CALLED together and SENT out | Donovan Rillion | Nowhere To Hide

Super glad you're here with us this morning.

Just love getting the opportunity to be together.

I think we neglect how important it is to just

be together with people that have one goal, and

that goal is to live a good life. We all want

to live a good life, and for some it's different

than others, but many of us in this room agree

that to live a good life, we have to have God

in it. And so we're talking about this being

called by God. Last week, we talked about listening

for God's voice, recognizing when he's speaking

and responding like Samuel did by saying, speak,

Lord, for your servant hears. But maybe you know

exactly what God's been saying to you. You're

not in the speak, Lord, I'm trying to listen.

You've been listening and you've heard him. You

know exactly what he's asking from you or for

you. And still, deep down, there's a part of

you somewhere in there that just wants to run.

That wants to hide. You know what God wants.

You know what needs to change. You know the step

that you've been needing to take, that God's

been calling you to take. You know exactly what

God is asking you to do. But you've got a boat

ready and waiting. For you to jump on it. Today

I want to talk about what happens when we get

on that boat and what happens when we run and

why running never works. I want to share a story

with you. When I was little, one time, we were

all sitting out on the front porch and I don't

know what happened. I was probably not being

a good kid. And my mom told me to stop doing

whatever it was that I was doing or I was going

to get a spanking. And like my kids, I said,

that doesn't scare me. So I did it again. And

guess what happened? No, mom tried to spank me

and I took off running. Here's the problem. My

mom is actually quite athletic. Well, was. She's

old now. But she was. She's not actually old.

She's quite athletic. And I didn't realize how

fast my mom was. Now, let me just say, I was

a fast kid. I mean, I was always the fastest

kid on my football team, fastest kid, whatever.

I was a fast kid. But I was also a kid, and you

know this. Kids are fast for kids, but adults

are fast in general. And so my mom... Hawks me

down, tackles me in the neighbor's yard. And

right there in front of everyone in the neighborhood,

I got a spanking out in the neighbor's yard.

Running doesn't work, does it? Especially not

with a parent. Not with a parent that's more

capable than you. And so today, I want us to

talk about somebody that tried to run. Somebody

that thought, I can get away from the parent.

Jonah. You have this guy named Jonah, and what

we're going to hear in Jonah's life is the same

truth that we just read from David in Psalm 139,

that you cannot run, or you can run, but you

cannot run, God. You can try. You can try to

get away. You can try to find the good hiding

spot. You can try to get your early start. Maybe

you're going to run away in the middle of the

night when nobody's looking. You can try. But

it'll be unsuccessful. So I want us to start

in Jonah 1, verses 1 -3. Now the word of the

Jonah 1:1–3

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. So Jonah, he hears God's

voice loud and clear. He knows what God's telling

him to do. God said it very plainly. And this

isn't Samuel needing help. to figure it out.

This isn't Samuel having to go and say, is this

God calling me or is it you? Who is it? What's

he want? This is pretty clear. Jonah knows exactly

what God wants. But instead of saying, here I

am, Lord, Jonah says, I'm out. He buys a ticket

for the opposite direction. And what's fascinating

is Jonah doesn't just run from Nineveh. The text

says he tries to run from the presence of the

Lord. You know, the God that created the universe,

the God that formed the world in his hands, that

same God, Jonah thought, I can escape him. How

often do we do the same thing? How often do we

hear God? We know what he wants, but we think

if we just change the scenery. If we change the

people we're with, if we change the job, if we

fill the calendar, if we stack the schedule,

if we just drown out the silence, and if we will

make ourselves so busy, if we'll occupy ourselves

with so many other things, whatever we try to

do, we try to make God's call fade away. We try

to run from His presence. I've done it. I told

you a little bit about my story. Running from

ministry to the military, from the pulpit to

the stage. from where I knew I belonged to where

I thought I'd rather be. And every time I ran,

guess who was waiting for me when I got there?

God. Like I said, David understood this long

before Jonah ever booked his ticket to Tarshish.

Listen to what David says there in Psalm 139,

Psalms 139:7–10

verses 7 through 10. Where shall I go from your

spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make

my bed and shield, you're there. If I take the

wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost

parts of the sea, even there your hand shall

lead me and your right hand shall hold me. Did

you catch that? Even there, in the deep, dark,

farthest place you can imagine, in the belly

of the sea, Even there, God is waiting. I want

you to just picture a child playing hide and

seek. My boys and I, by that I mean they love

to play hide and seek. It is my pleasure to play

with them. When a child plays hide and seek,

they aren't really that good at hiding, are they?

But they're convinced that... They found the

perfect hiding spot. Maybe they're just standing

in the middle of the room with their hands over

their eyes and they just believe because they

can't see you, you can't see them. Or they're

behind the curtains, but you can see their feet.

Or they're standing behind the tree, but they

don't realize the tree is just that big and they're

a little bit wider than that. And as a parent,

you could laugh at them because you can actually

see them plain as day. But they think they're

hidden. They're not. They're just out there waiting

to be scooped up. In fact, when we play hide

and seek, Easton loves to hide under a blanket.

The problem is, is Easton doesn't quite understand

the concept of putting the whole blanket over

his body. So his feet or his arms or something

will be sticking out or he's like in a cluster.

And so you're like, that doesn't look like a

pile of blankets. That looks like a kid under

a blanket. And then you'll say, you know, you'll

play along. You're like, Easton, where are you?

And he'll go, I'm right here. Or I'm under the

blanket. And then I'll grab him and he'll laugh.

And it's like this deep sense of excitement.

Because that's what he's waiting for. He's waiting

for me to grab him. And sometimes with us, we're

hiding. we're really not trying to run away from

God exactly. What we're trying to do is we're

waiting for God to say the words we want Him

to, right? We're waiting for Him to do the thing

that brings us joy. I'm going to put joy in air

quotes there. We're waiting for God to do the

thing that brings us excitement. And so it's

not that we're trying to run from what God is

calling us to do. We're waiting for God to call

us to do something fun. I heard somebody the

other day was talking about a guy at his church

went up to him and said, I feel like I'm being

called to preach. And he said, okay, well, if

you're feeling the call to ministry, what I need

you to do is on Sunday morning around 7 a .m.,

I need you to get to the church building, make

sure the Lord's Supper is ready, and then I need

you to take the church van and go pick up the

people in the inner city. And the guy said, no,

no, no, no, no. You didn't hear me. I felt the

calling to preach. And he's like, I heard you.

If you want to minister, you got to do the unfun

stuff. It's not about the stage. It's not about

the mic. And sometimes we're being called to

serve at the soup kitchen or we're being called

to go to the poor and the needy or we're being

called to do the things that we don't exactly

love doing, right? And it's not really fun, but

it needs to be done. And so we're being called

to do things that we may not exactly want to

do. And what we'll find, though, is if we'll

do the things that we don't want to do, we will

and others will be blessed by it. So you have

this child hiding, waiting for the fun. And that's

us with God sometimes. We think our hiding places,

our distractions, our excuses. our Tarshish tickets.

We think that they keep God from seeing us, that

they keep us hidden. But He sees us the whole

time. He knows exactly where we are. And God

is not out to punish us. He's waiting, arms ready

to scoop us up when we stop pretending that we're

hidden. And if we'll let Him find us, let Him

find us. We'll find the blessing. We'll find

the excitement. We'll find the fun. It will come.

But Jonah tries to outrun the presence of the

Lord by sailing across the sea. And what does

David say? Even there, God is there. Jonah ran

from God's command, but he sailed right into

God's storm. The storm and the fish, they weren't

punishment. It was a lesson. It wasn't about

God getting payback. It was about... God bringing

him back. God bringing him back into his redemptive

mission. Because God's will always supersedes

our desires. God's will. God's will is going

to take precedent over what I want. It's going

to take precedent over what I think I need. It's

going to take precedent over my desires. God's

will always comes first. His will will be done.

He'll send a storm. He'll send a fish. He'll

block your escape. God will do what He needs

to, not because He wants to control you. It's

not because He wants to ruin your plans. It's

not because He wants you to live a boring life.

It's because God wants to redeem your plans.

Because God wants to use you to be a redemptive

piece of His mission to rescue His people. And

let's be honest. I went and played basketball

the other night, and it was the first time that

I'd run up and down a court or really done any

running up and down anything in a long time.

Running is exhausting. I played one game and

was ready to die. And I'm not being funny. Like,

I actually thought I was going to fall out on

the court. I told Noah after, I was like, dude,

like, my heart felt like it was about to just,

like, implode. He was like, why didn't you just

sit down? I was like, well, because I wanted

to keep playing, right? But it's exhausting.

And sometimes it can be painful and you can be

running and you'll feel like you're dying. And

for some of us, we know we need to just stop

and take a breather. But for others, we just

keep running. We keep going and we keep going

until eventually we collapse. Until eventually

something says stop. And it's not a willing stop.

It's a you have no choice but to stop. Running

is exhausting. Some of us, we're not physically

on the run from God, but our hearts, our spiritual

lives are sprinting away from Him every single

day. We're running from the apology that we know

we need to give. Or we're running from the forgiveness

that we need to give to someone who's just been

waiting for our forgiveness. We're running from

the call to serve instead of to just sit. We're

running from surrendering our time, surrendering

our money, surrendering our talent, surrendering

our pride. And the problem is, is we cannot run,

God. We cannot run ourselves either. We will

run, but eventually we will stop. Because we

get tired. We start to hurt. And we miss out.

And we realize that we're missing out on the

goodness that God wants for our lives. See, Jonah

didn't stop running until he was buried in darkness.

And then finally, Jonah prayed. And I want you

to listen to David's prayer there in Psalm 139.

Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me and

know my thoughts. And see if there be any grievous

way in me. And lead me in the way everlasting.

See, Jonah's prayer in the belly of the fish

was basically that. It was, God, I'm done running.

I'm done trying to hide. I'm done trying to escape

what you've called me to do. God, I'm done running.

I hear you. You've made yourself abundantly clear.

I'll go where you say. So I'm asking you this

question this morning, and I'm asking myself

too, where are you running to? Where is your

Tarshish? What boat are you booking passage on

to get away? To get away from what you know God

is calling you to face? To get away from what

God has called you to do? Where are you going

to hide? As if the shepherd who made you won't

find you there. David asked the question, where

shall I go from your spirit? And the answer is

nowhere. There's nowhere you can go. Where shall

I flee from your presence? Again, nowhere. Do

you know what that means? It means this, very

simply. If you're tired of running, the good

news, the gospel message today is you don't have

to. You don't have to run from what God's been

calling you for. You don't have to fight. In

fact, if you're tired of fighting God's voice,

you can just surrender to it. If you've been

drifting far off course, you can turn around.

And you can do exactly what God has been pulling

you and leading you and drawing you into. Because

the same God who met Jonah in the storm, the

same God that used the fish, a fish of all things,

To get the message across to Jonah. That same

God is the same God who waits for you here. Who

waits for you with mercy. Who waits for you with

a second chance. Our theme right now is called

together and sent out. And the truth is, I've

told you over and over and over again, and I

say it repetitively because I need us to understand

God is calling each and every one of us to do

something, to say something, to be someone, to

go somewhere. And in that calling, we're going

to have to do that together. We need each other

to fulfill the calling. And not only do we need

to be together, but we have to actually go and

do it. God is going to send you somewhere with

your calling. It may be to Blairsville. It may

be to Blue Ridge. It may be to Union County Schools.

It may be to the hospital. It may be to the bank.

Wherever it is, God is calling you to do something

and sending you somewhere because He is on a

mission to redeem His people. And with Jonah,

God said, go help me redeem my people. Jonah

tried to avoid it. And God said, you cannot hide

from me. You cannot run from me. I need my will

to be done and you're going to be a part of it.

And so Jonah has to go. And from it, God is glorified.

And in this church, in this congregation here

at Blairsville, God is going to be glorified

one way or another. The question is, do you want

to be a part of that redemptive mission? Are

you going to accept the call? He's calling you

to do something. He's calling me to do something.

Am I going to run from Him and wear myself out

and tire myself out over nothing? You've done

it before, haven't you? Where you've tried to

run. You've tried to hide and you have found

yourself waking up in a cold sweat wondering,

why is it that I'm hurting? Why is it that I'm

in pain? Why is it that I'm struggling? Why is

it that everything seems to be falling apart

around me? God will use a storm to teach a lesson.

Are you going to be a part of the calling? Or

are you going to run? Are you going to wear yourself

out? When all you have to do is trust and obey.

I think I've said some version of trust and obey

a million times in this series. And it's crazy

that we haven't sang trust and obey yet. Because

that feels like Church of Christ, we've got to

sing trust and obey. But there's some truth there.

That if we will just trust and obey, we will

have a blessed life. We will have a good life.

We're all trying to live a good life. Amen? We

want comfort. We want peace. We want love. We

want purpose. And if we will just do what God

is calling us to do, we'll have that good life.

Here's how I know that. Adam and Eve live in

this beautiful place that God created perfectly

for them to live with Him. Now let me ask you

this. If I told you, hey, you can live in the

presence of a good God who gives you everything

you need and a perfect home, would you accept

that offer? I would hope so because that sounds

pretty nice. It sounds like a good life. And

so that's what God created us for. That's what

He intended for us. He called us. To just trust

Him. Everything in this garden you can have except

this one thing. If you will just leave that one

thing alone, it'll be a good life. But as we

do, we don't listen. Because we're hard -headed.

And so, thus began our running. Running away

from God's instruction. And ever since then,

our life has not been good. It's not been abundant.

It hasn't been peaceful. Sometimes I'll think

about what that life in the garden will be like

one day. How peaceful it's going to be. There

won't be any more suffering. There won't be any

more sorrow. There won't be any more hurt. There

won't be any more middle of the month, spent

all the paycheck, paid all the rent, and now

I'm trying to figure out what we're going to

eat for the rest of the month. There won't be

any more cars breaking down and I'm not sure

how I'm going to fix it. There won't be any more

cancer diagnoses. There won't be any more miscarriages.

There won't be any more lost family members.

There won't be any more houses burning down.

Do you realize how great that will be? And all

we have to do for us to get there and to bring

other people with us is just go where God says

go and stop running away from His call. That's

all we have to do. And I know it may not be glamorous

in the moment. It may not be the most fun thing.

It may even be dangerous. But I'll take momentary

danger for an eternity of splendor every time.

That's what I want for me. That's what I want

for you. That's what I want for the people outside

of this building. And that's what God wants.

See, yeah, we can try to run. We can try to get

away. We can try to hide. And we can try to cover

up our eyes because if we can't see God, He can't

see us, right? But it's all for nothing. Because

we can't hide from it. God can even use your

running to show off His rescue. Here's the truth.

We don't have to wait for the storm. We don't

have to wait for the fish. We don't have to wait

for life to break down, for things to get difficult.

We don't have to wait for everything to feel

like it's crumbling around us. We don't have

to wait for suffering before we come back to

the one who never left you. So maybe this morning

you feel like Jonah and you feel like you've

been running, you've been hiding, you've been

avoiding whatever it is that God has been calling

you to do. Or maybe you feel like David. You've

known all along that you can't hide and you're

ready to pray. Search me, know me, lead me. My

call for us this morning is that we stop running,

we stop hiding, we just go home. We get on the

road towards home. You cannot run God's presence.

And the good news is you don't need to. Because

God's presence is where you will find rest. It's

where you'll find comfort and peace and abundance.

His presence is where you'll find forgiveness.

His presence is where you'll find the purpose

that you've been longing for. It's where you'll

find belonging. So today, if you need to come

back to God, don't wait. If you need to stop

running and start surrendering, today is the

day. If you need to let God search you, to ask

Him to know you, to lead you, He is ready. He's

here. There's nowhere to hide. There is nowhere

to hide. And that is the best news. That is the

gospel. That God knows exactly where you are

and He is ready to bring you home. If you need

to respond to God's call, to follow Jesus for

the first time, to come home again, or just to

lay a burden down and let the church here pray

for you, please, don't wait. Stop running and

just come now.