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Man Overboard: Fear, Faith and Sacrifice

August 17, 2008

Jonah 1:4 – 16

4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6 So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.” 7 And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8 Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9 And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10 Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. 11 Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12 He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13 Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14 Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15 So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. 16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.

Introduction

What would we think of an Olympic athlete who used steroids, went on all night benders, and got arrested the night before the big race? What a hypocrite, and complete loss of vision. Instead of staying true to their life goal, their actions betrayed what they believed in.

Similarly, it is easy for us to not have our “walk” match our “talk,” or our “creed” to be betrayed by our “deeds.” This is something all of us struggle with, yet how will we deal with it? This text in Jonah helps us to answer that question.

Overarching Themes in Jonah (from last week):

• God’s sovereignty overy every detail
• God’s mercy is pervasive for great and small, sinner and saint
• God’s mission (the missio Dei) as sovereignly brings His mercy to the nations

Motifs from Jonah and the sailors are fear, faith and sacrifice.

My prayer for us is that we would:

• Not fear man, other’s opinions, or anything else in all of creation, but instead have “the fear of the Lord.”
• Have a godly, living faith that is not contradicted by our “walk” or “deeds” but instead compels and fuels a godly, holy lifestyle.
• Root these two in our awe, love, worship, and trust for the Christ who has hurled Himself overboard in the greatest Sacrifice on our behalf.

Fear

God “hurls” or “throws” a storm (lwj, “to cast”) onto the sea, and the mariners begin to “hurl” (same word) their cargo overboard in an effort to lighten the ship and keep from being wrecked. Not only do they get rid of their precious cargo, they each begin to call out to their respective gods, hoping that someone from the Pantheon will save them.

This reminds us that prayer is not a uniquely Christian exercise, and that all men placed in a corner turn to whatever notion of the divine is in their heads. We must therefore exercise caution to only pray as the Lord has taught us in His Word: chiefly for His glory and will, as summarized in the Lord’s Prayer, and with faith in the name of Jesus Christ.

The sailor’s fear is transformed at Jonah’s confession (1:9) from fearing death at the storm to a greater fear – facing the God who has created sea and land, calm and storm. The sailors now have an “exceeding fear,” and their goal changes from saving themselves to attempting to help Jonah (1:13). They pray to the Lord (using His covenant Name, YHWH!) for pardon according to His will, and offer sacrifices and vows. Here is a good example of two kinds of fear. All flesh is to fear the Lord, for He is the One who can “kill body and soul,” as He is “a consuming fire.” Nevertheless, those who entrust themselves heart and soul to Christ have been brought near, and this Wild God is also our Abba Father. Therefore, we ought not fear man or his opinion of us, nor death nor any other thing, but rather seek the beginning of wisdom in “the fear of the Lord.”

Faith

What began to change the sailor’s perspective was Jonah’s confession. Upon being interrogated by the captain and the sailors, Jonah gives a very orthodox answer (1:9, cf. 4:2). And yet in both instances, despite Jonah’s correct theology, his life is in shambles. He is fleeing his God and disobeying a direct command on the one hand, and despising God’s mercy in arrogance on the other. His actions recall our opening question, of the inconsistency we all experience when “we do not do what we want to do.”

How shall we respond to this dire situation? Will we attempt to bolster our apparent lack of works with more energy spent making sure we have enough holiness, missionary zeal, and love for the lost? Will we redouble our efforts to make our “deeds” match our “creed?” No, as we have said time and time again, Christianity is not about getting in by grace only to read the fine print about holy living later on. The Christian life is not about staying in after God lets us in, but – rather than being works-driven – we are to live Gospel-driven lives.

But perhaps one passage that may sound like just the opposite is our New Testament reading, II Peter 1:1 – 10. After all, doesn’t Peter tell the Christians to “supplement” their faith with brotherly affection, goodness, and love, all to make their calling and election sure? Yes, but to think that Peter means that we must focus on these is to miss Peter’s point. Peter starts off reminding us that “all that we need for life and godliness” has already been graciously given to us by God’s divine power through His great and precious promises (1:3 – 4). So yes, we are to add virtue, knowledge, godliness and love to our faith, but not as something we do. We add these through God’s promise and power, as gifts already given. Jonah’s mistake was thinking that the God who called him to Ninevah wouldn’t be with him every step of the way, upholding Jonah and his message by the Word of His power.

Sacrifice

The sailors on board with Jonah, despite their best efforts, have despaired of escaping the storm on their own strength. (Even the ship has turned against them!) They put the issue pointedly in 1:11 – “What shall we do to you?” In order for these sailors to escape and be saved, something must happen to Jonah. Though the ocean squall had been originally for Jonah, the rage of the sea was equally for them (1:13), and in their lack of fear for YHWH, in their worship of other gods and misplaced faith, they knew their impending death would be just. In order for the sailors to be saved, Jonah must become a scapegoat and be “hurled” overboard.

And so Jonah’s life is, on a small display, a pre-preaching of the greatest sacrifice. We, who have failed to fear the Lord and instead have been cowed by the idols of our hearts; we who have professed faith in Christ and yet do not live lives that acknowledge this; we too deserve to perish in the face of life’s storms. But the “sign of Jonah” reminds us that One greater than Jonah is here, and He has cast Himself overboard on our behalf, going down into death where we should have died, despite having lived the life that none of us could live. The sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross has, by God’s divine power according to His great and precious promises, secured all that we need for life and godliness, so that we might add to our faith virtue, missionary zeal, and love for the lost.

Anyone can fear a God who is mighty enough to kill them. We realize that before a holy God, we all deserve to die. But what will you about a God, who should bring you to death, but instead dies in your place? Fear this God, and offer your lives as living sacrifices in Christ.

Jeff was one of the first people I met when I first came to Rock. His age and physical presence set him apart quickly, but I soon learned one other important trait about Jeff: his love of Christian literature. In the weeks to come, I was literally bombarded by magazines, articles, and CDs filled with recorded lectures and sermons by prominent Christian pastors and educators. Jeff was concerned that his pastors know what the Bible had to say, and what it had to say about the hot topics in Christian culture. Every Sunday, I was guaranteed to leave with more Christian material than I came with. Jeff would teasingly remind me that, when a man reached his age, it was better to listen to good Christian literature than try to read with old eyes (hence all the CDs!).

I am thankful to God for Jeff. Through him, God reminded me of the importance of knowing what God has said, why He has said it, and the importance for us to obey His Word. Jeff was concerned I knew about hot topic issues: evolution, sexuality, inerrancy of Scripture, and other topics were consistently at the top of the reading/listening lists I was given by him. And though Jeff didn’t always agree with everyone, he was a man full of fortitude, and stuck to what he believed the Bible taught. This Sunday, we will thank God for Jeff W.

A funeral service will be held for Jeff this Sunday. Details to follow.

In beginning our new sermon series on Jonah, we considered the difficult context that Jonah’s mission entailed – the wicked, antagonistic city of Ninevah. From our New Testament reading of Mark 4:35 – 41, we considered Jesus, a Prophet greater than Jonah, who was also called and sent to a difficult place: our dark and sinful world. But the context of Mark 4, and into chapter 5, helps us remember just how dismal Jesus’ call truly was. After calming the storm from the boat, Jesus and the disciples encounter the Gerasene demoniac. Now this isn’t merely being called to a hostile people; this is something on a whole new level.

The first few verses of chapter 5 remind us that the demon-possessed man lived in an abandoned graveyard; naked except for the remnants of chains, broken metal and glass that clung to him, he overpowered and terrified anyone who came too close. The Legion of demons that inhabited the man had completely ruined and devastated every aspect of his life: spiritually, relationally, and physically, his life was a literal hell.

And to such a world Jesus was sent. The Creator came to His creation, and saw His magnum opus – humanity – reduced to the slave of demons. And as Jesus bound the strong man and plundered his house, He accomplished redemption on our behalf. When the going got tough, Jesus got going.

Of course, the neighbors, friends, and contacts that we interact with and are within our spheres are not nearly as deformed physically as the Gerasene demoniac, and yet all of them are on par with his spiritual depravity. The Good News required to set a demon-possessed man free is the same Gospel that our family, friends and co-workers need to hear today.

While we may not have to face a Gerasene demoniac at work or at our family reunions, why are we still so reluctant to share the Gospel of what Jesus has done in history and how its impacted our lives? Is it because we dislike a God that justifies the ungodly (Ninevah) like Jonah? Are we afraid of a demon-prompted backlash from a Gerasene demoniac? Probably neither. Rather (and this is a whole different post), it is that we are not concerned enough for the glory of God, to spread the crown rights of King Jesus, and that we are not jealous for the fame of His great Name.

But regardless, we still have that co-worker or that family member that needs to hear the Gospel, and yet we’re not sure we’re up to it. So how will you handle this burden of responsibility? Will you swear off Jonah’s bad example, and man up? When the going gets tough, do the tough get going?

Well for those of us who are evangelistic sissies, the good news is even for us: Jesus is the tough guy, and by His Spirit’s empowering work in our lives, He conquers even our fears to spread the Gospel through us, mere jars of clay. The Sovereign God who creates storms and summons great sea monsters in Jonah and who quiets storms and banishes spiritual monsters in Mark 4 is also the Great Prophet who has given us the Great Commission: “All authority in heaven and earth has been give to me. Therefore, go into all the world… and lo, I am with you always.” The reason we can share the Good News isn’t because we’re tougher than Jonah, or more bold than Jesus, but rather because in Christ we have been promised the strength and courage that comes with having Jesus continually on our behalf and at our side. We have a better word than Jonah’s, and though the threat still remains (Repent, lest God destroy you) there is also a promise: for all the wicked Ninevites, for all the demon-possessed Gerasenes, and for all the cowardly prophets who can’t make good on the commission God has given them, there stands a Perfect One in your place, and He offers you the pleasures of God forevermore.

An Introduction to the Book of Jonah: A Tale of Two Prophets

August 10, 2008

Jonah 1:1-5  Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”  3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.  4 But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up.  5 Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.

Themes of Jonah

Jonah is not primarily about God’s universal love, repentance, or other moralisms, but rather the central theme is God’s pursuit of us by relentless grace in Christ Jesus.

Jesus is the main character in this drama.  One greater than Jonah is here (cf. Matthew 12:38 – 41).

Other key themes:

• God’s sovereignty over everything (storms, wind, fish, plants, men)
• God’s mercy toward blatant (Ninevah) and hidden (Jonah) sin
• God’s mission: to display His sovereign mercy

Characters in Jonah

The hypocritical prophet Jonah, who disobeys the word of the Lord

The great and wicked city Ninevah, who has a history (and a future!) with Israel

The merciful God, who is pursuing the Ninevites and Jonah!

Jonah and Christ

While Jonah sinks further down – away from God’s will and into sin – his sleep is an effort to flee God’s mercy toward Ninevah.  Jonah cannot accept that God would be merciful to a wicked city like Ninevah, that God would justify the ungodly (Romans 4:5).  Christ sleeps in the comfort of His Father’s will, and sovereignly calms the storm.  He is the True and Greatest Prophet, who brings warning but also Good News.   He has come not for the healthy but the sick, and is not ashamed to call us brothers.

Ambassadors of Christ

1. Join the missio Dei – the mission of God.  As He called Jonah, so now He calls us to spread His Word.
2. Let us be merciful to others, even as God has been merciful to us in Christ Jesus.  Specifically, let us be quick to forgive, merciful in speech, and merciful in finances.
3. Finally, entrust yourselves to Christ, your Great True Prophet, who speaks God’s Word for you, to you, and through you, trusting that He will give opportunities for evangelism and He will never leave you.

Well, here’s to hoping for better things for this blog. One of the purposes of this blog is to keep members and friends of Rock Presbyterian Church in the loop as news, events, and details need disseminating. So, at least the blog has that going for it. Every week, we’ll try to bring you a devotional, news to prepare you for next week’s worship, as well as prayer requests and other information. Feel free to leave a comment, or email as well!