Jonah 1: “The Runner in us All” Pastor Charlie Grimes, Walnut Creek Mennonite Church
This week we begin a four-week series in the Old Testament book of Jonah. We all remember this exciting bible story! There is a gigantic fish (or whale) that swallows Jonah up. But it is more than a family-friendly fairy tale. Though it is only four chapters long it is one of the most unique and fascinating texts in the whole Bible.
Named after the main character, Jonah, the book shows God’s concern and grace to all people. Repentance and forgiveness come through in Jonah’s relationship with the Lord, in the repentance shown by those living in Nineveh, and in God’s response to their repentance.
The book begins with divine communication. The Lord instructs Jonah to “Go at once to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before me.” Nineveh would mean something significant to Jonah. It was the capital of the Assyrian Empire. Nineveh is the symbolic home of everything evil, hateful, and idolatrous.
A first point that we need to consider today: God may ask you to do things that you do not want to do.
To a Jewish person, Nineveh is the last place anyone would want to go. Jonah goes down to Joppa. He buys a ticket on a ship headed for Tarshish. “Away from the presence of the Lord.”
God says go east; Jonah goes west. God sends him to Nineveh, but instead Jonah books his ticket in the opposite direction. Like Jonah, we too run from God sometimes.
A second point we need to remember: If you want it, you can always find a boat sailing in the wrong direction. Our world is full of distractions and temptations. Are there situations and people that the Spirit nudges us towards, but we just cannot bring ourselves to go to? We all have our own Nineveh’s. We all have our zones of extreme discomfort, things that God is calling us to. But we run away. However, please remember you can run from God, but you cannot outrun God. God may send a storm to get your attention. When we run from God, life begins to unravel. We stop hearing God’s voice. God sends a storm so strong that it threatens to break the ship apart.
Have you ever felt like the entire world was against you? I have. Do you know that if you have stopped listening to the words of God— God may use all manner of ways to get your attention. The crew figures out that the storm is all Jonah’s fault. The answer comes to us in the final scene of the interaction, but it is a bit unexpected. “Pick me up,” Jonah replies. “Pick me up and toss me overboard. This whole thing is my fault.” Jonah was not wrong. As soon as he splashes against the surface of the water, God calmed the storm.
To top it all off, Jonah is not punished. He is rescued. God sends a fish who swallows him up in an act of grace. God stays involved in our lives not to pay us back, but to bring us back. He does not chase you— but he goes ahead of you! God was there for Jonah, and he is there for you.
In the next few weeks— we are going to see what coming back to God can look like. Finding His forgiveness and obeying him once again. May God bless you today!