Jonah: God’s love for the great city
This post is a little compilation of the notes from our current series on the book of Jonah. Recordings (w/ slides) are available here: downloads If you’ve got comments, I’d love to interact a bit.
part 2: the storm (Jonah 1:3-16)
God calls.
Jonah runs…
Most of us are like Jonah. God calls. We run. Very few of us will admit it. Very few of us even realize we’re doing it. It’s part of our sinful nature. Our ancient predecessors, Adam and Eve, hid from God, and so do we. (Gen. 3:8)
Sometimes we do it knowingly. We’ll feel God call or prompt us in some way… to sacrifice for someone, to give up something, to serve in some way, to speak to someone, to repent of some sin or habit, etc… And then for a million different wonderful reasons, we run. Of course most of us don’t have the nerve (or humility) to admit it (even to ourselves), so we call it something else.
Before I committed my life to Jesus I ran. I had convinced myself that I had all of these brilliant philosophical excuses; that I ‘would’ believe if it weren’t for certain unanswered questions that I still had. Really… my ‘questions’ were more just excuses.
Consider this: the very essence of God’s character is LOVE. Love requires that its object have the ability to respond, either for or against (that’s free will). But… with the ability to respond, come great response-ability. I.e. with choice comes the responsibility for the consequences of our choices. And our choices, especially whether or not to run to or from God, will have great consequences; not only for our own life, but also for everyone in the boat with us.
Looking at the consequences of Jonah choice to run from the call of God…
- Jonah’s napping while his fellow passengers are drowning. Are we sleeping while our city’s sinking?!
- Everyone gets religious in a storm. Who’s your God in the storm? Lottery god? Or Father God?
- Even after Jonah volunteers to give us his own life for the sake of the crew, the men chose to just row harder. How often do we resist God’s mercy because we’re so determined to do it on our own? This is why some reject Jesus today.
- Finally, the men gave in and surrendered their efforts to God.
- Although it was Jonah’s decision to run from God, and thus Jonah’s doing that brought the storm upon himself and the crew, it was God’s judgment that ultimately led to the salvation of those men. God judges because He loves us. Hmmm. (Hebrew 9:26-28)
Closing questions:
Are you running from God today? In any way?
Do you realize what’s at stake? Relationships, marriages, families, even our great city, London… our choice to run to or from God will impact lives for generations to come!
Are you in a storm?
Or are you asleep? (Maybe you’re pretending to sleep.)
Or maybe you’re wide awake, rowing with all your might; boat and all your mates slowly going down.
Will you humble yourself today, receive his mercy, stop running from Him, and rather turn and run into His open arms?
Final thought: When God causes/allows a storm, it ALWAYS comes with a rainbow on the other side. Don’t forget the rainbow. (John 16:33)
part 1: the call
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” – Jonah 1:1-2 (ESV)
God “called” Jonah to arise and go. This is something we see God doing all throughout the Scriptures. He calls people to rise up and go. Abraham, Moses, Gideon, Isaiah, the disciples, Paul… to name but just a few. Likewise, as disciples of Jesus, we too have been called by God to fulfil specific works that He’s already prepared for us to do. Like Jonah, YOU and I have God-given callings. What do we know about “the call?”
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. - Romans 8:28-30
CONFORMED to the image
God’s purpose for our calling is primarily about who we are (or are becoming). Our natural tendency is to equate calling with some great accomplishment; we think of it more in terms of doing. But God is always more interesting in our being than he is our doing. This is a difficult one for us because mainstream culture often tells us otherwise (especially celebrity culture): character and “private” matters are irrelevant; simply delivering the goods is what really counts. God however, knows and loves us enough to deal with us on the inside before entrusting us with the responsibility of accomplishing great things for his Kingdom. Calling begins with being conformed to the image of Jesus. (John 3:30, Eph. 4:1-4, 1 Tim. 1:12, Isaiah 6:8, Col. 1:15)
JUSTIFIED for the calling
Normally when we hear the word “justified” in a biblical sense, we think of being made right with God. This is a right association of the word, however there’s more to it than just that. Beyond the “moment” of justification, we must remind ourselves that the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit that we experience upon receiving Jesus, is the same power that continues to work in and through us as we walk out our new lives in Christ. I.e., we are given POWER to fulfil our calling. We MUST have God’s POWER to fulfil our calling. Our Christlike calling is TOO BIG to fulfil with this POWER!
Question: What can you imagine to be your calling? Can you imagine fulfilling it given your personal strength, determination, cleverness, experience, charisma, etc? If the answer’s yes, then it’s not GOD’S calling for your life. Your God-given calling will require you to rely on God. (Romans 8:11,26; Gal. 3:3; Eph. 1:19-20)
GLORIFIED to be a blessing
God has called you to be glorified with Christ (provided we suffer with him). God desires to bless you, promote you, use you, and make you GREAT. This truth goes back to a promise that God made to our spiritual father, Abraham. God said to Abraham that if he’d trust Him, He’d bless him and make his name great. As spiritual heirs of Abraham, that same promise applies to us.
Question: why? Why did God promise to bless Abraham? Why does He promise to bless you today? SO THAT YOU WILL BE A BLESSING. We are called to be a great and blessed people so that God can use us to be a blessing to those around us. Whether it’s through wealth, fame, power or influence, we are called to spread God’s love and to be a blessing. (Romans 8:17; Gen. 12:1-2)
