It's Not Fair, God!

 

Rev. Debbie Cato
Jonah 4 and Matthew 20:1-16
Fairfield Community Church
Preaching Series on Jonah – Week 3
September 24, 2023

Holy God, your Word teaches us that all Scripture is inspired by you. As we hear your Word read and proclaimed today, we pray that you would speak to us, and inspire us to do your will in the world. Amen.

 

It’s Not Fair, God!

 

 

This is our third and final week in the Book of Jonah.

          A short prophetic book of only four chapters; a total of 48 verses.                    

Forty-eight verses filled with intrigue, humor, a myriad of emotions, and life lessons.  I think we are all Jonah’s.  We can find ourselves in Jonah.  At least I can.

          So far, in the first 37 verses…

God calls Jonah to go to Nineveh to speak judgment against an evil city.          Jonah doesn’t want to go, so he decides to run away from God.                  
         He boards a ship headed in the opposite direction.

God causes a violent storm on the sea that threatens to rip the ship to shreds. Jonah gets tossed overboard and immediately – immediately, the sea becomes calm.
                   Rather than drown and die in the sea,
                             God commands a great fish to swallow Jonah whole…                                      Saving Jonah’s life.

Jonah lives inside the belly of the fish for three days and three nights, until God commands the fish to vomit Jonah on dry land.

God is in control, and He doesn’t waste any time.  God again commands Jonah to go to Nineveh. He again commands Jonah to preach judgment to the Ninevites. Reluctantly, Jonah complies.  Jonah travels to Ninevah and he gives the Ninevites this message from God:

“Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed,” Jonah proclaims.

 The wicked people of Nineveh hear Jonah’s proclamation and immediately they repent. The people fast and wear sack cloth.  The king proclaims that all humans and all beasts in Ninevah will urgently pray to the God of Israel and repent. They shall not eat or drink.  They shall change their ways. And maybe … just maybe, the God of Israel will change his mind and save them.  And

 

“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.”

How often are we grateful for God’s compassion?   How often do we even recognize God’s compassion?  How often do we begin our prayers calling on God as a compassionate God?  As Christians, we assume God is going to forgive us.  We count on God’s willingness to forgive us … to give us another chance.  And another.  And another. We take it for granted.

Well, Jonah is not happy with God.  Jonah is not happy that God shows compassion to the Ninevites.  Scripture tells us that “Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.”

In fact, in his anger, Jonah admits why he didn’t want to go to Nineveh to begin with.  He admits why he tried to run away from God.

          He admits why he boarded the ship bound for Tarshish.
                   It wasn’t because of the wickedness of Nineveh.
                             It wasn’t even because he was afraid to go there.

“I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”

 Now we know.  (pause)  Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he knew that God would not destroy these wicked enemies of Israel.  He knew that God was gracious and compassionate, and that God would forgive them.  Jonah knew that in the end God would not destroy them.  And Jonah did not want the wicked Ninevites forgiven.

Maybe that’s why Jonah brought such a vague message to the Ninevites.  Remember?  He didn’t tell them he had a word from the Lord.  He didn’t tell them he was a messenger from God.  He just told them their city would be overthrown in forty days.  He was vague.  He left out important details.

But somehow, in spite of the vague message, the people knew. Even the king knew!

          They knew God was warning them.    The God of Israel.
                   They knew they were wicked.
                             They knew they needed to repent.
                                      They knew they needed to change.
                                                And they did. And God saw.

 Now, in Jonah’s defense, I think it’s important for us to remember that the Ninevites were evil people.  They were enemies of the Israelites.  They did not worship the God of Israel.

In today’s world we could compare them to terrorists. Wicked, evil people. People that most of us probably believe deserve to be destroyed. People who don’t deserve to be forgiven.  People who don’t deserve to be saved. We see evil all around us. Thanks to technology; to TV and internet, we see live pictures and reports of evil empires around the world that oppress and starve and torture and kill innocent people. 

I think that often we are skeptical that people can change.  And we think – and truly believe – that they could never change.  We believe that they don’t deserve forgiveness …. Don’t deserve a second chance…….  Don’t deserve God’s compassion. Whether they are terrorists from another country or a mass shooter right here from the United States, we don’t think they deserve to be forgiven by God.  To receive his compassion.  To be saved. They are evil.  They are wicked.

See, I like Jonah because we are just like him! We have all tried to run away from God… We have all been disobedient…  not wanting to do as He asks. We have all at one time or another reluctantly followed him, hoping to prove him wrong as Jonah did. And we have all gotten indignant… downright angry when he was compassionate or forgiving or generous or acted in a way that we didn’t think He should. And God’s response to Jonah is probably God’s response to us: “Do you have any right to be angry?”  Do you have any right to be angry?

Jesus knew it was hard for us to see God save those whom we deem unworthy; to forgive those we think don’t deserve forgiveness.  If there’s one thing us Christians are good at, it’s deciding who’s righteous and who’s not.  Who deserves God’s compassion and who doesn’t.  Who should be saved and who shouldn’t.  So, Jesus tells the parable of the workers in the vineyard.

 The prophet Isaiah likens God to a vineyard owner; the employer in this parable. The details are the sort of thing that happens time and again in any village at grape harvest. Storms can ruin the crop; timing is of the essence. The working hours are right, from dawn to sunset. The unemployment background all too familiar; standing in the market-place was the equivalent of standing in the Job Center; the unemployment office. It was all very familiar, as was the payment of the workers at the end of the day, so they could go home with money for the evening meal.  The wage is right, actually very generous for a full day’s unskilled labor.

Despite its familiarity, the parable is a total reversal of normal values.  The unions would be up in arms if any employer acted like this today. But the story is intended to show the principles on which God receives people into his kingdom.  It has to do with salvation. 

Three surprises await us in this picture of the upside-down kingdom. First, there is something strange about this employer. He really cares about the down-and-outs. He could have sent an employee to the unemployment office to find workers. Instead, he goes out himself.  Actually, he goes out repeatedly during the day – every few hours - to find them. They are hungry, unemployed and, as the day wears on, increasingly hopeless. He cares about that. He wants to give them a job and a reward.  He’s an unusual employer.

A second surprise comes at the end of the day, when he pays them for their work. He begins with the last workers that he hired. He gives each of them a full day’s pay.  Even though they only worked an hour, they are paid the same as those who worked all day long. Such is the amazing generosity of this employer.

A spokesman for the labor force complains: ‘This isn’t fair. Why should those who have worked only one hour, get the same as me and my mates who have worked all day in the boiling sun?’   (I knew you wouldn’t destroy them, Jonah complained.)

Jesus replies, ‘Friend, may I remind you that when I hired you and the other workers at dawn, I promised to pay you all a generous wage for a full days work.  I promised to pay you one denarius.  That is a very good day’s wage.  What are you complaining about?  Isn’t that what I am paying you?  I am not breaking my contract with you.  I am keeping my word.  I am paying you exactly what you agreed to work for.  Why are you upset?  What are you complaining about? 

The point of the story is plain. Length of service and long hours of toil in the heat of the day constitute no claim on God.  Length of service and long hours of toil provide no reason why he should not be generous to those who have done less. All human merit shrivels before God’s self-giving love.

Grace.  God’s amazing grace is the burden of this story. All are equally undeserving of so large a sum as a denarius a day. Yet, all receive it by the generosity of the employer. All are on the same level.

There is no place for personal pride, for contempt or jealousy. There is no ground for any to question how this generous God handles the utterly undeserving. He is good. He sees that the one-hour workers would have no money for supper if they got paid for only one hour. In generosity he gives them what they need. Who is to complain at that?

The Pharisees might complain. They were pleased with themselves and scornful of the common people. Jews in general might complain. They were God’s chosen people and yet the despised Gentiles are welcomed on equal terms with them into the kingdom.

The disciples might complain. They gave up everything to follow Jesus. It would have been easy for them to begrudge the free welcome given to those who had denied Jesus during his earthly ministry and became his followers only when the movement spread after Pentecost.

The long-standing church members in Matthew’s church might complain. They had built the church, modeled it, slaved away in it. Now here were all these new believers crowding in and wanting to make changes and take office. They did not know their place!

Members of the Church today – you and me might complain.  We have been faithful.  We study Scripture, we worship, we pray, we give our finances, our time, we help those in need.  Why should “those” people who haven’t “earned” God’s grace be forgiven and saved? 

 You see, we are all like Jonah.  We all think we have a right to decide who does and doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness.  God’s grace. 

 But to each and every one of us, this parable presents a firm rebuttal. Our standing in the kingdom of God does not depend on human merit in any way. It depends on the sheer unmerited favor of the only One who is ultimately good.  The only One who accepts those who can never be good.  We are all sinful men and women faced with a holy, gracious God.  We cannot hide.  We cannot thwart God’s plans.  We all depend on God’s grace alone. Without it we would not have a chance. 

 There are no rankings in the kingdom of God. Nobody can claim they deserve membership in the kingdom.  And friends, that is good news for all of us, because we are all sinners.  None of us “deserve” God’s grace.  Yet, we are all welcomed.  Thanks Be to God!  Amen.

Unexpected Change

Debbie Cato
Jonah 3
Fairfield Community Church
Preaching Series on Jonah Week #2
September 17, 2023 

Let us pray:    God our helper, by your Holy Spirit, open our minds, that as the Scriptures are read and your Word is proclaimed, we may be led into your truth
and taught your will, for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Unexpected Change

 

Last week we started our study of Jonah.

          We saw how one day the Lord’s word came to Jonah, this unknown man.  God said to him,

“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

But Jonah didn’t want to go to Ninevah – this city that was a great enemy of God’s people. So Jonah headed in the opposite direction of Ninevah. He boarded a ship for Tarshish.  Jonah thought he could run away from God.

But as soon as the ship set sail, God sent a great wind on the sea and a violent storm arose and threatened to break apart the ship.  The sailors were terribly afraid and cried out to their gods.  They threw cargo overboard trying to lighten the ship so that it would ride higher on the waves, but nothing worked.  The waves just became more and more wild, and the storm grew more and more violent. 

When confronted by the sailors, Jonah admitted that his God - the God of heaven who made the sea and the land was angry at him for running away. His God had caused the great storm on the sea.

Jonah told the sailors to throw him overboard and surely God would calm the sea. The sailors didn’t want to hurt Jonah so they tried to row back to land but finally, after praying to Jonah’s God for forgiveness, they threw Jonah into the stormy sea and immediately, the sea was calm. 

But, Jonah didn’t drown. Jonah didn’t die.  God sent a great fish to swallow him. Jonah lived in the belly of that fish for 3 days and 3 nights. After praying to the Lord in the belly of the fish, the Lord commanded the fish “to vomit Jonah onto dry land.”

The Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land. I think I said last week that I love that verse. The Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land. God was in control, wasn’t he?

THEN…

          The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time:

     “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

I imagine Jonah was a little dazed at this point.  He’d had a rather crazy four days.  It had been only four days since the word of the LORD first came to Jonah.  Four days since Jonah decided he would run away from God.  Four days since he boarded that ship bound for Tarshish.  Four days since he got tossed overboard.  Four days since God saved him by sending a fish to swallow him. 

Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of that great fish.  He had just been vomited onto dry land, covered with who knows what from the belly of the fish.  Only to learn that no, God had not forgotten his original mission!  Jonah’s escapades had delayed God’s plans.  They had caused Jonah a lot of unnecessary problems and stress. They had caused the sailors to suffer through that horrible storm on the sea.  But, they had not changed God’s plans.  Jonah was still heading to Nineveh!

Now, it seems to me that the problems and stress brought on by Jonah's disobedience were not without some benefits.  The pagan sailors on the ship were converted!  They worshiped the Lord.  Those moments of near drowning in the sea before the fish swallowed Jonah probably woke him up; and those three days and three nights in the belly of that great fish, wondering what was going to happen to him, probably helped Jonah realize that thinking he could run away and hide from God probably wasn’t the smartest thing he had ever done.  At least, Jonah didn’t make the same mistake again because when the LORD spoke the same words to Jonah after being vomited out of the fish’s belly, scripture tells us that:

           “Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.”

 Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh. 

Now, I admit that I’m a bit like Jonah.  More than once, God has had to use a baseball bat to wake me up and let me know that yes, it is Him calling and yes, he does intend for me to do what he is calling me to do.  In fact, being a pastor was one of those things!  I bet you’ve had your own Jonah experiences.  It seems that often when God calls us to do something it’s not our first choice of what we would like to do.  But it’s God’s first choice.  He’s got a bigger picture than we do.  He sees beyond our small little world.  Our own self interests.

So this second time, Jonah obeys the word of the LORD and goes to Nineveh. But I imagine Jonah still isn’t happy about it.  I imagine he’s still afraid.  Nineveh is still a great enemy of the Israelites.  Nineveh is still a wicked city. God is still sending Jonah to preach against Nineveh.  Jonah’s message will still make the people of Nineveh angry.  Nothing has changed since the first time the LORD called Jonah to Nineveh.

But Jonah has changed. Jonah has learned to be obedient.  At least he understands he can’t run away from God! Jonah no longer just tells pagan sailors about the power of his God he believes it.  He’s experienced it first hand.

So Jonah goes to Nineveh, and he preaches the message that the LORD gives him to preach.

 “Forty more days and Nineveh will be destroyed,” Jonah proclaims.

Now here’s what’s interesting!  None of Jonah’s fears come about! He preaches against Nineveh, just as God told him to.  He tells them that their great city is going to be destroyed because of their wickedness. But. they do NOT turn against him.

Just like the pagan sailors on the ship bound for Tarshish,

The Ninevites - From the greatest to the least believe Jonah’s God.               
     They humble themselves in deep repentance.
            They declare a fast among themselves.  They all put on sackcloth.

But why?  Do you see anywhere in this passage where the Ninevites know that Jonah is delivering a message from God?  Nowhere does it say that they know who Jonah is!  They can probably tell he’s a Hebrew.  It’s likely he’s dressed differently than they are.  It’s likely he speaks differently than they do.

But, Jonah does not announce that he has a word from the LORD.  He doesn’t say, in forty days God will destroy their city.  He says, ““Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”   The warning Jonah gives to the Ninevites is very ambiguous.  He’s vague.  Perhaps he is hoping they won’t understand.  Remember, he didn’t want to go to Ninevah.  The Ninevites are not his favorite people! Jonah obeys God as minimally as possible!

The Ninevites aren’t Israelites.  They are Assyrians.  Great enemies of the Israelite nation.  They don’t worship Yahweh.  And yet somehow – instinctively – they know that Jonah’s message is to be believed.  They know that Jonah’s message is from the God of Israel.  They know that they are guilty. They know they must repent.  And they immediately - immediately humble themselves, declare a fast and put on sackcloth.

And when the news reaches the king of Nineveh -

          News that his people have set an agenda of fasting and repentance based on the news that their great city will be destroyed in forty days because of its wicked ways, the King of Nineveh follows his people’s lead.

          He rises from his throne.  Takes off his royal robes. 
                    Covers himself with sackcloth and sits down in the dust.
                        The king of this great city!  An enemy of the people of God!

This powerful King, humbles himself and then he issues a proclamation for all of Nineveh which says:

 

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. ⁸ But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. ⁹ Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

 

 The king’s proclamation is very comprehensive.  Not only does it address every human being in Nineveh, but it addresses every animal in every herd and every flock.  No one is exempt.

          They shall not taste, nor graze, nor drink.
                   They shall each be covered by sackcloth.
                             They shall each call urgently on God.
                                      They shall each give up their evil ways.

The king wants to make sure everyone and everything is covered. He offers his people the hope that if they do these things with true repentance, God may relent.  God may have compassion and He may turn from anger and save Nineveh.

We have been wicked, the king says.  Let us repent and change our ways and maybe, maybe God will have compassion and change his mind and not destroy us.  The king does not assume that God will forgive them.

When God sees what they people of Nineveh do - 
          Not just that they fasted and put on sackcloth.
                   Not just that they repented.
                        But that they truly turned from their evil ways.
                              That they truly changed.

God had compassion on them, and he did not bring upon them the destruction that he had threatened. God’s mercy was greater than God’s wrath.  God’s mercy was greater than His wrath.

When the pagans in Nineveh heard a word from the LORD - Even a reluctant word from the reluctant prophet, Jonah, They listened. They repented. And they turned.

 And the result of Jonah’s reluctant obedience to God’s call was an unexpected change in the Ninevites that was life-giving and life-saving.  This gives us so much hope, my friends.

So what have we learned from Jonah so far?

We have learned that you cannot run away from God.

We have learned that when God calls you, He will accomplish the task He has called you for, even if it takes detours.

          And perhaps most importantly, we have learned that when we repent and truly turn or change our ways, God will have compassion on us and He will forgive us.

          And just think, there is one more chapter!  There’s more to come!

Thanks Be to God.  Amen.

Running From God

Rev.Debbie Cato
Jonah 1
Fairfield Community Church
Preaching Series on Jonah – Week 1
September 10, 2023

Let us pray:    Startle us, O God, with your truth and open our hearts and our minds to your wondrous love. Speak your word to us; silence in us any voice but your own and be with us now as we turn our attention, our minds and our hearts, to you, in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

 

Running from God

 

A prophet is someone called by God to deliver a message to God’s people. 

          Although not always;

               The message is usually a message about disobedience and the                              Lord’s anger and displeasure, and a
                                      plea for the people to repent or be punished.

And so as you would expect,
          The prophetic books of the Bible are the
                   Oracles or messages of the prophets to the people of their time.

But Jonah is different.  Although The Book of Jonah is considered a prophetic book, and Jonah is a prophet, it is not just relating prophesies. It is not filled with messages given to Jonah by God.  The Book of Jonah is telling a story. If you grew up in Sunday school, you probably learned the story about Jonah – Jonah is a popular children’s Bible story. But, you probably learned it a little bit different than scripture tells it. So you may be disappointed by the actual story if you have not read the Book of Jonah before. 

As you can see, Jonah is a very short book - Four chapters.  A total of 48 verses. Jonah is an action-packed book. It is filled with drama and intrigue, suspense... and some moral lessons that are relevant for us today. I thought it would be fun for us to look at it for a couple of weeks. The Book  of Jonah is more than just a children’s Sunday school story. It’s a story that we can all relate to as adults today.  It has lessons for us to learn.

We really don’t know much about Jonah.   Until the Book named after him, Jonah isn’t mentioned.  He’s introduced to us simply as “Jonah, the son of Amittai” and we are told that “one day, the word of the LORD comes to him.”  Perhaps he’s sitting drinking his morning coffee or sitting in his easy chair reading the newspaper after a long day.  We don’t know.  But God comes to Jonah and says,

          “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, 
         because its wickedness has come up before me.”

Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.  Nineveh was the capital of Assyria – an enemy of Israel.  It was a city great in size and strength and status.   The way of life in Nineveh was unacceptable to God – he calls it wickedness. After all they are a great enemy of God’s people. And it is to this place
          To this enemy of Israel
                   That God tells Jonah to go

Well….
          God doesn’t just tell Jonah to go to Nineveh.
                   He tells him to go and preach against it.
                             He tells him to tell them they are being wicked;
He tells Jonah to tell them that God is going to destroy their great city.

And….. well…..

    Jonah doesn’t want to go!

Verse 3 tells us that

 “Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish.”

Jonah ran away from the God!  Jonah disobeys God and instead of going to Nineveh, he runs away from God and heads for Tarshish.

 Now we might laugh at that.  I mean, that sounds pretty dumb, doesn’t it?!  Thinking you can run away from God.  Who would try to run from God?! But who of us has not run from God in our life?  How many times has God asked something of you that you decided not to do?  And imagine God asking you to go to a great enemy, one who is known for their evil, wicked ways.  One who would not hesitate to cause you great harm.  And God asks you to go and tell them that they are wicked and God is going to destroy them.  You may feel like running too!  But we turn our backs on God for much smaller reasons.  When we choose not to help someone in need.  When we choose not to speak the truth.  When we choose to say unkind things.  You see, each time we are disobedient to God – just like Jonah – we in effect, run away from God.  (Pause)

God sends Jonah to Ninevah, which is east of where Jonah lives and Jonah heads in the opposite direction – Jonah heads west toward Tarshish.  He probably figured God would never find him there!  God would never guess Jonah was going in the opposite direction, would he?!  God would look to the east for Jonah but surely he wouldn’t look to the west.  So Jonah goes to Joppa which was a port city. He buys a fare, gets aboard a ship and sails for Tarshish.  I’ll hide there, he thinks.

Jonah’s on the run!

But then….   Then -  The LORD sends a violent storm on the sea that is so wild that it threatens to break up the ship.  I’m thinking Jonah’s plan didn’t work!  There’s no running away from God!  God knows exactly where Jonah is!   God strikes back against Jonah’s disobedience.

But Jonah’s disobedience doesn’t affect only Jonah.  That’s the problem with disobedience.

 

Jonah’s disobedience affects the sailors.  Their lives are at risk because Jonah defied God.  The sailors, who are surely used to storms at sea, know that something is up.  This storm is different.  The sailors are terrified.  The sea is violent, and they cry out to their own gods for help.  The ship is rocking and rolling about. The waves are banging against the sides of the ship. The water rolls over the ship soaking everything in their way; threatening to pull all it into the sea. The sailors throw cargo overboard hoping to lighten the ship so that it can ride higher on the tempestuous sea.  But nothing works.  The storm gets harsher and harsher. The storm gets wilder and wilder.

And their only passenger, well he’s down below – sleeping.  The captain is outraged.  “Get up here and call on your god!  Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not die!”  This is interesting to me. 

          Jonah –     
              Who has run away from God in disobedience
                             is told by the captain of the ship
                                      to call on his god to calm the sea.

How often do we run away from God in disobedience and then run to God when we are in trouble; crying to God to help us? Get us out of this mess, God, we cry!

 Well.  Jonah is caught.  The sailors throw one question after another at him. Jonah identifies himself as the one who has brought on the evil.  He proclaims the all-encompassing power of God.  He tells them, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, The God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

Jonah didn’t understand the power of God – after all, he thought he could run away from him.  But these pagan sailors do.  They understand the power of Jonah’s God.  They are terrified and they say to Jonah, “What have you done?”  What have you done?

 The sea continues to get rougher and rougher and rougher.  God is mad at Jonah and everyone who is with Jonah on that ship is suffering because of his disobedience.  “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down?” The sailors aren’t interested in punishing Jonah.  They just want to quiet the sea which just continues to get more and more dangerous. 

 Jonah tells them to pick him up and hurl him into the sea.  That will quiet it he says.  It is my fault God has brought on this great storm.  He’s mad at me. 

That sounds noble of Jonah, doesn’t it?  It’s my fault.  Throw me over and save yourselves.  Of course, Jonah doesn’t offer to jump over, does he?  But if he gets thrown over -

          If the sailors do the dirty work for him.
                   Surely he will die and he STILL won’t have to go to Nineveh!
          Jonah is STILL running from God! He’s still thinking about himself!

 The sailors really don’t want to throw him into the turbulent sea to his death.  They row and row and row trying to get to land but their strength is no match for the sea.  Seeing no other way, they pray to the LORD – to Jonah’s God for forgiveness and throw him overboard and immediately…..

Immediately…. The raging sea becomes calm. The storm is over. And the sailors make a sacrifice to the LORD and worship him. (pause)  Something good has come of Jonah’s sin.  The pagan sailors are converted.  They believe in the Lord.

But Jonah doesn’t die. God loves Jonah. God saves Jonah from drowning. God provides a great fish that swallows Jonah whole and Jonah lives inside that fish for three days and three nights.  (Notice scripture doesn’t say anything about a whale.  It says a great fish.)

Let’s review.  God calls Jonah.
          Jonah is disobedient.
                   He’s self-centered.
                             He’s rebellious.
                                      Jonah runs away from God. (Or at least he tries!)

God gets Jonah’s attention and in the process others suffer because of Jonah’s disobedience.
          Jonah never repents.
                   But God saves Jonah.
                             He sends a fish to swallow him!
Now that’s a story!

Chapter 2 is Jonah’s prayer while he’s in the fish. 

 Inside the fish for three days, Jonah has some time to do some thinking.   We really don’t know what’s going on in his head.  He’s probably thinking, well darn…. That didn’t work out very well!   He’s probably wondering …. mmmm …. How mad IS God at me?    So Jonah prays.

Now I don’t mean to make fun of Jonah.  Not really.  After I’ve been disobedient; after I’ve messed up; I’m very quick to let God know how sorry I am; I’m quick to ask for forgiveness. I’m quick to ask for help.  In fact, that’s what we are supposed to do.  Right?

But as I read this prayer, think about Jonah’s behavior, and ask yourself if his prayer is consistent with his behavior?

 Read chapter 2:1-9

Jonah’s prayer is full of “I’s.”  It sounds pious.  It sounds self- righteous.  But I think it also sounds boastful.  I’m not sure that it matches with Jonah’s behavior up to now.  And yet somehow I find comfort knowing that God called such an imperfect person to do his work!  It’s a reminder that God can use me and you, as imperfect as we are, to do his work.  And when we mess up, he will find us and give us another chance.  He’s not a one-chance God.

And now, the last verse of chapter 2 - where we are going to start next Sunday.  This might be my favorite verses in the whole Book of Jonah.

“And then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”

 God calls Jonah to do a job.
     Jonah doesn’t want to do it, so he runs away from God.         
It doesn’t work.  God knows where Jonah is all along.
               God forces the issue.
                   Jonah intends to lose his life.
                             God saves Jonah’s life by sending a fish to swallow him!                                      God preserves Jonah for his assignment!

 Moral of the story:   You can’t run away from God!  He will find you. 

You must come back next Sunday and find out if Jonah learned his lesson! Amen.