WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.919 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai, saying, 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:11.040 Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it, 00:00:11.040 --> 00:00:13.599 for their evil has come up before me. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.199 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. 00:00:18.199 --> 00:00:22.080 He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish, 00:00:22.080 --> 00:00:28.080 so he paid the fare and went on board to go with them to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:31.199 But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, 00:00:31.199 --> 00:00:36.599 and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 00:00:36.599 --> 00:00:40.320 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God, 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:44.679 and they hurled the cargo that was on the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. 00:00:44.679 --> 00:00:47.679 But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship, 00:00:47.679 --> 00:00:49.920 and had lain down and was fast asleep. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:52.000 So the captain came and said to him, 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:53.759 What do you mean you sleeper? 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:56.000 Arise, call out to your God. 00:00:56.000 --> 00:01:00.240 But perhaps God will give a thought to us that we may not perish. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:07.599 And they said to one another, Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. 00:01:07.599 --> 00:01:10.560 So they cast lots, and the Lord fell on Jonah. 00:01:10.560 --> 00:01:15.000 Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:17.519 What is your occupation, and where do you come from? 00:01:17.519 --> 00:01:20.680 What is your country, and of what people are you? 00:01:20.680 --> 00:01:24.960 And he said to them, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:29.799 the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:35.319 Then the man were exceedingly afraid and said to him, What is this that you have done? 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:42.119 For the man knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord because he had told them. 00:01:42.119 --> 00:01:45.919 Amen, this is the word of God. 00:01:45.919 --> 00:01:53.039 And we will look at this tonight, and we will look at this in the next six weeks, 00:01:53.040 --> 00:01:57.080 because we will take some time to go through the book of Jonah. 00:01:57.080 --> 00:02:09.319 It's not a big book for chapters, but I hope to go through it with you and to help you learn from it and see God's character in it. 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:19.360 Because it's a book that shows us the nature of God, the character of God, how he is merciful and how he has grace, 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:26.160 undeserving grace that we get, and it shows us how we are sinners in need of grace, 00:02:26.160 --> 00:02:31.400 how we run away from God and how God chases after us. 00:02:31.400 --> 00:02:37.640 And that is what I want to talk about tonight. 00:02:37.640 --> 00:02:43.120 Today we are just looking at the first 10 verses that we just read, 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:48.280 and it almost feels like we stop in the middle of the story, right? 00:02:48.280 --> 00:02:52.599 Jonah flees from God, he goes on a boat to Tarshish, 00:02:52.599 --> 00:03:01.879 and we haven't heard the end of the story today, and I did that on purpose because I'm going to preach on that next week again. 00:03:01.879 --> 00:03:04.319 Today we have to do some groundwork first. 00:03:04.319 --> 00:03:14.639 We will talk about the first few verses about how God calls Jonah and about Jonah running away. 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:18.839 And the reason why I do that is because this book is carefully constructed. 00:03:18.839 --> 00:03:24.879 If you study Jonah, you will see there are a lot of parallels, there is a lot of irony going on, 00:03:24.879 --> 00:03:31.919 that there are a lot of things that actually hint at the meaning of the text. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:37.359 And we are thrown right into the book of Jonah when we start reading it. 00:03:37.359 --> 00:03:43.799 We don't know much of the context, and the reason for this is because the book wants to get a reaction out of you. 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:49.120 So if I can just ask you this week at some point, if you have some time, 00:03:49.120 --> 00:03:51.560 take your Bible and read through the book of Jonah. 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:57.520 It's only four chapters, it'll take you about 10 minutes, 20 minutes if you're a slow reader, 00:03:57.520 --> 00:04:01.200 without trying to be offensive here. 00:04:01.200 --> 00:04:12.760 And the first thing I would like to talk about is that this book is constructed in a way that it makes us identify with Jonah. 00:04:12.759 --> 00:04:17.120 Why am I saying this? 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.839 The thing is, we don't know who Jonah is in this book. 00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:24.480 He doesn't really give us much information about himself. 00:04:24.480 --> 00:04:27.599 So we have to go looking at other places in the Bible. 00:04:27.599 --> 00:04:33.480 One of those is 2 Kings chapter 14, where we learn that Jonah is a prophet. 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:40.639 He was active around the time in context of Jerobim II, when Jerobim II was king in Israel. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:46.560 And we also know that Jonah is the son of Amityi, and that he is from a place called Gath Hefeir. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:51.639 And that's almost about it. We don't get much more information about Jonah. 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:55.560 We know he was serving Jerobim II. 00:04:55.560 --> 00:05:00.759 He lived at the same time as Hosea and Amos, but unlike them, 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:05.599 he actually never called out the sin that was committed in Israel at that time. 00:05:05.600 --> 00:05:14.680 He actually never criticized the king, which could imply that Jonah was fine with the king, 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:20.040 advancing Israel's power and influence, although it was against God's will. 00:05:20.040 --> 00:05:26.200 So one commentator suggests that maybe Jonah was a patriot. 00:05:26.200 --> 00:05:30.680 He was a highly partisan nationalist. 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:39.759 Now, people like that exist in our time too. People who care a lot about their faith and about politics, 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:42.879 and it gets mingled and ends up being the same thing. 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:48.439 And it's not a great thing, is it? 00:05:48.439 --> 00:05:53.879 So if we know that about Jonah and keep that in the back of our minds, 00:05:53.879 --> 00:06:06.600 that makes it more ironic that God comes to this person and says, Jonah, arise, get up, go to Nineveh. 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:12.199 Now, the way this book is written is that Jonah introduces himself in verse 9. 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:17.600 He says, I'm a Hebrew. I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea in the dry land. 00:06:17.600 --> 00:06:22.279 And that's not very precise. I mean, there would have been hundreds and thousands of Jews 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:26.359 who would have said, well, I'm a Hebrew and I fear the Lord. 00:06:26.359 --> 00:06:32.199 And all of this is done so that you, well, the reader back then who would have been a Jew, 00:06:32.199 --> 00:06:37.759 reads this book and identifies automatically with Jonah. 00:06:37.759 --> 00:06:41.359 He is a Jew of that time. 00:06:41.359 --> 00:06:47.439 So if you ask yourself, what is this book about? Who is this book about? 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:49.759 It's actually not an easy question. 00:06:49.759 --> 00:06:55.759 Is this book about the Ninevites? Is this book about Jonah? Is this book about God? 00:06:55.759 --> 00:07:00.439 The answer is about all of them probably, but it's also about you. 00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:07.159 When you pick up this book, you're supposed to identify with Jonah and the Ninevites 00:07:07.159 --> 00:07:17.959 and how God is bringing things to a purpose. He's driving things in his sovereignty. 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:24.199 And the first thing that I want to point out in this whole series is that like Jonah, 00:07:24.199 --> 00:07:29.560 you and I, all of us here tonight, we are running away from God. 00:07:29.560 --> 00:07:33.879 What do I mean by that? We only have to look at the first few verses. 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:37.560 Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai, saying, 00:07:37.560 --> 00:07:42.279 Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and call out against it, 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:44.959 for their evil has come up before me. 00:07:44.959 --> 00:07:50.639 So far, so good. That's a fairly straightforward command I hear you say. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:57.599 But then we read, and Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish away from the presence of the Lord. 00:07:57.599 --> 00:08:02.479 So I'm saying today we're all a bit like Jonah in the way we have been running away from God 00:08:02.479 --> 00:08:08.439 and how on a daily basis we are still running away from God. 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:10.879 Some of you will sit here tonight and you will think, 00:08:10.879 --> 00:08:15.240 well, actually, I'm not running away from God. I'm all right. 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:18.920 I'm here at church. I mean, put my smile on and everything, 00:08:18.920 --> 00:08:24.639 and I've got the small talk ready for after the service when we have teas and coffees. 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:29.600 But to be honest, it's easy to think that, right? 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.439 That everything's good, that everything's fine. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:37.720 But I think in Jonah we can learn that it's possible to fear God 00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:41.720 and yet to attempt to flee the presence of the Lord. 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:45.560 And there are generally two ways of doing that. 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:47.240 The first one's quite obvious. 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:51.519 We can run away from God by openly rebelling against Him, 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:56.600 by living in sin, by ignoring God, by going against His commands, 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.000 by living a life that doesn't please Him. 00:08:59.000 --> 00:09:04.759 You deny perhaps even that God exists and you just don't care. 00:09:04.759 --> 00:09:10.360 Now, the second way of running away from God is a bit more tricky. 00:09:10.360 --> 00:09:13.840 The second way of running away from God is by pretending 00:09:13.840 --> 00:09:17.799 that you're morally upright, you're living a good life, 00:09:17.799 --> 00:09:21.240 but actually deep inside, you're self-righteous 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:24.439 and you're thinking of yourself higher than of others. 00:09:24.439 --> 00:09:27.600 You go to church every Sunday, you read your Bible, you pray, 00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:32.960 but in your heart there is coldness, there is darkness, 00:09:32.960 --> 00:09:37.440 and there is no love for God or for your neighbor. 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:39.400 Let me give you an example of what I mean. 00:09:39.400 --> 00:09:44.040 Some commentators have pointed out that the book of Jonah mirrors 00:09:44.040 --> 00:09:47.480 the parable of the prodigal son, 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:51.720 because you have one son who openly rebels against his father 00:09:51.720 --> 00:09:55.720 and who runs away and wastes all the money 00:09:55.720 --> 00:09:58.960 and then you've got one brother who stays at home 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.800 and thinks of himself better than the other one. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:04.519 In the book of Jonah we get both. 00:10:04.519 --> 00:10:07.439 We get the sailors, we get the Ninevites, 00:10:07.439 --> 00:10:10.359 who are pagans who don't know God 00:10:10.359 --> 00:10:13.679 and they live lives that don't honor God. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:16.519 And then we have Jonah who doesn't think 00:10:16.519 --> 00:10:19.439 that it's a good idea to trust God in that. 00:10:19.439 --> 00:10:23.959 He is rejecting the call on his life to love the Ninevites, 00:10:23.959 --> 00:10:27.919 to go there and preach to them. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:29.799 And we are a little bit like that. 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:33.719 So often, practically, we fail that calling that we have 00:10:33.719 --> 00:10:38.719 on our lives to be holy, to love God, to love others well. 00:10:38.719 --> 00:10:43.679 We all have specific callings on our lives and in our lives. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:46.839 For some of you, it might be that you're called to be a father 00:10:46.839 --> 00:10:51.799 or a mother or a husband or a wife or a daughter and a son. 00:10:51.799 --> 00:10:55.679 For all of us, we are called to be holy. 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.039 We are called to love others. 00:10:58.039 --> 00:11:03.759 We are called to share the gospel with other people. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.159 Yet, we are falling short. 00:11:06.159 --> 00:11:09.159 We fail that calling so often. 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:11.519 And the proof of that is obvious. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:13.000 We can just look at our own lives. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:14.319 We can see the sinfulness. 00:11:14.319 --> 00:11:17.559 We can see how often we avoid other people 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:21.159 or do things that we know God doesn't approve of. 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:24.439 Romans 3.23 says, we all have sinned and fall short 00:11:24.439 --> 00:11:26.399 of the glory of God. 00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:29.759 So let me ask you two questions tonight. 00:11:29.759 --> 00:11:33.240 What are some of the things God has called you to do? 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:35.879 Who in your life, more specifically, 00:11:35.879 --> 00:11:38.279 is God calling you to love? 00:11:38.279 --> 00:11:41.879 I'm not talking about the people you naturally like, 00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:44.360 but the ones that make you want to avoid them. 00:11:44.360 --> 00:11:48.439 The ones when you see them, you want to go the other way. 00:11:48.439 --> 00:11:52.720 That person that annoys you maybe or that you disagree with, 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.799 the person who has this wrong political view 00:11:55.799 --> 00:12:01.519 that you just can't agree with or who views maybe scripture 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:04.919 in a way that you think is just wrong. 00:12:04.919 --> 00:12:07.240 Who is that person in your life? 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:10.839 Because the thing is, it's easy to avoid the things 00:12:10.839 --> 00:12:13.919 and the calling that God has put on your heart. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:17.079 You see, Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. 00:12:17.079 --> 00:12:22.839 And conveniently, there was a ship to take him to Tarshish, 00:12:22.839 --> 00:12:25.559 to take him into the other direction. 00:12:25.559 --> 00:12:31.199 And the truth is, there's always a ship going to Tarshish. 00:12:31.199 --> 00:12:34.679 What is your ship going to Tarshish? 00:12:34.679 --> 00:12:36.759 What's your boat to Tarshish? 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:38.639 There always is a good excuse. 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:41.239 There always is a comfortable alternative 00:12:41.239 --> 00:12:45.399 that allows us to avoid God's calling, to flee from His presence. 00:12:45.399 --> 00:12:48.959 And it could be anything, really. 00:12:48.959 --> 00:12:52.599 It could be that you never have time to meet others, 00:12:52.599 --> 00:12:53.839 that you're always busy. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:59.000 It could be that you have a lot of people you know, 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:02.000 but you actually never let anyone really know you. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:07.200 And really, you never have any meaningful conversation with them. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.960 You're always small talk, you always guard yourself, 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:12.320 perhaps with sarcasm. 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:13.120 You're never serious. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:15.120 There's never anything meaningful. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:17.480 It never goes any deeper. 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.040 And we do that all the time, right? 00:13:20.040 --> 00:13:22.000 That was just a couple of examples. 00:13:22.000 --> 00:13:23.280 But think about that. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:24.720 What is your calling? 00:13:24.720 --> 00:13:27.839 What's your boat to Tarshish? 00:13:27.839 --> 00:13:30.839 Okay, secondly, so firstly, we're all running away from God. 00:13:30.839 --> 00:13:35.199 Secondly, why are we all running away from God? 00:13:35.199 --> 00:13:37.759 Let's look at why Jonah is running away from God. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.120 Have you ever asked yourself why Jonah is running away from God? 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.959 Because I did ask myself that in preparation for this sermon. 00:13:44.959 --> 00:13:48.240 And the problem is that the mission that is given to Jonah 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:49.679 is quite unusual. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:50.519 Why? 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.720 Because it's the first mission of its kind. 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.120 What do I mean by that? 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:58.879 Usually, Israelite prophets, 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:00.960 they were called to preach to their own people, 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:03.639 to the Israelites, but never to the Gentiles, 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:06.439 never to the people outside of Israel. 00:14:06.439 --> 00:14:13.639 Usually, they would have gone and given the word of God 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:18.639 to fellow Jews, but never to any other people. 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:20.519 For those of you who don't know yet, 00:14:20.519 --> 00:14:22.399 Nineveh is not in Israel. 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.439 It's the capital of the Assyrian Empire at that point. 00:14:26.439 --> 00:14:28.080 And it's not in Israel. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:31.439 And at no point in the history so far 00:14:31.439 --> 00:14:35.600 has a prophet ever been sent to the Gentiles to preach to them. 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:36.439 Almost nobody. 00:14:36.439 --> 00:14:40.039 Elijah, one time in 1 Kings 17, 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:42.519 went to a Gentile widow and helped her. 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:46.080 And we get glimpses of God's love for the Gentiles there. 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:49.320 And maybe I wonder if Jonah knew about that, 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:52.520 and he thought about that and knew that God wanted 00:14:52.520 --> 00:14:54.320 to save the Ninevites. 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:59.200 But apart from that, that has never happened. 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.800 And Jonah knows that if he is being sent to the Ninevites, 00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:06.320 that might mean that it will be a warning for them to repent. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.000 It might give them a second chance. 00:15:10.840 --> 00:15:15.879 And if you then go on and read commentaries and history books 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:18.200 on Nineveh, on the Assyrian Empire, 00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:20.480 you will find out what kind of people they are. 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.879 And to say the least, they are a nasty piece of work. 00:15:23.879 --> 00:15:28.480 They are violent, brutal people. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.200 I have read some of the accounts. 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.159 And I wish I could share them with you. 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:34.000 No, I don't wish I could share them with you, 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:35.559 because they are too brutal. 00:15:35.559 --> 00:15:36.919 They are really, really bad. 00:15:36.919 --> 00:15:38.399 There are children here tonight. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.440 I can't really tell you what they did to their enemies. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:42.759 But if you go and read about it, 00:15:42.759 --> 00:15:47.439 you will understand that they are almost a bit like a modern day 00:15:47.439 --> 00:15:50.519 terrorist state. 00:15:50.519 --> 00:15:53.439 They operate by making people fear them. 00:15:53.439 --> 00:15:56.279 And then suddenly you think, well, OK, maybe it 00:15:56.279 --> 00:15:59.799 was fair enough for Jonah to run away, right? 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:02.039 Maybe he got scared. 00:16:02.039 --> 00:16:03.480 I can understand that. 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:05.559 If God would tell me to go to the Kremlin 00:16:05.559 --> 00:16:08.399 and preach the gospel to Putin tomorrow, 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:10.279 I would say, no, thank you. 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:13.799 I'm not interested in that. 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:22.600 But it's understandable that Jonah doesn't want to go there. 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:24.600 I think nobody in this room would be keen to do that. 00:16:27.639 --> 00:16:30.039 So you understand Jonah a little bit more 00:16:30.039 --> 00:16:33.360 when you know that the Syrian Empire was a threat on Israel, 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.919 when you know that they were not nice people, 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:40.679 that they did not deserve to be saved. 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.839 And now Jonah is to give them a warning. 00:16:43.839 --> 00:16:47.519 And he might wonder, why don't you destroy them already, God? 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:50.279 Why don't you just bring judgment upon them 00:16:50.279 --> 00:16:52.879 and the whole thing's over? 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:56.599 But that's not what God does. 00:16:56.599 --> 00:16:59.719 God tells Jonah to go there and to preach. 00:16:59.720 --> 00:17:04.720 So is that why Jonah ran away? 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:06.720 He got scared? 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:11.720 Well, actually, if we look at the end of the story, 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:15.720 we have to do a little peek to the end of the story, chapter 4. 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:18.720 We learn that that is not why Jonah ran away. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:23.720 Because Jonah ends up going to Nineveh, 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:25.720 and he goes and preaches, 00:17:25.720 --> 00:17:27.720 and they repent and God has mercy on them. 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:29.720 God does not destroy them. 00:17:29.720 --> 00:17:34.720 And then Jonah says, this is the reason why I went to Tashish. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:37.720 For I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful, 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.720 slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.720 and relenting from disaster. 00:17:43.720 --> 00:17:48.720 And suddenly you realize, so Jonah wasn't scared. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:51.720 That was not the reason why he went. 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:55.720 There's no evidence in the book of Jonah that he was scared. 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.720 And he left because he hated the Ninevites. 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:02.720 It stood for everything he hated. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:06.720 And he hated the fact that God loved the Ninevites. 00:18:06.720 --> 00:18:09.720 So let's come back to our questions. 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.720 Why did Jonah run away? 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:15.720 There are probably a lot of factors we could talk about. 00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:20.720 Racism, xenophobia, self-righteousness, anxiety might be a part of it. 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:24.720 But at the root of all of this lies a distorted view 00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:26.720 of God's character. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:28.720 You see, Jonah is a prophet. 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:31.720 He makes us living by telling people the Word of God. 00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:34.720 He tells the sailors in verse 9 that he's a God-fearing Jew. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:37.720 He knows God. He knows the Scriptures very well. 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:42.720 But he doesn't realize that it's possible to know God, 00:18:42.720 --> 00:18:45.720 but not to love God. 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:48.720 So my question tonight is simple. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.720 Maybe you know about God. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.720 You have a lot of information about God. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:54.720 You know the Scriptures well. 00:18:54.720 --> 00:18:57.720 But do you know God personally? 00:18:57.720 --> 00:18:59.720 Do you love God? 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:02.720 Can you honestly say tonight, I love God? 00:19:02.720 --> 00:19:06.720 Because Jonah didn't really get what God was about. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:09.720 He didn't understand God's character. 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:13.720 His view of God's character is distorted and blinded 00:19:13.720 --> 00:19:16.720 by self-righteousness and pride. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:19.720 Do we have a distorted view of God's character? 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:23.720 Do you love some parts of the Bible, but not other parts? 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:25.720 That's very common. 00:19:25.720 --> 00:19:28.720 Do you overemphasize judgment over love and grace? 00:19:28.720 --> 00:19:32.720 Or maybe the other way around, do you overemphasize love 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:39.720 over the reality of judgment and the reality and the need for justice? 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:43.720 Because that is just picking passages in the Bible 00:19:43.720 --> 00:19:46.720 that you think are true and more important than others. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:53.720 And that will ultimately distort God's character 00:19:53.720 --> 00:19:55.720 and the way you view him. 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:57.720 The early church father Augustine says this. 00:19:57.720 --> 00:20:00.720 He says, if you believe what you like in the Gospel 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:02.720 and you reject what you don't like, 00:20:02.720 --> 00:20:06.720 it's not the Gospel you believe, but yourself. 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:08.720 And that's a difficult thing to hear. 00:20:08.720 --> 00:20:12.720 And I think everyone struggles with this. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:14.720 All of us here tonight. 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:16.720 We try to preach from all of Scripture. 00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.720 That's why we try to preach Christ in all of Scripture 00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:23.720 because we want to get a view of God 00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:29.720 that is faithful to His Word, faithful to the way He reveals Himself. 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:31.720 Maybe you struggle with that. 00:20:31.720 --> 00:20:35.720 Maybe you struggle with the fact that God loves your enemies. 00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:41.720 Maybe you struggle with the fact that God loves those who are so different to you. 00:20:41.720 --> 00:20:44.720 Those who live far away from God. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:47.720 Those who are political enemies of you. 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:50.720 Those who just do things that you think are stupid. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:52.720 But God loves them. 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:56.720 And do you realize that by not accepting that, by not loving them, 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.720 you are like Jonah? 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:00.720 You are a sinner like they are? 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:04.720 Do you think you deserve to be saved but not them? 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:09.720 Or maybe you're here and struggle with the fact that God is a God 00:21:09.720 --> 00:21:14.720 who brings judgment upon people. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:18.720 God revealed Himself in Jesus Christ. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.720 In the New Testament we read about Jesus and He says, 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:24.720 anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. 00:21:24.720 --> 00:21:27.720 In Jesus you see the character of God. 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:28.720 He loves sinners. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.720 He ate with them. 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:30.720 He met them. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:31.720 He healed them. 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:32.720 He talked to them. 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:38.720 In Jesus we see God's judgment and His love and mercy at the cross. 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:46.720 As Jesus bears the judgment that we would have deserved. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:50.720 And through His death offers us forgiveness. 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:52.720 Because you did not deserve it. 00:21:52.720 --> 00:21:56.720 I did not deserve it, but we were given it freely. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:22:01.720 And the only reason that could happen was because there was one who was not like Jonah, 00:22:01.720 --> 00:22:07.720 who wasn't disobedient, but who went and who preached and who died. 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:11.720 So, is that it? 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:15.720 Are we just running away and we're hopelessly lost forever? 00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:17.720 No, I just mentioned Jesus. 00:22:17.720 --> 00:22:19.720 He died for us. 00:22:19.720 --> 00:22:26.720 And in the story of Jonah, that was obviously before Jesus lived on this earth, 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:31.720 we find a very particular way of God chasing after Jonah 00:22:31.720 --> 00:22:35.720 and bringing him back on the right path. 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.720 Jonah doesn't just go away and that's the end of the story. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:41.720 No, God sends a storm. 00:22:41.720 --> 00:22:43.720 We've just heard about storms. 00:22:43.720 --> 00:22:44.720 We've heard it here tonight. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.720 We've seen it in the news in the United States. 00:22:47.720 --> 00:22:52.720 Hurricanes, how much power nature can accumulate. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:57.720 And we get this little scene in the end of this passage where Jonah is on a ship, 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:03.720 on the ship to Tarshish, and he's there with experienced sailors and they get scared. 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:10.720 Imagine you're on the ocean and a small little boat and the waves and the winds are raging around you. 00:23:10.720 --> 00:23:15.720 I don't know if I'm the only one who gets these videos recommended online of the North Sea 00:23:15.720 --> 00:23:18.720 and how scary that looks. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:21.720 But that's what it probably was like. 00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.720 Jonah, God sent a storm. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:26.720 Why? 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:30.720 Jonah was fleeing the presence of the Lord and God is not just letting him get away with it. 00:23:30.720 --> 00:23:37.720 He uses the sailors to wake him up and they say the same thing that God said to him right in the beginning. 00:23:37.720 --> 00:23:39.720 Arise. 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:40.720 Up. 00:23:40.720 --> 00:23:43.720 And that's pretty ironic, isn't it? 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:46.720 You see, God is sending Jonah a storm to tell him, 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.720 you can run from me but I will always chase after you. 00:23:49.720 --> 00:23:52.720 You can try to get away but you never will. 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:58.720 It's like a toddler screaming at his mother and then tries to run away. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:03.720 There's just no realistic chance that the toddler actually escapes because he's got really short legs 00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:09.720 and the mom can just chase after him, pick it up and put it in bed or whatever. 00:24:09.720 --> 00:24:11.720 That's a picture we have here. 00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:15.720 You can't just run away from God. 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:18.720 And God sends the storm to pick him up. 00:24:18.720 --> 00:24:19.720 Why? 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:21.720 Because he loves Jonah. 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:30.720 And we must not read that in a negative way but in a way that reminds us of God chasing after the one and leaving the 99. 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:37.720 Which is something that makes no sense at all until you are the one that God is chasing after. 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:41.720 You see, everyone around us tells us do whatever you like. 00:24:41.720 --> 00:24:45.720 You can flee God, you can run away, you can be your own master. 00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:47.720 Just be who you want to be. 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:49.720 Fulfill yourself. 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:52.720 We all call that expressive individualism. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:56.720 But God says, listen to what I want you to do. 00:24:56.720 --> 00:25:00.720 Listen to who I say that you are. 00:25:00.720 --> 00:25:05.720 Because God loves you, he will send a storm to turn you back to the right path. 00:25:05.720 --> 00:25:10.720 Because he loves you, sometimes he will make your life uncomfortable. 00:25:10.720 --> 00:25:15.720 And I'm not saying that that's the explanation for all the suffering in the world because it isn't. 00:25:15.720 --> 00:25:18.720 And I don't want you to think that. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:20.720 But think like that. 00:25:20.720 --> 00:25:27.720 If God would never try to wake you up, maybe you would just sail on your boat to Tarshish and never look back. 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:29.720 Tim Keller puts it like this. 00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:35.720 He says, if you are far away from God, the forces of darkness will likely keep you in comfort. 00:25:35.720 --> 00:25:42.720 God, by putting things in your way, is trying to wake you up to your dependence on Him. 00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:46.720 Sometimes the storms in our lives are sent for a reason. 00:25:46.720 --> 00:25:52.720 Sometimes the reason is to wake us up, to tell us we're headed in the wrong direction. 00:25:52.720 --> 00:25:59.720 It's like a nurse trying to give medicine to a patient who's trying to avoid it and who's fighting back. 00:25:59.720 --> 00:26:02.720 But he needs it, but he doesn't know it. 00:26:02.720 --> 00:26:06.720 If you feel superior to others, then you haven't understood grace. 00:26:06.720 --> 00:26:08.720 It means you're on the run. 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:12.720 If you don't feel compassion for others, it might be because your pride has blocked it. 00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:15.720 If you don't feel like God is for you and wants you to be happy and fulfilled, 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:18.720 it might be because your view of God is distorted. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:21.720 It might be because you mistrust God's plan. 00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:26.720 And unless you can see your own sin in the way Jonah can see his own sin, 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:32.720 you might be blind to the grace of God that he has extended to you and to the Ninevites. 00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:41.720 But you see, God is both too holy and too loving to either destroy Jonah or to allow Jonah to remain as he is. 00:26:41.720 --> 00:26:47.720 And God is also too holy and too loving to allow us to remain as we are. 00:26:47.720 --> 00:26:54.720 So thanks be to the one who never ran away, even when all his friends and disciples did. 00:26:54.720 --> 00:27:00.720 It's because of Jesus Christ that we can gather here tonight, that we can celebrate the Lord's Supper here tonight. 00:27:00.720 --> 00:27:04.720 It's because Jesus went after you to bring you back, that you are here tonight. 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.720 So let us pray. 00:27:06.720 --> 00:27:13.720 Lord, I pray for us here tonight that you would help us to understand your character better, 00:27:13.720 --> 00:27:17.720 to help us to run to you rather than away from you. 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:22.720 And I pray for those here tonight who have been running for a long time and are exhausted. 00:27:22.720 --> 00:27:27.720 Bring them back to you, Father. Give them peace and give them rest. 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:37.720 Forgive us all our sins in Jesus' name we ask. Amen.