THE RELUCTANT PROPHET

Jonah 1: 1-3— The Word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittia:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”  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 would you do if God told you to stand up for Christian values and morals in front of the Supreme Court?  Too big a task?  OK, how about standing outside of a porn shop and sharing the Word of God with folks going into the shop?  Or, perhaps speaking to young folks about the language that comes out of their mouth……i.e., using the now commonly accepted alternatives for the ‘F’ word.  Or, perhaps just being a loving, caring parent who will say NO to a teen son or daughter who wants to spend a weekend with the crowd of friends at the beach?  Or, go to an all night party after graduation?  Or, how about telling your boss that his/her sexual innuendos are out of line……and risk your job?

Hey, Jonah only had to go to a big city and tell the populace that they were sinning!  Perhaps going to L. A. or New York and telling the drug dealers, users, pushers and anyone involved with illegal drugs that they were sinning or calling out the gangs and confronting them with God’s Word….would be a similar experience.  Or, going into the clinics that do abortions and simply telling them that killing is wrong.  Or, asking the TV stations to not broadcast any show that has bad language, violence, nudity, rape, homosexual behavior……

The list goes on.  The tasks are endless. Our replies to God are very much like that of Jonah.  Run!  Look away.  Become too busy with work, taking the kids to soccer practice, movies, the mall, dance lessons, or even baking that pie for the church social.

Jonah was faced with a great wind and waves as he attempted to run away from God’s command.  The boat was in danger of sinking.  In our attempts to avoid God we also find ourselves in serious situations.  Sometimes they appear as health problems or financial difficulties or some other crisis.  Jonah’s shipmates responded to the danger much like we would.  They threw cargo overboard and out of fear cried out to whatever god they served.  Today that list of gods that are served would be quite large.

While all the panic on deck was going on, Jonah “escaped reality” by going into the hold and sleeping.  The captain went to him and “suggested” that he try calling on his God since all the other gods were busy or something and the ship was surely doomed.

Then the crew had a brilliant idea.  They would draw lots to see who the guilty party was.  Hey, drawing the short straw has always been a good way to select the loser in any situation.  Jonah lost the draw.  When he confessed to them that he was indeed at fault he also gave them the only solution for their dilemma.  Throw him overboard!

The crew tried once more to row themselves out of the situation but to no avail.  Then the prayer bargaining began.  They pleaded with Jonah’s God to not hold them accountable when they fed him to the fish.  And, over Jonah went.

When the sea instantly grew calm, they realized that the God of Jonah was GOD , they became afraid and offered a sacrifice to Him and made vows to Him.

God, if only you would heal me I would start going to church or if you would give me the money I need I would start tithing to a church somewhere.  If only……I would try to be good.  And on and on.

God did not allow Jonah to perish.  He caused a great fish to swallow Jonah and Jonah lived inside the fish for three days and three nights.  In his distress he called out to God.

Jonah 2: 7-8  When my life was ebbing away, (cause) I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your Holy Temple.  (effect)

Those who cling to worthless idols (cause) forfeit the grace that could be theirs.  (effect)

But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.  What I have vowed I will make good.  Salvation comes from the Lord. (declaration)

And the fish was commanded by God to vomit Jonah out onto dry land.

What an ordeal!  Now surely Jonah will always do what God asks of him. Just like we do when God answers our prayers for deliverance from a problem.  Jonah was again given a Word from God (a second chance) to go proclaim to Nineveh the message from God.  Jonah obeyed.  Nineveh believed the Word of God and was saved from the destruction God had threatened.

Thus endeth the story.  Nope!  Now Jonah was ticked off at God because things did not go as Jonah thought they should.  He got before God and basically said, “isn’t this what I said when I was still at home?  Did I not tell you that because you were such a great and loving God you would not destroy Nineveh.  But no, I had to get up and go through all that sea and fish thing just so you would do what I told you you would do anyway!”  He just wanted to die.  So Jonah threw a little temper fit and sat down to see what would happen.  God provided a vine to create shade to keep Jonah cool and that pleased Jonah.

Then God commanded a worm to attack the plant and it died.  When the sun came up God sent a hot wind and Jonah began to wither under the heat.  He wished to die.  God said to him, “What right do you have to be angry about the plant?”  Jonah said he had every right to be angry …..angry enough to die.

God  said, “This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn’t do anything for it and you didn’t make it grow.  Yet you feel sorry for it!  How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city.  After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!”

When God asks of us to do for Him, we cannot always see the whole picture.  He asks for us to trust and obey.  And, leave the results up to him.  Jonah eventually obeyed God and the people of Nineveh were saved because of God’s Word.  What the outcome would have been like if it had been up to Jonah should be pretty clear.  When we obey God and step aside and allow God to work, great and perfect things happen.  It’s when we become that judge and jury that things get messed up.  Thank God for His mercy and His compassion.  And, thank God for being slow to anger and abounding in love.

John 3: 16-17
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal live.  For God did not send his Son into the world to be its judge, but to be its savior.