Jonah and his Journey Down, Down, Down
(NIV) Jonah 1 The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
3 But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD.
Let’s look for a moment at some of the minor prophets. When we read about Jeremiah, we see he is referred to as the weeping prophet. Habakkuk has been called the questioning prophet. But it seems to me that Jonah could be referred to as the angry prophet.
You see, God gave Jonah a prophecy some twenty years earlier, and then He was silent. But when God finally spoke, it was a word Jonah did not want to deliver.
Why would God want Jonah to deliver a message of salvation to the Ninevites? They were a cruel people and Jonah was convinced if he carried God’s word to them, they would repent and be saved.
So Jonah ran. He ran down to Tarshish, down to Joppa, down to the hold of the ship, and ultimately he went down into the belly of the fish. The farther he ran from God, the deeper he descended into darkness. Sin does that.
But after three days Jonah was resurrected, a changed man. Or was he?
Jonah delivered God’s word, and, as expected, the Ninevites repented and God relented. But rather than rejoicing, Jonah became so angry he threw himself a pity party.
Jeremiah wept, Habakkuk questioned, and Jonah gave into his anger. Of these three men, I would rather emulate Habakkuk, who ultimately saw God for who He is and praised Him.
May each of us be delivered from the things that would separate us from the One, True and the living God, and allow Him to lift us to the pinnacle of our faith.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen
When You Just Must Praise
(NIV) Ps 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD
When we awake
in the morning,
while
it is yet dark, may we
find
the praises of God
still
fresh on our lips.
Oh, Father, thank you for giving me a heart full of praise, so much that I can not help but praise you in every situation.
May we, before we open our eyes, look first to You. Draw us nearer, precious Lord. Receive our praise.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Take Courage
(NIV) Matt 14:27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
Take courage: whenever we are told to “take” anything, it means we do not already have that thing in our possession, so we must grab hold of it, gain control of it.
Jesus follows up with “It is I, don’t be afraid.” Have you ever heard such words of comfort?
I heard an old evangelist say, “what was Jesus supposed to say when asked if it was Him? Of course it was Him, so He had to answer, come.”
So Peter, rash, impetuous Peter, jumped right out of the boat and walked…on…WATER!
But then it happened—Peter took his eyes off of Jesus. He felt the water lapping at his feet, then his ankles, and then he was sinking. But Jesus reached out immediately and caught him. Just like He told Peter to grab hold of courage, He grabbed hold of Peter.
May each of us turn our eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Letting Go
21 The man Elkanah all his household went up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice, and to pay his vow. 22 But Hannah did not go up, for she said to her husband, “As soon as the child is weaned, I will bring him, that he may appear in the presence of the Lord, and remain there forever; I will offer him as a nazirite for all time.” 23 Her husband Elkanah said to her, “Do what seems best to you, wait until you have weaned him; only—may the Lord establish his word.” So the woman remained and nursed her son, until she weaned him. 24 When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh; and the child was young. 25 Then they slaughtered the bull, and they brought the child to Eli. 26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord. 27 For this child I prayed; and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.”
She left him there for the Lord.
Today’s scripture deals with commitment, sacrifice and letting go. Hannah was barren and in her culture other women ridiculed those who could not have children. So Hannah went before the Lord and prayed that she might have a son, and promised to dedicate that son to God’s service.
Now, for those of us who have had children, we have prayed similar prayers upon their births, thanking God and promising to raise our children according to His truths. But for Hannah, this prayer was more than a commitment; it was a sacrifice. After Hannah weaned her child she took him and left him with the priest, Eli. Hannah made a commitment, then she made a sacrifice, and then she let go.
Each of our lives have included measures of commitment, sacrifice and even letting go. We have made commitments to spouses, to employers, and to churches. We have made sacrifices so that our children could have more than we had and so that they could be educated and able to live on their own. And we have each had much practice in letting go. Hannah let her child go at around age three, which to me is unimaginable.
I recall when I took my son, Jonathan, to kindergarten orientation. As they separated the parents from the children, my son ran to me, holding on to my leg and begging me not to leave him. Hard as it was, I had to let him go, but I knew I would get him back.
When we drove Jonathan to college, Larry and I drove away, crying the whole three hours home. I had to let him go.
At this stage in our lives we have become masters of letting go, yet each time we give something else up the pain of letting go resurfaces. A few years ago there was a saying, “Let go and let God.” It was a catchy phrase, and certainly expressed an age-old truth.
But, rather than allowing God to be our co-pilot as the name of a popular book expressed, we need to switch seats and ask Him to be our pilot. We have to let go of the controls and let God fly the plane.
As a licensed pilot we learned procedures for transferring control of a plane. I would say, “You have the plane,” and as I let go of the controls, the other pilot would respond, “I have the plane,” taking the controls and the responsibility of the plane, and then one last time I would affirm, “You have the plane.” If only letting go of anxieties and difficulties were as easy as saying, “God, you have my life,” and then just let go.
Hannah did something few of us could ever do. She gave over her son, seeing him only one time per year as they brought their annual sacrifices and she brought him another robe.
Can we learn from Hannah’s story at this point in our lives? May we make a fresh commitment to ask God to pilot us through the storms and difficulties of our lives, and then let go of the controls.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invited to the Table
(ESV)Ps 23:5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
Luke 14:15-24 (ESV)
15 When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!” 16 But he said to him, “A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. 17 And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come, for everything is now ready.’ 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’ 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’ 20 And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ 21 So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’ 22 And the servant said, ‘Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.’ 23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.’”
In the business world, when someone uses the phrase, come to the table, they are talking about negotiating a deal or a treaty. The invitation, or challenge, to come to the table is not about friendship—it is generally about who comes out on top.
In the kingdom world, the invitation to come to the table is issued by God Himself and it is about relationship, it is about putting God above all others. There is nothing to negotiate—Christ paid the price for our salvation, no strings attached. Either we accept his invitation or we miss the banquet.
When I think of coming to the table, the first thing that always comes to my mind is Psalm 23 where David tells us that God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. David uses the analogy of a shepherd caring for his flock, and the shepherd seeks out the best pasture for feeding by going up to the high places. While the grass there is the sweetest, it is also a place of danger where lions and other animals of prey look for an opportunity to attack. But if the good shepherd invites us to the table, we should have no fear.
In the scripture from Luke, Jesus relates the story of a man who gave a great banquet. In the Middle East, being invited to eat with someone is a big deal. And as anyone who has ever prepared a thanksgiving meal, you know the meal does not just come together. It takes weeks to prepare the menu, invite the guests—in Jesus’ story even though the invited guests had plenty of notice of the banquet, and they had responded they would attend, when the day of the banquet came no one showed up.
The first person who declined to come said he had business to attend to.
The second person said he had bought a herd of oxen, and he must be there.
The third person said he had married and could not come.
So, the man throwing the banquet sent his servants out to the highways and byways, inviting the poor, the crippled, the blind and lame to come to the table. And do you know what happened? They came.
You see, the originally invited guests were kept from the table not because they were hard working or they had a family, it was that they took their eyes off of the Savior and let their business, their possessions and their families keep them away from God.
Perhaps the second group invited to the table had none of these distractions to keep them from God. Or perhaps they were so grateful to be invited that they would not let anything distract them—so the poor came as they were, the crippled got someone to carry them, the blind got someone to lead them, and the lame limped all the way to table.
May we understand the importance of keeping our eyes on the Savior, and our hearts tuned in to the sound of His call.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Seeking Holiness 