Ordinary People: Jonah

This week, Dave Blow continues our summer series with a teaching on the life of Jonah. There are times when we try to run from God, but he will never let us outrun his grace. There are times when we think we know better than God, but he is patient and will guide us home.

Please find the slide deck for this week's teaching here.

Home Church Questions:

1. What stood out to you from this week's teaching?

2. Read the Book of Jonah (preferably in multiple translations, though the passage is quite long this week). What stands out to you from this passage?

3. Have you ever tried to run from God? What was that like?

4. What is your Ninevah? What is God trying to get out of you?

5. Pray with and for one another, our church community, and our world.

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Website: theharbournewmarket.ca
Email: david@theharbournewmarket.ca

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:23

The question this morning that uh I throw out there as we kick off is simple. Have you ever run away from something you didn't really want to deal with? Um now for me that usually, at least this summer, is a phone call from Sherry saying, call the RV wizard. Oh boy, the RV wizard. Oh boy. Um that never ends well. And sometimes it's just easier to avoid that conversation. Um and so I changed the subject. You know, what are you having for dinner near up there at the beautiful trailer? And uh anyhow, we often keep ourselves busy, don't we? That if we uh you know, worried that if we stop for a moment, we might have to face something that we've been avoiding. And sometimes it spills over that we wrung from God. And uh we don't like to describe it that way. That sounds a little unseemly. So we've come up with great terms like, well, I'm not sure what God really wants, or that's not just something I really feel called to do. Um and we're gonna lean into that a little bit this morning with our story of Jonah. Um, because for him, he was faced with a really uncomfortable question. And uh with him, there's nothing to do with uncertainty, it was resistance. And what a fascinating character Jonah was. The book is fairly short. You can read it fairly quickly. Um hears God clearly, he knows exactly what God wants him to do, and then he goes in the opposite direction. So God says, go east. Jonah says, not so much, and goes west. God says, go to Nineveh. Jonah says, nope, heads for Tarshus. And uh, as we're gonna see, he's running from a lot more than just fear. Jonah's mad at the Ninevites. He doesn't want them to receive God's mercy, and that's where our story hits close to home. You know, one of the hardest things about following God isn't always trusting him with our lives, it's trusting him with other people's lives. And uh that plays into our choice to sometimes like to control and choose how God acts. Well, let's take a quick look at the opening words of the book. It's very, very clear. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Emiti, and it's say, God said, Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come before me. So pretty straightforward. Go. God sends them to Nineveh. And Nineveh wasn't a place that Jonah wanted to go. The Assyrians were enemies of Israel, they were known for violence, they were known for brutality, and Nineveh represented everything Jonah did not like. So Jonah really hears God say, go to the people you don't want to go to. And Jonah says, No. Now he doesn't say it out loud, he uh simply runs the other way. So verse 3 says, but Jonah ran away from the Lord. This is all pretty, this is a great, uh, this is a great story because it's nice and not a lot of interpretation needed. So Jonah goes in the opposite direction to Joppa. He finds a ship, he pays the fare, and heads towards Tarshus. So he pays the fare. Happy to throw money at running from God. It I guess it can be expensive. Um, but it costs us much more than just money, doesn't it? It costs us peace, it can cost us relationships, it can cost us opportunities. And Jonah wasn't confused about what God wanted. He was just simply opposed to it, didn't want any part of it. And there's a big difference. So as I was playing with this over the last couple weeks, it seems so simple. And so I started asking the question, you know, why do we run from God? Why would anyone run from God, especially for those of us who are solid in our faith journey and God has consistently been there in the past. Why do we run? It's not like we can outrun God. I I've tried that. That doesn't work. Um I don't think Tarshius would have been somehow beyond God's control. Jonah knows who God is, being a prophet. He knows God's character, he knows God's power. So I guess Jonah's problem is that he really doesn't think that God knows best. And that's often where our own struggles can begin. We don't usually say, if we're getting a sense in our spirit, God, I don't believe you. You don't know what you're doing. We save that to you know other other humans. Um we say it to God with our choices. God, I I know what your word says, I know what I'm supposed to do. Yes, you're nudging me. I know I should reach out, I know I should let that go, but I'm not ready. Or something like that. So let me be clear, we can believe in God yet still resist God. We can trust God's goodness in general while questioning his wisdom in particular areas of our lives. And that's what I think makes our story this morning so relevant. Now, often we run simply because we like control, and often God's direction means surrender. And surrendering can be difficult because we we hate to admit sometimes that someone knows better than us. Oops. So faith says something very different. It says, God, you know what I cannot see. You know what I do not know. So I'll trust you. And that's that's hard. That's hard for all of us. We uh we trust God, but that often means giving up our control. Sometimes we run because God way God's way is uncomfortable. Because it's not always the easiest road. You know, God sends Jonah towards Nineveh. Jonah has no interest in going to Nineveh, so he wants to go somewhere else. And it's there's a simple reason. Nineveh represents everything Jonah hates, but also, I'm sure, he fears. The outcome might not be that great if he went to Nineveh in Jonah's Jonah's mind. So God's asking him to move closer to people. He simply wants to move away from. And sometimes God's direction in our life is the same. Change can be uncomfortable. Dealing with people who we don't want to deal with can be uncomfortable. God often asks us to forgive rather than hold on to our resentment. God allowed us to serve when we'd rather just be comfortable. It's just easy sometimes not to do these things. Sometimes it's easier, isn't it, to remain silent. Sometimes it's easy to apologize when we're the one who was wronged. We like it when other people apologize, when we think of apologizing. Easier for other people to do it to us for the rest than to do it to them. And to welcome someone we like to keep at a distance, that's often tough. God's ways aren't always comfortable, friends, but they're always rooted in his character. I think sometimes we run because we don't like the outcome. And I think that's Jonah's biggest problem. I saw this, uh, I don't know if any of you here, um some of you might not admit it. Um, there's a theater in Lancastle, Pennsylvania called Sight and Sound. Has anyone heard of it? Clearly not the Holy Huddle then, because the the Sight and Sound is a is a a big uh live theater in in uh Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in Mennonite buffet country. Um and uh they do really, really high quality stories. And uh Sherry and I happened to see Jonah. We happened to see Adam and Eve, but it was traumatizing seeing Adam and Eve and their unitards running around. It was uh was too much. So we we didn't see that again, so we went and saw Jonah. And um they did a fabulous job, especially when it came to the whale. Um the whale, the whale was pretty good, but um, you know, the the whole the whole modus operandi around the the play was faithful to the scripture, and uh he just didn't like Ninevehes. He doesn't want God to forgive them. In fact, he tells God, I know you're gracious, I know you're compassionate, I know you're slow to anger, but I don't like them. I want justice. But God wanted mercy. Jonah wanted Nineveh punished, and of course, God wanted Nineveh transformed. And that's where this story gets personal as we move through it. There's times where we really want God to be gracious to us, but it's okay if you're just fair with someone else. We want forgiveness when we fail, but when someone hurts us or wrongs us, we often want them to pay. We celebrate grace when we receive it, but boy, sometimes it's hard to impart grace on others. And Jonah, of course, wanted to control who was worthy of God's mercy. But mercy doesn't belong to us, it didn't belong to Jonah, it belonged to God. And that brings up our final question of why we might run from God. Some of us aren't sure that God really knows best. We ultimately think we do. And Jonah forces us to face that. Do we really believe that God knows best? Not just when his plan agrees with ours, not just when it's the answer I wanted, anyways, but when God leads us somewhere we wouldn't choose when he asks us to wait, when he asks us to forgive, when he asks us to love someone who's difficult. And faith is saying, God, I I don't understand everything you are doing, but I trust you to see what I can't see. And ultimately, I think Jonah ran because he believed his own wisdom was better than God's. And the grace of God throughout this story is that God doesn't abandon Jonah, he pursues him, he teaches him, he challenges him, and he gives him another opportunity. And God isn't really trying to get Jonah to Nineveh, He's trying to get the Nineveh out of Jonah, trying to change his heart. And that's our call this morning. So we ask ourselves, what is God asking us to do? But maybe we also need to ask, and I know I I do, what is God trying to change in me? Because God does know best. Now we often don't like God's direction, do we? We understand it, uh, but we don't like it. Um when it agrees with ours, it's easy to say, God lead me. But then there's the rest of that. And uh what I've often said is, and as I think on it over the years, you know, it's God lead me in the direction I've already decided to go. Um, so feel free, lead on. Um and uh again, we see Jonah wanting God's justice, but he didn't want God's mercy. And uh, you know, we want grace when we make mistakes, but when someone hurts us, boy, oh boy, we love we love accountability. So we run from God. I suspect we've all done it. We'll continue to do it from time to time. Um, but the good news is God doesn't allow us to run alone. So Jonah gets on the boat, God sends a storm, the sea becomes violent, and the sailors are terrified. And the captain finds them and asks a simple question: how can you sleep? And there's an irony here. The pagan sailors are praying away, and Jonah, the prophet of God, is taking a nap. I'm not sure how that works when the boat's going like this, and those of you that cruise tell me that sometimes the boat goes like that. So I'm thinking it must have been uh he must have been tired. Anyhow, um, it's not working. The sailors are trying to save the ship. Jonah seems to have given up, and eventually Jonah tells them, pick me up and throw me into the sea. And to the sailors' credit, they don't want to do it. So they row harder, they try everything possible to save themselves, but finally they throw Jonah overboard and the storm stops. And the sailors respond by worshiping God. So even in Jonah's disobedience, we see God working. Jonah's running, but God is still pursuing Jonah. And then we come to the fish. And uh I would submit this morning, it's a it's a bit of a friendly fish. Um I have a lovely illustration that I'll put in the uh I'll put in the Monday morning light for you to take a look at, the beautiful friendly fish. Um I was afraid to send it to Will at 7.30 this morning and it wouldn't have worked anyway. So, but we have a very friendly fish. And uh and we tend to make the fish the main event of the story, but it's really not the point because the fish is actually God's rescue. What isn't being said here, but I would say is implied, is Jonah should have drowned. If you get thrown into the sea, there's a very, very high probability you're gonna drown. And God uses the fish to rescue Jonah, provides a way for him to survive, and Jonah spends three days and three nights inside the fish. It's quite dark, and Jonah prays. And isn't it interesting that sometimes it takes a dark place to get us to stop running? So the imagery there is strong. And sometimes God allows us to come to the end of ourselves because that's when we finally become willing to listen. And the fish can become a place of restoration, not comfortable, but restorative. And so I suspect some of us have had a belly of the fish moment in our life. I know I have a season where things didn't turn out the way that I expected. You know, disappointments, failures. But it was often afterward that I realized, and I would submit is still true today, God is still with us. And the good news is Jonah gets a second chance. And I love the simplicity of the next verse, chapter three, verse one. Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. That's good news. Sometimes we need a second time. We need a second chance, a fresh start, a new opportunity, a new beginning. The God of Jonah is a god of second chances. God doesn't say, Jonah, you blew it. I'll go find someone else. He says, let's try this again. Go to Nineveh, and this time Jonah goes. Now, you'd think that would be the happy ending, but it's it's never clean. Jonah does what God asks, but there's one small problem. He hasn't changed his heart. So Jonah goes to Nineveh, he preaches, the people respond and they repent. This is a fantastic thing. God shows mercy, and you would think Jonah would celebrate. Instead, Jonah's mad, he's furious. Chapter 4 begins, but to Jonah, this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. And then Jonah tells God why he ran in the first place. And this is this is a revealing verse, friends. Jonah says, I know that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love. So think about that. Jonah wasn't running because he didn't know God. He was running because he really knew God and he knew what God was going to do. And he didn't like it. He knew God was merciful. He didn't want God to be merciful to Nineveh. Jonah would rather be right than compassionate. And that's where our application begins because the story gets a little uncomfortable. I would say every generation has its Ninevehites, people we find difficult to love, people we don't understand, people with different politics, different backgrounds, different lifestyles, different beliefs, people who have hurt us, people who are way more successful than us, people we think who have made too many mistakes, so they shouldn't need to make anymore. And people we maybe quietly believe are beyond redemption. And we know that's not God's way. And so what we're forced to wrestle with today is who are our Ninevehes? Who's the person that I believe that doesn't deserve God's grace, or who is the group of people I believe don't deliver God's grace? It's not easy, but it's important because again, the Old Testament being a beautiful connecting rod to the New Testament, so it's important to always be referring back to the Old Testament and the stories, because you throughout there you see the connecting rods to Jesus. Jesus eventually teaches us love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. And the gospel doesn't call us to love people who are easy to love necessarily. It calls us to become people whose hearts are shaped by the compassion of God. So at the end of the book, God asks Joseph, Jonah, a question. Jonah sitting outside the city angry. So in this play, Sherry and I saw there's Jonah sitting under a tree that I would grow, basically a sapling, and it's kind of plunked on the stage, and Jonah. Sitting under it, and he is he's not happy because it's you know it's quite hot and it's quite warm, and as it says in the text, there's a little sun, but God provides this tree and there's some shade. So Jonah's delighted. Well, then God allows the plant to wither. And then Jonah becomes mad again, and you see this back and forth. And God finally says to him, You've been concerned about this plant. Well, so didn't I have the same concern for the great city of Nineveh? And that's where the book ends. There's no neat conclusion, no final sentence telling us whether Jonah changed, because really the question is so much bigger. It's no longer about Jonah. The question for us is: will we share our concern for people? And we will share, will we share the same concern that God has for people? And that requires an enlarging of our hearts. And we can't escape. It's everywhere in the text from Genesis to Revelation. Because God's grace is bigger than our boundaries. Jonah draws a line, God crosses it. They don't deserve mercy. God says, look at them through my eyes. Jonah sees enemies. Jonah sees people we don't like. God sees people. Jonah sees a city and a big city that's wicked. God sees their need. And it doesn't mean that God ignores evil. It means the heart of God is restoration rather than destruction. And that's the heart of the gospel message. God wants to redeem them, and of course, including us. And this story, especially in our tradition, sends us to Jesus. Jesus refers to Jonah in the Gospels. And there's this striking contrast. Jonah runs away from the people God loves, but Jesus runs towards the people who need God's grace. And Jesus goes willingly where Jonah goes reluctantly. So what do we do with this as we leave this morning? I would say there's some a few simple points. Pay attention to where you're running. I mean, we're all in different circumstances, different changes of life, different or different stages of life, different journeys. And is there something that God has been asking us to do that we keep avoiding? Conversations, forgiveness, generosity, service, a change in direction, perhaps, reconciliation. God never asks us to understand everything, He just asks us to take the next step. And we remember that God's grace always gives second chances. For those of us who have run over the years and run hard, I suspect we've made mistakes. I suspect we've all resisted God. And Jonah reminds us this morning that failure is not the end of the story. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, and that can happen to us as well. Ask our enlarge your heart, thirdly. And I think that's the most important lesson. It's so possible to obey God outwardly. We're so good at that. We can put on a great show. But we can resist them inwardly. Jonah eventually went to Nineveh, but his heart still needed work. And I think that story is easily transferable to all of us. Because God isn't merely interested in getting us to the right place. He wants to shape us into the right type of people. People who love what he loves, people who see people the way he sees them, and people that understand that grace is not something that we control. It's something we receive and something we extend to others. So in conclusion, think about this week the people that you find difficult to love. Who is that person you'd rather God judge than forgive? Who are the group of people you've quietly written off? And what would happen if you began praying? God, just help me see them the way you see them. And it doesn't mean pretending that wrong is right. That's not, I don't think that's the that's the path. It doesn't mean ignoring injustice. It doesn't mean removing healthy boundaries. Far from it. That's something I struggle with in my work constantly. The importance of healthy boundaries. It means refusing to let discontent and hatred have the final word. Because church, God is pursuing us, all of us. And uh if you're running and if you're tired, I certainly understand it. I know Jesus understands it as well. And finally, we can't run beyond the reach of God's grace. We can't. So wherever you are, God is there. And if he's saying today to you, come home, let me change your heart, let me teach you to love what I love, listen, ask questions, text me, call me. I'd love to talk to you about what this personal relationship with Jesus is all about. Let's pray together. Jesus, thank you for these beautiful stories that we sometimes don't read as often as we would like or have the opportunity to do. I thank you that you reveal yourself through the whole Bible and uh how everything points to you. Lord, change our hearts this morning. Help us to see people and circumstances the way you see them. Thank you for your grace, thank you for your mercy, and just go with us this morning. Amen.