family. You can serve individually and you can serve in a variety of ways. They have one in Weatherford and one in Springtown, and they do wonderful things in the name of Jesus. So Serve. It is a great way for you to take your blinders off, and see people who are struggling.
Also, witness. This simply means sharing your story of how you came to know God. Where did he find you? How has he changed you? Tell people about him. But also be willing to listen to their stories, their doubts, their disbeliefs, their pain, their struggle. Do not denounce them where you disagree with them. Hear them, as God hears us. Everyone wants to be seen and loved. And what better way to see and love someone than serving them and sharing your story. Take the blinders off and simply be aware. Awareness of our neighbor's suffering transforms us from passive observers into active participants in God’s mission of calling people to himself.
Since God called Jonah to go up to Nineveh and preach. He has been going down. Down to Joppa, down to the ship, down into the belly of the ship. And he will go down into the sea and down into the belly of a fish before he turns his face back to God.
When we turn our face from his call, we are moving down. Down into our own spiritual sleep. Do not let the world call you out for putting your blinders, allowing them to perish in the storms of life, while you turn away from the call of God.
Do not be for your comfort over the common good.
Jesus tells us in Matthew 25:40 that it is our love for those in need that actually proves our love for him.
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
We are to serve others in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. For their good, not our comfort.
And this helps us to look more like our Lord and savior who suffered, died and was buried, so that we might always know that God has seen us, that God has heard us, and that God has come down to lift us up in Christ. There is now no condemnation for those who turn their face toward God in Christ Jesus.
He tells us in Matt 5:16
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
To be salt and light in the world we have to be willing to give ourselves away not for our comfort, but for the common good, and when we do we will give glory to our Father who is in heaven.
Our mission at the Garden is to make disciples and model the gospel. Helping others know Jesus, by living lives that show Jesus.
We want to practice what we preach. Not say one thing and do another.
Jesus loved us to make us lovely, not because we were. He died for others that we might live. He rose and released us on mission, sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, to reclaim the hearts of all who would have faith to believe what he has done.
Helping people know Jesus by living lives that show Jesus means we must give ourselves away. We must take off our blinders and look at those who are struggling, and give them Jesus.
Bow your heads with me.
Father give us the grace to
Ask ourselves, am I spiritually asleep?
Am I more concerned about my comfort than the common good?
Father, search our hearts and know us. Where we are turning toward self, help us to turn toward you, in Christ.
For in him, it is finished. Help us walk in that and trust that with all that we have.
AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW HIM AS THE BEAUTIFUL SAVIOR THAT CAME FOR US TO HAVE ABUNDANT LIFE, RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW IN HIS NAME, I URGE YOU THAT IF YOU HEAR HIM CALLING YOU, YOU COME TO THE ALTAR AND YOU LAY DOWN YOUR LIFE TO PICK UP YOUR NEW ONE IN HIM.
We will have people up here ready to meet you, ready to pray for you, ready to weep with you, ready to move you in the right direction. Do not be afraid. He has come that you would know him. He has come that you would say yes to his call.
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