Jonah - Part 1

Preached at: Mosaic Christian Church, Feb 2017 Jonah Part 1 of 4 Intro Do you love stories about 2nd chances? Someone who loses their way, makes a huge mistake, but eventually gets a second chance and does things right. Do you remember Disney’s animated film of Pinocchio? It came out in 1940, but I remember having the VHS tape and watching when I was really young. Jiminy Cricket explains that he is going to tell a story of a wish coming true. His story begins in the workshop of a woodworker named Geppetto. Jiminy watches as Geppetto finishes work on a wooden marionette whom he names Pinocchio. Before falling asleep, Geppetto makes a wish on a star that Pinocchio be a real boy. During the night, a Blue Fairy visits the workshop and brings Pinocchio to life, although he still remains a puppet. She informs him that if he proves himself brave, truthful, and unselfish, he will become a real boy, and assigns Jiminy to be his conscience. The story continues with Pinocchio being lead astray by some other boys, which leads to him lying about it. Next they get swindled into a vacation at Pleasure Island where Pinocchio and the other boys soon engage in smoking tobacco, gambling, vandalism, and getting drunk. Similar to our story today, there’s a giant whale that swallows some people, and lot’s of other pretty intense scenes for a G-rated Disney Film. The story of Pinocchio is the story of life for us. Think about the big picture of the story: Made by a loving father who wants only what is best, Pinocchio takes a circuitous route to becoming real. There is evil in the form of Stromboli, Honest John, Gideon, and Lampwick. Pinocchio makes some terrible choices and soon finds himself on the wrong side of trouble. Because of the work of the Blue Fairy and a second chance to make wise choices, Pinocchio finally becomes real, he finally has true life. Think about second chance lives from the Bible. These begin in Genesis when man and woman choose to ignore God’s warnings and He gives them a second chance, though there is pain and suffering in the second opportunity. Noah comes off the boat and gets drunk, but God gives him another chance. Abraham decides to follow God from his home in Ur to a place he does not know—but time and again he tries his own path rather than God’s and he is given multiple chances. Then on to the life of Jacob, who is provided a second chance. His son, Joseph, has many chances in his life. And we’re only to the end of the book of Genesis! Moses was to be killed according to Pharaoh’s law, and he was given a second chance. He later kills a man and flees for his life, a second chance. God meets him on the backside of nowhere and offers him a new chance to rescue his people from the injustice of the Egyptians. In moving the mass of people out of Egypt the people make some really crazy decisions, but God gives them a second chance, and a third, and a fourth—well you get the idea. God is a God of second chances for people, and in this series on Jonah we see that God provides second chances for Jonah as well as the people of Nineveh. And if this morning you’re feeling lost, like your life is off track, if you’re feeling far from God, if you feel like you’ve messed up, then I believe through his Word and his Spirit, God wants to offer you a second chance as well. Jonah Runs Away VIDEO CLIP: “Overboard” - Beginning - 1:00 We’re going a watch a short video clip to get us into Jonah’s story. You can read along... Jonah 1:1–3 (NIV) — 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. What was God’s clear instruction to Jonah? (v. 2) Does the bible tell us why Jonah disobeyed? (not here) But in chapter 4, Jonah does explain what was going on in his mind: Jonah 4:2 (ESV) — 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. These are an almost exact duplicate of the words Yahweh spoke to Moses about His nature (Ex. 34:6). Jonah knew his Scripture. The prophet stiffened his back against God’s command to go to Nineveh because he suspected that if they responded and repented, God would be merciful to them. This was the inner core of Jonah’s resistance. The last thing Jonah wanted to do was become an agent for the salvation of his arch enemies. Nineveh’s sins were recorded in detail by the prophet Nahum. These sins included theft, witchcraft, worshipping false gods, cruelty, and plotting evil. Each was an atrocity to God and, rightly so, to God’s people. Jonah was a member of a culture which saw the Ninevites’ behavior as worthy of punishment. Let me give you a mental exercise: Close your eyes. Focus in your mind’s eye the people you find it most difficult to love. See the faces of the persons, the types, and the groups of people of whom you are most critical and judgmental. Think of the personalities you dismiss, the people you hope to have little contact with. Open your eyes. These are people who have become enemies because of what they do, say, or believe. Now if any of these people or groups have declared themselves to be enemies of God or their behavior is blatantly anti-God, we feel all the more justified in our judgment of them and it’s easier to write them off. That is exactly what happened to Jonah. Jonah was a faithful prophet as long as God wanted what Jonah wanted. But when God’s marching orders went contrary to Jonah’s desires, he would not do what he was told. The Christian author Leslie Allen wrote: “A Jonah lurks in every Christian heart, whimpering his insidious message of smug prejudice, empty traditionalism and exclusive solidarity.” As uncomfortable as it may be, we must consider what we struggle with God about. What is the command we find most difficult to hear? What instructions from God panic us? What prompts us to say, “Anything but that Lord!”? If He told us to go communicate His mercy to some person, some group, some type of human need, what assignment causes us to dig in our heels? It seems to me that we are living in an age of fear and anger. Fear and anger drove a normally faithful man in the opposite direction of God’s will. Paul said: Romans 15:4 (ESV) — 4 For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Let’s continue with Jonah’s story... VIDEO CLIP: “Overboard” - 0:55 - 1:17 You can read along… Jonah 1:4–17 (NIV) — 4 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 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.” 7 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. 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.) 11 The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?” 12 “Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” 13 Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. 14 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.” 15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. 16 At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him. 17 Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. This video goes the short route, and leaves out a lot of important details. One for example, is that the ship’s crew seems like some pretty good guys. The crew is freaking out, saying their prayers, and where is Jonah? Below deck sleeping! They find out Jonah is the reason for storm, Jonah confesses, tells them to throw him overboard, but instead they just try harder to row the boat in. They get so desperate they ask for forgiveness first, then, toss Jonah out. This entire first chapter is quite a scene. There are a lot of issues we could discuss from Jonah’s life, but I want to focus in on 2 specific things. We’re going to read two more Scripture verses that I think shed some light on what we can learn this morning. Psalm 139:7–12 (ESV) — 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. God wants us to stop running and talk with Him… God speaks primarily through His Word, prayer and worship. But He has found other ways to communicate with His people throughout history. He has spoken and still speaks directly to our hearts, in circumstances, through the voice of a friend, through the Church, and by His faithful actions on our behalf—just as He did with Jonah and others. Even in our darkest moments, even in our worst sins, in our disappointment, in our distress, in our times of need -- We are never outside of God’s presence. Ezekiel 33:11 (ESV) — 11 Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? Let’s just read that one more time. Like Jonah, we have the option of trying to run from God when we hear His words or sense His desires for our lives. But, as we’ve seen, God knows exactly where to find us and He loves us enough to pursue us! Let me issue you some challenges for this week. You might choose one, or try them all. • Read the book of Jonah and write out a few key lessons you think God is teaching you through his story. • Think about God’s heart for Nineveh and all lost people. Who might God be calling you to share his love with this week? • Memorize and meditate on Psalm 51:12 this week. God is with you. He wants to lead you and guide you as part of his plan to bless the world. Are you listening? Or are you running?