Jonah: a man of obedience, whose heart we do not want – give me Jesus. Jonah 4

Jonah: a man of obedience, whose heart we do not want – give me Jesus.

We are discovering that this story is not about Jonah, a fish, or even Nineveh and its repentance, but it is about God and His GREAT-ness. The GREATness of God, our Father, His word, and the GREATness of His mercy are revealed throughout this epic as a microcosm of how His mercy is always - a mercy that He showers upon all of His creation and making  - the GREAT-ness of His goodness, patience, and kindness… His merciful compassion and desire to bring comfort.  (Ps 19; 139; Job 38-; Mt 5:7;  6:9-15: Lk 6:35-36; 2Co 1; Col 1; Heb 1)  

In this last section, we are going to be challenged to see our enemy - Nineveh, AS God does - with merciful love, and worthy of redeeming.  It is here, in this last chapter, that we will see the true nature of Jonah’s heart, yes, toward Nineveh, but more profoundly, toward God. 

It is here that we are going to be most challenged to see whether our prayers are prayers said (Jonah 3), or, prayers that are prayed in prayer - remaining with God long enough to be transformed in heart, mind, and attitude - giving God the time and opportunity to gently remove our human propensities and divinely replace them with His divine wishes and will.  (2Sam 22:26; Ps 85:10; 119:58; Ezek 18:23; Micah 7:18; Mt 5:7; 6:14-15; 9:13; 12:7; 18:33; 23:23; Lk 6:36-37; Rom 2:1-3; Ja 2:13; 3:17; 1Pet 2:10) 

Will we go to our Father and remain with Him in prayer?  Will we long for His heart and that ours would be like it?  Will we cooperate with Him and His divine wish to gently bend us to His merciful will?  Do we want to be like Jesus?  Are we willing to remain in prayer that we would be changed to be made more Hhim?    Or, will we, yes, remain, but meaning, remain as we are, with our human propensities and thus remain as we are - like Jonah?  (Matt 6:9-15; 1Tim 2:1 and see notes and service from 02.18.2024)

We are again being challenged to consider: “Who is my Nineveh?”  

OK, so we’ve named them.  Now, the next challenge is “How will I pray for them, speak to them, and act towards them?”, “How will I feel about God’s mercy being shown to them, and my being the one that does the showing?” And, “Will I rejoice at God’s merciful work in them?”  

Luke 15:10 “...I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Setting up Jonah 4 with a quick reminder of what we saw in Jonah 3: the power of God’s word

Isaiah 55:11 “...My Word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it”   

Jonah, in His deepening distress, hits his rock bottom, looks up to God acquiesces to God and His commands - then and only then does the Lord God, the GREAT I AM command the GREAT fish to vomit Jonah up on the shore. 

Jonah, in his disgusting vomitous state, receives God’s command again, and this time turns toward the (gulp) GREAT city 

 Jonah, now,  obeys the command of God, and (with what we find out later is with great angst) proclaims God’s word, and in one day, not even getting through the entire city (which would have been a 3-day journey) the whole city hears, trembles, and turns with contrite hearts, turns toward God in repentance - God’s compassion is realized and they are saved! 

Jonah 4 - let’s read through and come back 

Digging a little deeper:

Jonah 3:10-4:1-3 The rising conflict between the “heart and wisdom” of Jonah and the heart of God and (His) actual wisdom (His higher thoughts & ways)

Jonah 4:4-5a  Jonah’s continued judgment** and condemnation of Nineveh in the face of God’s merciful compassion and God’s challenging Jonah to re-consider his attitude in light of His mercy granted “on whom I will have mercy…”

God’s compassion leading to comfort, including Jonah - so the principle is not just that we receive comfort, but that when we have, we will then comfort others with the comfort we have received 2Cor 1).  Again we see here that God’s all-knowing and comprehensive thoughts and ways are (so much) higher than our thoughts, ways, and understanding which are limited and biased so that our judgment, of another in comparison to His, is never sound. Rom 2:1-4; 14:4; Ja 4:12; Lk 15:25-32; 16:37:42; Matt 7:3-4; 18:21-35)

**This does not mean that we are not to be discerning as to be able to judge what is sin or not, it means that we are not to judge in a way that leads our hearts to condemn - this can even be in our deciding by attitude, word, action, or inaction, who is not worthy of mercy, grace, forgiveness, redemption.

Jonah 4:5b-6 Jonah’s inadequate shelter and God’s gracious and sacrificial provision to cover and comfort him, even in the face of continued sin and rebellion - perhaps to conceal Jonah’s shameful and shameless attitude and behavior (Gen 3:7, 21), and “Jonah was happy about the vine…” here we also find that Jonah’s inadequate shelter is not much different from his inadequate judgment of Nineveh AND God’s saving them

questions to ponder:

Jonah’s shameless attitude and posture in opposition to God – how might my life sometimes reflect this?

What inadequate coverings do we make for ourselves to gain comfort in and during our sin and rebellion?

What adequate coverings has our Father provided for us? (loving others (1Jn 4:12-17) forgiveness of others (Lk 6:37-38)

Jonah 6-10 Jonah’s unwillingness to relent as God has relented; will not find joy in the redemption of his enemy; will not find delight in what God delights in; will not turn and see the GREAT-ness of His God and His God’s GREAT mercy and compassion.  And therefore, misses out on the joy of the Lord.  Matthew 11:17; Luke 7:32 “We played the flute, a wedding song, for you and you would not dance…”

How then should we go?

1Peter 3:13-18 

Colossians 4:4-6 may we be “...wise in the way we act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

1Corinthians 9:19-23 “...19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the… so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

Luke 19:41-42 “41As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace…” 

Luke 23:34 “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”

Jonah 4:10-11 “10 But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

So, AS God has compassion for the lost, so we, who are sent AS the Father sent the Son, Jesus, we should have compassion for the lost.

Who is our Nineveh? 

• How will we now think about them? (John 3:16-18)

• What will our attitude be towards them? (Col 3:15-17)

• How will we PRAY for them and on their behalf? (Job 42:8; Matt 5:44)

• How will we speak of them? (internally and externally) (Romans 12:14)

• How will we speak to them? (Matt 12:35; Eph 4:29; Col 4:6; 1Pet 3:15)

• How will we act toward them? (Lk 6:27-36; Romans 12:9-21; 1Cor 9:19-23; 1Pet 3:9)

Titus 3:1-8 “2…slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.  3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us…”

Will I be like Jonah, or AS Jesus?  Loving and having compassion on my Ninevehs, my enemies, as God, Christ did me. 

Romans 5:8-11 “...God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  10…while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…” 

Jonah 2-3 Go to Jonah’s prayer: petitions and the exchange of wishes, a heart unchanged

Jonah 2; go to Jonah’s prayer: petitions and the exchange of wishes: I wish he had, I wish I may: an important lesson on how not to be, a Jonah.  For me to not be a Jonah, I need to be in prayer, not just petition God, or just say prayers, but, for me to go beyond obedience to being in glad agreement with God and join Him in HIS will I must be willing to pray, to agree with God - Aman and amen… 

Oh, what a beautiful prayer!  So theologically accurate and beautifully poetic and eloquent too!  BUT, was Jonah’s prayer, really, pray-ing?  Or, could it be, that Jonah’s prayer was a prayer, for sure, but a type of prayer, a prayer prayed for sure, but a prayer prayed that has its own limited effect?  Not that his prayer was insufficient for what it was, a plea, thanks, appreciation, and even declarative… but, did this prayer engage God in such a way as to change his own heart?  His own heart’s desires?  His own wishes?  Did this prayer take him from his own wants and wishes to God’s, in glad agreement with God? 

Now, let’s ask ourselves a question:  did this prayer change Jonah’s heart?  Welllll…

• Jonah 2:7  He turned toward God and confessed - yes!  And, good!

• Jonah 2:9a He committed to doing what God had commanded - yes! And, good!

• Jonah 2:9b - turn to Jonah 3 He obeyed and saw fruit - yes!  And, good, and good fruit!

We might stop right here and we might ask: “Well, didn’t Jonah finally relent and obey?  And, didn’t his obedience do exactly what God intended it to do?  If so, what’s the problem, Jonah got the job done!  But, was it done in the manner God would have preferred?” 

And we can answer, “Yes, he did obey, and yes fruit was born”,  but, could there be something more God wants from us and for us?

Jonah 4:4, 11 “...the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?  …should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”

“I desire mercy not sacrifice…, …if you love me, you’ll obey me…” 

“...obedience, not sacrifice…”, does not mean obedience without sacrifice.  

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”

But, was his heart changed?  Was his and his affections aligned with God’s?  Did Jonah reflect God’s joy in Ninivah’s repentance and saving?  Or, was he still obstinate and opposed to God?

Jonah 4:1-3

 You see, there is…  Saying a prayer; A petitioning prayer; A prayer that acknowledges and speaks to God

But these types of prayers, though good and pleasing to God, are limited by the very nature of what they are.

Now, let us understand, that God loves the prayers mentioned above.  And, although God loves, invites, receives, and cherishes each of these “types” of prayer, there is a type of prayer that not only acknowledges God, but also speaks to God, shares with God, and makes requests of God, there is type of prayer that springboards from the previously mentioned prayers to a whole different kind of prayer.  This is a prayer that, once the one praying has preyed their prayer, doesn’t finish and go on their way, but, stays, still, and remains to hear, to listen to what God has to say, that in its remaining, allows its heart and its desires to be examined, challenged, removed, and/or transformed - this prayer sits, it remains long enough - to receive from God His wishes, His will, His purposes… and to gladly accept them.

So, then, there is, saying prayers - as mentioned above, and then there’s PRAY-ing… 

These are the prayers that will take us from being like Jonah to being like Jesus, able to pray with Him 

Luke 42:22  “...not my will, but your will be done.”

Obedience AND sacrifice, work hand-in-hand and are the fruit of having been a recipient of God’s mercy which turns our affections toward God in love - love for our Father and what our Father loves…. first Jesus, then us, sent AS He was sent

Hebrews 10: 5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’ ” 

Romans 12 “1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will…, …think of yourself with sober judgment… serve cheerfully…” may your “love be sincere…, eep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

 And this might be seen in the way we pray and the transformation of our hearts when we pray sincerely:  

• …Your kingdom come…, not mine - take my wishes and give me Yours

• …Your will be done…, not mine - take my wishes and give me Yours

We must see that to pray, to remain and be transformed is sacrifice that leads to loving and joyful obedience that bears the fruit of the command (the law of love) AS WELL as the fruit of righteousness (the mark of Jesus’ character and goodness, the AS, His manner and way)

So, to not be like Jonah, but, in fact, to become and be like Jesus, we must be in view of God’s mercy, seeing that we ourselves are beneficiaries of that mercy, and then practice that act of offering me and mine as a living sacrifice that I might obey goodly and beautifully, not just dutifully: not just doing the right thing, but doing the right thing in the right manner and way - AS Jesus was sent by the Father, so Jesus, sends us… AS. then, I will not just go, and at that, begrudgingly, but go, and though with some trepidation, gladly go, just AS Jesus went.

Now, let’s go back to Jonah’s prayer - as beautiful as it was and is, it does seem to have rightly aligned His heart with Gods…

Jonah’s human, carnal, wishes were never expunged, or exchanged with and replaced by God’s heart’s divine and divinely inspired wishes - that of the compassionate Mercy of God on his enemy (who was also an enemy of God, Himself, too) 

We can be obedient and used of God without our heart’s being truly transformed by God.  This does not mean we are not saved, it does mean we may never realize the true and vibrant joy of being one in spirit (not meaning Spirit) with God.

We should want to delight God, delight in God, and be delighted by God, marveling astonishingly and joyfully at His working - this is God’s wish for us “He is pleased to…” and takes pleasure in His works and working. All of this while, and because, God delights in His children!  

So, this is the fruit of prayer: the exchange of wishes!  That we would join with God in the sanctification of our hearts, having Him remove from us our fleshly desires and wishes, and through the glad-suffering of the process of prayer, have our own human wishes, not only removed, that is just one thing, but in fact, to have them replaced by God’s divine, good = beautiful wishes!

This thus becomes prayer AND intercession AND amen!  In other words, our being able to say sincerely and cheerfully and really proclaim: Matthew 6:9-10

“Father, I agree!  

Your kingdom come…

Your will be done…”

This transformation of my will becoming God’s will, comes from our moving from saying prayers – which are good, to remaining, abiding in, and communing with God in prayer - where intimacy with God becomes power from God to accomplish His will with joy, and NOT a begrudging heart – and now I’m becoming less like Jonah and more like Jesus

So, Jonah and the Whale, what a story!  Where we thought it was about a prophet… 

What have we learned so far? 

We have been learning that the book of Jonah is a story with a Prophet, merchant-sailors, a GREATER and GREATER storm, little gods, a GREAT fish, a GREAT city, and its many inhabitants (and animals too!). The story contains all of these characters, each playing a crucial part, yet the story is not about any of them, none, notta one.  

All of these characters are, actually, supporting actors, the cast and crew, parts and pieces, pieces and parts of the story, but then, who?  What’s this GREAT story about?  About Whom is this story really about?

It is about the Lord God, the GREAT I AM, and His GREAT compassion and mercy shed upon each person according to His merciful compassion.

Jonah 4:2 “...You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion—One who relents from sending disaster.”

So, taking it home!  Take time in the word to…

Compare and contrast Jonah’s prayer, his petition, with Jesus petition in the garden. And Jonah’s attitude and message in Jesus attitude message

So we look at the two petitions, we compare how each one goes out, the nature of the message from Jesus incarnate, and then Jesus’ risen self, and start into chapter 4 in terms of the attitude they each displayed

Jonah’s message, though he was to take three days across the city, made it across the city in one day. 120,000 people, including cows, repent.

He, though, refuses to see God‘s mercy. or recognize that he’s been a recipient of God‘s compassionate mercy. And so about Jonah, the Jews, who Jesus would come to, would not receive them. Yet to anyone at all, who would believe would receive the promise I’ll be becoming a child of God.

Whereas. Jesus would also her say poor Paul would say that the gentiles are in before the Jews. They are responding to the gospel more quickly than Jews would. This is the extension of Jonas attitude and Israel’s attitude toward the lost world.

A little be more:

Jonah 3:10 ”When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.“

In the book of Isaiah, the prophecy regarding a rod of discipline or punishment for Israel can be found in Isaiah 10:5-6. This passage refers to the Assyrian Empire as the rod of the Lord’s anger against Israel:

Isaiah 10:5-6 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath!  I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.” 

As an exercise: Compare Jesus’ excited declaration to His Father that He was willing, waiting, and excited to go “...a body you have prepared for me…”, in essence, “Let me go!” (Hebrews 2:13-18; 10:5-10) to Jonah’s “I told you so!  This is why I didn’t want to go!”  (Jonah throughout)

Jonah's Prayer: Why'd it Take so Long?

 Jonah 1:4-15 Who was Jonah willing to put at risk to escape?  Sin upon sin and their affect

Those with whom Jonah sailed suffered terribly!  Yet, from Jonah, there is no care, no consideration, no courtesy, no matter, and only taking responsibility when finally confronted - when cornered… again: the testimony of the good God Jonah served??

Now, were the merchant sailors completely innocent?  No. They knew Jonah was avoiding his “God” and took him anyway.  In that sense, they were accomplices, or at least reticent or cavalier about Jonah and his flight from God, and their part in helping him escape.  But, one must add, they did not know Jonah’s God - the Person, the Power, the sovereignty, of Jonah’s God - but they would see, experience, fear, turn, and worship Him  

What principle must we learn here?  Our sin does not happen in a vacuum!  What we say and do matters.  Our attitude and continence matters.  Our being transformed in the patterns of our minds as to see, know, and do God’s will – matters (Rom 12).  Our walking in stride with the Spirit in abiding, obedience, and grateful cooperation – matters.

We must also see: Compounding sins, their consequences, and who they effect – matters!

Chaos ensues as Jonah compounds sin on top of sin… the winds and the sea whip to an ever-increasing violence and storm, threatening to take all asunder!

When, until, finally Jonah at least owns up to his sin and its consequences… though a genuine remorse still seems absent…

Jonah’s sins

• Against God and others

• Causing others to sin - aiding and abetting; grumbling, treating God with contempt, causing the sailors to MISS-SEE God, to hold Him in contempt, remain in their idolatry, (Exodus; Phil 2; 1Cor)

• And attempting to thwart the Lord God, even after hearing who He was and seeing His power, they then try and try and resist “God”, in an attempt to save themselves and Jonah from God

What happens as the sins compound?  God provides even greater calamity!  Now, Jonah gets tossed…,  …and swallowed… … and…, and…

Right away?  Let’s see 1:17. Maaaaybeeee…  and then again, maybe not.

Jonah 2: No. God allows Jonah to sink.  Cruel and inhumane?  Or, a gift of grace born out of mercy, an act of God’s infinite wisdom and good purposes?   Could this have been an actual and real expression of God’s love?  An act of His kindness “hoping” to cause, even allow, Jonah to repent? (Ro 8:30; 2:1-4; Ja 1:2-5)

God provided a GREAT fish…  How did we end last week?  The image of our sliding into the mouth of the great fish…

But, how and when did it actually happen? Jonah 2 tells us… 

Jonah 2:1-6 How? Just the right thing: God provided… Jonah 1 Now, let us go back to Jonah’s sin for a moment…

Our sin does not happen in a vacuum.  We must care about how our lives affect others. 

Jonah 2:7 When? He waited.  Everything God does is at just the right time, in just the right way: Not until Jonah reached the bottom of the sea did God provide the fish.

Jonah 2:8-9  Why??  Why not earlier, at first, when he was tossed in?  For just the right reasons, God knows. 

The distress… …what did God’s seeming delay, his allowing Jonah to sink to the bottom, prolonging Jonah’s suffering and distress bring Jonah to?  

We must see, that because of Jonah’s sins, God would be compelled to increase His distress: to wait to save him with the fish, to allow him to sink to (his) bottom, and allow the time and the trial to go on – knowing Jonah, oh, so will…  …and so, what it is with Jonah…

Here, Jonah, it seems, is looking back and reflecting on what had happened, and describes in vivid detail, with great emotion, all that he experienced and felt.  Jonah had reached the bottom of the earth.  It seems that God knew that for Jonah to be changed, for him to come back around, for him to agree with God regarding his sin, disobedience, and its effects - he would have to suffer GREAT distress.

Luke 16; Eph 4:9-10; Rev 1:18; 20:13; Heb 2:14; 2Tim 1:10; Ps 8:4-5; Heb 2: This is Jesus in the grave, descending into the pit, facing and defeating death (see Psalms and Hebrews) (make clear: Hades and paradise, hell and heaven https://www.gotquestions.org/did-Jesus-go-to-hell.html  ) “You rescued me from the pit” 

Maybe now we can look at the prayers, together…

…it was with the prodigal: 15:The prodigal “and there was a famine… and God gave him over to/allowed/permitted/did not resist/provided… unfaithful friends… an exhaustion of his (limited) resources… a famine in the land… a unscrupulous farmer… time, time, to wallow and come to the end of himself, to come to his sense, and there - he remembered his father and prayed…

And so, it is with us - it is no different than the principle of “giving one over to…” in Romans 1 sliding down the hill of disobedience in hopes that His kindness, expressed in patience and tolerance leads us to repent, to hey the bottom, come to our senses, seeing Him for who He really is, and come to Him. 

James 1:2-5 perseverance:  remaining under, endurance; steadfastness, especially as God enables the believer to "remain (endure) under" the challenges He allots in life.

James 1: Two different words, beautifully intertwined in God’s hands for our good as He is good.

TRIALS: probation, testing, being tried, temptation, calamity, affliction. temptation or test – both senses can apply simultaneously; adversity, affliction, trouble (cf. our trial), sent by God and serving to test or prove one's faith, holiness, character

So the TESTING of your faith…

that your faith, what God has done, and is doing in you, is proven genuine, that that work has persevered, and will persevere – not genuine to him, but genuine to you and others who see you and God’s work in you and on you.

Rom 8:28-30; Phil 1:6; 2:12-16

God grants mercy to Jonah, much like He had and did to Israel, despite Jonah’s/Israel’s sin and rebellion… WE MUST REMEMBER: discipline and warning, correction and rebuke, are part of mercy… and often, it is not until we reach the bottom, as we see our own sin, and sense God’s “heavy hand upon us” that we finally “come to our senses” (Luke 15:17) and look up, to God… “...3 days and 3 nights…” just in time, just long enough, for God’s merciful discipline to do what it is going to do!

GREAT Distress, but Father, why?  This is a world of suffering, and the child of God will suffer more GREAT-ly than those who are not of the Kingdom, or in the family of God.

Why does God “let” us suffer?  Why does it seem we must hit “rock bottom”? Before we turn?  What is it about the human heart that it needs to be stricken to change?

Well, how great is our pride, our self-centeredness, our carelessness, etc.?

How GREAT the sin, pride, rebellion, and obstinance, must be in our hearts - that would cause us to “run away” (and have to be retrieved)

Now, what about my heart?  What times in my life that I have suffered GREAT distress?  Times in my life when my sin has caused others distress?  Times in my life that I have caused the Spirit of God in me, distress, or grief?  We all suffer distress, but are we aware of how our distress distresses others?

Can I, will I, see God’s merciful hands in those times of distress, those times of conviction and discipline?  Will I see what God is doing to me, and in me, that He might work with me and through me in righteousness and holiness? (Phil 2)

Will I see what God’s mercy is doing in and to me exactly what He knew and knows needs to be done?  What He knows I needed, and know I need, at just the right time and in just the right way, for just the right duration.  There is nothing wasted in God’s hand (bread and fish).

Romans 8:28-30 God DOES work ALL things for the GOOD of those who LOVE Him and have been called according to HIS purposes… therefore, there is not a single moment, happenstance, that occurs in the life of a person that God does not use to accomplish His will and purposes in us, me.

Do we believe this truth to be true?  Will we receive this truth?  is God, our Father good? 

Jesus said in John 6:45-47 “Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.

Jonah: the son of Faithfulness…

And God, the great I AM, provided a great…

Review: a small sampling of great-ness… 

·  Grace to transform our hearts and our Heart’s condition - being sent AS Jesus was sent, may go, AS, as Jesus went - because it is in and through that He (has chosen) to still go!  (Why He is so committed tot the transformation of our hearts and minds - loves and lives - John 17:15-19; Eph 2:8-10;hil 1:6; 2:12-16) 

·  God speaks to us in great ways - according to who each of us is by His Holy Spirit (paraclete) - that is how He has purposely made us for His pleasure and glory and His will in and through us in accordance with who we are, our gifts, talents,  according to our making and calling or assignment - by faith or God’s divine persuasion, in accordance with our making - God is not surprised

 God’s story of Jonah

•   A great opportunity to speak to a great city with a great message from a great God

•  A great wind

•  A great (and violent) storm 

•  Our privileges are given to us according to our making to accomplish our great calling

•  GREAT = God’s GREATNESS in and over everything 

•  Do we see God’s greatness in and over everything (Phil 2:5-11; Col 1:15-20; Heb 1)

•  Do we see His mercy that leaves us and leads us to His saving grace? (Mat 5:1-12; Rom 1-6)

Could it be… that Jonah failed to recognize, appreciate, and be grateful for, God’s mercy…  and, thus, squandered his privileges, We see that Jonah is a real-life parable – a place and time where God reveals and reminds us of His great mercy…

And God provided a great fish…

God IS great, in fact, greater, that IS the theme of Jonah 1

More than anything, this story is about the great-ness of God; the sovereignty of God – His good and great ruling over all He has created and made; and maybe most profoundly - the great mercy of God, and the great intentions of God… and what it is God’s great-ness accomplishes (Luke 4:36; 8:25; 9:37-43)

God’s great love expressed…

God’s greatness is perhaps best displayed in His great mercy, expressed in His great patience, tolerance, and kindness

Romans 2:4 “…do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

Why?  We might ask?  Because they provide for God’s greatest desire, to accomplish His greatest purpose, perform and establish His greatest miracle - repentance (in His greatest love): mankind.  The bringing back, home, the Repentance of those He loves - John 3:16.  This is the Father’s great love expressed to us.  In one word:  Jesus.

Giving life to the dead (Rom 6; Eph 2:1; Col 2:13), peace to His enemies Rom 5:), salvation to the sinful (Matt 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32; 15:7-10; 18:10-14; Rom 8:30), the only way to the Father (John 14:6,21; Heb 10:19-24)

It is the greatness of God that does all that we see - to stand in awe of Him, in reverent fear, is to have seen a measure, a glimpse of His greatness (Pr 1:7; 9:16)

In a world out of control we must know our great God is in control… and mercifully, at that 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/millennials-over-american-dream-hard-124559596.html 

Jonah: A little longer in, a little deeper into Jonah 1 and into Jonah 2

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God” …because they imitate God,  will we realize that it is ours, each, and every one of us, to bring a message of peace.  But, will we?  Will we?

Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the Lord came to Jonah… for Jonah, this word is clear and concise, Jonah heard and knew, he had experienced this before…

Jonah 1:3-5a Jonah ran…

To what lengths was Jonah willing to go to avoid going to Ninevah?

Jonah 1:5b-6 Jonah slept, soundly, so soundly through a raging storm (of his own making) that he had to be awakened…

Questions we must answer for ourselves: How soundly do I sleep?  Where do I go to slumber when…?  Maybe me, you, it is not sleeping that distracts me, or allows me to be distracted, or, frankly, I would rather be doing… what are those things that gobble my time?

Jonah 1:4-15 Who was Jonah willing to put at risk to escape?

Those with whom Jonah sailed suffered terribly!  Yet, from Jonah, there is no care, no consideration, no courtesy, no matter, and only taking responsibility when finally confronted - when cornered… again: the testimony of the good God Jonah served??

Now, were the merchant sailors completely innocent?  No. They knew Jonah was avoiding his “God” and took him anyway.  In that sense, they were accomplices, or at least reticent or cavalier about Jonah and his flight from God, and their part in helping him escape.  But, one must add, they did not know Jonah’s God - the Person, the Power, the sovereignty, of Jonah’s God - but they would see, experience, fear, turn, and worship Him  

Questions we must answer ourselves: Do I recognize the peril my running puts others in?  Do I realize the effect my sin has on others?  Do I see what my sin and rebellion do to God’s name (Eph 4:1; 5:1-2), that is my life and word’s testimony of God’s working in me?

Jonah 1:16 the sailors turn from their gods to Jonah’s God… God displays His sovereignty over all creation and making, saying, repeating, in essence, “I AM, and there are NO others beside me!”

We might say: “But, but, they all turned to God!  Why then should I be disciplined??”  please see: Romans 5:20-21 - 6:1-14 (,15-23)

Questions we must answer ourselves: What will I do to avoid the one to whom I am called?  What excuses do I use to not go?  What is it that I think of them, feel about them, that is holding me back?  To what lengths have I, or will I go, to not only not go, but to avoid, or even go the other way, to avoid them and share with them what God desires them to know, receive, and be?

Who am I willing to put at risk to avoid my call and responsibility, my PRIVILEGE to exercise my PRIVILEGE to be a beloved child of God - by grace (afforded to me God’s mercy on me)?  My PRIVILEGE of being God’s ambassador, His representative?

It is our privilege to go… to bring a message of hope through our obedience

Jesus speaking of Himself said “...something greater than Jonah is here…”  Jesus speaking of us, His disciples, also said “...you will do greater things…” 

Jonah 1:17 “God provided a great fish…”  God grants mercy to Jonah, much like He had and did to Israel, despite Jonah’s/Israel’s sin and rebellion… WE MUST REMEMBER: discipline and warning, correction and rebuke, are part of mercy… and often, it is not until we reach the bottom, as we see our own sin, and sense God’s “heavy hand upon us” that we finally “come to our senses” (Luke 15:17) and look up, to God… “...3 days and 3 nights…” just in time, just long enough, for God’s merciful discipline to do what it is going to do!

Jonah 2: the GREAT prayer of repentance in the face of God’s greatness…

Compare and contrast to Luke 15:11-32

Jonah = dove = peace = a God-spoken irony"

Jonah = dove = a God-spoken irony

• It was a dove that flew from the ark and brought back an olive leaf (the symbol of peace) - Gen 8:10-11

• It was a dove that appeared above Jesus, the Prince of Peace when the Spirit descended - Luke 3:22

• Jesus, having been sent, came in peace on a foal (Matt 21:5), to emphasize His coming to make peace “...and peace on whom His favor rests” Luke 2:14

Who was Jonah, son of Ammittai? 2Kngs 14:23-27

• Servant of God, or bond-slave, a prophet, a privileged man, who would stand in the presence of God, and feel the very real pressure of His will upon his spirit.  A prophet, servant, bond-slave who would hear God’s unmistakable voice telling him what He was about to perform among the nations. It is through Jonah that God prophesied Isreal’s border restoration despite Israel’s sin and rebellion - as suggested by S. Ferguson, Man Overboard, this is Jonah’s life 

• Privilege of service - a servant of God, as one called and used by God - a servant, which has in it, a type of affinity, a rich meaning, that is lost on sometimes (and of which, Jesus was declared - Isaiah 53:13

• Privilege of a sense of destiny - being sure of one called as a prophet

• Privilege of fellowship with others of his calling, destiny, and commitment - following and influenced by Elijah and Elisha, contemporary of Isaiah and Micah, and perhaps having rubbed elbows with the “sons of prophets” (those in service to and trained by the Prophets). 

All of this, and still…

This is what makes Jonah’s disobedience so remarkable, this is a man who knew who he was, Whose he was, had committed himself to this call, to this life and ministry, and he knew intimately God’s presence, power, and promise, and had seen it and experienced it. 

Jeroboam, the king, ruled in Samaria, and sinned, yet, despite his and all of Israel’s sin, top to bottom, God mercifully relented from blotting out Israel (Isa 10:16-11:16) and used the king to restore Israel’s border - it might be inferred that Jonah had had previous experiences and successes as a prophet. 

Antagonism toward Israel, brought upon themselves by their sin and rebellion…

Approximately 200 years after the relative peace and prosperity of Soloman’s reign, Israel’s growing and persistent sin and rebellion led to God’s disciplining them (Isa 10:5-15) and it would be Assyria who turned its expansionist ways toward Israel, taking captive Israelites.  This was 10 years before Jonah was sent to Ninevah.  And still, over the next approx. 20 years, there would be continued attacks by the Assyrians.

Could that also be said of us?   That is the privilege of being called to service, of a sense of destiny, and of a fellowship with others of the same nature and call, ministry and mission, having a wealth of people around us who are set apart for something divine (possessing the Scriptures, preserved and handed down to us, whole and complete; hearing from, being prompted and led by the Holy Spirit of God that indwells us, and moved by His power and presence, His leading and directing.  All of this, having received, by mercy this very message of hope - when we were God’s enemies - we sent, AS Jonah, AS Jesus, AS the rest of the saints - with a message of hope for those, who, without Christ, “do not know their left hand from their right”? (Jonah 4:)

We have repeated the question: “Who is my Ninevah?”  Who is it that I am being sent to?  What is my attitude toward them and why? (Matthew 4:19; 28:18-20)

Jonah: A little longer in, a little deeper into Chapter 1

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God”  …because they imitate God,  will we realize that it is ours, each, and every one of us, to bring a message of peace.  But, will we?  Will we?

Jonah 1:1-2 The word of the Lord came to Jonah… for Jonah, clear and concise, Jonah heard and knew, he had experienced this before… “Go to the great city…” 

Sometimes “I” wish it was so easy to hear and know!  

How do we hear from God? Scripture, an unction, inkling or a still small voice, prayer combines these two, the conscience (not the heart, the gut conditioned with truth stored in the heart - Pr 4:23) TRAINED by Scripture and prayer - to be sensitive to God and God’s will (why trained? Jer 17:9; How trained: Mt 15:18; Lu 6:45; Ro 12:1-4; Heb 5:14); events aligned by God to direct us; sometimes dreams or visions which MUST be prayerfully examined by and in line with God’s word AND wise and godly biblical counsel.

Why isn’t always as clear as God’s command to Jonah? (God’s desire for an ongoing relationship, a partnership - for us to commune with Him to gain His wisdom and discernment, insight and understanding, to walk humbly with Him in obedience (to His word, by the Holy Spirit Who “guides us into all truth” John 16:13

Jonah 1:3-5a “Jonah ran…”

To what lengths was Jonah willing to go to avoid going to Ninevah?

Jonah 1:5b-6 “Jonah slept…”, soundly, so soundly through a raging storm (of his own making) that he had to be awakened…

Questions we must answer for ourselves: How soundly do I sleep?  Where do I go to slumber when…?  Maybe me, you, it is not sleeping that distracts me, or allows me to be distracted, or, frankly, I would rather be doing… what are those things that gobble my time?

Jonah 1:4-15 “God sent a great wind…, …a great storm…” Who was Jonah willing to put at risk to escape?

Those with whom Jonah sailed suffered terribly!  Yet, from Jonah, there is no care, no consideration, no courtesy, no matter, and only taking responsibility when finally confronted - when cornered… again: the testimony of the good God Jonah served??

Now, were the merchant sailors completely innocent?  No. They knew Jonah was avoiding his “God” and took him anyway.  In that sense, they were accomplices, or at least reticent or cavalier about Jonah and his flight from God, and their part in helping him escape.  But, one must add, they did not know Jonah’s God - the Person, the Power, the sovereignty, of Jonah’s God - but they would see, experience, fear, turn, and worship Him  

Questions we must answer ourselves: Do I recognize the peril my running puts others in?  Do I realize the effect my sin has on others?  Do I see what my sin and rebellion do to God’s name (Eph 4:1; 5:1-2), that is my life and word’s testimony of God’s working in me?

Jonah 1:16  the sailors turn from their gods to Jonah’s God… God displays His sovereignty over all creation and making, saying, repeating, in essence, “I AM, (GREAT) and there are NO other gods beside me!” (1Chr 16:25; 29:11; Nahum 1:3;m Ps 48:1; 96:4; 145:3)

We might say: “But, but, they all turned to God!  Why then should I be disciplined??”  Romans 9

Questions we must answer ourselves: What will I do to avoid the one to whom I am called?  What excuses do I use to not go?  What is it that I think of them, feel about them, that is holding me back?  To what lengths have I, or will I go, to not only not go, but to avoid, or even go the other way, to avoid them and share with them what God desires them to know, receive, and be?

Who am I willing to put at risk to avoid my call and responsibility, my PRIVILEGE to exercise my PRIVILEGE to be a beloved child of God - by grace (afforded to me God’s mercy on me)?  My PRIVILEGE of being God’s ambassador, His representative?

The question has also arisen: “What if I’m someone else’s Ninevah?!”  What if someone has been sent to me and they will not “go”?  How would I feel if I were to find out what lengths they have and will go to not share with me an encouragement, an instruction, a message of hope?

We who are blessed and beloved… having received mercy from God and salvation by grace, the good gift of Jesus offering His life for us, puts our disobedience at an even greater level than that of Jonah, who was not looking back on God’s ridiculously gracious gift of life through the Messiah as He (actually) would be, but forward to a hope of something he could not fully grasp (1Peter 1

Jesus speaking of Himself said “...something greater than Jonah is here…”  Jesus speaking of us, His disciples, also said “...you will do greater things…” 

Jonah 1:17 “God provided a great fish…”  God grants mercy to Jonah, much like He had and did to Israel, despite Jonah’s/Israel’s sin and rebellion… WE MUST REMEMBER: discipline and warning, correction and rebuke, are part of mercy… and often, it is not until we reach the bottom, as we see our own sin, and sense God’s “heavy hand upon us” that we finally “come to our senses” and look up, to God… “...3 days and 3 nights…” just in time, just long enough, for God’s merciful discipline to do what it is going to do!

Jesus grants mercy to all…  in hopes that may come to repentance and faith in Him… Isaiah 30:18; Eze 33:11; Romans 2:1-4; 2Peter 3:9 

Habakkuk 3:2 “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, LORD. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.”

Let us see, take some time: Jesus grants mercy to all…  in hopes that may come to repentance and faith in Him… Isaiah 30:18; Ezekiel 33:11; Romans 2:1-4; 2Peter 3:9 

Matt 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”

Matt 42-48 “44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matt 12:7 “If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent…, …48Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Mark 12:33 “29“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. e 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ f 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  32“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”  34When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Luke 6:36-38 “...36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

Romans 12 “...1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

James 3:17-18 “17But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”

Matthew 18:23-35

Mercy: pity, compassion; loyalty to God’s covenant (made with us, from him) by trusting and loving obedience to the spirit and conditions of the covenant: covenant-love and loyalty: I have had mercy shown me, I am now to show mercy

Mercy = God’s toward sinners - a readiness to help those in trouble - me: have we forgotten God’s mercy on me?  That, though I deserved wrath and judgment, He restrained Himself to give me time and space to see and respond to His grace offered in and by Jesus - thus granting us, me, grace, forgiveness, and eternal life?

Mercy = men toward men - having been shown mercy, we are to show mercy, and to not, is to be ungrateful to God for the mercy we’ve received, to take it for granted or even assume that I am somehow entitled to it - that God owed me.  When in fact, God’s mercy was given to me, in spite of me, instead of what I deserved from a holy God - judgment.  If this is how the Holy God treated me, how much more should I treat the person who sins against me - me being in the same state - having sinned against and hurt others?

Jonah Week Two

How we read the scriptures: we dwell, we sit, we contemplate, we obey.  We may never fully understand them, and in fact, we may sometimes leave with more questions than answers.  But, that, to some degree, is God’s point.  God, it seems, resists giving us all the answers, the knowledge of Him and His (as if any one volume of works and words could plumb the depths of God’s knowing and wisdom!) 

The Father does this so that we would seek Him and His righteousness and wisdom - that what we gain is not by our (own) mind, that is, (only) our thinking, but, more so, that our knowing and coming to know would be more a fruit of our abiding and seeking - yes in and by His word - but, by not merely “studying”, but in engaging in the word by God’s Spirit and the mind of Christ (1Cor 2:9-16). 

We are often left - pondering… Jonah 4:8-11

When we become God’s obstacles: Jonah: a man, a prophet of Israel, sent with a message of hope to a people not his own, a cruel people in violent opposition to his own: a little historical context for our time in and with Jonah.

Chapter 1: Go!  No!!

• Review from a couple of weeks ago:

• God enters with and in the Garden - life amid chaos (Genesis 1; 2)

• God in and with Israel to be a light to the world, an expression of God’s mercy, love, and faithfulness 

• God, Jesus, in and to the world - The Father's love expressed through mercy, grace, and truth - embodied by His Son

• God in and through the Church - to be what Israel wasn’t, to do what Israel often wouldn’t, we are now the light of the world, the embodiment of Christ by His Spirit 

• How should Jonah have gone?  How did Jesus come?  How then are we sent?  just AS Jesus, Jesus’ manner and way ought to be our manner and way

Jonah, it seems, personifies Israel’s rebellious and hardening heart toward God’s will and Israel’s role in and to the world, to be an example of God’s love expressed in mercy and grace - and might be seen most profoundly in Jesus' day in the Pharisees and teachers of the Law. 

Obedience: God’s love language: God’s desire to be loved on our own volition, that we would choose Him, choose to love Him, and that our love would be best expressed in our obedience to His good commands, good because they flow from God’s good heart - which we know, because we know Him, having been saved by that love - thus, with appreciation and admiration, we love Him and are coming to trust Him and His commands. (John 14:21)

Here we go!  Go!  No!!

1:1 God’s merciful judgment - their sin has reached me, but not its limit

• God’s omniscience 

• God’s foreknowledge 

• God’s just judgment

• People, nations, persons: His waiting is because He knows how to save and keep who becomes His own (Gen 15:16; 2Peter 3:8-9)

We must learn that if someone has breath, they have hope and are alive by God’s mercy (Romans 2:1-4) - God’s mercy is still (showered) on them despite their sin, and it seems He never relents in offering Himself even to those who will ultimately reject Him and His offer of life

• Matthew 5:43-48

• Luke 6:27-36

• John 3:19-21 (in light of: Jn 1:12-14,16-17; 3:16-18)

1:3 We must be careful how we live - holiness and Christ’s righteousness, loving the Father as we’ve been loved, and living a life worthy of our calling (Jn 13:34; Eph 4:1; 5:1-2 - this is our love and admiration for Jesus) 

• Our sin does not happen in a vacuum, it affects those around us 

• Including our testimony of God’s love to us, in us, and through us - as a matter of the love relationship we have with our Father 

Merchant sailors - yes, it seems they repent AND worship the Lord, Creator God.  So, was it Jonah’s sin that saved them?  No, God’s mercy.  But, it was shown through Jonah, while he was disobeying!  So, what should we say? 

• Romans 5:20-21 - 6:1-14 (,15-23)

This is about love - it has always been about love. Our love, the Father’s children’s love for Him and His commands.  Love = obedience: devotion and affection to please the One who loves us so

• John 14:14-15, 21-23, 15:9-10; 16:27

We are the messengers of hope, of God’s mercy and grace in the face of Jesus…

We are to bring the message of God’s mercy, and the hope it provides, and let Jesus, by His Spirit, make the change and save and transform the life. 

• Romans 12:14-21

Jonah Week One

Jonah: a man, a prophet of Israel, sent with a message of hope to a people not his own, a cruel people in violent opposition to his own: a little historical context for our time in and with Jonah.

Reading the story of Jonah afresh, as if we’ve never read it before.  

• What do I remember? 

• What do I know? 

• What is significant about this little book?

We might ask the following questions:

“Were Israel and Ninevah enemies during Jonah’s time?”  Why, yes!  They were, in fact, bitter enemies.  Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and they did not get along 

During the time of Jonah, Israel and Assyria, were not on friendly terms. The Assyrians were a powerful and expansionist empire that posed a significant threat to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians had already conquered many Israelite territories and taken some of the Israelites into captivity.

So, at the time Jonah was sent to Nineveh, there was a hostile relationship between the two regions. It's important to note that the biblical story of Jonah is often interpreted as a demonstration of God's mercy and the possibility of repentance, even for those considered enemies of Israel. Jonah's mission to Nineveh was to call the people to repentance, which they did, and this resulted in God's mercy being extended to them.

“Was there violence between Israel and Assyria during Jonah’s time and prior?”  Yes, there was violence and conflict between Israel and Assyria during Jonah's time and in the years leading up to it. The Assyrian Empire was known for its aggressive expansion and conquests. 

Prior to Jonah's mission to Nineveh, the Assyrians had been involved in military campaigns in the region, and Israel had been one of their targets. This hostile relationship and the violence between the two nations were part of the historical context in which the events of the Book of Jonah took place. Jonah's mission to Nineveh was absolutely remarkable because it called for the repentance of a people who were considered enemies of Israel, thus highlighting the theme of divine mercy and the possibility of reconciliation.

“How violent were Assyria’s tactics during and before Jonah’s time?” The Assyrians were known for their brutal and ruthless tactics in warfare, both during and before Jonah's time. They were one of the most feared and aggressive empires of the ancient world. Some of their violent tactics included:

1. Siege Warfare: The Assyrians were adept at conducting long and brutal sieges of cities. They would often surround a city, cutting off its supplies and subjecting the inhabitants to hunger and disease.

2. Deportations: The Assyrians practiced mass deportations of conquered peoples. They would forcefully relocate populations from their homelands to different parts of the empire to weaken resistance and assimilate the conquered people into the Assyrian culture.

3. Pillaging and Plunder: They would loot and pillage cities and temples, taking valuable treasures and enslaving people.

4. Harsh Punishments: The Assyrians were known for their cruel treatment of captured leaders and rebels. They would often inflict severe physical punishment and torture.

5. Psychological Warfare: They used fear as a weapon, often employing tactics such as public displays of brutality to terrify those who might resist.

6. Forced Tribute: Conquered nations were required to pay heavy tributes to the Assyrian king, further burdening their economies.

The violence and cruelty of the Assyrians were notorious and had a significant impact on the ancient Near East. It's against this backdrop of Assyrian aggression that the story of Jonah, who was sent to deliver a message of repentance and mercy to the people of Nineveh, is set in the Bible.

Sent: Jonah; Jesus; us, "me": but how are we, how am I, to go? AS! John 7:18

We are going to be embarking on a journey, us, ones who have been sent by Jesus, AS He was sent, to see how it is that we are to go - with what heart, mind, attitude, and message.  We are going to walk (and swim) with Jonah, to see how he went.  

But first, we will set the stage of our being “sent”, that is, what it is that God is doing when He invades the space of the enemy and plunders him. 

Isaiah 49:25-26  25But this is what the Lord says: “...captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save…Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

Matthew 12:29 “...how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.”

Paul here beautifully describes Jesus’ pursuit of us, His plundering us from the enemy… 

Philippians 3:12-19. “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Philippians 3:12 “I make every effort to take hold of”

Persecute - zealously, vigorously hunt down - pursue with haste, chasing, desiring to overtake and apprehend

Philippians 3:12 continued “Taken hold of me” to make me plunder

Lay hold of, to seize, tight hold of, catch, capture, overtake - aggressively take - with decisive initiative, grasping in a forceful manner - making it, me, one’s own - to appropriate

And then we must ask ourselves: How did Jesus come?  How was He sent?  In what manner and way did He enter into our lives?  To judge and condemn or to save?  As the glorious one?  Or, as a human, in our flesh, for the purpose of understanding and sympathizing, to compassionately relate with us that He might represent us accurately?  We see that Jesus would condescend to meet us here in our flesh, He would become like us - yet without sin - and we are called, sent, to do the same - AS Jesus. 

Philippians 2:5-8  5In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in very nature a God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Hebrews 2:14-18  14Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death…   17For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

How did Paul go? Did he insist that they be like him?  Or, did he accommodate those to whom he was sent 

1Corinthians 9:19-23 (Heb 2:14-18; John 1:9-14; 2Cor 1:3-7, 12-13)

19Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”  (Heb 2:14-18; John 1:9-14; 2Cor 1:3-7, 12-13)

In fact, Paul rebukes Peter for hypocritically retreating from their accommodation of the gentile believers, resorting back to his “Israeliness” and distancing himself from the people to whom they had been sent. 

Galatians 2:11-14 11When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.  14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?  (Eph 2:8-10; Phil 3:1-11)

This is even after Peter purposely accommodated Cornelius by entering into his home and remaining with him 

Acts 10

In Jesus’ economy of love expressed with mercy and grace, it seems, How we go seems to be as important as that we go 

So let us ask ourselves: To whom have I been sent?  Who is in my circle? With whom do I share space and time? 

Brothers and sisters in Christ with whom I am to love, fellowship with, and serve

Those who have yet to hear and receive what Jesus offers - forgiveness of their sin and eternal life

Jonah was sent, and Jonah, well, was successful… 

Luke 11:29-32  The Sign of Jonah - 29As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 

32The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

It is going to be very important that we see that Jesus uses Jonah’s experience as a foreshadowing of what will happen, but also, to express the truth that, now, He and the Kingdom, are here, and are a “greater thing than Jonah”.  We need to see that Jesus’ person, the fulness of His message, His manner, and way, were in every way superior to that of this great profit.

Thus, Jesus said, there is a greater thing than Jonah here and among you… Jesus, sent by the Father

John 3:16-21  16For God so loved the world that he gave (sent) His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 

18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 

19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

The transition from Jesus to the Church, us, as ambassidors to those we have been assigned, and sent… in essence God so loves the world thst He sends us to the world, and if God loves the world enough to save those who would receive, we ought to, too. 

• Jesus said John 8:12; 9:5; 12:36 “I am the light of the world…” (Phil 2:15)

• Jesus then said  Matthew 5:14-15 “You are the light of the world” (Eph 5:8; 1Thes 5:5)

• Jesus said John 14:11-13 “...whoever believes in me will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father….”

And so, now, there is a greater thing, still, than Jonah… as, we, His disciples, the Church, have been sent AS Jesus was sent…

John 17:13-19  

6“I have revealed you a to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of b your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17Sanctify them by d the truth; your word is truth. 18As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

20“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

24“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

25“Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26I have made you e known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

“How, how could this be?”  We might ask.  Because, AS Jesus was sent by the Father, so He has sent us - not merely going, but because we are going as ones sent - going AS:

• Who we are as person’s - born again by God’s saving grace

• Adopted sons and daughters, co-heirs with Christ - our position in God’s kingdom-household 

• Ambassiders of God’s kingdom with the message of mercy, grace, and forgiveness in Christ - the very one that we have received and experienced and now are privileged to bring

• Vessels, temples of the Holy Spirit, indwelled by the Spirit of God in Christ- the power by which we go

• Jesus went: His manner and way, the character of Jesus AS we have been sent by Jesus, just AS Jesus was sent by His Father - the character and nature of Jesus,which IS the fruit of the Spirit AS we conformed into His likeness.  

Jesus, imitating His merciful Father, as Jesus would say only what He heard His Father say, and do only what He  saw His good Father do -  the manner and way - the heart of compassion and mercy  with which His Father had done and does.  So, we are to do the same: everything we have heard Jesus say, every we have seen Jesus do, we are to be imitators! 

This is a privileged and blessed partnership between God and us… 

While Jesus builds the Church, we are to go… sent out to make disciples… 

Matthew 28:16-20   16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

But, it is not just that we have been sent, it is how we have been sent “AS” Jesus was sent He sends us…

That word “AS” has in it some deep and profound meaning and implication - a call not just to go, having been sent, but how it is we go, as, Jesus was sent, with the attitude and heart with which Jesus was sent, the manner and way, we are now to go. 

John 4: 8; Mark 7: Jesus remained with the ones He called to repentance as long as they would remain and beautifully demonstrates for us how to approach unbelievers in a gracious and kind way, in essence, earning the right to be heard

Acts Paul, in Athens, gives us a wonderful example of how to approach those who do not know…

1Peter 3 Peter, gives us the most beautiful and simple instructions on how to share the reason for our hope when we are asked…

What is important to Jesus? Fellowship: being present, and eating a meal together. Me and Him, us together. Rev 19:6-10; Lu 22:15

What is important to Jesus?  Fellowship: being present, and eating a meal together.  Me and Him, us together. 

Fellowship: Koinonia: what is shared in common on the basis of fellowship; partnership community.  

• Joint participation

• One another: The intimate bond of fellowship which unites Christians absolutely (Phil 2:1-5)

• With our God, Himself: The fellowship of Christians with the Father and Christ (1John 1:3, 7)

• Partakers of the same mind as God and Christ and of the blessings arising therefrom (1Cor 2)

How do we know?  God likes food and fellowship

Genesis 2:8-9 8Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.

Psalm 23 (Ps 104:14-15)

Revelation 19:6-10 The wedding feast of the Lamb

Luke 22:15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins.”

That we would remember Him by the meal that He eagerly ate with His disciples

Acts 2:42-47

Not only with one another but with Him:  taking time to be present and eat of the Bread of Life and drinks of the Fountain of Living Waters (Isa 12:3; 49:10; 55:1; 58:11; John 4:13-14; 6:35, 48-58; 7:37-38; Rev 7:17)

Revelation 3:20   “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

True Fellowship: taking time to be present with Jesus to eat and drink of and with, Jesus, by His Spirit; and to come together with the saints.

• Word

• Prayer

• Worship 

• Breaking bread 

• Giving generously 

• Serving humbly and graciously 

And today, we come to eat and drink, together, with Him and one another

1Corinthians 11:23-26

Matthew 26:26-30

Advent Week Two: Peace | How the Advents of Christ Bring Peace to Our Souls and Our World

Advent Week Two: Peace

How the Advents of Christ Bring Peace to Our Souls and Our World

Sketch the picture of the world prior to the fall. Adam and Eve are within the garden, enjoying fellowship with God and one another. Then Eve encounters the dragon/serpent/accuser – Satan.

She is tempted by him and falls. Adam joins her in this fall and immediately they realize their nakedness. They are vulnerable. They are exposed. And so they dart away and find covering.

They hear God in the cool of the morning, walking among the garden. This once would have been cause for great joy and fellowship, but now it strikes fear in their hearts. They have become fearful of God and fearful of one another – even in the perfect environment. (Sometimes we think we will have peace once we create just the perfect life situation – but here we see Adam & Eve in the perfect environment – naked and afraid. No peace to be had.) There is now, no longer peace with God or man. Adam and Eve cover themselves, separate in distrust, and hide from God. Uncertainty begins to brew. They are vulnerable – exposed – and there’s no telling for certain what will happen now.

God calls out to them, and Adam responds. They discuss what happened and God reveals the consequences of their sin to each creature – Adam, Eve and the Serpent. But he also foretells of a time when one day, a child from Adam & Eve will crush the head of the serpent – and the curse along with its progenitor will be overcome.

However, because of their sin and God’s desire to redeem humanity, he sends Adam & Eve out of the garden. Within the garden is a tree of life, and whoever eats of that tree will live forever we’re told. So were Adam & Eve permitted to continue living in the garden, they would live forever in fear and separation from God and one another. In other words, they would bring Hell upon themselves.

So God clothes them – he makes a temporary covering for them. The first death recorded in the scriptures is that of the animal sacrifice made to cover Adam & Eve by God. Next God walks them out of the garden and sets up the first armed creature in the Bible – a terrible and holy cherubim who wields a flaming sword and stands guard day and night. And so we begin to see signs that there is a rupture between God and man. But it is God’s compassion and mercy – his desire to see men redeemed and restored that drives his placing of the guard. He is protecting Adam & Eve and their future children from the warped proclivity of their heart – He knows that now the hearts of men are warped and the temptation to eat of the trees within the garden would be strong and there is little men would not do to accomplish what is in their heart.

When we next hear of Adam and Eve in Genesis 4 – we learn of their two sons. Cain & Abel. And from this short story we discover that the curse’s effect has fallen to the children of Adam & Eve as well.

We learn that though God has removed humanity from the garden, he is still fairly familiar with the family. Adam & Eve have raised their sons to worship God and God is content to still deal with humanity directly – though we must remember the temporary animal coverings they needed to do so – things were still muted.

As the story goes Cain worked the ground as a sort of gardener and Abel tended to the animals as a kind of shepherd or animal husband. It was their custom to make offerings to God. However, in this story we see that God rejects Cain’s offering while accepting Abel’s offering. Human worship is a flawed thing now. What was once natural – pleasing God in stewarding the earth with him – is now complicated and broken. Something in Cain’s heart showed up in his offering to God and it was rejected. (God has always delighted not in sacrifices but in contrite and longing hearts.)

Cain, frustrated with God’s rejection of his offering, seeks to solve the problem apart from God – He kills his brother. And so begins the long trajectory of broken worship of God and it’s fruit, broken relationship with our fellow humans.

Again and again, God offers reconciliation and relationship but again and again the prophets, priests and kings of men turn away from God to worship idols, false gods, and their own power and as a result the world falls into waves of war and undue suffering. As we read through the Old Testament we see this again and again and again. A potential hero is raised, and within a few chapters he’s caught up in his own desires and turns away from God, bringing frustration, separation, and destruction into the world.

Yet, throughout the pages of the Old Testament God promises us again and again that he is faithful – that he will fulfill the promise he made to our first parents in the garden. His prophets, many of them bringing hard news to the people of Israel, also reminded them of these promises, calling the faithful of God to look forward to the day when peace between God and man is restored and the Lord reigns with us in his eternal kingdom.

But who could ever possibly bring lasting peace between God and man? And how could they do it? The tree of life was locked away and faded into obscurity. And besides, every person born of man and woman seems to be plagued by the same patterns of sin and self/other destruction. Sure David was a great King, but even he had his flaws – and many of them were amplified in his son, King Solomon who was himself blessed by God with inspired wisdom. The wisdom God gave him seemed to amplify his brokenness as much as it amplified his righteousness.

How would we ever have peace?

Enter Mary.

It is true that mankind has fallen. And it is true that every child of humanity will be plagued by the same temptations and corruptions as their parents. And so God does the unthinkable. He enters into the story. But not as God alone. God becomes man. He who created all that ever was and all that ever will be. He that sustains all creation by the power of his word. He who could not be contained in the entire universe, takes on flesh and blood and becomes a child in her womb. God the Son takes on flesh.

God enters into the story of humanity, because of his great love and his promise to redeem the world and set things right to Eve in the garden (Genesis 3:15.)

Christ’s first coming answers the ache of every faithful human heart for thousands of years. “How can we ever have peace with God again? What hope do we have?” Christ becomes our second representative before God. Just as Adam represented us in the garden, so Christ represents us in the world. And where all of our forefathers failed – Jesus remains faithful!

Jesus grows in wisdom and stature and begins his ministry, ushering in a new way of life beginning at his Baptism at the hands of John the Baptist. It is here that God pronounces his love & acceptance of Christ – his Son – and here the Holy Spirit falls on Jesus. Here we see the turning of the old ways into the glories of the new ways. The temporary makes way for the eternal. Here we see the man covered in animal skin, coming from the wilderness submit to the man who comes from heaven, clothed in righteousness, to take away the sins of the world.

And that is exactly what Christ does. Hebrews tell us that He was tempted and tried in every way, just as we are, yet he was without sin. Where we fail, and where all those who came before Jesus failed, he did not. He loved God perfectly and fully and loved his neighbors as himself.

He took on himself the burden of humanity and he carried it on the cross up atop of the mountain of Golgotha. Where he was nailed to the tree of death in our place as our representative. He was crushed by the weight of our sin and there the God man tasted death. He who was without sin. He who was clothed in righteousness. He who was holy – without spot or blemish – drank the full cup of sin and death on our behalf. The second Adam did what the first one failed to do. He took full responsibility for our fallen state and took the burden on himself.

But three days later that tree of death became a tree of life. For Jesus was raised from the dead. He had overcome sin, and death. In drinking the consequences of sin down to the last drop, life sprung forth from the grave. The light and life of God is greater than the darkness and death of man. So Jesus, fully God and fully man rescued humanity from the cycle of deception, death and darkness. He rescued us from our sins. As our representative he restored our relationship with God so that all of us in Him are counted righteous, clean, restored, free and loved. In him we are called co-heirs. Adopted sons and daughters of God. What once separated us – our sin – has been dealt with once and for all in Christ! Glory to God!

And so Christ’s first Advent makes it possible for everyone in this room to know Peace with God. To stand before our holy God, free from shame or fear. Free from guilt or worry. When God looks upon us in Christ, he sees only the radiating holiness of His Son. We are no longer clothed by the skin of a sacrificial animal, we are clothed in righteousness – Christ’s righteousness – and so can stand before God and dwell with him in peace. Our future is secure in him. Praise God!

And yet, though Christ has come – Though he has begun his kingdom on that hill of Golgotha – that Kingdom we learned about last week to which all Kingdoms flow in Isaiah’s prophecy – though we the new creation has started and we have be reborn as children of God if we are in Christ – the world is not yet full of peace, is it?

Our hearts still yearn. Our world still jolts and jitters. Brother rises against brother. Friends betray friends. Family forsakes us. We fail even our own modest expectations of ourselves. Don’t we?

Though Christ has come, and though his kingdom has been established things are still not quite what they will be. So God has given us His Holy Spirit, He has wed himself to each of us in Christ to enable us and empower us to walk differently from the rest of the world. He has given us the Spirit so that we might learn to walk in Christ’s righteousness in the midst of a world still reeling with sin. He has given us the Spirit so that we might have a sure hope – just as Christ who came before us did – that one day all will be fully and totally made right.

And just like Christ, because of the Spirit, we are able to bring about a new way of life.
Because of the Spirit…

We are able to see, savor and share truth.
We are able to be gracious to our enemies.
We are able to forgive those who wrong us.
We are able to repent when we go astray.
We are able to overcome sins which have plagued us since our youth.
We are able to be kind in the face of a raging world.
We are able to draw from a deep well of peace in a world still very much set aflame and find rest for our weary souls.

But our hearts still long for a richer, deeper, fuller peace. Don’t they?

And that longing is in anticipation of the second Advent of Christ – his second arrival. That arrival will mark the final defeat of all who oppose the Kingdom and seek to bring temptation, death and destruction to the children of God and his creation.

First he came like a babe in the womb. Next he will come like a victorious warrior King.

First he came like a comforter and counselor. Next he will come like a righteous Judge.

First he came to drink the cup of death. Next he will come, casting away Satan & all who belong to him into eternal death.

Then, when Christ returns, there will be no end to peace on earth or goodwill to men. Then our sins and follies will be forgotten. Then there will be no stranger and no shame. Then there will be no lurking serpent – crawling down low and accusing us from afar. Then will be only the full embodiment of all God’s Kingdom forever. Amen?

So what do we do now? In the in between as we await the return?

Christ was born into the midst of war. C.S. Lewis said it this way in his book Mere Christianity:

“Christianity is the story of how the rightful king has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.”

― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The rightful king of the world, Jesus, has landed. He has lived, died, and rose again sending the Holy Spirit to fill us. And now he calls us to follow in his footsteps sowing seeds of discord through things like loving our neighbor, blessing those who persecute us, praying for those who have ill-will toward us, giving generously to God and man expecting nothing in return, speaking the truth in love, fasting and feasting, exercising self-control, living lives of love – not fear, raising families that love God and love others, gathering for worship to hear his word, take his body & blood, and lift our voices with singing – singing joyfully – proclaiming with gladness that the Lord has come until he comes again.

Christ has set us free. We are being conformed to his image. We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, declaring peace to a world hell-bent on war. War with ourselves. War with our neighbors. War with our humanity. And we are called to walk in the midst of it all declaring “peace on Earth, and goodwill to mankind.”

To a world scratching and clawing to cobble together some temporary peace, Christ has given us the mission of living in eternal peace and calling all who would come to join us as we look forward and anticipate his return. The second advent.

Begin where you are. If you have not yet believed the gospel of Jesus Christ – that apart from him you are stuck spinning your wheels in sin – turn to him and repent. Start there. Confess your need for salvation from yourself, confess your guilt as someone who has positioned him or herself against the rightful King. Ask his forgiveness and he will gladly give it.

And then, set to work living as people of peace. Strive to become peacemakers in whatever role God has you.

If you are a child – the one command God has given you specifically is to honor and obey your parents in the Lord. Most of what you need to learn about loving God and loving neighbor can be learned by following those wise instructions. All the other commands apply to you, but in his wisdom God knew fewer rules are easier to pay attention to - so work at that one until you’ve got it - then the rest will come.

If you are a Father or Mother – Grandpa or Grandpa, raise your children in the fear and love of the Lord. Model faithfulness and repentance. Help them to know that we serve a gracious and just King and help them to learn how to grow.

If you are a single adult or even married without kids, Paul says you’ve got a unique role and ability to pour yourself out in loving the bride of Christ in a way us married-with-kid folk could never dream. Resist being a consumer and follow Christ, by the Spirit, and offer your bodies as a living sacrifice holy and pleasing to God.

And to all of us, may we pray without ceasing until the Lord comes again. May he find us ready, looking and living, expectantly whether we cross the Jordan of death or see him break forth through the heavens above. May he look at each one of us covered by the righteousness of Christ and say, “Well done.”

Would you join me in prayer?