Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
We are about to enter into stormy weather.
I thought I would dress the part
We are continuing in our series through the book of Jonah.
Last week Pastor Josh led us through the storm of a lifetime for the mariners.
He left us off on some what a cliff hanger, or should I say a rocky boat.
Folks if you didn’t catch the pun, it was more than a rocky boat that these seasoned mariners found themselves in and today we are going to look at what the party did with the news that Jonah,
Their human cargo was the reason why they are in this situation.
Here is my first question of this morning,
Have you ever found yourself in a mess that wasn’t your fault, but you were responsible to fix the problem?
Have you ever been in a mess and it was completely your fault?
Here is a story of a mess and the explanation to the phrase,
Poor Planning
Dear Sir:
I am writing in response to your request for additional information in Block #3 of the accident reporting form.
I put "Poor Planning" as the cause of my accident.
You asked for a fuller explanation and I trust the following details will be sufficient.
I am a bricklayer by trade.
On the day of the accident, I was working alone on the roof of a new six-story building.
When I completed my work, I found I had some bricks left over which when weighed later were found to weigh 240 lbs.
Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which was attached to the side of the building at the sixth floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out and loaded the bricks into it.
Then I went down and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 240 lbs of bricks.
You will note on the accident reporting form that my weight is 135 lbs.
Due to my surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope.
Needless to say, I proceeded at a rapid rate up the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel which was now proceeding downward at an equally impressive speed.
This explains the fractured skull, minor abrasions and the broken collarbone, as listed in Section 3, accident reporting form.
Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were two knuckles deep into the pulley which I mentioned in Paragraph 2 of this correspondence.
Fortunately by this time I had regained my presence of mind and was able to hold the rope, in spite of the excruciating pain I was now beginning to experience.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground-and the bottom fell out of the barrel.
Now devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel weighed approximately 50 lbs.
I refer you again to my weight.
As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building.
In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up.
This accounts for the two fractured ankles, broken tooth and severe lacerations of my legs and lower body.
Here my luck began to change slightly.
The encounter with the barrel seemed to slow me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell into the pile of bricks and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked.
I am sorry to report, however, as I lay there on the pile of bricks, in pain, unable to move and watching the empty barrel six stories above me, I again lost my composure and presence of mind and let go of the rope.
Again what mess have you found yourself in lately?
Was it your fault or someone elses?
Maybe today you are in one of those messes and you are looking for answers.
As we look into today’s text, I believe we will find the answers as we see the story unfold.
Turn with me to today’s text found in Jonah 1:11-16
Let’s Pray
What Shall we do
The Mariners for the first time most likely in their life as Mariners asked a land lover for guidance on what to do on the sea?
You see they had come to terms with their understanding of the situation, Their Predicament.
They had cast lots and found that the problem was not with them or their belief system, but Jonah’s, and now they have a problem and we are going to discover the process these folks went through to discover God.
Let’s look at Predicament, Problem and process together.
The Predicament
The predicament was that they found themselves in way over their heads in their belief system.
As Pastor Josh pointed out last week, their trust in a power greater than themselves fell short of their expectation.
Their first expectation is that they had a connection to the source of control of the sea.
Their god, as they cried out, didn’t answer them.
Chaos comes crashing down on us when we come face to face with a conflict in what we hold to be true.
As you walk with your neighbor who is going through a difficult time and struggles for answers they as really stating that their way of thinking isn’t working anymore.
What do you do when the predicaments of life come crashing down in your life, how do you handle the situation.
When life is messy and not what you planned, what is your response to the predicament you find yourself in those times?
The predicament for the sailors was simple.
Jonah 1:11 (ESV)
11 .....For the sea grew more and more tempestuous.
It wasn’t getting any better, in fact, it was getting worse and the longer they waited around discussing, casting lots, discussions and blaming, the worse the storm became.
Something had to be done.
That was the life of the mariners.
Stop for a moment and look at the life of Jonah.
He was fleeing, or at least in his mind, from the presence of the Lord.
He was comfortable, in fact asleep, in the boat.
Now the spotlight is all on him.
Not only was the spotlight on him, but he was the identified source of the problem.
Did you notice in his explanation to the people, that Pastor Josh pointed out last week,
not once did he ever claim that He was God’s Prophet.
I guess in my mind and by his actions, he didn’t believe that he was a prophet.
He definitely wasn’t acting like other prophets.
In fact, his choice to run away from God was now affecting those around him.
His life was in a mess.
The other day, as I travelled to a friend’s parent’s funeral, I once again listened to a sermon on “The Mess”
The preacher was describing to the listeners, that all of us at one time or another we have found ourselves in a mess.
One thing that we shouldn’t do, when faced with a mess is to make another choice that would make the mess even greater.
Let me give you an example.
You spill something on the couch and you want to clean it up before, you know who comes home, and you begin to rub out the spill only to find the once small spot, is now grown exponentially.
Or that one small lie, that seemed innocent at the moment has now lead into something bigger that requires even more lies to cover up.
Jonah was running away from God because He didn’t want to be a part of God’s Story.
His running away, had put everyone in a major predicament.
If no action was going to happen, all souls on board would perish, so
The question was asked,
What shall we do?
Jonah’s answer for the readers for the first time would be quite shocking.
Throw me overboard.
Toss me like you tossed your cargo, your life for mine.
Have you ever wondered why Jonah would give this as a solution for their predicament?
The Problem
The Sailors were in a predicament, but now there was a problem.
Jonah was in a predicament, and his solution caused a problem for both the sailors and himself.
When we look at this text,
The problem we have is trying to determine Jonah’s motives.
We can look at the solution to the sailor’s predicament and Jonah’s response in one of two ways.
The first way is giving up.
Jonah could have come to the conclusion that his life was no longer worthwhile.
He could be thinking that the mess that he found himself and other in was unforgivable and he is the one that needs to pay for it.
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