"Running From God"
Sermon Transcript for September 7, 2003By Rev. Mike Beck
I want to begin today a four-part sermon series on the Old Testament Book of Jonah. The four chapters in this little book break down beautifully into an outline from which will come titles for these messages. Today we are looking at Chapter 1 – “Running from God”. Next week we’ll look at Chapter 2 where Jonah “Runs into God”. Chapter 3 – Jonah finally decides he’ll “Run with God”. And then, in a very interesting Chapter 4, Jonah decides now he’s going to “Try to Run God!” We pray that God will speak to us through this little book. I’m indebted in this series to Dr. David Seamands who was my teacher, my counselor, my pastor at Wilmore United Methodist Church, and my friend during my years in seminary.
The story of Jonah has been the subject of all kinds of caricatures and jokes. It’s long been a target of Biblical critics who seek to make light of its impossibilities. However, the Jews included it in their Canon of Scripture as one of the prophetic books; Jesus referred to the story of Jonah in His teachings; and ultimately in this story we see a prophecy of Christ’s death, His three days in the tomb, His resurrection. Allow me to say this as we begin to examine this fascinating little book. My faith this morning does not lie in whether or not the story of Jonah is historically true. I’m content to let you make your bed in either camp of interpretation as long as you don’t miss the powerful spiritual truths contained in this story about our relationship with God. For in many ways the story of Jonah is “our story” of our attempts on all too many occasions to try to run away from God and His will for our lives.
So in this opening message, I want to key in on five phrases that are found in the first three versus of Chapter 1.
Verse 1: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah”: So often in the Bible we hear the person receiving a “word” from God and we ask ourselves, “How did that happen?” What does that mean that a person hears a word from God? And, friends, we’ll never know fully the answer to that question. Especially in the Old Testament characters, it’s a time before the pages of Scripture have been written, it’s a time before the Holy Spirit has been given, and it seems we can infer that there were times that God revealed His truths to individuals in a direct, audible voice. I’ve never heard that kind of verse. Probably you haven’t either. But, friends, we are still very able to hear the word of God for our lives in a variety of ways. Let’s stop for a minute and see how God speaks to us.
· Scripture: God speaks to us through the words of Scripture. Those persons who have committed to those 34 weeks of study in Disciple Bible Study will be amazed at how many times these words of Scripture written 2,000 or 3,000 years ago pop off the page to speak directly to them.
· Holy Spirit: God speaks to us today through the Holy Spirit. If you are a believer, Scripture tells us the Holy Spirit lives within you. And one of the purposes of the Spirit is to lead us into truth.
· Worship: God speaks to us through worship. If you didn’t hear God’s voice as we sang “How Great Thou Art”, as we heard the choir anthem, as you listened to Sarai so beautifully in worship, check your pulse. You must be dead! Worship is one of God’s means of speaking to us.
· Prayer: God speaks to us in prayer and meditation. For prayer is much more than our talking to God. It’s God talking back to us. In fact, for those of you who are new to our church, one of the greatest things that God has done recently here at Grace Church began about six months ago when the preacher decided that in the prayer time he would stop babbling and let it be quiet so that God could speak to His people.
· Through the words of others: God speaks to us through the words of others. Often times they are not even aware of it. But we are wrestling with something and we are engaged in a conversation with an individual, and we hear God’s Word to us through their words.
Jonah heard the word of the Lord. And that same thing is true for us today. The question for Jonah and the question for us is this, “How will we respond to that word?”
Verse 3: “But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed toward Tarshish”: Let me give you a quick geography lesson. God had told Jonah to go to Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. It was located about 500 miles north and east of Jerusalem. So Jonah heads down to Joppa. Joppa was a seaport in Israel near the present city of Tel Aviv. Like many of you, I’ve stood on that coast. I’ve looked out on the ships and the waves of the Mediterranean. But instead of heading for Nineveh, Jonah heads towards Tarshish, a city in Spain 2,000 miles west of Israel. Literally the “end of the known world” in that day! In other words, Jonah is heading almost 2,500 miles from where God has told him to go!
And, friends, ponder this question for a moment. Isn’t it amazing the length to which some of us will go to try and run away from a loving God? But in this message today, please don’t think that this matter of running away from God relates only to your unbelieving friends. For we who call ourselves Christians often times are trying to run away from God. Jonah was a prophet. He was one of God’s special servants. II Kings 14:25 tells us he had been a faithful servant of God up to this point in his ministry. But, friends, the past never suffices for the present. God always has a “next step” of faith that he wants us to take. And God has given Jonah a tough assignment. I wouldn’t have wanted it! Go to Nineveh, a wicked city, one of the strongest cities in the world! Jonah is going to have to muster up courage. There is risk involved. They’ll be sacrifice. Just like there is often for us when we know God is calling us to some difficult challenge.
But perhaps we need to be sensitized this morning to this principle taught in the Word of God – that the difficulties of following God’s call upon our lives are small compared to the magnitude of the problems we will encounter when we try to run away from God! Hear these words from the poet, Thomas Carlisle who writes:
You, Jonah, how low, how deep will you go to secure sleep?
You, Jonah, how high will you fare hoping I will ignore you there?
You, Jonah, how far will you aim your mariner to protect your name from my claim?
And maybe we ought to put our name in there this morning!
Verse 3: “He found a ship …” : There is no indication in the story that Jonah had any difficulty at all finding a ship heading in the wrong direction or that God did anything drastic at this point to stop him. The lesson we learn here, friends, is this, once we make the inner decision not to follow God’s way, it’s amazing how easy the next stop of disobedience will be. Whenever we use our God-given freedom of will to make a conscious decision to disobey God’s call upon our lives, rest assured Satan will be right there on the spot to provide complete transportation facilities for us. In this case, the “Tarshish Ticket and Travel Agency” was right there more than happy to sell Jonah a ticket in the wrong direction! And what a ship it is! The captain – he seems so understanding. The crew, Verse 5 tells us, “Each man had his own god”, none of this moralistic, narrow, one-way stuff. The weather seemed perfect for sailing—blue skies, calm seas. The ship sets sail and Johan goes down below deck to rest. And perhaps Jonah is saying to himself, “What a relief to be freed from the worries of going to Nineveh.”
Friends, in one sense it’s easy to run from God. And when we begin to do so, how quickly we get out of fellowship with other believers and find ourselves joined with a crew going in the wrong direction.
Verse 3: “After paying the fare ….”: God won’t stop us if we choose to run away from His call upon our life. But, friends, disobeying God always has its price. In Jonah’s case it would soon be a very costly fare that he paid, for in just a short while he’s going to be pitched overboard. And if we are trying to run from God in some area of our life, maybe we ought to think what it may cost us. What it may cost us in terms of physical illness. What it may cost us in terms of emotional struggle. You can talk to my wife about that one because, yeah, I went to seminary to get God off my back, but I was hanging on to my will with an iron fist and I paid the price deeply emotionally for that. What’s it going to cost us in terms of broken relationships? And perhaps what will it ultimately cost us if we lose our eternal soul? Yes, Jonah paid the fare and so do we if we ignore God’s design for our life.
Verse 3: “He went down …”: It’s interesting to note the number of times the word “down” is used in this story. In Chapter 1, Verse 3, Jonah went “down” to Joppa. In Chapter 1, Verse 5, he goes “down” to the lower deck. Chapter 2, Verse 6, he goes “down” into the sea. And, friends, here’s the lesson for us. Whenever we try to run away from the presence of the Lord we are ultimately going to go only one direction – DOWN! -- For the lift of life and the upward movement is found in relationship with a God who loves us. The Scottish theologian, George McDonald, put it this way. He said, “There is ultimately no lasting compensations apart from the will of God.” And so I ask you, “What has the Holy Spirit been saying to you in these moments? Are you finding yourself someplace in this story?”
Friends, we can be running from God in a variety of ways. When we try to hold on to self-will instead of God’s will, we are running from God. When we think we’ve got to be in control of our lives, that we are the one that is at the helm and God becomes kind of an hour of Sunday morning kind of thing, we’re running from God. When we are hanging on to our time and our talents and our treasure, we’re running from God. When we hold on to those sins or habits that keep us from living the victorious Christian life, we are running from God. When we are unwilling to forgive that person who has hurt us deeply or we are unwilling to forgive ourselves for that terrible mistake, we’re running from a loving, heavenly Father.
And so I ask you, what word have you been receiving recently from God? And don’t think it ahs to be some big word. What are the little things where God is saying to you, “This is my will. This is my way. Walk in it”? Are there some of you ladies, your schedule is free next Friday evening and Saturday and you’ve been kind of thinking about that Women’s Retreat but you are not sure what’s going to be going on. There will be people there you don’t know. Maybe the fact you’ve been thinking about it is God saying to you, “I’ve got something really neat for you next weekend if you’ll just say ‘yes’.”
Which way is your life headed this morning? Is it “upward” in a closer relationship of obedience and fellowship with a God who loves you? Or is it in a “downward” direction like the Prodigal Son who is being taken farther and farther away from the Father’s house? But friends, I leave you with this; there are ultimately only two cities in our life…
The Nineveh of obedience; the Tarshish of disobedience.
The Nineveh of God’s will; the Tarshish of self-will.
Which city are you headed for this morning? Let us pray. “Oh, Lord, in one ear the enemy of our soul is constantly whispering the temporary pleasures of life. He is the master of deceit and lies as he tells us “There’s no joy, there’s no fun following God. You only go around once in life. Grab for all the gusto you can get.” And then in the other ear, is the still small voice of the loving, Heavenly Father, who holds the blueprint to our life, who knows just how we were made, who knows what ultimately satisfies and who says to us daily, “This is my way, walk in it.” And, Lord, I pray that as we look at this old story of Jonah, that this month of September will be a time of breakthrough for many of your people here at Grace as they head to the Nineveh where you are waiting instead of the Tarshish of self will. Work in our lives, love us, soften our hearts for your marvelous love we praise and thank you. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.”
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