Good morning Calvary Family! I am excited to be here today and to open the Word with you. As I am sure you know, it’s Mother’s day! I really hope that you are planning something nice for mom, or will call her later today to say how much you love her! Each year I grow in a deeper appreciation of who my mom is and the patience that she would have had to put up with me and my siblings, well mostly me. I am the oldest of 5, and my parents had 4 boys under the age of 5, with a girl 5 years later. I don’t know how I didn’t drive my mom crazy! She is amazing but there were moments where I was a bit trying… I remember when I was a little guy and we went to the bank. You know those ropes that make the aisles for people to stand in, well as a little boy I thought someone had made a jungle gym for me! Imagine my surprise when I swung on it and they all came crashing down! Someone forgot to screw the posts into the floor! I was so disappointed, and yet I think my mother was embarrassed! I don’t know why! Needless to say, I wasn’t on the regular shopping schedule with her and the times I went with her, I wore a leash around my wrist. I was an energetic young boy with a curious mind and a ton of energy, actually I still might be the same today, you would have to ask Pastor Richard.
All that to say, is that over the years the Lord has used my parents, who are amazing, other adults, and life to continue to shape me to become a passionate follower of Jesus Christ. I have areas that He is still working on me but I am thankful for lessons throughout life that have been taught to me to constantly shape me to be more like Christ. And this brings me to one of my favorite books in the Bible, Jonah. Yes please go ahead and turn to Jonah. It is a book that has really been used in my life and one that continues to show me more of the character and love of God every time I pick it up. It points us to the gospel and to Jesus and my hope is that our time today going through this book will help us to grow in our relationship with Him but also that we will be able to see our own hearts and desires. Most likely there are areas that we will see our need to call out to Him to help us with.
Let’s pray and then we will jump into the book. Let’s jump in at Jonah 1:1.
1Now 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.”
Jonah was a prophet from God and actually the book of Jonah is not the first place we see him show up. In 2 Kings 14:25 we see that Jonah is given a message to go and tell good news to a bad king. A really cushy job in all honesty. Many of the prophets in the Old Testament were given tasks that really were not pleasant and here Jonah is given a really simple task. Seems like everything is going well, he is back home and God shows up again! If I was to imagine the scene in my head, I can picture Jonah sitting at the kitchen table, drinking his morning coffee while he reads the newspaper and God shows up. Fantastic, a new mission, a new task for Jonah to accomplish. Seems simple enough, go to Nineveh, call out against it because God is seeing their Evil. And in this moment we start to see a glimpse of the character of God in this book, a God of compassion – A God who sees other people in their sinful state and is showing kindness and mercy on them.
Now Nineveh was a massive city with an evil reputation. It takes Jonah 3 whole days to travel through it and it has been said that the wall was 30 meters tall, with 60 meter towers and that 3 chariots could drive side by side on top of the wall. But the people were evil and were the enemies of Jonah’s people. The brutality that they did to people and those they captured in battle was terrifying and yet God cares enough about them to send to them Jonah. In this moment we start to see that God is always in control and that He loves people. I believe that God’s desire when he shows up to use Jonah is that Jonah could share a message of hope with a people who had none. They were doing evil and didn’t know that God was upset with them because they didn’t know who God was. What an amazing ministry and missions opportunity for Jonah, to go to share the message that God was giving him with a people who had no hope, but I don’t think that Jonah had this in mind.
I believe that Jonah knew that God would save them and didn’t want any part of it. Read Jonah 4:2 later and you will get a good glimpse of his heart.
Jonah now is left at a decision point, God has come and given Him a task to complete. Take a message to people who you would consider to be your arch enemies, Or….
I hope that as we go through this story that you will start to say and ask questions in your head, going Jonah – What are you doing?? Follow God! Don’t do something stupid!
Well what does Jonah do, he decides to run away from God. And I hope that this sticks with you – Running away from God is not a good idea! Remember He is in control!
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.”
Jonah has made his choice, he has decided to go the opposite direction from where God has said, a journey that was probably 4x the distance longer in the opposite direction! Jonah this is a bad idea! He pays the fare, gets on the ship, climbs into the bottom of the boat and falls fast asleep. And look at the heart of Jonah, he is content and I may even say at peace with his decision because he falls fast asleep.
Jonah has directly sinned against God, not loving people and here he is sleeping in the ship. And not even that, when they started their journey I am sure the sea was calm and the sun was shinning, but it says in verse 4 –
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…
We are seeing that God is in total control of this situation but we are also seeing a God who pursues those whom He loves. He is showing extreme compassion on Jonah because He has not given up on Him. God is still trying to get Jonah’s attention and he is sleeping. The storm is so bad that the sailors who are on the sea daily are afraid, the ship is about to break up, they are throwing the cargo overboard that they needed to transport so that they could get paid. They are even calling out to their own gods, yet Jonah is still sleeping. You see sin, those things we do against God, destroys and distorts.
I have heard a quote before that “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.“
And this is what we are seeing played out in Jonah’s life. I don’t think that Jonah woke up one morning planning to be out at sea running from God in the middle of the storm, but his heart was not desiring to follow God either. Through this we start to see the consequences for disobedience.
7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”
10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
You see, sin doesn’t just affect us, but it affects those around us. The sailors are struggling and terrified for their lives, I can imagine the waves crashing all around them and on the boat, the boat creaking and the thought of it breaking apart under them, these men are scared. So they do the only thing they know, they cast lots to see who’s fault it is. If you ever watched the veggie tales version of this, you would remember the game of go-fish happening on the deck, I don’t know if they rolled dice or drew straws but in any case it comes out that Jonah is to blame. The traveller who was fast asleep in the middle of the storm. They probably glare at him and go what’s up? Why are you to blame. Well doesn’t Jonah finally come clean. I am sure that as he woke up he thought about his running from God, as the men cast lots – he remembered he was running from God. He had time to own his sin and even repent, which would be a 180 degree turning from his current ways and going the other direction, and I believe had he done that, God would have let him do the task that was originally laid out for him – Go to Nineveh and call out against it.
But Jonah doesn’t do that. The men ask him his job, and country, what people group and why is this happening, and Jonah’s answer blows me away.
9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.”
Jonah is not pointing people towards God but is distracting them from Him. He casually tells these men who he is – A Hebrew, fears God who made heaven and earth and sea – And the men are terrified! They even call him on his sin, they now know that Jonah is fleeing from God and they know this is a bad idea! I still think that Jonah could have called out to God and repented, turned 180 degrees from the road he was travelling and followed God, but he doesn’t. He just wants to die. And the lack of care for the men he was with, he won’t even just jump overboard, he wants them to be part of it. These men are pleading with Jonah about what they can do to calm the sea and all Jonah says as the waves get bigger and bigger – throw me overboard! I hope that you are still shaking your head and going Jonah, this isn’t good! God is in control, He has a plan, for Pete’s sake he has thrown a storm at you to get your attention! What are you doing!
It is easy for us to stand outside of this storm and look in at it and ask questions of Jonah, but what about our lives? There are consequences for disobedience and storms do bring destruction.
13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the Lord, “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. 17 And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The storm is about to destroy the boat and these men whose character amazes me, instead of throwing Jonah into the sea, which I most likely would have done in a very quick fashion, try to row back to dry land and save this mans life. Well the storm continues to grow worse, they call out to God and finally with no other choices, throw him overboard.
And what happens, the sea stops its raging, I can imagine the sun peaks out from behind the clouds and these men realize who God truly is! He truly is in control, so much so that he sends a fish to swallow up Jonah. That part of the story blows my mind because the book of Jonah should have ended there if I was writing it. Jonah has disobeyed God, run the opposite way, was presented with chances to repent and see God and follow him yet makes others throw him overboard. Fine go overboard and just stay there at the bottom of the sea. But God is a God of compassion. He cares about Jonah and still has a plan and purpose for Him. This blows my mind, and I think this is where God finally starts to get Jonah’s attention.
Just as we saw that God is in control and that there is a consequence for disobedience, we also get to see that in the Depths God is still there. And thank you Witold for doing a great job reading this passage for us this morning. Chapter 2 is the poetic prayer, in many ways a picture that Jonah paints of him sinking to the bottom of the sea and God uses a fish to bring Jonah back into focus about reality.
1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2 saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.
You see for the very first time in this story we are finally seeing Jonah looking to God. He is in belly of the fish, the very first submarine for mankind, I am sure it is dark and smelly, the stomach acid slowly digesting him, and the only thing he has left is time to think. And he finally prays. He calls out to God and realizes that God hears him.
He paints a picture of the helplessness of his situation and of the water surrounding him, the sinking deeper and deeper into the see and life passing away. If it wasn’t so sad it would almost be a beautiful picture, but in this moment Jonah in his helplessness is crying out to God and believes that God will restore him – that He will look upon the temple again.
7When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.
In this moment Jonah attempts repentance I believe. He is calling out to God in his hopelessness and desires to be restored. And in verse 8 he comes to grips with one of the greatest truths of the book I believe. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. This has become one of my favourite passages because it highlights our hearts, the control centre for decision making. What Jonah has just come to grips with is that idols that we hold dear too, when we hold those greater than God and his calling, His mission – we forsake the grace that God will help us through the road that we are trying to go through. If Jonah had followed God in the first place, then I believe that God would have given him strength and means to share the message and that the city would have been saved and Jonah would have been excited to see God show compassion on other human beings. Yet he was so focused on his hatred for that people group that he ran from God and His plan. His desires over God’s desires – and it didn’t end well.
But this is why I am thankful that God is still in control. Because even with the consequences of Jonah’s actions – God was still showing compassion on him and was in the depths of the sea – God restores him.
9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.
Jonah has finally come to grips with his circumstance, and there is an attitude change here. He is now looking to God and the future – sees that salvation rests in God and the Lord tells the fish to spit him up onto the dry land.
Throughout the rest of the book, and I would encourage you to read it later today, we see Jonah going to Nineveh, sharing the message that the Lord tells him to speak – the people repenting and Jonah getting into a disagreement with God. Jonah seems to have had a temporary attitude change, but I don’t know if his heart ever really changed to become more like God’s. You see God’s desire was that the 120,000+ people in Nineveh to be saved and I believe his desire is that we come to him as well.
God desired this so much that He sent his son Jesus to die on a cross so that we might live. We each have a problem with Sin, a problem that we cannot overcome. Nothing that we can do can save us from our situation – But God sent His son to pay the penalty that each of us deserve to pay – death. And that gift is available to each of us if we choose to accept him.
God had incredible compassion towards the people of Nineveh by sending them Jonah, he has compassion on us by sending us Christ, and he had compassion on Jonah by continuing to pursue him even when he was going the wrong way. It actually reminds me of parenting a little bit, when your little one does not want to listen and actually wants to do the opposite, but choosing to love them, to care for them, to discipline them when they need it. Kids are a great examples of seeing the idols in their hearts that they hold onto, they want what they want when they want it! So parents, and especially moms on mother’s day, don’t give up. Jonah 2:8 should be a verse to continuously share with your kids and to teach them about their hearts and how they are going against God. But it should also be a verse that shows us our hearts. Far too often we cling to things we should not cling too. We hold onto our little worlds and desires and sinful behaviours rather than following God who gives Grace and Love.
Our desire here at Calvary is to become passionate followers of Jesus Christ, If you don’t know him yet, I encourage you to start your relationship with Jesus Christ, the one who died on a cross for you and then rose again conquering sin and death. Reach out to us at the office if you have questions about it. For those who do know Jesus, how are you doing with your walk with Christ? Are you passionately trying to follow Him? To be more like him? Surrendering your idols to be more like him? Or are you being like Jonah running in the opposite direction, holding onto things that are not right and causing sin to hurt yourself and others around you. I know that we live in times where tensions are strained and in many ways our idols and our desires to hold onto them have grown – Let us humbly call and repent to God and ask him to show us our hearts and ways we can grow and become more like Him today and this week.