“The Peace of Advent” - Isaiah 9:2-7

“The Peace of Advent”

Isaiah 9:2-7

Introduction:  Last Sunday we transitioned from Thanksgiving to Advent by focusing on the “Advent of Hope.” We have confidence that God is good, and that he is working, and that even when we don’t understand we anticipate expectantly the unfolding of His plan. We believe God. We trust Him. We have hope. This week our advent celebration turns to the theme of “peace.”  In the light of our experience, the angels’ announcement on that first Christmas morning might seem strange in Luke 2:14, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" I am finalizing this sermon on Pearl Harbor Day, enough said? Perennial tensions in the mid-east. Saber rattling on the Korean peninsula.  Violence in schools and on the streets of American cities. Our country divided politically and socially. Unrest in countries like Haiti and Brazil.  Peace on Earth?  We see conflict between nations, struggles in the work place, problems in our homes and families, even divisions in our churches. Peace on earth? It may not look like it from our perspective!  Even Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.” How then can we understand the angels’ announcement of “peace on earth” in the light of our experience?

“Peace” can have several meanings in Scripture. One is indeed “an absence of war or violence” but that is usually only one small facet of what is meant by the biblical idea of peace. It is quite obvious that the day when swords will be hammered into plowshares is an aspect of “peace” that is still future. Even so, we can still have peace, even now. The Hebrew word “Shalom” is explained by one scholar as “The state of fulfillment that results from God’s presence.” This is what expressed in the Aaronic benediction in Number 6:24-26: “The LORD bless you and keep you;  ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;  ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.” God’s presence brings “shalom.”

        “Peace” relates to the idea that was expressed when God looked at His creation, before the fall, and pronounced it all “good,” tob. God who is holy and perfect was in perfect fellowship with His creation, no sin, no separation. There was peace. The way life should be! That peace was disrupted by the fall, and in the fullness of time the arrival of the Prince of Peace, according to promise, meant that fellowship can be restored, reconciliation can be experienced between God and those who would believe. 

The Maine* Idea: “The Son of God took upon himself a human nature in order to give his life so that we could experience true peace.”

I. The PURPOSE of Advent: Peace on earth, peace with God, peace in our hearts, peace forever (Isa 9:2-5). Humanity was lost, powerless against the darkness.

² The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.  ³ You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.  ⁴ For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian.  ⁵ For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.

       First of all, the prophet speaks about the great need of humans (v.2). “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined.”  John’s gospel shows the importance of the theme of “light and darkness” from the very first chapter (cf. Jn 1:4, 9, 14). There is a moral/spiritual element to it:  “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).  Why don’t we have peace on earth? James asked and answered the question when he said:

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this: that your passions are at war within you?” (James 4:1).

Conflict starts in the rebellious human heart. Jeremiah said “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jer 17:9).  The prophet is describing a dark place, and that is the depth of the depravity of the human heart. We are all sinners. Psalm 53 begins by saying in the first couple of verses, “… there is none who does good.  ² God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.  ³ They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” That is pretty clear. How many of us are sinners? Every last one, by birth and by choice (those verses may sound familiar from Paul’s quotation in Rom 3:10f).

        The good news came in the promise of deliverance in Isaiah 9:3-5.  Verse 5 describes a time when the Light shining in the darkness will bring “peace on earth”: “…For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire.” Though “peace on earth” is not yet our experience, that day is coming, that is our sure hope, the enemies of Christ will be put under his feet and peace will reign, at last.  Because of His coming, because of the reality of His presence for those who trust Him we can already experience peace in our hearts, a peace that passes understanding. Have you got problems? The Son of God took upon himself a human nature in order to give his life so that we could experience true peace. That was the purpose of Advent. Isaiah 9:6 points us to the One who came…

II. The PERSON of Advent: The Prince of Peace (Isa 9:6). God sent his Son for us.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

       “For unto us a child is born…” The prophet is assuming a physical, historical, human birth. God the Son took upon himself a human nature.  There was an early heresy that the church confronted called “Docetism.” The idea was that Jesus didn’t really take a full human nature, He only appeared to be human.  The Bible makes it clear that the eternal Son took a human nature, and the divine and human natures were one in the person of Christ.  The theological phrase is the “hypostatic union.”  Paul described this act in his letter to the Philippians when he wrote in Philippians 2:6-7  “…although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,  ⁷ but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men…” A Jewish-Christian scholar from the 19^th century, Alfred Edersheim, reflected on this when he wrote in The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah,

“…that on such a slender thread as the feeble throb of an infant life, the salvation of the world should hang—and no special watch care over its safety, no better shelter be provided it than a stable, no other cradle than a manger! And still it is ever so. On what slender thread has the continued life of the church often seemed to hang; on what feeble throbbing that of every child of God—with no visible means to ward off danger, no home of comfort, no rest of ease…” 

Life is hard, and fleeting, in this fallen world. But take heart, we have a Prince and High Priest who understands, who can sympathize with our weakness and empathize with our pain. He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin. But peace on earth? Why then did Jesus warn, “In the world you will have tribulation…”? The promise of “peace” begins in our heart, it is peace with God and the peace of God. Paul said in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  And then we read in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  We read more about that in Ephesians 2:14-17,

“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility  ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,  ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.  ¹⁷ And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near.”

For Jew and Gentile alike the way to peace is through Jesus Christ.  The prophet Isaiah spoke of the birth of the Child, and then in the next phrase says “…unto us a Son is given…” A Son, handed over as a gift. This is not only parallel with the previous phrase, but it expounds on a couple of elements. One, the child would be a son. (In our day of sonograms that may seem like a small factor, but God’s plan would be accomplished). Secondly, he was “given.” The term used in John 3:16 expresses the same idea: in John God gave His Son, in Isaiah, the passive form, the Son was “given.”  As Paul said, “God spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all.” John in his first letter said, “This is how God showed his love among us, He sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him…” (I John 4:9).

          The prophet Isaiah, writing 700 years earlier, goes on to give more information about the coming One: “…and the government will be upon his shoulders…” (Isa 9:6b). He is the Ruler of creation, Lord of all, and His Kingdom will come. This hope is not exclusively future.  Even now we’ve been transported from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of the Son… (Col 1:13). And so, He must reign in our hearts and minds by faith. But He will return to establish His kingdom on earth—and somehow, incredibly, we will reign with Him!

       The litany of titles that follow express aspects of who He is: “And his name will be called, Wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father…” Each designation gives us a little more information about the Promised One…

       He is a Wonderful counselor.  The Holy Spirit is described as our “Parakletos” in the upper room discourse in John 14-16. He is our Comforter, Helper, and Advocate. In I John 2 the same word is applied to Jesus. He is our Advocate…

       Here in Isaiah 9:6 He is also described in the unmistakable language of deity: mighty God, everlasting Father… Think about it: God is on your side, He is at your side, to help, guide, and protect. So, you don’t need to be overwhelmed or despair: if God is for us, who can stand against us?

       He is finally called the “Prince of Peace” – The Prince of Shalom. The one who’s reign would be marked by the presence of God and the blessings of the covenant. He is Immanuel, God with us. And so, we can experience “shalom” because of His presence.  As the Prince of Peace, He is the source of peace. Because of His work we are reconciled to God. Because of His presence we can have peace in the midst of a chaotic world.

       Think again of the words of Paul to the Philippians:  “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding…” (Phil 4:6,7).  What are the situations that you are facing in life that can cause you anxiety, that would keep you up at night or burden you?  The consequences of the Fall are all around us, that is why Jesus came! God is bigger than your problems! Remember that the Son took upon himself a human nature in order to give his life so that we could experience true peace.

III. The PROMISE of Christmas: The Advent of Peace on Earth (Isa 9:7).

“Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”

       Notice that he speaks of an eternal kingdom – One of the issues that come up from time to time in our Bible Study discussions is the problem of evil. If God is good, and all powerful, why is there so much suffering and injustice in the world? That was not the world as it was created by God. That original creation was pronounced “good,” it was a setting marked by “shalom,” the fulfillment that results from God’s presence. He is Emmanuel, God with us. 

      Human rebellion, sin, brought suffering and death into the world, and believers are not exempt. Sometimes, as we’ve learned from our Jonah series, the storms of life are linked to our sin, our rebellion against God. God will do what He needs to get out attention, even send a giant fish! But remember that the men on the boat with Jonah were not in a crisis because of their sin, but God did use it to get their attention and to bring them to faith! God isn’t surprised by suffering. Even there He is present and working, causing all things, even the hard things, to work together for our good, and for His glory (Romans 8:28).

        An eternal kingdom brought about by God. It can be and will be an eternal kingdom and everlasting peace because the omnipotent king of the universe will accomplish it. Now listen: “wars and rumors of wars” will characterize this age until Jesus returns.  But “shalom” is not merely the absence of conflict. We look forward to the day when fellowship and the presence of God will be restored fully. But even now we can experience peace. We read in Philippians 4:5-7…

“…The Lord is at hand [and so the presence of God, the fundamental requirement of “shalom”]  ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus…”

Have you had the experience of your child being frightened at night and running to your bedroom? They can climb into bed and fall fast asleep in about two seconds, because as long as mommy and daddy are there, there is no fear, no anxiety.  Here is the promise: The Lord is at hand.  Daddy is with you. You can rest. Shalom. The way life should be!

What is God saying to me in this passage?  The Son of God took upon himself a human nature in order to give his life so that we could experience true peace.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Christmas can be a time of high anxiety for many. Are you feeling overwhelmed by pressures of the season? Trials at work, difficulty at home, concern about the future? Christmas celebrates hope and peace, because of the Prince of Peace, Jesus. So…

     1. I would encourage you this month to be in the Word. Make a daily time to read, focusing on the promises of the incarnation, a part of your Advent celebration. Many start a Bible Reading program in the beginning of the year… why not get started now? His Word is truth, let it be a Light to your path…

     2. Don’t allow the pressures of family get togethers, travel, and shopping to become “Christmas” for you. Remember Jesus. Focus on the fact that the Eternal Son of God, purposefully took on a human nature – for you… Look at the Chaos around us and remember why He came: To give us peace!

     3. Look for opportunities to share the promise of Peace with those in your sphere of influence, point them to Jesus, the One who came to save us.

     4. Jesus began and ended the upper room discourse in John with a promise of Peace: John 14:27,  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” And then, in John 16:33   ^“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." There will be peace for those who trust Him!

     5. Remember the promise: as we lean on Him, His peace will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  You can take God at His Word! Shalom, the way life should be!     AMEN.

The Hope of Advent - Titus 2:11-15

The Hope of Advent

Titus 2:11-15

Introduction: You have probably noticed the decorations around the church (and around town!) have begun to appear. We saw some decorations going up already last week, before Thanksgiving!  For many people, Christmas is a time for adorning the house and decorating the carefully selected tree with the symbols that are associated with Advent.  Those traditions are ok, as long as we maintain our focus on the One who is the reason for the season.

       This week as we begin our month-long Advent celebration, we focus on the “Hope” that came with the Advent of Christ. We’ll turn to a passage in Paul’s letter to Titus that reminds us that sound doctrine, right teaching of God’s word, is something that we can adorn, it visibly impacts us and changes us. It gives us hope, while revealing the beauty of the Gospel to those around us: “…in every-thing they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.” Some translations say, “make attractive” the teaching. We want to show God off to the world!  When people see that we have hope in the midst of this chaos it gets their attention because “hope” is something everyone desperately longs for.  The ESV reads…

…so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.  ¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,  ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,  ¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.  ¹⁵ Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority… (Titus 2:10-15a).

Have you ever faced a situation that seemed helpless? Such must have been the feeling of John Aldredge and Anthony Sosinski. They were commercial fishermen, heading out from Montauk, Long Island in the summer of 2017.

As they headed out to sea, about 40 miles offshore, Anthony was sleeping below deck while John was working to get things ready for the catch they would soon begin to haul in. John was pulling on a handle with all of his might when it snapped, sending him sprawling backwards, and right off the boat. As soon as he surfaced he began screaming for help, but he knew there was no way for Anthony to hear him below deck. And he didn’t. John watched the boat pulling away, over the crest of a wave, and that was it, he couldn’t see it anymore. He was alone, treading water in the open Atlantic, without a life vest, thinking this was the way he was going to die. I can’t imagine what that must have felt like. A hopeless situation? Or was it?

       Have you ever been in a situation where you began to lose hope, where it seemed there was nothing but darkness as you looked ahead?  What can give us perspective, and hope, as believers in Jesus, we have a sure hope that is based on the truth that Jesus Christ has defeated death, He knows us, and one day we will see Him face to face. One little boy said “Hope is wishing for something that you know ain’t gonna happen!” Biblical hope is different. Hope means to anticipate something with a confident expectation that it is coming. We find comfort in the promise that the suffering of this present age is not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us (Rom 8:18). It seems that Paul is saying that as we live in submission to God’s revealed truth, we reveal the intrinsic beauty of who God is, and what he has done in us and for us. For Paul theology is always practical and it must filter from our mind to our heart, and to our hands and our feet. The truth He has revealed empowers and motivates us to live by faith.

The Maine* Idea: The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully in the sure hope of His return. We’ll take a verse at a time…

I. The Advent of Christ offers hope: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people…” (11).

       Grace has appeared, because the Grace Giver, the gracious Redeemer, burst upon the stage of human history over 2000 years ago. Grace has appeared since He came of his own free will, with a purpose, to give himself to provide salvation for all who would believe.  We are so familiar with the story we can almost forget how astounding it is in the way that it unfolded. After 400 years of silence, the God of all creation, the Lord of the universe who spoke in times past through the prophets, spoke in His Son.  He himself took on a human nature, He came as one of us. The Jewish people in the first century had a hope based on Scripture, hope that one day Messiah would arrive and save His people. Contrary to expectations he came under the humblest circumstances not to defeat armies and establish His earthly kingdom, but rather to make a way for forgiveness and life.

       Paul goes on to say that grace appeared, “…bringing salvation for all people…” Not to say that all people would be saved, but that the price has been paid and the gift has been offered, the One Way of salvation through faith in Christ has been extended to all classes of people, and to all races and nations.  In the context, Paul had just been talking to masters and servants, to husbands and wives, to young and old, telling them to walk worthy of their calling in Christ.  Jesus is the one and only source of forgiveness and life, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the only name under heaven by which we can be saved (John 14:6, Acts 4:12).   The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully in the sure hope of His return. The advent of Christ is the Advent of hope, and…

II. Hope calls us to live differently: “…training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…” (12).

       First of all, we are to live differently in terms of what we don’t do: “…teaching us to renounce ungodliness and worldly lusts…” Sin is a choice.  We have certainly seen that in our series on Jonah. The prophet willfully turned his back on God and rejected His Word. As we live our lives in this fallen world, our hope in Christ is something that motivates us to live more and more in the light of eternity.     Increasingly our forward focus on Jesus and what He has prepared for us will enable us to say no to sin: “I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life I live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me…” (Gal 2:20). We have hope!

       Positively, we are called to live in a way that manifests the fruit of the Spirit, the presence of God in our lives: “…we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age…” Did you know that you are living, already, in the future? We have, right now, eternal life. We are living in this world, but we are citizens of heaven. We walk in this present age, but we already are partakers of the age to come. As Paul told the Colossians “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son…” (Col 1:13). Our sure hope about the future motivates us to live differently, to adorn, that is, “make attractive,” the doctrine of God. And so, the first coming of Jesus revealed God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully in the sure hope of His return. 

III. Hope calls us to live expectantly… “…waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ…” (13).

       Hope involves waiting confidently, expectantly.  The word “hope” usually has a different connotation in modern English, it’s something we desire or want or long for, but we don’t necessarily have confidence that it will happen.  We “hope” it will, but there may be doubt, our “hope” might be no more than wishful thinking.  One child said, “Hope is wishing for something you know ain’t gonna happen.”  Well biblical “hope” is different. It implies anticipation, confidence, faith, based on God’s revealed Word, an assurance that God is good, and a sure expectation that God’s story is going to unfold according to His plan.

        Waiting for what? The first coming of Christ revealed grace, God’s unmerited favor, and provided the basis of the gracious salvation provided in the Cross. His second coming will reveal more fully his unveiled glory. We see a glimpse of His glory now, but wait until we see what John saw in Revelation 1:13-18,

“…and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.  ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire;  ¹⁵ His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;  ¹⁶ He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.  ¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.  ¹⁸ "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen.”

       Waiting for who? The language here is quite emphatic, “…our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ…” He is our Savior. Because of Him we have hope. He is God, so our hope is sure. Think of that: The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully in the sure hope of His return. 

IV. The Advent of Hope was costly and purposeful: “…who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (14).

          Christmas is a time for giving, but there is no doubt that the true gift of Christmas was presented 2000 years ago. The gift-giving can distract us from the greatest gift of Christmas, which came at such cost….

In an episode of the comic strip “Peanuts,” Charlie Brown cracks open his piggy bank. He says to Lucy, “Look, I’ve got $9.11 to spend on Christmas gifts.”  Lucy is not impressed as she says, “You can’t buy something for everyone with $9.11, Charlie Brown.” Charlie Brown says, “Oh yeah? Well I’m gonna try!” “Then” Lucy continues, “they’re sure gonna be cheap presents.”  Charlie  says with absolute conviction, “Nothing is cheap if it costs all that you have.”

On the very first Christmas, God gave us all that He had: Himself, in the person of his Son, Jesus. Thirty-three years later Jesus would give us all that he had: his very life. Now it is our turn to give a gift to Jesus, and it should, likewise, cost all that you've got. 

       Ultimately it was not a present under a tree, but the One who was given, hung on a tree.  He “gave himself for us,” that not only means that He came for us, but that he came to die for us. He gave himself to redeem us from the penalty of sin. “Redeem” translates lutroo, “free by paying a ransom.” We were guilty, condemned sinners, unable to free ourselves.  There is an old famous story of A.J. Gordon who was the great Baptist pastor of the Clarendon Church in Boston. It’s worth retelling…

“One day he met a young boy in front of the sanctuary carrying a rusty cage in which several birds fluttered nervously. Gordon inquired, "Son, where did you get those birds?" The boy replied, "I trapped them out in the field." "What are you going to do with them?" He said, "I’m going to play with them, and then I guess I’ll just feed them to an old cat we have at home." When Gordon offered to buy them, the lad exclaimed, "Mister, you don’t want them, they’re just little old wild birds and can’t sing very well." Gordon replied, "I’ll give you $2 for the cage and the birds." "Okay, it’s a deal, but you’re making a bad bargain." The exchange was made and the boy went away whistling, happy with his shiny coins. Gordon walked around to the back of the church property, opened the door of the small wire coop, and let the struggling creatures soar into the blue.”

       That’s redemption. The wages of sin is death. That is what we deserved. Jesus paid the price that we couldn’t pay.  He did what we could not do for ourselves. He who was without sin, was made sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. The Advent of Hope was costly, it was also purposeful.  He gave himself to make possible a new life, to give us a new heart. Remember that beautiful passage in Ezekiel 36:25-27,  

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your unclean-nesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.  ²⁶ And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

For that hope to be ours, a price had to be paid, God’s justice, His wrath against sin, had to be satisfied. Jesus, the Son, came to be the Lamb who would take the penalty, and by grace through faith, we receive His righteousness.  That grace was revealed in the first coming of Jesus and motivates us to live faithfully in the sure hope of His return. 

V. Hope engages us in mission: “Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority…” (15).

       Paul admonished Titus to declare the truth, to speak about the hope we have in Christ, not apologetically, but confidently. It was a mission that Paul himself embraced and lived, and it was something that he expected to see in his disciples. We too are called to be his witnesses, to boldly stand up for Christ and to speak the truth in love, with passion and conviction. One of the key themes we’ve seen in our study of Jonah is his initial unwillingness to share the message of God with unbelievers. I think the implication of the book is that by the end Jonah gets it, and his readers are invited to accept the call as well. Have you looked for opportunities to share that message of Hope with those in your sphere of influence? The call to share the message of hope that Jesus offers is a key aspect of the ongoing mission of the church. The first step in making disciples is telling people the truth about Jesus, about who He is and why He came. Look around, the fields are white for the harvest. We are surrounded by people who desperately need Jesus.  At this time of the year people are perhaps more open to hear what we have to say about the One who gave himself to give us hope.

What is God saying to me in this passage?  The first coming of Jesus revealed God’s grace and motivates us to live faithfully in the sure hope of His return. 

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?  As you might have figured out, John Aldredge survived his harrowing ordeal when he fell overboard.

He didn’t panic. First, he realized that he could invert his boots, trapping some air inside, and he put them under his arms as a flotation device. He had a flicker of hope… at least he could keep afloat. Four hours later, Anthony, back on the boat, woke up, and found the broken handle. He realized what must have happened and called the Coast Guard. John made it alive until morning, and tried to keep his hope alive. He was close to despair when he spotted a fishing buoy, which he was able to reach and latch onto. A surge of hope! Only about an hour later, a Coast Guard helicopter flew nearby and spotted him, waving and splashing!  By the time he was pulled aboard, about 12 hours had passed since John went overboard.

Truth be told, John didn’t have a reasonable expectation of rescue. But he never lost hope. As we enter the Advent season this year may I ask you, do you have hope?  I don’t mean wishful thinking or denial, but real hope, firmly grounded in the truth that God is, and He has spoken in the Son, assurance that He became a man, He lived among us, He bore our sins on the tree, He rose from the grave and He will return. That is biblical hope, that is our sure hope!

       The Lord’s Table reminds us why He came, and we celebrate what He accomplished. If you are unsure about where you stand with Jesus, there is no need to doubt. The gift of Christmas has been purchased: salvation, life, a sure hope for tomorrow.  Jesus didn’t brave the lines on Black Friday to buy some Christmas presents to place under a tree, He faced the Cross on Good Friday, to purchase the gift of life and hope. But like any gift, it must be received, …whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life… whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  His gift is received by faith: Life and Hope in Jesus.  AMEN.

Give Thanks: Salvation is from the Lord! - Jonah 1:17-2:10

Give Thanks: Salvation is from the Lord!

Jonah 1:17-2:10

Introduction: Once again, my careful planning, months in advance, is evident, as the Sunday before Thanksgiving we come to a text focused on giving thanks to God. No… not really. God in His sovereignty must have planned our fifth week in this series on Jonah, the prophet’s Song of Thanksgiving, to come Thanksgiving week! I did not. In fact, initially I thought we’d be finished with Jonah by now, but you knew better! There is a lot to learn in this little book, a lot to learn about God and a lot to learn about ourselves. We see in this book the holiness of God, His wrath against sin, and also His mercy and grace. We see how he is working in Jonah to mold him into a more usable disciple. We also see Jonah as a mirror that will expose our own hearts that are so prone to wander and rebellious. Last week Pastor Al preached about “Kingdom Prayers: Touching Heaven to Change Earth.” It may be that is a major point of the book of Jonah. But Jonah is not there yet.

       We have seen prayer already in the book of Jonah, but not on the lips of the prophet. The pagan sailors first prayed to their lifeless idols in the storm, and then, they, not Jonah, call on Jonah’s God for mercy. The storm ends suddenly when Jonah is cast into the sea – and the sailors recognize the awesome power and presence of God, and respond to Him in worship as the true God. Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2 shows that finally, as Jonah is sinking into the depths, nearing death, he finally looks up and cries out to God…

The Maine* Idea: In every situation in life we can give thanks to God our Savior!

Context: “I was sinking deep in sin…” (cf. 1:17). We left Jonah in the fish’s belly…

And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights…

       We know from Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2, that as he was going down, tangled in seaweed, almost out of air, that he prayed to God… and God heard his prayer. Though the answer probably wasn’t what he would have expected!  What would you have thought if you prayed to God for help, then turned around and saw a giant fish coming at you? “God, I said ‘Have mercy’ not ‘I’m Sushi!’” God hears the prayers of his people, and He is good and He does good… all the time. True, the answers might not be what we would expect, but we can trust Him, always. In every situation in life, we can give thanks to God our Savior!

      There is some irony in the language here. The Lord “appointed” a great fish to swallow Jonah, and it does exactly as it was supposed to do, later it vomits him onto the land when God tells it to do so. In chapter 4 the same word is used three more times, as God appoints a plant to grow, a worm to kill the plant, and a scorching wind to blow on Jonah. Nature obeys, precisely fulfilling the role that God had for it. Jonah first resisted God’s call to go to Nineveh, and after a storm, nearly drowning, and three days cramped in the fish’s belly, will he reluctantly obey, though we’ll see that still his heart is not in it, at least not in terms of having  compassion for the Ninevites. Jonah had some lessons still to learn about being thankful to God, our Rescuer, trusting and believing Him in every situation in life.

I. Thank the God who saves: Seeing what we’ve been saved from, we’ll be thankful (2:1-7).

Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish,  ² saying, "I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.  ³ For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.  ⁴ Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.'  ⁵ The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head  ⁶ at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.  ⁷ When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.

       Jonah’s prayer begins with a general statement, “I called out to the Lord in my distress, and he answered me…” He then addresses God directly, “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and YOU heard my voice…” The two lines are parallel, affirming that God heard Jonah’s cry for help. I called… He answered… I cried… You heard… God hears and answers the prayers of His people. This is the language we see in Psalms of Thanksgiving, songs where the writer looks back and remembers how God has delivered him and answered his prayers in past times of crisis. It is praising the God who saves. Jonah realized that he had been running from God, and he didn’t have any right to expect God to save him. Like the prodigal son when he returned to the Father, “I have no right to be called your son…” But God is rich in mercy. As he prays, Jonah looks back on his near-death experience, as he was about to drown, and recounts how God heard and answered his prayer.

    Jonah also makes it clear that he is not the “innocent victim of blind justice,” cast into the sea by no-good pagans. On the contrary, he recognizes God’s hand in his circumstances…

³ For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.  ⁴ Then I said, 'I am driven away from your sight; Yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.'

       Jonah doesn’t overtly confess his sin as the cause of his circumstances. At least one writer called “repentance” the “missing note” in Jonah’s song. But as He says God is the one who cast Him into the sea, the One who owns the storm, he is implicitly recognizing the judgement, or at least the chastening, of the Father. As his life was nearly slipping away, perhaps in his last seconds of consciousness, he remembered the Lord, and his prayer went up to Him, into His “holy Temple.” (v.7).  As Jonah recognized God’s chastening, He looked up, seemingly with a repentant heart, determined to cry out to God. As I taught this part of Jonah to our Olympian kids, the “sticky thought” we tried to emphasize was, “No matter what, no matter where, talk to God, He is there!” Like the Father in the parable of the Prodigal Son, the Father is always watching and waiting, ready to receive us.  

       Jonah cried out to God in His Temple. Think about the Temple in Jerusalem, which was a tangible representation of the throne of God in heaven. In the holy of holies was the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets of Moses, the Ten Commandments. A gold covered lid, the Mercy Seat, covered the box, with Cherubim on either side. The symbolic presence of God was there, between the Cherubim and above the mercy seat. Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. It is a striking picture: All humans are guilty of breaking the commandments, we would have no hope of approaching the Holy One. But God sent the Son, the Lamb of God, who shed his own blood for us. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that the Son, our great High Priest, entered not the earthly Temple, but heaven itself, and not with the blood of a lamb or a goat, but with His own precious blood. Remember what happened to the Temple veil when Jesus died? It was ripped in two, from the top to the bottom. Because of Him, in the name of Jesus, we have access to the God of Heaven who made the sea and the dry land. And so, “No matter what, no matter where, talk to God, He is there!” His mercies are new every morning – that is truly amazing grace! And so, in every situation in life, we can give thanks to God our Savior!

II. Thank the God who is: A Thankful heart will reject vain idols (2:8).

⁸ Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.

       The NLT seems to clarify the sense well: “Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God's mercies.” Idols are vain, empty, powerless, unable to hear or to help in time of need. Jonah is saying that choosing idols, “gods” that we make up in our own mind, means that we are rejecting the ^chesed, the steadfast love, the covenantal faithfulness of the true God, the God who “is.” Yahweh is the God of Heaven who made the sea and the dry land. He is our Creator, mighty and merciful. The Phoenician sailors had been idol worshipers before the storm. The Ninevites had their false Gods. But the Jews? Modern westerners like us? Does this warning even apply? We would never carve an image, call it our God, and worship it… would we? Tim Keller says,

“An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, ‘If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure’” (Counterfeit Gods, xviii).

Your job, your account balance… Whenever we look somewhere else for our ultimate meaning and purpose and fulfillment in life, we are worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. I truly believe that God wants us to enjoy life in His creation. At its best, we get glimpses of the way life should be, the way life will be, in the New Heavens and the New Earth. But they are only glimpses. Like C.S. Lewis said, we live in the Shadow Lands. The future God has in store for us is more and better than we can imagine! The best part, will be that the veil will be removed, sin will be gone, we’ll know God and fellowship with Him without our vision dimmed by our fallen nature. Because that is our sure hope, even as we live in this fallen world, in every situation in life we can give thanks to God our Savior!

III. Thank God with an offering of praise: A Thankful heart is prepared for true worship (2:9a).

⁹ But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.

      Think of the faith, and the hope, that is expressed in these words! Jonah is speaking from the fish’s belly!  The English translations all translate this as a contrast with the preceding verse. In contrast to those who give regard to worthless idols, Jonah vows to praise and worship the true God. The implication is that he will experience the ^chesed, the steadfast love, the covenantal faithfulness of the true God, the God who is. That concept is at the heart of God’s dealing with humans. He graciously chose a godly line, and made a promise to keep them, and to one day bring a Seed into the world who would crush the serpent’s head, a Rescuer who would deliver a remnant from every tribe and nation.

       The psalms focus on worship, the response of humans to God. Lament psalms show humans crying out to God, voicing their pain and confusion, pleading for deliverance. Hymns are declarations of praise to the God who is, focusing on his nature and his attributes. Thanksgiving psalms are similar in that they are praise, but they describe how God has delivered and saved the psalmist or the nation and offer praise and thanksgiving for His intervention. That seems to be Jonah’s prayer here. He remembers how he cried out to God and how God answered. He was still in the fish’s belly, but somehow, miraculously, he could breath, he was alive. Only God could have done that! Even if the answers to your prayers have not been what you would have expected, can you trust that God is working, that He is present in your life? Can you believe that He is good, and that He will cause every detail to work together for your good and for His glory? That brings us back to the Maine* Idea: In every situation in life we can give thanks to God our Savior!

IV. Thank God through witnessing: A Thankful heart will proclaim the Good News of Salvation by grace alone (2:9b-10).

“…Salvation belongs to the LORD!"  ¹⁰ And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

      Jonah makes a profound theological declaration. Some have called it the most concise and profound theological statement in the entire Bible: “Salvation belongs to the Lord…” The language of 2:9b is saying that God alone is the source of salvation. He alone gets the glory. Salvation is not something that we can earn, or merit, or add to or complete. As Paul said in I Corinthians 1:30, “He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus…” Jonah couldn’t save himself. And he had no right to expect anything from God but judgment. Neither do we. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. His sacrificial death provided redemption for all who believe. As Jesus said in the Good Shepherd discourse, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me… I give to them eternal life and they shall never perish…” (John 10:27-28). Jonah’s final declaration in the belly of the fish may well have been part of his prayer of thanksgiving, but he also reflected on that as he later wrote the words down in the document that we have before us. So, he is testifying to his readers that the Lord saves, that He is our Rescuer, He alone is the source of life – and the eternal life for which we were created.

        Notice again in v.10 that God speaks to the fish and it obeys. He told the fish to swallow Jonah and it did. Now, as Jonah voices his thanksgiving and worship to God, affirming Him alone as the source of salvation, God speaks to the fish and it “vomits” Jonah onto dry land. That word appears only twelve (12) times in the Hebrew Bible. In every other case there is a negative implication, an expression of disgust or judgement. In Leviticus 18 the word appears three times in a context warning the people not to follow the abominations of the pagans in the land…

²⁴ "Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean,  ²⁵ and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants.  ²⁶ But you shall keep my statutes and my rules and do none of these abominations, either the native or the stranger who sojourns among you  ²⁷ (for the people of the land, who were before you, did all of these abominations, so that the land became unclean),  ²⁸ lest the land vomit you out when you make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

That is quite a picture, and quite a warning! We’ll see that God was not finished with Jonah. Though the prophet had realized his sin in running from God, and had vowed to obey the Lord’s call and to worship Him, we’ll see that His heart was not yet right with respect to the Ninevites. He did not long for their conversion, but still hoped for their judgement! As he saw His own need for the grace and mercy of God, he still needed to learn to express that same grace and mercy, even to pagans, like the men on the ship, who it seems Jonah never did pray for. Like the inhabitants of Nineveh, who were about to face the judgment of God. Jonah wasn’t there yet, and the fish “vomits” him onto the land… God knows Jonah’s heart, and he will continue to patiently work on Him. Just as he is working on you and me. We’ll see that God gets the last word in this little book, and if we take it that Jonah was the writer, the implication is that Jonah finally gets it…

What is God saying to me in this passage? The Maine* Idea in this passage, in Jonah’s prayer from the fish’s belly, is that in every situation in life, we can give thanks to God our Savior! As Paul told the Philippians, “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6,7).

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? The pilgrims traveled to this continent in search of a new life, the opportunity to live freely and to worship without being persecuted. God supplied their needs through the kindness of some indigenous people, pagans who were ignorant of the true God. Those early days in a New Land had to be very hard, but they could see God’s hand providing, protecting, rescuing them from certain death.

       Jonah was at the brink of death, and he finally cried out to God, and God was ready. The answer must have been on the way before Jonah even prayed, and it came in the form of a great fish! Don’t get distracted in debates about the fish, or the whale, or the sea monster, that is not the point of the story. This story is not about a great fish, it is about a Great God, a God who is real, not an idea made up by humans. A God who has spoken, who has revealed Himself to us. A God who is holy and just, and who is merciful and gracious. A God who works in history for our good, and for His glory.  He is the Father, waiting for the prodigal to turn homeward, to see His need and to trust that God is the only hope… Have you been there? Maybe you are there now. No matter what, no matter where, talk to God, He is there. He loves you so much that he gave his only Son… Salvation is from the Lord… In every situation in life, give thanks to God our Savior!  AMEN.

Justice, or Mercy? - Jonah 1:10-17

Justice, or Mercy? (or, “God isn’t Finished with me yet!”)

Jonah 1:10-17

Introduction: A mother approached Napoleon seeking a pardon for her son…

 The emperor replied that the young man had committed a certain offense twice and justice demanded death. 

"But I don't ask for justice," the mother explained. "I plead for mercy." 

"But your son does not deserve mercy," Napoleon replied. 

"Sir," the woman cried, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask for." 

"Well, then," the emperor said, "I will have mercy." And he spared the woman's son. 

       Mercy. We’ll see as we get further into this book that Jonah’s heart was hard toward the pagan Ninevites, he was focused on their evil and wanted only justice for them—in the form of the wrath of God Almighty. In fact, when they later repent and are spared by God, he says that is why he didn’t want to go, he knew that if they turned from their evil God would relent from destroying them (4:2). Ironically, in fleeing from God’s call to go to that pagan city, Jonah gets on a boat full of pagan sailors. As he slept below deck and the storm raged, Jonah was unconcerned about what the crew was facing above him. They jettisoned the cargo, but their lives were at risk as the storm raged around them. But now as these terror-stricken men stand before him, pleading for some explanation of what was happening, and some direction about what to do, Jonah seems to soften at their plight… He knew his rebellion against God had brought the storm, why should they go down with him and the ship? God was working in Jonah, softening his heart, leading him toward repentance—but he wasn’t quite there yet. We’ll see that he was also working in the hearts of the pagan, gentile crew, revealing his power and justice, and He soon would reveal His grace and mercy…

The Maine* Idea: God’s mercy, the only hope for fallen humans, has been extended toward us in Christ…   Let’s back up a verse and remember the…

Context: Jonah’s sin was exposed! And, by the way, so is ours, for “…all have sinned and fall short…” (10). The Lord will bring to light the things hidden in darkness… Everyone, until they believe, is likewise in rebellion against God.

¹⁰ 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. 

       That rhetorical question harkens back to the Garden, and the context of the Fall, as God spoke to the man and the woman of the consequences of their sin. God will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. His justice demands judgement. These men hadn’t had a course on Bible doctrine, but they had enough truth evidenced in this supernatural storm that had come up out of nowhere, and that now threatened to break up their ship—coupled with the simple testimony of Jonah, “I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry ground…” Jonah was running from THAT God, and He was not going to let him get away! What have you done Jonah! They were, literally, in the same boat with him, and they were terrified, they “…feared a great fear…”

       By the way, 800 years later or so, there were some men on a boat with another prophet, a Prophet greater than Jonah. The men woke him from sleep as well. But Jesus stood up in the boat, and with a word calmed the stormy sea – “Peace, be still!” And those men likewise, “…feared a great fear…” They asked, “Who is this man, that even the wind and the waves obey Him?” They knew they were in presence of holiness, of a power that they were struggling to understand. Their teacher was no mere man! These pagan sailors in the storm with Jonah were terrified, because the power of Jonah’s God was evident, and His wrath against Jonah’s rebellion left them all in peril! The points us to…

The Maine* Idea: God’s mercy, the only hope for fallen humans, has been extended toward us in Christ.

I. God’s wrath against sin must be satisfied (11-12). And, “…the wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23; Heb 10:30,31). One takeaway from the Book of Jonah has to be the holiness of God, and His wrath against sin.

¹¹ 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.  ¹² 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."

       From the perspective of the sailors they could see the awesome power and the wrath of Jonah’s God. Indeed, as the writer to the Hebrews said, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God…” (Heb 10:31). The Egyptians knew it the night of the tenth plague, as God sent judgment and death into every home. Pharaoh’s army experienced it as they pursued the Israelites and the waters of the sea came crashing over them… In fact, the first man and woman experienced it as they were cursed, along with all creation, and were driven from paradise into a fallen world of thorns and thistles. Wasn’t that awfully harsh, for one little bite of fruit? I don’t think we grasp the holiness of God, and how horrible sin is before Him. When God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai, he expressed his character to Him… in Exodus 34:6-7… 

⁶ The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,  ⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."

Even as I read that my eyes and my mind go to the attributes like merciful and gracious, loving and faithful… but it also says He “…will by no means clear the guilty…” His justice, His wrath against sin, must be satisfied. God is love, He is also holy and just. The New Living translation says in Habakkuk 1:13a, “But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil.” We can’t focus on God’s love and grace, without also recognizing He is holy and just. He will not simply overlook sin. Remember what he told Adam, “The day you eat of it, you shall surely die…” (Gen 2:17). Paul may be referring to that verse when he said, “The wages of sin is death…” (Rom 6:23a). As God called Jonah to go to Nineveh, He said, “…call out against it, for their evil has come up before me…” (Jonah 1:2). Our sin is like a stench in the nostrils of God, and yet Christ “…bore our sins in his own body on the tree…” That is the horror Christ anticipated in Gethsemane when he said “Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me… yet not my will, but your will be done.”

        Too often, like Jonah, we know what God wants, we know what He has said in His word, and still we choose to turn our back, just for a minute we rationalize, we’ll ask forgiveness later, but still in the moment we choose to do things our own way!  Jonah tried to put space between himself and God, and sometimes, we do the same thing. In Numbers 32 God says that because of unbelief, all the adults that came out of Egypt, 20 years and up, except for Joshua and Caleb, would perish in the wilderness. And the new generation had to be warned to learn from their fathers’ failure, “…you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel!” (Num 32:15). Moses warns them to believe and obey God, to fail to do so is sin, and he says, “…be sure your sin will find you out…” (Num 32:23). You can run, but you can’t hide!  He has appointed a Day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.  God’s mercy, the only hope for fallen humans, has been extended toward us in Christ.

II. We cannot save ourselves by our own effort (13; cf. Titus 3:5).

¹³ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them.   

      There is something in fallen humans that makes us think we’re ok, not that bad, not too far gone. We just need to tighten our belt a little. The sailors were told by Jonah what needed to be done, but they were unwilling at first, maybe if they just rowed a little harder, a little longer. Most people think they can make their way to safety, they think they can be saved, by human effort. Paul told the Ephesians that salvation is “…not the result of works, so that no one may boast…” Standing before the holy creator of the universe, we all deserve judgement. But even from the beginning, in the wake of the sin of the first humans, God extended mercy, and gave hope for redemption, as he promised a Seed who would crush the serpent’s head, and gave the man and the woman skins, as a covering for their nakedness. God’s wrath against sin would be satisfied, in the fullness of time, as the sinless Son would come into the world, and bear our sins in His body on the tree… He was righteous, yet He willingly drank the cup of wrath, the judgment that we deserved, so that we could be saved. Paul put it this way in Titus 3:4-7…

⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,  ⁵ he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,  ⁶ whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,  ⁷ so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

That paragraph is a sermon for another day, but for now I want to point out v.5a, “…he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…” The sailors on the ship with Jonah wanted to know, “What should we do?” It was time to surrender, to take God at His word, the little that they had from Jonah, and to cry out to Him for mercy, because… God’s mercy is the only hope for fallen humans. Thank God, it has been extended toward us in Christ.

III. Coming to God on His terms, we will find mercy (14-16).

¹⁴ 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."  ¹⁵ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.  ¹⁶ Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.

    First, notice that the word Lord in the ESV is written with all capital letters, indicating the personal name of the God of the Covenants. They call out to God, Yahweh, the God of history, the God of the covenants, the God who is (14). Notice in these three verses, the name of the Lord is used five times. The men called out to the Lord, they feared the Lord, then, after the storm ceases, they made sacrifices and vows to Him. In short, they believed, and they worshipped Him.  Contrast them with Jonah, the prophet of the Lord. He has testified that He feared the Lord. He has even brought a prophetic word to the men, telling them what to do to avert their imminent destruction. But, as far as we can tell, he hasn’t prayed—and he won’t until chapter 2, from the belly of the fish!

       The prayer of the sailors is personal, and specific. “O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life…” They don’t want to be judged for taking a life, if God had ordained this as the only way they could be saved! This is different than Pilate, who washed his hands as he condemned Jesus on the insistence of the Jewish leaders. Remember how the leaders responded to Pilate, “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Matthew 27:25). There wasn’t an expression of personal conversion in any of those words! These men see that God was angry with the prodigal prophet, and by Jonah’s word, they knew what they had to do. And first they pray, essentially, “Lord, your will be done!” Ironically, as Jesus went to the cross, God’s will was being done, even as Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, “not my will, but yours.”

       They submit to the prophetic word in fear (15a). The only Word of God they had was the testimony of Jonah, coupled with the evidence of the storm. They had tried everything else, now they see there is nothing else to try.  Either they all die, or this man would have to die so that they could be saved. God had “hurled” the great wind after Jonah, the sailors first “hurled” the cargo into the sea, and now they submit to God’s word, and “hurl” Jonah into the waves.

       They respond to God’s power and grace in worship (15b-16).  Notice that these men did not make vows or promises to God in the midst of the storm. They only prayed for mercy and expressed faith in v.14. In verse 15b, the storm seemingly ceased as soon as Jonah hit the water, disappearing under the waves. Their response is the kind of fear the disciples had when Jesus calmed the stormy sea… in fact, in Mark 4:41, immediately after Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves and there was a great calm, the disciples “feared a great fear,” the identical phrase that describes the sailors when the storm ceased. These sailors had seen how this storm came up so suddenly, inexplicably, out of nowhere, and they saw how quickly it all turned calm when they obeyed the Word of the Lord. They saw the power and the presence of Yahweh, even there on the sea, and they responded to Him in worship. God is holy and just. But those whose eyes and hearts are opened to Him, who come to Him on His terms, find mercy. That’s the Maine* Idea: God’s mercy, the only hope for fallen humans, has been extended toward us in Christ.

IV. The Father, in His mercy, shows love for prodigals (17). We read in v. 17,

¹⁷ And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

       Next week we’ll look at this verse with Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2, which includes a reflection on what happened in his heart once he went under, sinking deeper into the sea, closer to death. God was working in this story to get His word to the Ninevites. He was working too to get His word to the crew of the ship that carried Jonah. He was also working in the Prodigal Prophet, saving him from certain death, sending a great fish, not to kill him, but to save him. We are reminded that God is sovereign, and will work for our good, and for His glory. God spared Jonah’s life, and gave him time to repent. And despite human rebellion, God would send the Son in the fullness of time, without sin, to give his life for us, and to be raised from the dead three days later! We’ll pick up there next time.

What is God saying to me in this passage? The Maine* Idea illustrated in this part of Jonah’s story is that God’s mercy is the only hope for fallen humans, and it has been extended toward us in Christ.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? The sailors rowing with all their might, trying to get back to land, illustrate the futility of religion or good works to bring us to God. We were equally without hope before we knew Him.  Paul describes the condition of the Ephesians (and all of fallen humanity) and the basis of their conversion in Ephesians 2:1-5,  

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins  ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-  ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.  ⁴ But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved…

Don’t miss verse 4, “…but God…” God is just and holy, He is also rich in mercy. If you have been “rowing hard for the land,” trying to save yourself, Jonah is your “cease and desist” order. Cry out to God for mercy, trust in Him alone. If you have believed, but have turned away from the Father’s face… know that He loves you too much to let you go… It is no longer a question of justice if you are His child. Because of Jesus, God's wrath has been satisfied, and you are forgiven. But know that He will discipline every son the He receives. He will do what is necessary, to lead you back home. He is still working in you, even if it means sending a storm to get your attention, or a great fish. He isn’t finished with you yet… so come home…  He is waiting.   AMEN.