The story of Jonah was a part of this series because too often we carry around a children’s book picture of this tragedy of a prophet.
In the children’s sermon we covered chapters 1 and 2. Jonah is called to go to Nineveh- he flees, the storm comes, he is thrown overboard, the fish comes, he prays, and he is spit out. All this was told with a plastic blue whale, a bright green bath toy boat, and a Lego man. The point? God is sovereign, he loves people, and he asks us to do things we don’t necessarily like.
Chapters 3 and 4 were the focus of the sermon. There are two main characters in this tragedy; Jonah and God. Jonah loathes the character of God, saying in frustration, “you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take my life away…” The tension in this book comes from the fact that Jonah’s character is not gracious, not compassionate, eager in anger, abounding with hatred (Nineveh as the capitol of Assyria was the epitome of everything he despised), and he wanted the annihilation of the city and all its inhabitants.
My preaching focus pointed out the fact that because God’s character and Jonah’s character were different, then God’s agenda (redemption) and Jonah’s agenda (destruction) would be opposed to one another. God illustrated this tension of character and agenda to Jonah through the lived parable of the vine (see picture above). This is an important idea for our own life of discipleship. Where our character differs from the character of Christ (it most certainly will differ in many areas) then our agendas will be different. So whose agenda drives our day to day? Are we living life asleep on a boat sailing away from God’s purposes or are we being led by God’s compassion to be agents of redemption?
I used Luke 9:51- 62 as the bridge between Jonah’s relationship with God and our walk with Christ. Here James and John want to call down fire from heaven to destroy some people (“the Jonah syndrome”) who won’t let them spend the night. Jesus rebukes them- different characters, different agendas. And in the very next periscope we see three would-be followers of Jesus whose agendas get in the way of Christ’s call on their lives.
So often we have agendas for our lives and futures that are based more on the ideals of the American Dream than on the eternal principles of the Kingdom of God. Like Jonah we like the idea of beings God's people but we want to define what that looks like. For Jonah that meant despising people God loved. For the Rich Young Ruler that meant holding on to the things of this world rather than letting them go in order to follow Jesus. What is your agenda? What is God’s agenda? Whose agenda wins out?
Thankfully the God who showed compassion toward the Ninevites and patience with Jonah is both compassionate toward and patient with us. May the truth of the gospel continue to shape our character into that of Christ’s, and with that may our agendas give way to God's call on our lives.
Pastor Scott
In the children’s sermon we covered chapters 1 and 2. Jonah is called to go to Nineveh- he flees, the storm comes, he is thrown overboard, the fish comes, he prays, and he is spit out. All this was told with a plastic blue whale, a bright green bath toy boat, and a Lego man. The point? God is sovereign, he loves people, and he asks us to do things we don’t necessarily like.
Chapters 3 and 4 were the focus of the sermon. There are two main characters in this tragedy; Jonah and God. Jonah loathes the character of God, saying in frustration, “you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take my life away…” The tension in this book comes from the fact that Jonah’s character is not gracious, not compassionate, eager in anger, abounding with hatred (Nineveh as the capitol of Assyria was the epitome of everything he despised), and he wanted the annihilation of the city and all its inhabitants.
My preaching focus pointed out the fact that because God’s character and Jonah’s character were different, then God’s agenda (redemption) and Jonah’s agenda (destruction) would be opposed to one another. God illustrated this tension of character and agenda to Jonah through the lived parable of the vine (see picture above). This is an important idea for our own life of discipleship. Where our character differs from the character of Christ (it most certainly will differ in many areas) then our agendas will be different. So whose agenda drives our day to day? Are we living life asleep on a boat sailing away from God’s purposes or are we being led by God’s compassion to be agents of redemption?
I used Luke 9:51- 62 as the bridge between Jonah’s relationship with God and our walk with Christ. Here James and John want to call down fire from heaven to destroy some people (“the Jonah syndrome”) who won’t let them spend the night. Jesus rebukes them- different characters, different agendas. And in the very next periscope we see three would-be followers of Jesus whose agendas get in the way of Christ’s call on their lives.
So often we have agendas for our lives and futures that are based more on the ideals of the American Dream than on the eternal principles of the Kingdom of God. Like Jonah we like the idea of beings God's people but we want to define what that looks like. For Jonah that meant despising people God loved. For the Rich Young Ruler that meant holding on to the things of this world rather than letting them go in order to follow Jesus. What is your agenda? What is God’s agenda? Whose agenda wins out?
Thankfully the God who showed compassion toward the Ninevites and patience with Jonah is both compassionate toward and patient with us. May the truth of the gospel continue to shape our character into that of Christ’s, and with that may our agendas give way to God's call on our lives.
Pastor Scott
Scott, I'm glad that when I miss a sermon, I can hear it here. This is a hard one. For me, I think you summed in up in your prayer when you said, Lord don't let the things I say get in the way of what You want to say. I have to pray, Lord, don't let the things I do get in the way of the things You want do.
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