Man on the Run
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Turn your Bibles to Jonah 1.
Jesus expects every one of His disciples, every follower of Jesus to go and make other disciples. We have a mandate to be a part of the mission of helping others know Jesus Christ.
Now we do that, not only because it’s a command, but because of our love for the Lord. However, there are times when the command to go and make disciples clashes with our flesh, with our “particular wiring,” if you will. There are times when God says, Go to “those people” and we cringe, we struggle and even sometimes run the other way – which is exactly what Jonah did.
The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
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.
A question was asked last week – why did Jonah literally flee Israel. He could have just stayed and simply ignored God and avoid all these dramatic events. First, that would be a really boring story. “God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and Jonah stayed home.” Boring.
Secondly, just pure speculation here – there were other prophets in Israel, such as Amos who would have had no problem confronting Jonah. “What are you doing? God told you to go to Nineveh you nincompoop, you better go!” Personally, I believe Jonah fled to avoid that kind of confrontation. He didn’t want to hear it so he fled. And of course, a lot of people do that – if they ‘ignore’ God, God will ignore them. But that’s not always the case.
Now, what we do know is that Jonah ran away because he did not want the Ninevites to receive God’s compassion and mercy. Eventually, Jonah goes to Nineveh, preaches in the city, they repent, God relents of disaster and Jonah becomes furious with God in chapter 4.
Jonah knew that God would be gracious and Jonah didn’t want that – why?
We don’t know. Scripture doesn’t tell us why. So again, let’s speculate. We must be careful with speculation - we can get into some serious theological trouble and start believing stupid things, but follow me on this one.
Jonah has this intense hatred toward the Assyrians. So much so that he would rather them face God’s wrath than God’s grace. Why?
Perhaps Jonah was raised with prejudice. Maybe his parents taught him to hate “those people.”
Perhaps, it was personal. Maybe they killed someone he loved. In the many skirmishes between Israel and Assyria maybe they killed his wife or children or parents … dog …
Perhaps it was legalism. They were no-good godless law-breaking Gentiles – and they were messing with his country. You may say that’s patriotism. No, it’s not. Yes, patriotism wants to protect country, and it should, but the moment love of country despises God’s grace and mercy for “those people,” it’s no longer patriotism – it’s legalism and legalism is always condemned by God because legalism fails to see people who are made in the image of God!
Question – is there any room for hatred or prejudice or unforgiveness or legalism among God’s people? No. We are never to hate or be prejudiced against a particular group of people – even those who have hurt us and who have even given us reason to hate.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
“Those people” are made in God’s image and we have a mandate to love them because Christ first loved us for we too were among “those people.”
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
“Those people” need eternal life and we are the examples!
Our society is full of anger, hatred, prejudice, division and “those people” need to hear about eternal life. And so we Christians need to be a part of the solution, not part of the problem. The solution is never arguing, complaining and …. The solution is always Jesus Christ and a redeemed and transformed heart.
The solution is the gospel and the gospel says, “For God so loved ‘those people’ ….
Anyone you need to forgive? Is there any anger, bitterness, prejudice among us? Take to the Lord and ask Him to purify your heart.
So Jonah runs away, goes to Joppa and pays to board a ship heading for a galaxy far far away. There is a reason God tells us that Jonah paid the fare. There have been plenty of people in the Bible who boarded ships but we’re never told they paid the fare – so why here? We need to understand:
There is always a price to pay when running from the Lord.
It is costly to go in a different direction other than the one God is asking of us.
But who pays the price? “Sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.”
Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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.
Look at what God did in pursuit of a person who had a specific task? God will make life miserable for the person who willfully runs from a known call or mission.
We call this willful disobedience and listen carefully, Willful disobedience is never private.
It may be personal sin because I am personally responsible for my willful disobedience, but personal sin is never private – willful disobedience has consequences that go beyond ourselves.
These sailors were also paying the price for Jonah’s disobedience. They got caught in a terrible storm, they were afraid and they had to toss their cargo. The consequences of Jonah’s disobedience went way beyond himself.
Remember, last week I said these sailors represent the people around us who get caught up in our choices.
So Who pays the price for willful disobedience: Everyone.
Your family will pay the price; the church, the community and even “those people” all pay the price.
However, there are moments when by God’s great mercy the unexpected happens.
So Jonah is running, God is pursuing, everyone is paying the price – but God is not as mean as you might think.
1) No sailors were harmed in the writing of this story.
How many sailors died because of the storm? None. God’s merciful.
2) Though the tiny ship was tossed, it wasn’t lost.
Did the ship sink? No. God is merciful.
3) Jonah, who was running from God discovered something - he couldn’t run from God
4) The sailors found a greater treasure than the cargo they had lost.
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. 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.”
Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
Isn’t that interesting – these pagan sailors knew this storm was unnatural. They knew there was some spiritual force behind the storm. They didn’t know who, so … They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah (obviously directed by God). So they asked him … a series of questions.
Now these were not arbitrary questions. I believe these were God-influenced questions with a specific purpose to remind Jonah that not only could he not run from God, but more importantly to remind him of who he was. So they asked him …
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?”
1) “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us?” What god is behind this storm? Again, they knew it wasn’t a natural storm and so they become inquisitive.
It’s a stormy world in our nation right now – and they’re asking who’s responsible. And everybody is blaming everyone else. It’s the liberals, the conservatives, the illegals, the millennials, the white man .... Isn’t that what Adam did with Eve – “God, it’s this woman you gave me!” I’m not saying the Church is solely responsible for the problems in America, but I am saying we need to take responsibility for our part.
2) “What kind of work do you do, Jonah?” In other words, “Who are you?” And Jonah says, “I’m a prophet, a servant of the Lord.” Jonah needed a reminder, not about what he did, but who he was. He was a prophet, a messenger of God.
Some of us need reminding of who we are – we are ambassadors for Christ.
3) “Where do you come from? What is your country?” They knew he was running from God so what were they asking? “Why are you here instead of where you are supposed to be?”
4) From what people are you, Jonah?” He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship ADONAI, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
What about you? From what people are you?
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
It’s interesting when God uses a fellow believer to remind us that we’re supposed to be acting like a Christian. But it’s more interesting when God uses a non-Christian to remind us that we’re supposed to be acting like Christians. And I think, in many ways, our current culture is doing this – not intentionally, but all the chaos and upheaval should remind us that:
A) We are partly responsible for the storm
–remember, everyone pays for disobedience. If the Church has been complacent, if the Church has lacked love; if the Church has lacked prayer; if the Church has lacked serving and … then, we are partly to blame for the storm.
B) We need to act like Christians
The sailors and Jonah go through this dialogue, Jonah says toss me overboard and the storm will stop. So,
Then they cried out to the LORD, “Please, LORD, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, LORD, have done as you pleased.” Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.
Isn’t God good! By God’s great mercy, these pagan sailors lost their earthly cargo and gained heavenly treasure?
Closing: