I had a lot of fun on vacation trips with my family as we were growing up. With a family of nine and no air conditioning, the car trip was always a bit hot and sticky. Sometimes we’d put the seats of the station wagon down, throw in some mattresses, and lounge in relative comfort.
On our vacations we could always count on my dad suffering some sort of injury, which usually required stitches. If it wasn’t a gash in his head from diving in the lake, there would be some kind of event involving one of those big treble hooks you use up north in the Wisconsin Dells. Once he dropped a big fishing lure down his new boot and had to go to the emergency room to have it cut off and to remove the hooks from his leg.
Several years ago I went on a canoeing trip to Eminence, Missouri that quickly went from fun in the sun to life and death. Several canoe-loads of people were knocked from their canoes by overhanging tree branches in the rapids and had to be pulled out of the water. One girl, Jodi, got her foot tangled in a life preserver and then twisted around a tree under water. Several people had to hold her head above water while we found a knife and cut through the strap to free her foot. Maybe you have had a trip that started out as a fun vacation but ended up giving you a big scare.
Jonah's travel tips for trips gone bad.
For the past few weeks we have been talking about how life is like a trip. The minor prophets have been our guides. Today you can find our travel guide on page 654 of the Bibles that are located under your chairs. Jonah is going to provide us with some travel tips for trips gone bad.
I would like you to hear the promo from a Veggie Tales version of the story. "For thousands of years, people have heard the story of a man who was eaten by a whale and lived to tell about it! But never in all that time has it been told by vegetables. Until now! Get ready as the veggie gang set sail on a whale of an adventure in Jonah. Filled with music, laughs and some of the silliest adventurers ever to be swallowed whole, this is the story of Jonah and the whale as you've never seen it before." In this cartoon version of Jonah, the sin that rises up before a righteous God is the fact that the people of Nineveh slap other people with fish. Instead of the Veggie Tales version, we’ll hear the real story, from God’s book, this morning.
The true story of Jonah involves a long trip.
The true story of Jonah reads like a vacation gone bad. It involves a change of destinations, a cruise on a ship, a storm at sea, a man overboard, and a near drowning. More important than the details of Jonah’s trip gone wrong is the trip that God takes Jonah on that changes Jonah's heart. God works to get rid of Jonah’s anger at his enemies and to replace that anger with the kind of love a Father has for his children.
The setting surrounding Jonah's story.
To understand Jonah’s story, we need to know the setting. In Jonah's day the king of Israel was Jeroboam. 2 Kings 14:25 (NIV) tells us that Jeroboam was, "the one who restored the boundaries of Israel from Lebo Hamath to the Sea of the Arabah, in accordance with the word of the LORD, the God of Israel, spoken through his servant Jonah son of Amittai, the prophet from Gath Hepher." This was a time when the nation of Israel seemed to be on an upswing. The borders of the country were expanding. The economy was fired up. Everyone was very comfortable. All this positive activity was happening just as Jonah had prophesied it.
However, there was a problem. The problem was that the people had become proud in their blessings. Their worship was just "going through the motions." They were convinced that God was happy with their law-keeping. But their hearts were far from him. This was the Israel that Jonah lived in around 750 years before Christ's birth.
According to Jonah 1:1-2 (NIV), "The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 'Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.' " This direction from the Lord struck Jonah the wrong way. His contemporary, the prophet Amos, was crying out against the sins of Israel. He was telling the people that God was going to raise up a nation against her, namely Assyria. The very city Jonah was told to preach to was the capital city of the Assyrians, Nineveh.
Nineveh had many sins rising up before God. The prophet Nahum lists some of them as plotting evil against the Lord, cruelty and plundering in war, prostitution, witchcraft, and commercial exploitation. The Assyrians were proud of their cruelty. One of the Assyrian kings wrote this: "I built a pillar over against his city gate, and I flayed all the chief men and I covered the pillar with their skins; some I walled up within the pillar and I cut off the limbs of the officers." He goes on with a long list of specific ways that he tortured his enemies. Archeologists have found many Assyrian written accounts, along with stone carvings that show off their great cruelty. So it is no wonder that Jonah had reservations about preaching for the repentance of his enemies. It was well beyond the fish slapping or bad habits that we hear about in the children’s versions of the story.
Jonah's response to God's call to preach to the Ninevites.
So what was Jonah’s response to God’s call? Jonah 1:3 (NIV) tells us, "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." Jonah's response was that he tried to run from God. This was a desperate move by a desperate man. God could have given up on Jonah at this point. But the events that follow show God’s patience with Jonah. He was working at transforming Jonah’s heart to be like his own.
Jonah 1:4-8 (NIV) continues, "Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, 'How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.' Then the sailors said to each other, 'Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.' They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.So they asked him, 'Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?'"
In the next verses, Jonah reveals that there is a struggle going on inside him. He admits that he is a worshipper of the one true God, but he is a worshipper who has chosen not to obey. Jonah 1:9-17 (NIV) says, "He answered, 'I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.' This terrified them and they asked, 'What have you done?' (They knew he was running away from the LORD, because he had already told them so.) The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, 'What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?' 'Pick me up and throw me into the sea,' he replied, 'and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.'Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before. Then they cried to the LORD, 'O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man's life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.' Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him. But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights."
Jonah's prayer from inside the huge fish.
So we find Jonah safely inside a huge fish. I don’t know how safe I would feel inside a fish for three days, but Jonah understood that at least God had saved him from drowning in the sea. He prays and hopes to look at God’s holy temple in Jerusalem again. This prayer of Jonah’s contains some great travel tips for our lives today. You could think of these travel tips as guidelines for using your "OnStar" button when your life trip gets ugly.
In Jonah 2:1-2 (NIV) we read, "From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: 'In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.' "
Travel tip number 1: God can answer our cry to be saved even when we are guilty.
Jonah was running from God when he was thrown overboard. Now, when my children choose to disobey my instructions, I quickly take action. I want them to understand that I expect their obedience. Disobedience results in consequences. In Jonah’s case, disobedience quickly got him into deep water with God.
Some of you may be in deep water right now because of your disobedience. You may be wondering, "Is there hope? Will God save me when my disobedience caused the problems I am having? Do I turn to the God I have offended? What do I do when I can’t save myself?" If that is where you find yourself this morning, take heart from Jonah. His disobedience put him in a tough spot, but God answered him and gave him another chance.
We find this same principle in Psalm 107:10-13 (NIV) where it says, "Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains, for they had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor; they stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress."So when you get into trouble for your actions, go straight to God. He will help you, even though you disobeyed him.
Travel tip number 2: God can answer us even while we are suffering his judgment.
Notice that in Jonah 2:3 (NIV) Jonah says "You hurled me into the deep." Back a few verses we read that it was the ship's crew who actually picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea. But Jonah knew that it was all God’s doing. God was disciplining Jonah for his disobedience.
Sometimes when we begin to feel the consequences of our disobedience, the last place we think we should go is to God. But Jonah went straight to God, even though he knew that God was the one who threw him into the water. God responded by answering his prayer and saving him. When God is displeased with us, he disciplines us to bring us back to him. For the children listening this morning, when you do something wrong and your parents punish you, you need to know that the reason behind that punishment is to soften your heart. God uses your parents to help turn your hearts back to him. So, talk to God even while you are being punished. He wants to hear from you.
Travel tip number 3: God can answer us and deliver us from impossible circumstances.
Jonah 2:5-6 (NIV) tell the hopelessness of Jonah’s situation. "The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God." Imagine being thrown into twenty or thirty foot waves and feeling yourself hopelessly sinking. As you struggle to reach up for air, you hit a mass of seaweed and it tangles all around your head and neck. It's a terrifying scene. There was no way Jonah was going to save himself. He had to depend on God to be saved.
Sometimes it takes an unsolvable problem for a person to realize that she is not God. Sometimes it takes an undiagnosed illness for a person to give up his pride and ask for help. It may take a marriage on the verge of divorce or the chaos of living with a rebellious teen. Whatever impossible circumstance you may be facing, the best thing you can do is call out to our God. You may not get delivered from your problem by a great fish, but you can be sure that God is there. He is using impossible circumstances to bring you into a relationship with himself.
Travel tip number 4: God may answer us at the last gasp.
Jonah 2:7 (NIV) says, "When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple." Jonah may have been passing out as he said his prayer. He cried out to God at the last possible moment.
You have probably heard the urgency in the voices of people who call 911. God hears urgent requests. Like Jodi, the girl on the canoe trip gone bad, when you are entangled in your problems and the water is over your head, there comes a point when you must admit that you do not have the ability to deal with the problem. Jodi had taken her last gasp and was caught under the water where all was quiet. She could see the blue skies and sunshine upthrough the clear water.But she just couldn’t get up to the air. Sometimes it takes that kind of situation for a person to call out to God. It is then that he realizes that he needs a hand to grab him by the hair and pull his face out of the water.
In Jonah’s case, the rescue came through the miracle of a great fish. What is even more surprising is that the God of the universe, whom we have offended, will answer those last-breath prayers. Jonah’s story teaches us to cry out to God even at the point of death, and to believe that God will answer at the last gasp. Every breath we take is important to our God. Keep talking to him, no matter how much trouble you are in.
Travel tip number 5: God may answer our prayers for help in stages, and some of the stagesmay not be very comfortable.
Christians sometimes develop an "all or nothing " concept of prayer. I doubt that while Jonah was drowning, he was praying for God to put him in the belly of a fish for three days and nights. He probably said, "God save me, I have been thrown out from your presence. Have mercy!" But God's answer came in stages. In the belly of a fish Jonah realized that he had at least been saved from drowning. He had hope as he lay in the slime. We don’t hear him complain about the way he was saved. He accepts his spot in the fish’s belly as God's first stage of salvation. It is a guarantee of dry land to come. Jonah ends his prayer praising God in Jonah 2:9 (NIV), "Salvation comes from the LORD."
In your life you may experience a prayer that is answered in stages. Maybe your answer when on the brink of a divorce is an agreement to hold up on the paperwork. Maybe that undiagnosed disease begins torespond to a drug. It could be that you see your rebellious teen sharing a tender moment with a sibling. Like Jonah, we need to be grateful for any improvement in our condition. Whatever method God chooses to save us, is up to him. A three day stay in a fish's belly is better than strangling in the weeds at the bottom of the sea, even if it is not quite home yet. God’s help may come one step at a time, so celebrate the small ways he helps you when you are in trouble.
Travel tip number 6: God answers our prayers with the purpose of winning our loyalty and thanksgiving.
Jonah 2:8-9 (NIV) demonstrates how to end a prayer after being saved. "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD." We can see here that Jonah's prayer has produced the effect that God wanted. Jonah gives up his pride and gives glory to God for his incomparable grace. In Psalm 50:15 (NIV)God says, "Call upon me in the day of trouble;I will deliver you and you will honor me." Goddeserves our loyalty and gratitude. When God answers your prayer, how do you respond?
In the Old Testament there is an account of how Joshua instructed the Israelites to remember God’s miraculous answer to their prayer. Joshua 4:20-24 (NIV) says, "And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. He said to the Israelites, 'In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God.' "
What are you using to represent the twelve stones in your life? How do you remember God’s work? When God saves you from impossible circumstances, celebrate it. Tell your children about it. By doing so, you are teaching them thankfulness.
Travel tip number 7: God answers our prayers with the purpose of helping us become gracious, just as he is.
In chapter three, after Jonah is back on dry land, God sends him to Nineveh. Jonah goes and preaches God’s judgment. His message is short and to the point in Jonah 3:4 (NIV). "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." How did the Ninevites respond? In Jonah 3:5 (NIV) it says, "The Ninevites believed God." Then we hear God's response in Jonah 3:10 (NIV), "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened."
It is plain to see that God showed mercy to Jonah so that Jonah would learn to show mercy to the Ninevites. The good news of the book of Jonah is that God’s graciousness is available to all. He answers cries of repentance. But the point I would like you to take home today is that you should be gracious just as your Father in heaven is gracious. God answers our prayers with grace for the purpose of making us grace-givers.
Jonah was slow to learn how to be as gracious as God.
Jonah was a slow learner, just like most of us. The fish lesson didn’t totally bring it home for him. He was angry that God was offering a chance for salvation to the Ninevites. His response was to go to a hill overlooking the city and wait for the fireworks of Nineveh being destroyed. In fact, Jonah tells us that his motivation for running from God at the beginning ofJonah 4. Jonah 4:1-2 (NIV) says, "But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home?' (This is Jonah’s version of "I told you so.") That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." Jonah did not really want the Ninevites to be spared from God's wrath.
So, God gives Jonah the lesson of the plant. He sends a plant to save Jonah from the heat of the sun. But this time God reverses the lesson. He shows compassion and then takes it away. InJonah 4:6-8 (NIV) we read, "Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, 'It would be better for me to die than to live.' "
By God uncovering Jonah's head from the plant, we see God uncovering the heart of Jonah. It is like God said "Jonah, you pity the plant and get angry when I destroy it, but when I pity one hundred twenty thousand people who don't know about their need for me, you get angry with me!" The final words of the book in Jonah 4:11 (NIV) are God’s question, "Should I not be concerned about that great city?" We don’t hear Jonah’s reponse.
If there was a chapter five of the book of Jonah maybe God continued with Jonah by telling him, "Don't you see what I was trying to teach you when I answered your cry for salvation and sent the fish to save you? I saved you in spite of your disobedience. I saved you in spite of my own sentence of judgment on you. I saved you from circumstances you could not overcome. Just at the last gasp, I rescued your life with a fish. You responded with thanksgiving for my grace and vowed your loyalty to me. Jonah, be gracious, just as I have been gracious to you!"
Jesus came to give God's grace to those who will repent.
In the New Testament Jesus refers to Jonah’s story. Jesus grew up seven hundred years after Jonah in a town just three miles from Jonah’s home town. We can be sure that the story of Jonah was on the lips of every child growing up in the area. In Matthew 12:38-41 (NIV) Jesus confronts some of his enemies. They ask for a sign to prove that he is the Messiah. Instead, Jesus gives them a sign from history. "For as Jonah was three days and nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now one greater than Jonah is here."
Jesus saw Jonah’s story as an example of what he had come to earth to accomplish. He came to give God’s grace to those who will repent. Jesus has made a way for the worst of the worst, the most deserving of judgment, to be saved. Any and all persons can be saved. Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong-il , Jeffery Dahlmer, Jay Brooks. Any of them and any of you can echo the words of Jonah, "Salvation comes from the Lord."
How do you respond to a God who is so gracious?
I encourage you to use Jonah’s travel tips. Do you need to turn back to God? Then call out to him from your troubles. Do you need to remember the grace that saved you from your sins? Then remember it with thanksgiving. Do you need a refresher course on God’s compassion? Then think of your own salvation and refuel your concern for those who are lost without Christ. Do you doubt that you can extend the good news of God’s grace to your most hated enemy? Then pray that God will make you gracious just as he is.
Let’s pray. Father, thank you for the book of Jonah. We see ourselves in Jonah. We accept your grace, but we often fail to extend it to others. Instead, help us be thankful. Help us be loyal to you. You offer to save us from the impossible circumstance of hell. Father, make us gracious just as you are gracious.
(Credit goes to John Piper for the general outline of this message.)