A Story of God's (Sovereign) Grace

Well, a few months ago, as I was taking one of my children a little bit further north for a

running club that she's a part of, I saw a sign for a local church broadly announcing

and proclaiming, your story's important.

And while it is certainly true that God loves us, that he cares deeply about us,

that he knows us intimately, the sign pointed to an age-old universal temptation

that faces human beings in all places and all times.

It's that temptation, that desire to make the story all about me.

To steal the plot line from our Creator and to garner the glory for ourselves.

It's what Adam and Eve did in the garden.

Taking and eating the fruit so that they could establish their own standard of what was right and what was wrong.

It's the same temptation that we read about today in Jonah chapter 1.

Jonah 1 · chapter mention

And if we're honest with ourselves, it's the same temptation we face every morning we wake up.

In Colossians 1, 15 through 20, the Apostle Paul clearly presents God's plot.

In summary, he states,

Let us keep this in mind as we consider the first chapter of Jonah as a cautionary tale.

A cautionary tale for those of us tempted to steal the plot.

Tempted to steal the plot by making the story about us instead of making it about God's sovereign grace.

But rest assured, even when we attempt to steal the story from our Creator,

we discover, like we do in Jonah,

that God sovereignly weaves both good and evil,

obedience and rebellion,

the mighty and the lowly of this world,

and the entire pageantry of his creation

into the plot of his enduring grace.

And so when we read through Jonah 1, 1 through 16,

I'd ask for you to be on the lookout for three warnings

that we will consider

about elevating our story

and stealing the plot.

But before we do that,

if you would join me in prayer,

and then we will turn our attention to reading Jonah 1.

Let us pray.

Amen.

God, we are thankful for your word.

God, for it is a bedrock of truth

in a world that doesn't know what truth is.

And God, we are thankful for your son, Jesus Christ.

God, we are thankful for your Holy Spirit,

and we ask that your Holy Spirit might even now

prepare our hearts for the reading and the teaching of your word.

And all of this might be done for our good and your glory.

In Christ's name we pray.

Amen.

All right.

So if you would join with me in turning to Jonah 1,

we're going to read all the way up to the point

where everybody thinks that Jonah is about,

which is the big fish.

We're not even going to touch the big fish today.

And so let's start with Jonah 1, verse 1.

Jonah 1:1

Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying,

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it,

for their evil has come up before me.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

He went down to Joppa and found the ship going to Tarshish.

So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish,

away from the presence of the Lord.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land,

but they could not,

for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.

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.

So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea,

and the sea ceased from its raging.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly,

and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

Well, we see the first warning here in the first three verses.

And really, what we see before getting into that is,

you know, in today's culture,

in today's Christian culture, I would say,

we make much ado about open doors.

And I remember, as a kid,

pleading with God,

God, would you just open this door or close this door?

That way I would know what you want me to do.

So we plead with God for these open doors or the closed doors.

Oftentimes, you know, it's more like,

God, would you open the easy doors,

and would you close the doors that would be hard for me to walk through?

We also praise God.

You know, we praise God when he opens the doors,

especially the ones we want open in,

and we have this sense of peace that God is working in our lives

and moving us towards this one open door.

And we praise him for closing doors,

and we see what would have happened maybe if we'd gone through that door,

and we thank him for the protection that he's given to us.

And then when we're talking with other people about decisions that we've made,

we present this concept of open and closed doors

as a way of saying,

hey, yeah, you know, this is justification for why I'm making this decision.

And sometimes we fail to avail ourselves

of what God has presented to us

as a way of knowing what it is that we are to do

to glorify and enjoy him forever.

We may ask for open doors,

but do we look to Scripture

where God has clearly laid out

what it is that he requires of us?

Do we pray and seek

the confirmation of the Holy Spirit

as we consider,

and do we ask for the wisdom

to make these difficult decisions?

Do we consult godly men and women

that God has placed in our midst

who have life experiences

that can help us

to know what it is that we are to do

and to make a wise decision?

And I bring that up

because really this first warning

is a warning against,

well, not nearly against,

but to beware

of following and pursuing open doors.

Because when we look at Jonah's life,

we can see here

where in many ways,

Jonah followed open doors

in direct opposition

to what God had called him to do.

God called him to go preach to the Ninevites.

Jonah said,

I don't want to do that.

And he had open doors.

He had a profession

that allowed him to travel.

Oh, open door.

He had a profession

that provided him with at least funds

to make such a trip.

Huh, open door.

He had

an ability

to go

to the

port.

Open door.

There's a port nearby.

Not only is there a port nearby,

there's a ship in that port.

Ah,

and lo and behold,

there are sailors there

that are getting ready

to depart to Tarshish,

the furthest place

away that I want to go

from Nineveh.

And guess what?

They're going to take me on

as a passenger.

Open door.

Jonah using

the very blessings

of the God

he is seeking

to flee from

just

to follow

his own plot.

And what plot is that?

Well,

God's plot was,

Jonah,

I want you to go to Nineveh

and show them grace

to be the mouthpiece

that calls them

to repentance.

Jonah's like,

nope,

nope.

God,

I want you to pour out

your wrath and judgment

on them.

I don't want to offer them

your grace.

God says,

Jonah,

I want you to go tell

the Ninevites

how much I love them.

Jonah says,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no.

No,

no.

God says,

Jonah,

I have an internal

perspective here.

I'm looking

at bringing

these people

into my kingdom.

And Jonah says,

no,

no,

no,

no,

no,

God,

these are the people

that have hurt us.

These people have killed us.

These people will invade

our land

if we give them

the chance.

No,

no,

no,

I want you

to totally

obliterate them.

So he flees

using the very blessings

that God had given him

to turn his back

on service to God.

Jonah didn't have very much

compared to what we have today.

Think of the resources

that we have

because we live

in this time

and this place.

Then how many

of those conveniences

and blessings

can we use

to justify

turning our back

on doing what God

has called us to do?

we're there

with Jonah

fleeing

from the service

of God

and we

turn from that

to him getting

on board ship

to all of a sudden

we are in

a very chaotic scene.

Right?

We see this

supernatural storm

that as the reader

we know

is God

hurling this storm

at this ship

but all we see here

are these salty sailors

who are scared.

They have not seen

a storm like this.

And so there is

a flurry of activity

as they are taking

their precious cargo.

It is those things

that make their livelihood.

It is those possessions

that they will use

to turn a profit

to take care

of their families

and they are throwing

it overboard

in some chance

to lighten the ship

that it might

break free

from the storm.

The text tells us

that the storm

is so violent

that the ship

threatens

to break apart

to disintegrate.

Now this is

no small storm.

This is a storm

that places

the lives

of Jonah

and not only Jonah

but all of the sailors

on board

in jeopardy.

But it is because of Jonah

that they are there.

Right?

Jonah,

the plot stealer,

the rebellious prophet

who insists

upon his own story

instead of following

God's story.

It's as if God

is throwing this storm

at this little vessel

saying,

Jonah,

you need to make

a plot correction.

You're going

in the wrong direction

and I need you

to turn around now.

And we see

this chaotic scene

taking place

above deck

and where is Jonah,

the plot stealer,

the one who God

is trying to get

his attention?

He's down

in the hold

of the ship.

Is he cowering?

No.

He's fast asleep.

Deep sleep.

The word there

is for sleep

like you're

in surgery asleep.

I mean,

this dude's out.

And he doesn't

even know

what's going on.

Completely

oblivious

to the fact

that his rebellion

has his life

in peril

and also

all of the sailors

on board

that ship.

So the captain

comes down

and he sees Jonah

and he says,

wake up!

Wake up,

you sleeper!

What are you doing?

Call out to your God.

Don't you know

that we're in danger here?

Perhaps,

just maybe,

your God

will hear

and he'll save us.

the race

is the question

of how could

Jonah

sleep

at a time

like that?

Man,

I've been

on a very

small ship

and in the

very small

waves

comparatively

and not

in the storm

and

let's just say,

I did not

enjoy that

and we weren't

even in the

open sea

but we were

bouncing up

and down

and the

hold is

even worse.

You get down

in there,

there's no air

moving,

start turning

green,

you wish you

were back

up on deck

but there's

Jonah

fast asleep

with a

hardened

heart

oblivious

and

calloused

to God's

plot.

It's

odd

that while

Jonah

definitely

doesn't have

peace with

God,

he's found

peace within

himself.

He's

happy,

he's content

with what

he's done.

gives me

pause

to think

are there

times in

my life

where perhaps

I've wrested

the plot

from God's

hands

and attempted

to make it

all about

me

and in

doing so

have hardened

my heart

to what

God's

calling me

to do.

That I've

pursued

my own

story

instead of

caring

about God's

plot.

But even

in the midst

of Jonah's

hardened

calloused

heart,

even in the

midst of him

running away

from God,

God's

sovereign

grace is

at work.

Even in

the midst

of his

rebellion.

You see,

the ship

captain didn't

have to go

down into

that hold.

The ship

captain didn't

have to see

Jonah.

The ship

captain didn't

have to wake

him up.

What a

grace that

God gave

Jonah in

the form of

that captain

to come

down and

to wake

him up.

Otherwise,

Jonah would

have plunged

to a

watery

grave,

along with

all the

other

sailors.

We see

God's

sovereign

grace at

work in

the casting

of lots.

These sailors

aren't doing

this,

saying,

let's see

what Yahweh

Jehovah

God has to

say about

this situation.

They're like,

hey, this is

how we figure

out whose

fault this

is.

So let's

throw some

dice.

Let's

pick some

straws.

And whoever

has the

lowest number

or the

shortest

straw,

yeah, I

guess that's

the one

who's causing

all this

trouble.

God in

his sovereign

grace ensures

that Jonah

pulls the

short straw.

It could

have been

sailor number

two for all

we know.

But God

sovereignly

oversaw it

to make

sure that

Jonah was

identified.

And then we

see God's

sovereign grace

at work in

Jonah's

confession.

Now as

soon as he

pulls the

short straw and

they start

peppering him

with questions,

he's like,

yep, it's

me.

Hi, I'm

the problem.

Yep, it's

me.

They say,

oh, okay, so

what are we

to do,

Jonah?

You're the

problem.

Tell us what

do we need

to do here.

And he

says, just

like you've

done with

your cargo,

pick me up

and hurl

me into

the sea.

And they'll

say, they're

saying, no,

no, no, no,

no, that

can't be the

answer, Jonah.

That's not the

answer.

We're going to,

I tell you what

we're going to

do, Jonah.

We are going to

row our

hardest.

So they take

their oars and

it says they

dug their oars

into the sea,

trying to get

themselves out

of this storm,

but the storm

doesn't relent.

They don't make

any progress.

In fact, the

text tells us

the storm got

worse.

The harder

they fought

against it,

the harder

the storm

fought.

But we're not

much different

than the sailors,

are we?

we're invited

to join God's

plotline

through the

free grace

offered by

Jesus Christ.

Yet there's

something that we

can't give up,

is there?

It's that age-old

temptation, that

idea of making

the story all

about me, of

self-reliance,

which is so

strong, even

in our country.

No, no, no.

We want to be

like the sailors

and say,

no, God,

God, I got

this.

Let me just

roll a little

bit harder.

Let me know

that in some

way I

contributed,

that in some

way I

earned it.

just like the

sailors struggling

to toss Jonah

overboard, we

struggle to

accept God's

rescue presented

in the once and

for all sacrifice

of Jesus

Christ.

We find

ourselves

fighting against

the prophetic

words of

Caiaphas in

John chapter

John 11 · chapter mention

11 when he

says,

better that one

man die than

the whole

nation perish.

But we

want to work

for it.

We want to

earn it.

We want to

grasp for

ourselves through

our own

efforts the

rescue that

is freely and

graciously bestowed

upon us through

faith in Jesus

Christ.

after all,

like our

first parents,

we love

pursuing our

own plot

line.

We want to

make it all

about us.

In closing,

we see that

just like

Jonah,

our story is

not the main

plot line.

Instead,

the main

plot of

Jonah's life

and of our

lives is

that of

God's

sovereign

grace

pursuing us.

God's

sovereign grace

pulling us

into his

story.

His story

of reconciling

all things

unto himself

by making

peace with

us through

Christ's life,

death,

and resurrection.

So when

you're at the

end of the

rope in

your story,

when you

dug the

oars in

deep and

you're not

getting

anywhere and

the stormed

waves keep

crashing against

you,

when you

are hopeless,

helpless,

and even

numb to

God's

plot,

the heavenly

father is

poised and

ready to

rescue you.

he is

there to

pull you

into his

gloriously

grand plot.

You don't

need to

hold on,

you don't

need to

row hard,

because the

work is

done.

Christ,

the son

of God,

has made

peace with

God for

you.

In other

words,

your story

is important.

God,

it is

never more

important than

when it is

woven into

God's grand

plot of

making all

things right.

Let us

pray.

Oh God,

we thank you

for your

word, we

thank you for

the life of

Jonah, we

thank you for

his struggles,

for in them we

see our own.

God, more

importantly than

seeing our

struggles, God,

we see your

sovereign grace,

your grace at

work, and

even the most

mundane things,

in the storms,

in the casting

of lots, and

people waking up

Jonah.

God, we ask

this morning that

you might allow

us through the

power and presence

of your Holy

Spirit to see

your grace at

work in our

lives, that we

might trust you

and not

ourselves.

In Christ's name

we pray, amen.

Amen.