“But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.” - Jonah 1:3
In the world of business, we are told that the key to success is location, location, location. In other words, your business will have a significantly better chance to succeed in the right location than in a bad location.
Some say the same thing about ministry. Many mega-church pastors, church-growth gurus and seminary professors advise young preachers to seek the largest church possible in an area with the largest population. Sounds like great advice, doesn't it? Yet what if God wants you elsewhere?
In the Bible, there was a man who didn't like his ministry assignment. Jonah was divinely called to go to Nineveh and preach to that wicked city. Primarily out of prejudice, Jonah resisted the call. He decided to go in the opposite direction.
There aren't many sermons about disobedience these days. If there were, Jonah would be the prime example of this sin. If you looked up the word, “disobedience,” in the dictionary, it ought to have Jonah's picture included.
Jonah rebelled against the calling of God. This led Jonah down a path of misery. He was a miserable minister. Disobedience always takes you on a road that leads downward. Notice in Jonah 1:3 that Jonah, “went down to Joppa,” and “went down,” into the lowest part of the ship. Later, he would be going down in the ocean and down into the belly of a fish. Sin always takes you down.
Furthermore, Jonah paid a price for his disobedience. He had to pay the fare to go on the boat. He had to pay for his sins by being cast in the ocean. When swallowed by the great fish, he had to contemplate his actions in the filthy belly of the fish. It must have been disgusting. When he repented, the fish vomited him up on the land. That must have been a pleasant sight!
Jonah was one of the first street preachers in the Bible. When he entered Nineveh, he preached God's message through the city. When the people heard the message, revival came. The people repented and the city was spared.
Rather than rejoicing over the salvation of hundreds of people, Jonah had a chip on his shoulder. He was angry with God. Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh. He didn't want to preach to them. His greatest fear was realized. He knew if he preached and the people repented, that God would spare them. He didn't want that. Jonah was a Jew. The people of Nineveh were enemies of the Jews. He wanted to see their destruction, not their salvation. He certainly didn't want any part of their salvation.
Jonah had a bad attitude. His hatred and prejudice kept him from being compassionate. His heart wasn't right.
Jonah was miserable throughout the entire book. God had the final word, expressing His compassion for the people of Nineveh. Jonah's heart had been far from the heart of God.
What about your heart? What about mine?
It is easy to be judgmental of Jonah, but if we were honest, we'd have to admit that there is a little bit of Jonah in all of us. We'd prefer to act superior and look down our pious nose at others. Yet God has a way of exposing the sin and deceit in our hearts.
The book of Jonah ends in an unusual way. We don't know much about Jonah's response to God's message. We know that Nineveh repented, but did Jonah?
What lessons do we learn from this miserable minister? First of all, we learn that God cares for people, even wicked people. He could have destroyed Nineveh without Jonah ever going there. He would have been just in doing so. Yet He cared enough to send a preacher to them. By the way, He could have destroyed us. He would have been just in doing this. I'm glad for those sent my way with His message, what about you?
Secondly, we learn that a spiritual awakening can come at any time … even in the worst of situations. Our nation is a mess right now. Evil is quickly destroying the fabric of our freedom. It seems unlikely that a spiritual awakening can occur in America. We are too evil. We've gone too far. Yet that was the case for Nineveh. Yet when they heard the bold preaching of Jonah, they repented. America would be wise to do the same.
Third, we learn that Jonah didn't sugar-coat his message. He preached a message of judgment. It wasn't a feel-good sermon. Yet it was God's message. God used that message to transform lives.
Although God was working in the lives of the people of Nineveh, He was also working in the life of a miserable minister. God was patiently teaching Jonah about love and grace. Jonah was stubborn, yet God was patient. Jonah's misery could have been avoided. Much of our misery is self-inflicted, too.
In this age of “cheap grace,” the subject of obedience is missing from many pulpits. Jonah was a disobedient preacher. Sometimes a preacher needs to repent himself. A preacher often has to preach to himself before he preaches to others.
Disobedience is a serious matter. God deserves better.
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