Two Ways to Run

Friends, we are kicking off a new series in a book of the Bible called Jonah.

! And if you've never read Jonah before, you've definitely heard about it.

People have heard about the story of Jonah, normally when they were a kid.

And I had an interesting experience as a kid with the book of Jonah.

I was talking to a friend of mine this week who was interested in why we were doing the book of Jonah as a church.

Why are we exploring it?

And I mentioned to him that as a kid, I grew up in a place called Eden.

That's Eden there.

Well, I grew up nearby at least, 10 minutes away in the country.

And you'll see on your right there that that's the harbour in Eden.

There's a huge, big harbour where ships can sail in.

And that's where, if people get hit by a storm during the Sydney to Hobart, where everyone retreats before going across Bass Strait.

It's a beautiful part of the world that if there's ever a sunny day, it's a lovely place.

Now, historically, Eden was a whaling town.

They would hunt whales there.

There's this story that I was told every year when I went on a school excursion to the museum, the Eden Whaling Museum.

There was a man who fell into the sea during a hunt.

They would go on these boats.

They were incredibly dangerous.

They would all be standing up throwing harpoons.

No one could swim.

People drowned all the time.

And a man fell in and was assumed drowned.

But two days later, they found something in the belly of a whale that they'd caught.

It was a person.

It was this man.

He'd been bleached completely white.

He'd either lost or had all his hair bleached as well.

And he completely lost his mind.

Now, this friend I was talking to about my experience of thinking about this story from where I grew up,

and Jonah said, look, you've got this wrong.

That man was swallowed by a whale.

Jonah was swallowed by a fish, and a whale is not a fish.

And I thought, is that really what Jonah's about?

Is it just for a historical verification of the kind of sea creature that could inhale a human hole?

No.

That's not what it's about at all.

This book isn't a fairy tale or fable.

It's actually history, and it's not even about Jonah.

It's about God.

This book reveals the depth and waywardness of humanity's sin.

This book is about God's heart toward all those who run away from him.

See, God longs to save people who are nearest to him and furthest away

by gifting them his unearned grace and love.

So as I set up Jonah for us for this next season as a church,

I'm going to ask God for his help as he speaks through his word.

Let's pray.

Lord God, would you please make your words loud and clear from the pages of our Bible?

Deliver to us a great message from your prophet,

so we might turn to you and receive your grace.

Amen.

Now, you might have had some trouble finding Jonah in your Bible,

because it's hard to find.

It's somewhere just past the middle in the Minor Prophets.

It's in the Old Testament.

And this bit of history is recorded from a unique time in Israel's history.

It's around about 780 BC.

Israel was a divided nation.

The glorious reign of King Solomon,

the wonderful riches and majesty of his reign,

had come to an end,

and he had sons,

at least two of whom wanted to be king.

And the kingdom couldn't agree on who was going to be their king,

so they split in two.

There was a northern kingdom who retained the name Israel,

and a southern kingdom who had the name Judah.

The kingdoms from then on jostled in this uneasy brotherhood.

They were sandwiched between nations who hated them,

and they hated,

all around them.

And Jonah was a northern kingdom Israelite.

And he was a prophet.

Prophets were how God had chosen to communicate to his people

since the time of Moses.

He had chosen people, raised them up.

They didn't go to uni and become a prophet.

But he called them, literally spoke to them,

gave them a message,

and then they would pass it on to the people and their leaders.

And God gave Israel simple tests

to check who the chosen prophet was and who was not.

So here's one from Deuteronomy chapter 18.

Deuteronomy 18 · chapter mention

You may say to yourselves,

how can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?

If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord

does not take place or come true,

that is a message the Lord has not spoken.

The prophet has spoken presumptuously,

and so do not be alarmed.

And therefore,

or if what the prophet says comes true,

then they are a prophet from the Lord.

That's the level of confidence we should have

if someone says,

God has said to you,

blank,

and then prove whether it's true.

We're to listen to a prophet

if God is speaking through them.

Jonah's credentials as a prophet,

his resume,

was read out by Helen just before in Two Kings.

Jonah had spoken God's message in 780 BC

to the then king called Jeroboam II.

Jeroboam was the one who restored the boundaries of Israel

from Lebo Hamath to the Dead Sea

in accordance with the word of God,

the Lord God of Israel,

spoken through his servant Jonah,

son of Amittai,

the prophet from Gath-Hefer.

God had spoken to Jonah,

he'd spoken to the king,

the king had obeyed

and done what Jonah had said from God,

and a great victory was won.

So Jonah truly was God's prophet.

Israel would have been eager to hear

what Jonah had to say next.

He would have been a celebrity.

He would have been the,

not just lifestyle guru,

but lifestyle guru for the nation

that everyone had listened to

and they'd had their boundaries restored.

Did you hear Helen read that verse

where it said,

from the free to the slave,

everyone was in bitterness

and God heard them.

Jonah had done a wonderful thing

by sharing God's word here.

So imagine their excitement

when God speaks to Jonah again

in Jonah 1 verse 1.

Jonah 1:1

Would God help them win another victory

against their enemies?

But as we heard this morning,

God's second message from Jonah,

through Jonah,

was not for Israel,

it was for Nineveh.

Nineveh.

Go to the great city of Nineveh

and preach against it

because its wickedness

has come up before me.

There were prophets

during this season of Israel

being a divided nation

that went from one brother kingdom

to another,

but never outside Israel's borders.

No prophet had ever been asked

to leave Israel

to speak a message to an enemy.

And the enemy God chose

for Jonah to go to

was the worst one.

Nineveh was a capital city in Assyria.

Assyria was this fearsome,

the words today would be terrorist state.

Ruthless killers in battle

and in politics.

Nineveh was known as great

for its force and power

over the world around it,

for its great evil,

but also because of its vast size.

Apparently, it would take three days

to travel from one edge of the city

through the middle

and out the other side.

It's a huge place

full of tens of thousands of people,

at least.

Israel had already paid

huge tributes to Assyria

and Nineveh was the seat of power

for that world power.

It was utterly unthinkable

that any prophet of God

would go leave Israel

to warn an enemy of God

about God's coming judgment.

The first prophet

to go beyond Israel

on a mission of mercy

was Jonah.

So Jonah had a choice.

He could obey and go,

leave his land,

go warn his worst enemy,

or not.

So have a look at verse 3.

What does Jonah do?

Jonah ran away from the Lord

and headed for Tarshish.

He went down to Joppa.

He found a ship bound for that port

and paying the fare,

he went aboard,

sailed for Tarshish

to flee from the Lord.

Jonah chose

to run away.

Now, if Jonah had,

press play on this, Wendy,

if Jonah had had a phone

at the time,

he would have looked up Google Maps

and he would have just checked

how far Nineveh is away.

As you can see here,

that's round about where he was

and there's Nineveh in the northeast,

about 1,200 kilometers away.

It's a long way.

It's an intimidating walk.

But Jonah instead decides

to check his local travel guide

and jump on a boat

and head completely

the other direction.

Go to the opposite end

of the Mediterranean Sea,

to the edge of the known world,

away from the will of God.

It looks like Jonah was scared,

like an angry, worried kid

throwing a temper tantrum.

But his choice has at least

three reasons that Jonah thinks

are very good behind it.

God was asking Jonah,

a national hero,

to help save an enemy.

And the word in his country

in Israel would have been

treason.

A treasonous request from God.

Jonah was running away

from the shame

of becoming a national disgrace.

It also would have been

a suicide mission.

Jonah walking into Nineveh

with God's message

would have been like

a Jewish rabbi

stepping up to a microphone

at a public rally

in Berlin in 1940.

Jonah was running from danger.

And if Jonah had been bold enough

to risk treason

and the dangers of Assyrian hatred

toward Israel,

would have expected Nineveh

to ignore him anyway

and for God to destroy them?

Jonah ran, actually,

because he knew what God was like.

He'd seen God's words

prove miraculously true.

He knew that God would relent

and show grace to Nineveh

if they listened to his message.

He was running

away from God's grace

to Nineveh.

He even expected

that God would save them.

Jonah

doubted

what God was doing

was good,

offering mercy

and warning

to sinners

like the Ninevites.

And so he ran.

So the book of Jonah

answers for us

this question.

How does God respond

to people

who are running away from him?

All people

running from God

like Jonah

need an answer

to that question.

In the book of Jonah,

we see him run

from the will of God

in two ways.

First,

in chapters one and two,

he runs away

in open disobedience.

And then in chapters

three and four,

from God's will,

Jonah runs away

internally,

revealing a hidden distrust.

In the first half,

Jonah runs away.

He's on a boat

that hits a storm.

He's thrown overboard.

No more storm.

He didn't drown.

He was eaten by a fish.

He survived three days

and was spat up

on land.

That's his

disobedient

running away

that you've heard about.

It's out in the open.

Everyone's heard that story.

But the second half

of the book,

Jonah gets

a second chance

from God

to carry

the message

to Nineveh.

He obeys.

Nineveh,

listen,

repent,

fast,

pray,

and God

relents

from bringing

the disaster.

And Jonah

is devastated.

Jonah reveals

his hidden distrust

of God

in an outburst

of anger.

He just pours out

his hatred

of God's gracious heart.

Jonah was running

from God

even as he obeyed,

but on the inside.

So he sat

and watched

this city

from afar,

hoping against hope

that God might

still destroy it.

And as he sat there,

God was gracious

and caring toward him.

And the book

ends

with

God still

with Jonah

offering him

his grace.

And we're left

with this question.

What will

Jonah

do?

Will he

accept

God's grace

to him?

And that's it.

We don't get an answer.

Series over.

We're done.

Well,

at least

that's what

we might think.

There's a

striking similarity

to this

abruptly

ending story.

To a

teaching story

or a parable

that Jesus

tells.

In Luke

15

in verses

1 and 2

we get this

scene where

Jesus is

standing

up in front

of a crowd

and in front

of him

there are

tax collectors

and sinners.

Now those

two words

aren't used

very often

today,

but if you

can imagine

anyone

or group

of people

or job

that people

do

that people

don't think

highly of

or even

hate,

people

who've

done

things

that make

society

think that

they're not

worthy

or even

that they

hate,

they're all

around Jesus'

feet,

they're closest,

they're listening

in.

They were

hated openly

by the

respected

religious leaders

of Israel,

the Pharisees.

Jesus knew

their hatred

and so

he told

a parable

about the

grace of

God to

all sinners,

the most

rebellious,

open sinners

who were

sitting at

his feet

and to the

most religious

shaking their

heads in

the back.

And this

story is

about a

family,

a father

and two

sons.

Another story

you might have

heard of

before.

Jesus'

story starts

with the

younger son

rebelling

openly

against his

father.

He demands

his inheritance

early.

He shames

his family

and leaves.

He leaves

lavishly,

that squanders

all his

wealth and

nearing

death,

he desperately

turns and

goes back

to his

father,

hoping to

be accepted

as just

a lowly

slave.

But the

father,

seizing

coming from

a long

way away,

runs to

him,

embraces

him and

restores this

rebel son

to his

former

honour as

a son.

All the

son did

was return

and he

received grace

from his

loving father.

And upon

hearing about

this,

the older

brother who's

been working

out in the

field is

furious.

He'd

stayed.

He'd

worked at

his father's

business and

done the

right thing.

He feels

that his

father's mercy

is against

his rights

to his

father's

inheritance

as the

good son.

he feels

owed for

his obedience,

not thankful

for his

father's

love and

generosity.

The

father replies

with an

offer of

the same

grace that

the younger

brother has

already

received.

Will the

older brother

accept

God's

grace to

him?

But just

like Jonah,

the story

ends there.

It's on a

cliffhanger.

Jonah is

structured in

the same

way each

brother ran

from their

father.

How every

human runs

two ways

from God's

will in

our lives.

Since Adam

and Eve,

all people

have doubted

that God's

will is

good.

every

person does

this.

We

measure what

God says

against our

own will

and we

usually win.

We each

run two

ways away

from God.

Firstly,

we run

openly away

like Jonah,

like a

Ninevite,

like the

younger

son.

with open

rebellion

against God.

If you've

ever heard

the phrase

follow your

heart or

you do

you,

that's our

society

affirming

running away

from God

like this.

What evils

we commit

following the

desires of

our nature

in direct

conflict

with the

will of

our

creator.

These

actions are

what we

think of

when we're

confronted

by the

word

sin.

But

secondly,

we can do

openly good

works,

good things,

but with

religious

motives

to try and

earn our

right to

God's

favor.

again,

like Jonah,

but also

like the

older

prodigal

son.

This is

an internal

rebellion

against the

will of

God

to save

us,

not by

what we

do,

but by

his grace.

That's

his heart,

that's his

intention,

but instead

our internal

rebellion

is to

trust

our

own

perspective

and our

own

strength

of will

over

God's.

The

better we

are at

being good

Christian

people,

the less

we allow

ourselves to

feel that

we need

God at

all.

The more

we expect

life to

turn out

how we

want,

because

after all,

we've

obeyed.

we believe

God owes

us for

our

allegiance

to him.

This

too is

running

from God.

It's

not a

virtue,

it's

not a

lesser

sin,

it is

sin.

Be

confronted

by this

as it

confronts

me.

Imagine

someone

who is

more of a

sinner

than

you.

Who is

more far

gone

than

you?

Are you

imagining

a person

or a

group of

people?

Be

honest.

Romans

3.23

says that

all have

sinned

and fall

short

of the

glory of

God.

Many

other

scriptures

say

likewise.

If

no

human

gets

themselves

any

closer

to

God

by

anything

that

they

do,

how

dare

I

look

at

another

human

as

more

in

need

of

God

than

me

or

as

less

worthy

of

God

than

me?

Lifting

ourselves

up

as

better

than

those

people

or

those

sinners

reveals

our

hidden

running

away

from

God's

grace.

And if

we are

honest

with

ourselves

we will

only

see

our

desperate

need

to

embrace

God's

grace.

There

is good

news for

anyone who

runs these

two ways

from God

because

God

shows

grace

to

Jonah

after

he

runs

both

ways.

Cliffhanger

endings

are

written

into

songs

poems

stories

hopefully

not

movies

because

those

are

terrible

movies

when

you

don't

get

an

ending

that's

terrible

but

they're

written

for the

audience

to

respond

they're

written

for the

person

reading

to

do

something

with

something

happened

next to

Jonah

we don't

know

we don't

know

what he

chose

to do

we don't

know

if

his

heart

turned

but

our

knowledge

of

history

ending

right

there

is

a

message

for

you

all

of

us

who

run

two

ways

from

God

like

Jonah

will

you

accept

God's

grace

to

you

we

need

a

prophet

to be

sent

out

of

Israel

again

a

prophet

who

obeys

a

prophet

who

shares

God's

grace

with

the

rebel

and

the

religious

and

the

good

news

is

there

is

a

prophet

like

that

who

did

not

run

from

God's

will

despite

the

great

cost

one

midnight

that

prophet

was in

a

garden

and

he

knew

that

when

the

sun

came

up

he

would

be

falsely

charged

with

treason

for

sharing

God's

message

to

sinners

he

faced

danger

violent

torture

and even

death

all

while

his

followers

abandoned

him in

fear

and

doubt

this

prophet

cried

out

to

God

as

he

sweated

blood

in

the

dark

father

if

you

are

willing

take

this

cup

from

me

yet

not

my

will

but

yours

be

done

two

things

this

prophet

says

there

a

hope

for

runaway

sinners

first

he

yielded

to

God's

will

when

Jonah

did

not

not

my

will

but

yours

he

said

that

is

his

surrender

to

this

hopeless

looking

mission

and

trusting

God's

will

the

rebels

to

Israel

the

rebels

of

Israel

and to

all

the

nations

of

the

world

every

human

as

we

run

two

ways

from

God's

will

God

had

one

final

message

for

his

prophet

to

share

and

that

was

death

on

a

cross

that

message

that

ultimate

message

of

grace

to

all

people

was

that

this

prophet

himself

would

drink

down

number

two

the

full

cup

of

judgment

the

cup

that

belonged

to

me

to

you

to

all

runaway

sinners

this

prophet

completed

God's

mission

and

died

also

sinners

like

us

could

live

that

is

how

God

justly

fairly

forgave

a

generation

of

repentant

Ninevite

sinners

that

whole

city

that

were

living

on

in

front

of

Jonah's

angry

gaze

this

book

Jonah

points

all

sinners

and all

foreigners

all

rebels

all

religious

runaways

from

God

to

long

for

this

prophet

who

did not

run

away

from

the

will

of

God

and the

prophet

who

does

not

run

is

Jesus

Christ

Jesus

did not

run

from

God

and

he

will

not

stop

running

to

us

that

1200

kilometers

to

Nineveh

not

intimidating

at all

it's

not 28

days

on

foot

it's

worth

it

so

this

prophet

says

to

all

those

running

from

God

in

open

rebellion

who

are

hearing

this

message

today

repent

of

your

sins

turn

to

Jesus

and

surrender

your

life

to

God's

will

receive

his

forgiveness

by his

grace

turn

and follow

him

today

no matter

how far

gone

you feel

or how

far

you have

run

from

God

Jesus

runs

toward

you

to

declare

himself

to

be

your

salvation

and

to

all

those

running

from

God

in

religious

rejection

of

his

grace

repent

of

your

pride

filled

religious

behavior

turn

from

your

distrust

and

surrender

your

life

and

receive

his

perfect

life

in

place

of

your

own

rest

from

your

striving

you

never

stop

needing

God's

grace

hear

Jesus

voice

in the

pages

of the

Bible

accept

God's

grace

from

the

mouth

of

the

prophet

Jesus

we

all run

away

from

God

without

his

help

so

he sent

Jesus

after

us

Jesus

our

great

prophet

runs

to

us

and

stays

alongside

us

will

you

accept

God's

message

from the

mouth

of the

prophet

Jesus

all you

need

to do

is turn

and receive

the grace

of the

father

and no

matter how

far you

run

God's

grace

will

always

always

always

overtake

you

God

God