Running From God

say again it is a real honor to be with you and thank you for having me and I just want to

apologize for those of you who are disappointed that the more exciting part of my family is not

here we are all coming down in June and we'll actually have a info night here on Saturday June

the 15th which will be a chance to give you a bit more detail and God willing a bunch will have

happened in that month we might even be able to introduce you to some of the team that will be

coming with us but it is an honor to be with you in Mission Month and Open the Bible and I apologize

John I'll stick to my notes from now on. A recent study that came out of America by the Barna Group

discovered that nearly half of all active church attending millennials nearly half of them believe

that sharing their faith is wrong not hard not difficult not intimidating but wrong and that's

the generation that's supposed to read the Bible more than their parents and grandparents did this

is the generation that serves more in churches than the generations before them and the main reason that

they give flows out of this kind of cultural pluralism it's this belief that you can't or at

least you shouldn't be telling anyone else what they're supposed to believe it's because we live in

this generation that says you do you it's got this culture of tolerance where you can believe anything

you want apparently as long as it doesn't hurt somebody else and so we think truth is something

that everybody must discover for themselves and we shouldn't be telling them what we think it is

now aside from the fact that that worldview just doesn't work because it's incoherent

where does that perspective that culture leave us as Christians like what do we do with the fact as we

we're embarking on a mission month here at St Paul's we remind ourselves that Jesus calls us to be

witnesses to the witnesses to the ends of the earth what does that look like in a moment like this in a

culture like ours in a word it looks intimidating I mean think about the Israel for last Israel for

last saga over the last few weeks whether you agree with how he did it essentially what he did was

quote the Bible and he'll probably lose his job for it so the question we need to ask this morning

is is mission a good thing to do

and what will it look like for you to do mission well in your workplace with your family with your

friends because God has always been on mission from the beginning of the Bible the book of Genesis

the goal from God has been that he would dwell with people that they would know him that there'd be a

closeness he's been drawing people back to himself and that's still the goal when you get to today

in the New Testament Matthew 28 the risen Jesus says all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me

therefore go make disciples be on mission I mean it's it's on the wall it's DNA here at St Paul's it's

what makes St Paul's St Paul's that we want to be united in our desperation to see the world around

us encounter Jesus that that's that's our heartbeat but it's not easy some people think it's wrong

most of us even if we don't think it's wrong struggle to do it

and so this month we turn to the Old Testament book of Jonah to try and catch a glimpse of God's heart

when it comes to mission not just the task that he's given but to catch a vision for God's patience

with a world that doesn't want to know the truth with reluctant missionaries like us and most

importantly we want to catch a glimpse of the power of God to save people and so I want to encourage

you to open your Bible to Jonah as we're going to work through the passage that Adrian read out for us

and we're going to begin at Jonah 1 verse 1 as we meet an unwilling missionary

Jonah 1:1

it says the word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittar go to the great city of Nineveh and preach

against it because its wickedness has come up before me so that begins with the word of the

Lord coming to Jonah because that's how all mission begins if it's Christian mission if it's God's mission

then it's his message it's his gospel that needs to go out but but when you first read those verses if

you look it doesn't sound like a good news message that Jonah has I mean Jonah is to preach against

Nineveh and the reason he's to preach is specifically because of their wickedness

and let's be honest we know that this is the sort of message that gives Christians a bad reputation

this is the way people look at us they call us judgmental they think that we think we're better

than everyone and we're here to tell them how wrong they are I mean isn't that kind of why everyone's

really angry with Israel Folau because they look at his post and what they hear is you think you're

better than everyone and therefore everyone else is going to hell I don't think that's what he's saying

but that's what they're hearing and so we've got to ask the question is the message that God has given

to Jonah and ultimately the message he's given to us a good news message and I want to say yes for two

reasons firstly built into this message is the possibility of this city of Nineveh finding out

about their wickedness finding out about God's judgment and then repenting turning back and

following Jesus because if there was no chance that something could change in this if the only possible

outcome was Nineveh hears that they're wicked and then God destroys them this is kind of a waste of

effort don't you think if God's just going to lay waste to them just lay waste to them don't send

Jonah to have to travel to the city and speak on his behalf and in fact we find out when we get to

chapter 4 that Jonah fully expects God to have mercy so built into this message of bad news this

preaching against this message of their wickedness is at least the possibility that something could change

that's the first reason it's good news the second reason this is good news is because it declares

the character of God which is the whole point of mission

the reason God wants us to go out and speak is so that people might know him and even in this tiny

little gospel presentation and you'll see how short it is when we get to chapter 3 we get a view of God's

holiness we get reminded as Jacob just told us that God is a God of justice he's not okay with evil and

wickedness in the world that God cares about these things that he will judge these things

but instead of passing on this message instead of declaring this gospel Jonah runs

verse 3 Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish he went down to Joppa where he found a

ship bound for that port after paying the fare he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee

from the Lord now we know from two kings in the Old Testament that Jonah was an official prophet in

the royal court so he was employed by the king he exercised a ministry as prophet that means he spoke

on behalf of God we know he's commissioned by God it happened just there in verse 1 and we know that God

spoke to him giving him messages to deliver on God's behalf which is what makes this reaction

so weird he runs he flees God this is a guy with the privileged role of speaking on behalf of God

this is a man who hears directly from God Almighty who receives messages to pass on and then when he

receives them he runs in the opposite direction and disobeys God and it's got to make you ask the

question why I mean is it just that he lives in a time like ours where you know you do you and you

can't tell me what to believe well when we get to chapter 4 you're going to get a bit more of a glimpse

of his motivations and what he's doing but you'll have to come back in a few weeks for that

but what we do know is that Nineveh this city that Jonah has been sent to preach to is an Assyrian

city and there's not a lot of love lost between Israel and Assyria Assyria is one of the superpowers

in the world at this particular point in history they have tormented Israel over and over throughout

their history and in fact Assyria will be the nation that ultimately wipes out Israel off the face of the

earth destroys the northern kingdom altogether we know that Jonah worked for the king that he was a

nationalist and he's not interested in the good of this wicked nation Assyria

he doesn't think they deserve the chance to know God like he knows God he doesn't want them to get the

benefits of having God around and being loved by God and he certainly doesn't want to be the one who

introduced them to God in the first place now we just need to slow down here for a second and ask a

question is there anyone in our life in our world that even subconsciously we view in the same way

is there anyone in your life who is maybe unlike you ethnically culturally maybe somebody who dresses

different to you has a different moral code maybe somebody who's hurt you in some way

that deep down you don't think deserves to know the gospel

you don't want to share the gospel with because you don't want them to respond and find forgiveness

and hope I mean on top of the fact that the world is hostile that it's scary to try and talk about what

you believe in and everything else do you find yourself rationalizing with certain groups of

people or maybe even certain individuals they don't deserve to be forgiven anyway so it would be a waste of time

and yet this wicked Assyrian city that will continue to do evil down the track is loved by God

and so what's God's response to his unwilling missionary what's his response to us when he sees that kind of

hardness in our heart it's the same as it is towards Nineveh

he's sending Jonah to warn them he's showing grace to them that they don't deserve and he treats them he

treats Jonah and he treats us all better than we deserve

God pursues people who don't deserve to know him even people who are running away so that they

might know him and his goodness verse 4 Jonah after running away it says then the Lord sent a great

wind on the sea and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up all the sailors were

afraid and each cried out to his own God and they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship

but Jonah had gone below deck where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep

God's not passive at this point in the story he's not disinterested that his prophet is disobeying him

he actually cares that Nineveh hears the message he's got for them and so he chases Jonah

he sends a violent storm a serious storm sufficient to scare experienced sailors so that Jonah comes back

God wants Nineveh to hear the gospel and God actually cares that his prophet Jonah understands the gospel

as well the storm is so intense as it arrives that even the sailors straight away work her out that

there's something special about this this is a divine storm this isn't just your summer thunderstorm that

rolls through it's exciting and then it moves on this feels personal because it is personal

God sent it because he's angry he's not trying to destroy Jonah he's not trying to kill the sailors he's not

trying to sink the boat he's disciplining Jonah he's drawing Jonah back so that he might see the mistake that

he's made so that he might come back and do the job that he's been given again even though this is an

intense storm if God wanted to just kill Jonah in his anger there's more direct ways than a storm and

sinking a boat full of other sailors he's pursuing his reluctant unwilling missionary implicit in this storm

is the invitation to return is the invitation despite running away for Jonah to come back and still be

in God's grace now one of the challenges of this book one of the challenges of life in general when it

comes to following Jesus is how we understand the relationship between our sin and suffering so the

temptation is we look at this story and we look at our lives and we think that whenever there's suffering

whenever I suffer it's because I must have done something wrong and therefore I've got to fix that

thing to convince God to take away my suffering and it's true in this story that Jonah is suffering

because of his sin Jonah is in this dangerous storm that might sink the boat specifically because he

disobeyed God and ran away but it's also true that the sailors are suffering not because of their sin

but because of Jonah's sin they're suffering because Jonah ran in the other direction in fact you find

the sailors treat God better in this story than even Jonah does it's not their sin it's Jonah's sin

Tim Keller who's a pastor out of America says the Bible does not say that every difficulty is the result

of sin but it does teach that every sin will bring difficulty so storms and suffering that we face in

life are always an opportunity for us to either run towards God or run away from him it's an opportunity

to either in the storm find that God is continuing to pursue us and gently draw us back to him

or to blame him and become bitter and angry

and in this story we find Jonah isn't finished running from God yet he's still fleeing the discipline

and gentle pursuit and invitation this time he tries to escape by escaping reality the sailors are fearing

for their lives and what's Jonah doing he's asleep he's sleeping in the bottom of the boat and that's

not because he's just really relaxed he's just really fine with storms he doesn't find you know

waves scary this is the the sleep that maybe you even know in your own life that that sleep of of

hopelessness that sleep of depression that sleep of darkness that sleep that just doesn't want to get

out of bed because it wants to somehow escape the reality that is there when we open our eyes

it's the sleep that longs to be somewhere else as God pursues Jonah Jonah continues to run

he continues to reject the gentle invitation of his heavenly father to come back and what is God's

response to his still unwilling missionary patience

listen to the captain in verse 6 the captain went to him and said how can you sleep and listen to this

really carefully get up and call on your God maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish

get up and call out to your God this is an invitation to draw near to the God that he has been fleeing

an invitation to draw near to the gracious God despite his disobedience and the invitation comes out of the

mouth of a pagan the very people that Jonah doesn't want to know the gospel the very people that he refuses

to tell about his gracious God the sailor is more of a prophet in this story than Jonah is

because he is speaking of the God who welcomes people back this is Jonah's second chance or maybe his 22nd

chance in life who knows he's run from his mission he's fleeing God and yet God is calling him back still

but Jonah continues to run away

he continues to ignore the invitation he continues to reject God look at verse 7

then the sailors said to each other

come let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity

they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah

so they asked him

tell us who is responsible for making all this trouble for us

what kind of work do you do where do you come from what is your country from what people are you

he answered

I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land

this terrified them and they asked what have you done

they knew he was running away from the Lord because he'd already told them so

the sea was getting rougher and rougher so they asked him

what should we do to make the sea calm down for us

pick me up and throw me into the sea he replied and it will become calm

I know that it's my fault that this great storm has come upon you

instead the men did their best to row back to land but they could not

for the sea grew even wilder than before

what's missing in that interaction just there

Jonah refuses to cry out to his God

even in this moment of potential death

he would rather be thrown into the sea and drown

than simply call out to the God who is gently and repeatedly inviting him back

he is an Israelite who knows that God has been faithful to his people

that God is generous and yet still

in this moment of near death he will not cry out to God

this time instead of returning he chooses death

and so rather than be the prophet God has called him to be

rather than cry out to his God

on behalf of these sailors he instructs them to throw him in the sea

which is effectively suicide

he runs from God's mission

he continues to flee as God pursues

he rejects God's patience

he rejects the second chance

and his life appears to be over

and we're still in chapter 1

but there is this tiny glimmer of hope

even in his disobedience

this is the first time that Jonah begins to see

and serve the very people that God is sending him to

he sees that these sailors are in need

and he lays down his life for them

now he has something better to offer

he could cry out to the God who sent the storm

and who has power over the elements

but he refuses to declare the glory of God with his mouth

that these sailors may discover the majesty of his God

but then he unwittingly displays God's character

in what is almost an unwitting gospel presentation

I mean this is a moment where like you know you're at work

and you just it's intimidating to talk about Jesus

so you just kind of commit internally that you know what I just won't

and then God gives you a colleague

who just keeps asking you and keeps asking you

and not just you know hey do you go to church

but tell me what you believe

you know that gospel presentation that you can't dodge

that's kind of what's going on for Jonah

it's like you don't want to have that conversation

but Jonah ends up displaying the mercy of God

because even though Jonah can't see it yet

God's grace in sending him at the beginning of this chapter

God's grace in pursuing him with the storm

God's grace in patiently giving him a second chance

is beginning to transform him

it's beginning to change him

he's beginning to look and see what God sees

he's beginning to look at these pagan sailors

and not just see evil people that he's not worried about

but he's looking with God's eyes

and seeing lost people who need a saviour

people who matter

people who are created in the image of God

Jonah resists and resists God

even to the point of being thrown in the ocean

and what is God's response to his repeated disobedience?

The same as it was for Israel when he chose them as a nation

the same as it is for you and I

God saves him

God intervenes

verse 14

then this is the sailors

they cried out to the Lord

please do not let us die for taking this man's life

do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man

for you Lord have done as you pleased

then they took Jonah and threw him overboard

and the raging sea grew calm

at this the men greatly feared the Lord

and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord

and made vows to him

now the Lord provided a huge fish

to swallow Jonah

and Jonah was in the belly of the fish

three days and three nights

God intervenes in this story

not to just keep Jonah safe with a fish

so that he doesn't drown

but he intervenes so that

even in his disobedience

Jonah fulfills the mission that God has given him

even though he's running

even though he's fleeing

not only will Nineveh hear about God from Jonah in the future chapters

but God reveals himself to the sailors through Jonah's disobedience

as Jonah runs and God

the storm

these sailors get a glimpse of the power

of Jonah's God

as Jonah is thrown in the sea

and is ultimately rescued

and the storm calms

they get a glimpse of the mercy

of God

God is not only sparing Jonah's life

but he is transforming his disobedience

into a moment to reveal his power and mercy

in the calmness of the storm

as God's anger settles

these sailors

having encountered

the one and only God

respond as only people can

they make vows

they offer sacrifices

they find salvation

they meet the God of heaven

they go from being

crying out to all their different gods on the boat

hoping someone would help them

to finally seeing that there is a God

one God

the only God

of heaven and earth

who rules over everything

who is powerful

and merciful

they

get

saved

even in our weakness

and failure

God can and does use us

to draw others

into the hope and life of Jesus

his power is perfect

in our weakness

in our fear

in our inadequacy

in our stumbling

his love for people

his pursuit of people

cannot be stopped

by our inadequacy

or even our disobedience

he does not need us

for the mission

of pursuing people

he does not need us

so that people will meet him

he can send storms

he can send giant fish

he can turn up in flames

and clouds

but for Jonah's sake

and for our sake

God includes us

in the mission

of telling people about him

so that we get the joy

of not just knowing the gospel

not just being aware

that Jesus died on a cross

and rose again

and we're forgiven

in spite of who we are

not just so that we know that

but because

by sharing the gospel

by telling the gospel

by being the gospel

as we go out

and speak to people

as we care for people

as we inhabit

God's heart for people

as we be his hands and feet

this knowledge

becomes this knowledge

this idea that God loves

and pursues me

becomes something

that I feel

as I get to love

and pursue those

who are far away

on his behalf

Jonah's choice to die

so that the sailors

don't have to

is actually a glimpse

of the kind of

sacrificial love

that God has shown us

in Jesus

his choice

to be thrown

into the ocean

so that they might be safe

is this small vision

of the way

that God loves us

at his own cost

through death

God is a pursuing God

he pursues those

who are running

like Jonah

he pursues those

who aren't looking

like the sailors

and he continues

to pursue

even those

who are wicked

like the great city

of Nineveh

and he is pursuing us

Jesus

shows up

in flesh

so that a world

running from him

a world

ignorant of him

and a world

full of evil

might discover

grace

might discover

that God

can love them

in spite of that

when Jesus

goes to the cross

he's praying

for the very people

who are nailing him

to that piece of wood

when Jesus

is arrested

his closest followers

desert him

and flee

and yet

he is the one

greater than Jonah

who lays down

his life

not so that

they might survive

a storm

but so that

they might be

brought back

into a relationship

with their heavenly father

is mission difficult

absolutely

will people be

hostile towards us

as we try and share

the message

that God is king

and that there is

judgment

and that the only

possible hope

is found

in a king

Jesus

who sacrifices

for them

yes

but is mission

good

and right

and necessary

for us

as well as

for those

who don't yet

know

absolutely

the book of Jonah

is not a book

about a fish

it's not even

a book about a city

it's a book

about the

gracious

loving God

who is patiently

reaching

not only sailors

not only a city

but even Jonah

his prophet

so that he might

better understand

the miracle

of God's grace

to people

who don't deserve

it

the thing that

really stops us

from being on mission

whether we say

that it's because

we think it's wrong

whether we say

it's because we're

scared

whatever reason

we may give

the thing that

really stops us

from sharing

the wonder

and majesty

of a savior

who died for us

and rose again

is that we don't

actually grasp

the wonder

of a savior

who died for us

and rose again

step one

in going out

with the message

of a loving God

who pursues us

with grace

is always

first discovering

the love of God

who pursues us

with grace

is first receiving

and experiencing

and tasting

and dwelling in

and enjoying

the freedom

that is ours

because of the grace

and love of God

shown to us

in Jesus

it's recognizing

that as we speak

of grace

we need that grace

even in that moment

it's recognizing

that Jesus

on the cross

is how far

God will go

so that you

will be loved

so that you

may one day

spend eternity

with him

and then being able

to look at the world

with new eyes

that sees people

who matter to God

whether they're like us

or not like us

whether they're good

in our eyes

or evil

in our eyes

they are created

in the image of God

and they matter

to him

whether they're close

to him

or far to him

they matter to him

and we know

that God's heart

is burdened

for those

who are far away

I don't know

exactly

where you're at

with God

but I'm pretty

confident

that there will be

some people

in this room

who are still

running from God

maybe you're

somebody who has

never said

you would follow

Jesus

and you get

dragged here

or you come here

for whatever reason

you like the people

but you are not

someone who is

ready to obey

him when he gives

you commands

maybe you're

someone who

started following

Jesus

but commands

like this one

specifically

that will involve

you standing up

and being bold

and being mocked

and receiving

hostility

and maybe even

losing your job

that's a bridge

too far

and you're running

from that

you still want

God

you still want

Jesus

you still want

heaven

you still want

forgiveness

but you don't

really have any

desire to let

him tell you

how to live

whether you're

someone who's

all in for

Jesus

and chomping

at the bit

to walk out

of here

and share

the gospel

in Chatswood

as you walk

home

or you're

somebody who

is still

intimidated

and is ready

for this service

to finish

and you're

planning to

book other

things for

your next

three Sundays

wherever you

sit on the

spectrum

what every

one of us

needs to hear

this morning

is the same

what God

wants to say

to every single

one of us

this morning

is the same

it's the message

Jonah needs

to understand

God loves

him

even though

he doesn't

deserve it

God sent

his son

for him

for you

for me

you matter

to him

and the

call to

go on

mission

is actually

an invitation

it's an

invitation

for you

and I

to have

a deeper

fuller

experience

of God's

love for

us

because as

we seek

to share

it with

whoever will

listen

and even

those who

won't

we get

to be

the kind

of love

that God

has for

us

we get

to be

the hands

and feet

and words

and mouthpiece

of the heart

of God

himself

this

mission

month

rediscover

that the

the call

to go

is actually

an invitation

to come

it's to

go with

God

it's to

go in

his power

in his

grace

in your

weakness

and know

that his

power will

work through

you

this

mission

month

ask God

to open

your eyes

as you

walk to

work

each

day

as you

spend time

with people

ask God

to let

you see

what he

sees

people who

are lost

just like

you were

people who

desperately

need to

know the

grace

that he

offers

freely

ask that

he would

do the

miracle

for people

in your

life

that he

did for

you

that he

would bring

them from

death to

life

from darkness

to light

that they

would know

the God

of heaven

who loves

them

unconditionally

in his

son

you