Sermon: Jonah 4: 1-11 The Scandal of Grace

Previously in the story of Jonah... We watched how the word of the LORD came to Jonah, telling him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah said no, and set off in the opposite direction. A storm, and a sinking feeling, and swallowed by a great fish later, Jonah was back on dry land, rejoicing in God’s grace to him when he was under the sea.

And we watched in the last episode how the word of the LORD came to Jonah, telling him to go to Nineveh, and this time, Jonah obeyed. He preached his eight word epilogue, announcing that Nineveh’s days were numbered, and in that most unlikely way, revival broke out in the city. Everyone including the king donned sackcloth as a sign of mourning and repentance for their sin, and wondered if God would relent from his fierce anger.

And at the very end of chapter 3, we heard about the reprieve that Nineveh received: ‘When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.’ (3:10).

So, given all that has happened, how would you feel? And remember that Jonah is a prophet, someone sent to proclaim God’s word. And he’s seen people respond to God’s word, and trust in God. So how should he feel? Blessed? Rejoicing? Happy? Satisfied? All of the above?

It’s quite a shock then, to read the start of chapter 4: ‘But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.’ Well, those two options didn’t appear in our possible list of expected reactions. Rather than being delighted, he is displeased. Rather than being amazed, he is angry.

So what’s going on? Why does he feel this way? And what might God be teaching us through this reluctant and now angry prophet?

To help us to understand why Jonah feels this way (whether it’s right or not), let’s listen in to his prayer from verse 2 onwards: ‘O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ (2-3)

Jonah says he knew what was going to happen if he came to preach in Nineveh. While he was still at home, sitting in his comfy armchair, he said to himself what would happen. He knew that if he came to preach in Nineveh, then people would be saved, and turn away from their evil ways. And, perhaps surprising to us, that’s the reason why he was so quick to flee to Tarshish.

He didn’t want the revival to happen in Nineveh, he didn’t want the people of Nineveh to hear God’s word and turn to trust in God. And so he went quickly in the opposite direction. Can you believe that? It’s hard to take in, isn’t it?

Now, how could Jonah be so sure that the people of Nineveh would turn to God? How could he be sure of the revival he didn’t want to see happening? It’s because he knew God’s character - he knew what God was like.

Those words in verse 2 are words we find in various places in the Bible. We heard them in Psalm 145; they’re also in Exodus 34 (which we were thinking about this morning, as the glory of the LORD passed by Moses). And, while we’re used to praising God because of these characteristics, and we rejoice in his grace and compassion, his slowness to anger and his abounding love - it seems that these are almost seen in a negative light by Jonah.

He knows these things about God; he knows that God is always like this. He was glad to receive God’s grace and compassion himself when he was sinking under the sea; but he doesn’t want God to be gracious to anyone else. Especially not the Ninevites. And so he resisted bringing them the good news of God’s grace. In effect he was racist, even sectarian, as he tried to withhold God’s grace from his enemies.

And so, having been used by God to bring about revival in Nineveh; having seen God’s grace lavished on his enemies, he doesn’t want to see any more. Doesn’t want to live any more. Maybe can’t even face going back home and reporting on his mission trip. You did what? You saved a bunch of Assyrians?

But God invades his pity party with a piercing question: ‘Have you any right to be angry?’ (4) If we have received God’s grace, can we really withhold it from anybody else? if we have received God’s grace, can we draw lines around it to stop other people from also receiving it? Can we prevent God from being gracious to whoever he show his grace? Are there people you would be angry at if they received God’s grace? Or would you be angry at God if he was gracious to anyone?

It just might be that we are more like Jonah than we would like, or admit. And so God’s question comes to us as well: ‘Have you any right to be angry?’

There’s no answer to the question. Instead, Jonah takes up a grandstand view of the wrath he hopes will still fall. You know the way people position themselves for a fireworks display? Jonah sits down outside the city, ‘and waited to see what would happen to the city.’ (5)

All the way through the book, we’ve seen how God has sent or appointed or provided lots of different things. There just so happened to be a boat going where Jonah wanted to go. (1:3) He sent a great wind on the sea. (1:4) He provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. (1:17) Now, in quick succession, the Lord provides three more things for Jonah.

First of all, there’s the vine. It doesn’t need plant food, especially not the one called Miracle-Gro, but it is a miraculous growth - growing up over Jonah’s head to give him shade, to ease his discomfort. Jonah’s very happy about it.

But then, the next morning, God provided a worm. And the worm was very happy, chewing on the vine, so that it withered away. But Jonah was less happy. His shade had gone.

And that was emphasised by the next thing God provided - a scorching east wind, on top of the sun blazing down on Jonah’s head. He was faint, he wanted to die, for, as he says again: ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’ (8)

And God responds with the same question again: ‘Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?’ (9) To which Jonah is on the war path - ‘I do, I am angry enough to die.’

Poor Jonah! Angry about what has happened in Nineveh, and angry about what has happened outside of Nineveh. Always angry! But the gracious God speaks to him with words of grace and challenge; trying to turn him around, so that he again will rejoice in God’s grace, and see things from God’s perspective.

‘You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.’ Jonah was all concerned about this plant. He hadn’t done anything to plant it, or make it grow. It had only lasted a day. And yet he was concerned about it, and angry over it. He was concerned about the vine, and yet he wasn’t concerned about the flesh and blood people of Nineveh, people made in God’s image, people God cared about.

And here’s how God finishes his speech (and indeed finishes the book): ‘But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?’ (11)

He’s challenging Jonah to see the city the way he sees it. Over a hundred and twenty thousand people, who don’t know whether they’re coming or going. They have no spiritual awareness. Shouldn’t God care for them as well?

And that’s where the book ends. The unanswered question is left the reader to answer. We’re left wondering what Jonah’s response was. It’s a bit like the end of the parable of the prodigal son, isn’t it? The younger brother has come home, the party is ongoing, and the older brother is outside, with the father appealing for him to come in and join the party. But we’re not told. The invitation is left without resolution.

What about us? What about you? Is God’s grace something wonderful for you? Or is God’s grace something scandalous to you?

Have we got Ninevites that we don’t want to be saved by God’s grace? Are there borders or limits on God’s grace? That’s the question that God asks Jonah, and is asking us tonight.

So let’s be still for a moment, as we consider that, in God’s presence, before we pray together.


Lord God, we thank you for your grace. We thank you that you have reached for us and saved us. Thank you that everyone who believes in you receives forgiveness of sins. Help us to see people as you see them; and to share your grace with everyone we meet; in Jesus’ name. Amen.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 23rd February 2020.

Sermon: Jonah 3: 1-10 Revival in Nineveh

Deja vu is the feeling that you’ve lived through the present experience before.

Deja vu is the feeling that you’ve lived through the present experience before. Sorry, I couldn’t resist it! But you could be tempted to think that we’ve been here before, as we open up to Jonah chapter 3 on page 928.

You see, for a second time, the word of the Lord comes to Jonah. And for the second time, the word of the Lord sends Jonah to Nineveh. The first time had come back in chapter 1, when God said ‘Go’ and Jonah said ‘No’. Since that moment, Jonah went on the run from God, onto a boat going the opposite direction from his God-given mission, into a storm, and ultimately into the belly of the great fish.

Even in Jonah’s rebellion, God has been in control - so that this most reluctant prophet witnessed to the pagan sailors (who then turned to worship the one true living God of heaven who made the sea and the land); and God had appointed the great fish to rescue Jonah from a watery grave. After three days in the fish, Jonah must have been stinking to high heaven, and was vomited out onto dry land.

We see God’s grace in action right from the start of this chapter. God’s word comes a second time to Jonah. God is the God of the second chance. Have you found that out yourself? You’ve messed up; you come back to the Lord; and he welcomes you in, again and again - for the second time, and the twenty-second time, and the hundred and second time.

And notice that God doesn’t mention what has come before. He doesn’t say, now Jonah, you remember what happened last time, so get it right this time. You see, with God, our past is gone, forgiven and forgotten, and never more to be remembered or cast up. No, it’s almost as if this is the first time God has mentioned Nineveh to Jonah.

And so God sends Jonah with these words: ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.’ (2) God has a message for Nineveh and Jonah is his chosen messenger.

So what will happen this time? Last time around, God said Go and Jonah said No. What will he do now that he has heard God’s sending all over again? Well we see the answer in verse 3: ‘Jonah obeyed the word of the LORD and went to Nineveh.’ Phew! What a relief! This time he obeyed God’s call, and went to where he was meant to go.

And we’re told a little bit about the city to which he had travelled. ‘Now Nineveh was a very important city - a visit required three days.’ (3) You can almost hear the travel agent’s sales pitch, can’t you? For a proper city break experience you’d need three whole days in it. One or two days wouldn’t be enough. To see the sights you need to have three days.

You can imagine the size of it; the importance of it; how amazing it would have been to be there. But remember Jonah isn’t there for a city break; he isn’t there to see the sights from the open-top bus tour; in fact, he wouldn’t have chosen to go there at all. You see, Nineveh is the capital city of one of the hostile superpowers of the day. Going to Nineveh is going into the heart of enemy territory. Pagan territory.

And it’s to this hostile place, enemy territory, that Jonah has been sent by God, with a message to proclaim. And he doesn’t waste any time. On his first day, he starts into the city and proclaims a message. The message we hear in verse 4: ‘Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.’

What about that for a sermon? It’s short and snappy, but it’s all doom and gloom. The countdown clock has begun. Forty days, and Nineveh will be overturned (or overthrown). It’s the same word used to describe what had happened to Sodom and Gomorrah.

So what do you make of his proclamation? Before, when I read his message, I used to think - Jonah really doesn’t like the Ninevites, and he says as little as possible, and offers no hope, and wants them to be overthrown. He’s a reluctant prophet and he’s reluctantly there, so he doesn’t waste much of his breath on them.

But look back to verse 2. ‘Proclaim to it the message I give you.’ Is it that Jonah is like a huffy toddler; or is he actually being faithful this time, even in the sparsity of the message? Perhaps I was being too hard on him. Either way, the message has been proclaimed in the streets of Nineveh. The question is, what will happen next?

You can imagine what would happen these days if someone proclaimed this message in the streets of Portadown or Armagh, in Belfast or London. They’d either be laughed at, or ignored, or locked up. But that’s not what happened in Nineveh. Do you see their response in verse 5?

‘The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.’

While the message didn’t say much, and didn’t offer much or any hope, the Ninevites believed this word of the Lord. They believed God, by taking him at his word, believing what he said to be true, and taking action based on what he had said.

Their response is seen in their fasting and their sackcloth. These are signs of mourning for their sin, of repentance. And their repentance goes all the way to the very top, to the king of Nineveh himself. There he is, seated on his throne in his royal robes. And then there he is, covered in sackcloth, sitting in the dust. Even the king has humbled himself, numbering himself with his people, seeking God’s mercy.

The king sets an example of fasting and repentance. And then he issues his own proclamation in response to the proclamation of Jonah:

‘By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let any man or beast, herd or flock, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone urgently call on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.’ (7-8)

Here’s what revival in Nineveh looks like, by order of the king. Did you notice there are five ‘lets’ - two negative and three positive. First, negatively, do not let man or beast, herd or flock taste anything, eat or drink. So to show their seriousness, they are abstaining from food and drink.

And then positively, they are to let man and beast be covered with sackcloth; they are to let everyone urgently call on God; they are to give up their evil ways and violence. They’re turning away from their sin and turning towards God, calling on him for mercy.

And yet, as his proclamation goes on, he’s just not sure what might happen. He has no assurance that God will respond to their cries for mercy. Do you see what he says there in verse 9? ‘Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.’

He’s not sure if God will be merciful, but he hopes it will be the case. Who knows? Who does know? Jonah knows! Jonah knows this personally - that when he cried to the Lord from under the sea, the Lord saved him and showed him amazing grace. Jonah also knows this because he has heard about the pagan sailors who cried to the Lord and received his amazing grace. Jonah knows this, but he hasn’t communicated it to the Ninevites!

They’re hoping that God might relent, might have compassion on them, so that they don’t perish. But they don’t know for sure! I wonder, could we be like Jonah? What’s the message we communicate about God? Are there bits we fail to mention? Do we miss out the ‘good’ bit of the good news?

So the Ninevites are unsure about God’s grace. But then they experience it in full measure in verse 10: ‘When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.’

How amazing God’s grace is! He showers his saving grace on this city of his enemies, having compassion on them, not bringing the destruction they deserved. Do you recognise yourself in this picture? If you’re trusting in Jesus, then you are a Ninevite! We too were in the path of destruction. We too faced God’s wrath. But he has had compassion on us, and has given us the grace to turn to him from our sin, and to find his salvation.

How amazing is God’s love, that while we were still his enemies, Christ died for us, to make us his friends. And that’s what we remember and celebrate tonight, as we gather at his table, as we remember the king who stepped down from his royal throne, who was stripped, and beaten, and brought low - for us and our salvation.

This is the blessing for all who hear and repent. Yet Jesus takes up the story of Jonah, and points to the sign of Jonah. You see, the people of Nineveh repented when they heard Jonah’s preaching (even such as it was). But the people of Jesus’ day, with someone greater than Jonah preaching to them, refused to listen, refused to repent. May it never be true of us - that we have heard Jesus’ teaching, and we have turned away.

Jonah eventually obeys, bringing God’s word to a lost and needy world. We too have been entrusted with a message, with the good news of the gospel, of the God who will answer all who call on him. How can we remain silent?

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 16th February 2020.

Sermon: Jonah 2: 1-10 Salvation comes from the Lord

Some of you may know this already, but you almost didn’t have me as your Rector. Our church youth club went on regular trips to different places throughout the year. Normally, when we were going swimming, we went to Portadown pool. But once, as a special treat, we went to Shankill leisure centre in Belfast. The reason was because of the wave machine.

Everyone would be in the pool, having lots of fun, and then every so often a siren would sound, indicating that for the next five minutes, the waves would be turned on. We had been in the pool a while, when the siren went off again, and the waves started up. And I was out from the edge, and a little too far down the pool, and I went under. And I couldn’t swim. (Still can’t).

Down I went, clutching and grabbing and trying to get to safety, but the others (friends and strangers) thought I was just having a laugh. And down I went. The lifeguards hadn’t spotted me. I was in danger. And then my rescuer arrived. Tommy, one of our youth club leaders, saw what was happening, and pulled me up by the hair, and got me to safety. A scary experience. Plucked from near death and brought to dry land.

So as we read of what happened to Jonah, my chest starts to tighten and my panic starts to rise at the thought of being under the water - not just in the Shankill Leisure Centre, but in the open sea. But it wouldn’t matter if you can swim or not - in the open sea, to find yourself thrown overboard means certain death. There’s no RNLI lifeboat coming for you, and no Irish Coastguard helicopter searching for you. There’s just you and the wide open sea; you and the deep blue sea.

Now, last week we saw how Jonah had got into this situation in the first place. God’s word had come to Jonah, telling him to go east to preach against the city of Nineveh, one of the big cities of the Assyrian empire (modern-day Mosul in Iraq). God had said go, and Jonah said no. He hot-footed it in the opposite direction, getting on a boat to flee to Tarshish, running away from the Lord.

But Jonah should have known that you can’t run away from the God who made everything, who is present everywhere. And so a storm came on the boat, terrifying the sailors, who cried to their gods. Jonah was blamed for the calamity, and he told them to throw him into the sea. When every other option failed, then the sailors did so. And at once the storm ceased. And the sailors worshipped the one true living God, the God of Jonah.

But what happened to Jonah? We know from the end of chapter 1 that the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was in it for three days and three nights. And in chapter 2, we get to hear Jonah’s prayer from inside the great fish.

As you look at it, set out in the pew Bibles, it looks a bit like a Psalm - and it sounds like some of the Psalms as well. But no other Psalm and no other scripture was composed in the belly of a great fish under the sea. So what does he pray?

In verse 2, he acknowledges that God heard and answered his prayer: ‘In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.’

No matter our circumstances, our feelings and emotions; no matter our location (even in the depths of the grave), God hears and God answers our prayers. That was certainly true for Jonah, and it’s still true for us today. No matter how low (emotionally or physically), God will hear us when we call to him.

And that’s even the case when God is the reason that we find ourselves in those low circumstances. Do you see how Jonah speaks so directly to God:

‘You hurled me into the deep,
into the very heart of the seas,
and the currents swirled about me;
all your waves and breakers
swept over me.’ (3)

In the deep, under the waves, swirled about by the currents, Jonah feels himself cut off from God, banished from his sight. (Of course, he isn’t - God always sees us in darkness as well as in light). Yet even in that deep, dark situation, Jonah turns his sights towards God and his temple:

‘I have been banished from your sight;
yet I will look again towards your holy temple.’ (4)

And as he looks towards the temple, as he orients himself back towards God, as he repents, so he finds that God will hear his cry. And yet still, he sinks:

‘The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in for ever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O LORD my God.’ (5-6)

Have you noticed that up to this point, all the movement has been down, down, down. Jonah had gone down to Joppa (1:3), down into the ship (1:4). And when he was thrown into the sea, he’s in the depths, the deep, sinking down to the roots of the mountains. He is at rock bottom, the lowest point he could possibly reach. And it’s when you reach rock bottom you discover that the Lord saves, and the Lord lifts us up.

In a few minutes we’ll use Philippians 2 as our creed - reminding ourselves of how the Lord Jesus, equal with God, came down, down, down in order to save us. he became one of us; he died, even the death of the cross; in order to be our rescuer. He descended to the depths that we had got ourselves in, he took the lowest place, in order to lift us to the heights of his throne.

The Lord is willing to save. The Lord is able to save. The Lord will save all who call on him. Jonah is proof of this:

‘When my life was ebbing away,
I remembered you, LORD,
and my prayer rose to you,
to your holy temple.’ (7)

Jonah was close to death, his life was ebbing away. And in that moment, he remembered the Lord, and called on the Lord. It’s why we can’t be sure that so-and-so isn’t in heaven. Who is to say what happens between a person and the Lord in their final moments, as their life ebbs away? [Of course, it’s better to be sorted long before that moment, to be sure of salvation without waiting for a deathbed conversion]

We see the contrast between trusting in anyone or anything else; and trusting in the Lord as Jonah’s prayer comes to an end: ‘Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.’ (8-9)

Grace is available, but to receive it takes open hands; empty hands ready to receive. To cling to worthless idols means that we can’t receive God’s grace.

We need to receive God’s grace, and recognise that salvation comes only from the LORD. He is the one who saves, if we will look to him, call on him, and receive from him. And so far we have seen that salvation comes from the LORD for the sailors who gave up their worthless idols, their old gods, to call on the LORD. And salvation comes from the LORD for Jonah.

His prayer was heard, and his life didn’t ebb away under the depths of the sea. His salvation came in the form of a great fish, provided by the LORD. Can you imagine it? The smell, and the darkness, and the general unpleasantness. It might not seem very attractive, and yet it is the means of the Lord’s salvation.

To have witnessed the events of the first Good Friday, they also wouldn’t have appeared very pleasant, or attractive. The bruised and beaten body of Jesus, bleeding, and hung on the cross, abused and mocked by those who stood watching. And yet, the means of salvation, the most precious event in the history of the world.

And three days later, Jonah appears from the fish, a sign pointing to the resurrection of Jesus, as God continues to be in control of everything, commanding the fish to vomit him out onto dry land.

Jonah’s prayer acknowledges that salvation comes from the Lord. But it is also a declaration of praise to the source of his salvation.

A few months back I was in Dromore, and happened to bump into Tommy. And we chatted about that night in the Shankill Leisure Centre. And my gratitude to him was deepened - the one who lifted me from the depths, and saved me from near death that night.

When we realise the depths from which we have been rescued; the desperate state of our sin; the nearness to certain death; how deep must our gratitude be to the Lord who has saved us! The only one who can save us: Salvation comes from the LORD.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 26th January 2020.

Sermon: Jonah 1: 1-17 Running from God

It’s a whale of a tale, and one we’ve heard from Sunday School days. If we’d asked you on the way in tonight, tell me what you know about the story of Jonah, we would have pieced together a good bit of it, I’m sure. But front and centre of all that you would have said was the whale, or the big fish. It’s probably what Jonah is best known for - and it’s where he ends up at the end of chapter 1.

Now, there’s no doubt that the big fish is a big character in the story of Jonah. But no matter how big the big fish was, there’s someone else who is at the centre of Jonah’s story. And it’s not Jonah, either! At the centre of Jonah’s story, just as at the centre of the whole Bible’s story, is the Lord. So while we’ll hear something about the big fish; and we’ll learn something about Jonah; the whole story is teaching us lots about the Lord.

In the very first words of the story, we see that God speaks and sends. ‘The word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”’ (1-2)

God is not silent. He spoke creation into being, and he continues to speak, revealing himself, revealing his will, calling us to himself. We have his word written down for us, through which he speaks to us. But more than that, God speaks and sends.

God sends Jonah to Nineveh. Now, that name might not mean much to us, but Nineveh was one of the cities of the nation of Assyria, one of the superpowers of the day, an enemy and a threat, who would eventually come and destroy the northern kingdom of Israel. Today, it doesn’t go by Nineveh, but you’ve probably heard of it - the city of Mosul in Iraq. And that’s where God sends Jonah to go and preach against it.

So God says ‘Go’ and Jonah says ‘No’. Instead of going east to Nineveh, Jonah heads west, for Tarshish (modern-day Spain). To get there, he has to go by boat, and so he heads to the port at Joppa, he finds a boat going west, pays his fare, and sets sail. And, just to be sure, we’re told in both verse 3 and 4 that he ‘ran away from the LORD... to flee from the LORD.’

Now, quick question for you. Do you think that it’s possible to run away from the Lord? The answer is no! Jonah would have known Psalm 139 which includes these lines: ‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand hold me fast.’ (Ps 139:7-10)

Jonah knows this, and yet he persists in trying to run from the Lord. And we know it too, but it doesn’t stop us from trying to run. We know what God wants us to do, and we say no. We try to go the opposite way. Does it work? Did it work for Jonah? Well, let’s see.

It turns out, in verse 4, that the LORD is present on the sea as well. ‘Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.’ (4) The Lord who sent Jonah, also sent the great wind.

It’s such a bad storm that the seasoned sailors are afraid, and they’re crying out to their small-g gods. In fact, it’s so bad, that they even throw the cargo overboard in an attempt to lighten the ship. By doing that, they wouldn’t be paid if they ever made it back to shore - no cargo, no pay. But this was life or death. Better to live and lose out on a payday than to lose their lives at sea.

All this is going on above deck. You can imagine it as a movie - it’s hard to see, the wind howls, the waves lash over the side of the ship, it’s all very dangerous and dramatic. And then the scene changes. It’s all peaceful and calm below deck. Apart from the sound of a snore, coming from Jonah’s mouth. In all that’s happening, Jonah is asleep, blissfully unaware of the danger.

He’s woken by the captain: ‘How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us, and we will not perish.’ (6) How ironic! The prophet is called to pray by the pagan captain.

Meanwhile, the sailors want to find the scapegoat. They cast lots to find out who to blame. And the lot falls on Jonah. So they want to know who he is and why this is all happening. And his response terrifies them: ‘I am a Hebrew and I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.’ (9)

You see, these pagan sailors would have thought that there were lots of small-g gods. Each of those gods had some sort of speciality, or some sort of local influence. So they believed in gods of war, and love, and travel, and each village or nation would have had its own deity. But Jonah says that he is part of the one true God’s people - the God over all, who made everything, including the sea which troubles them!

You’ve heard the phrase, ‘out of the mouths of babes’ - well here, it’s ‘out of the mouths of pagans’ as they ask him: ‘What have you done?’ How could you try to run away from the God who made everything? He had already told them that he was running away from the Lord. It takes these pagan sailors to point out Jonah’s stupidity!

While they’ve been talking, the sea has been getting rougher. It’s getting worse, rather than better. And so they ask what they can do to make the sea calm again. Jonah says to throw him overboard. But they can’t even think of doing that. It would be certain death. And so they try even harder to row back to land, but the sea gets worse again. And so, eventually, they agree to Jonah’s idea.

And as they prepare to throw him overboard, as they sacrifice him to the sea, they cry out to the LORD. ‘O LORD, please do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, O LORD, have done as you pleased.’ (14)

Remember back in verse 6 when the captain told Jonah to call on his god? Now the whole crew are calling on Jonah’s God, wondering if he will take notice of them, so that they don’t perish.

Then they threw him overboard, splash, and the raging sea grew calm. Just like that. In an instant. The roaring wind and the raging waves are stilled. And in an instant, they know that their pagan gods are worthless. They know that Jonah’s God is the one true God. Do you see how they respond? ‘At this the men greatly feared the LORD, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows to him.’ (16)

Jonah, the world’s worst prophet, and most reluctant missionary, was the means by which a group of pagan sailors encountered the one true God. But it isn’t just that God was entirely at the mercy of Jonah, and God sits around wondering what we’re going to do, and maybe has to frantically change his plans based on what we decide to do or not do. God wasn’t sitting on heaven’s throne getting updates from an angel, saying things like, what? He’s not going to Nineveh? What? He’s getting on a boat? Ok, plan B everyone, let’s try to turn this thing around.

No, as the whole Bible shows us, and as Jonah’s story shows us, God is sovereign over everything. He is so sovereign that even our rebellion can be used by him to bring glory to his name. God knew what Jonah would do, and had purposed to bring those sailors to himself through Jonah’s running away.

And we see God’s sovereignty in the last thing he sends in this first chapter. It’s the thing that Jonah is best known for, and yet we’re not quite sure exactly what it was. A whale? A big fish? Whatever it was, it was provided by the Lord, as Jonah’s submarine accommodation for three days and three nights.

As big as the big fish is, though, we see that God is bigger, and is front and centre in this whale of a tale. We see how God speaks, and sends, and is sovereign as he calls people to call on his name.

You see, we all have run away from the Lord. All of us know what the Lord requires of us, and we go our own way. And we think we can get away with it. Yet God, in his grace, sends his own Son to save us.

It was Jesus who came to give himself to appease God’s wrath. Jesus was thrown into the stormy sea to bring us peace. He took our sins, the wrong things we have done, and our sinfulness, and he paid the penalty for them.

And Jonah points us towards the Lord Jesus. You see, just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish, so Jesus was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matt 12:40) Jesus died, and was buried, but on the third day rose again, as God’s sovereign saving purpose had always planned.

So if you’re running from the Lord, stop running. You can’t outrun God. You can’t outfox God’s sovereign purpose. He calls you to call on his name and give him the glory.

This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 19th January 2020.

The Way of the Cross (40)

It's the last day of Lent, forty days since Ash Wednesday (not counting Sundays, which are Feast Days), and Easter Eve. It should really be the end of our series, but we'll continue another couple of days to include another couple of great prophecies of what the Lord Jesus would do when he came.

It's the day after Good Friday, the day before Easter Sunday. An in between kind of day. Neither one thing nor the other. Having been laid in the tomb before sundown on Friday (the beginning of the Sabbath), Jesus remains in the tomb on Saturday. Three days he is in the tomb, before being raised on Sunday. What should we think of today? What else, but the sign of Jonah?

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. (Jonah 1:17)

An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. (Matthew 12:39-40)

The Lord Jesus not only regarded Jonah as a historical figure, but also as a sign pointing to his own work of dying and being buried before being raised from the dead. Even as Jesus is buried, his work continues, charted out in advance through the predictions of the prophets, and in this case the prophetic action of the pathetic prophet.

In contrast with the first disciples, who spent that first Easter Eve in fear, wondering how things had turned around completely within a week, we know how the story ends. It's hard to 'unremember' it, but we don't have to - we can celebrate every day as Easter people.

At the same time, Jesus so fully identifies with us that he even goes to the grave, lying in the tomb for us, and our salvation. He has passed through the valley of the shadow of death - we need not fear the grave. It cannot hold us.

Jonah And The Worm

When we left Jonah on Thursday, he had God's question ringing in his ears: 'Do you do well to be angry?' Friday turned out to be busier than anticipated, with two sermons being written (see previous posts), so it's now time to finish our study of Jonah as we watch God teach him a lesson.

Jonah, you remember, was angry because God had forgiven the people of Nineveh, after their wholesale repentance at the preaching of Jonah. He doesn't seem glad that people have been saved from wrath, given a second chance, allowed a new start, and given life instead of judgement. Is Jonah right to feel this way?

God has challenged him, and continues to challenge him as the rest of the book unfolds. Jonah heads out to become an Eastender - he sits to the east of the city, in a grandstand seat, a front row view of what will happen. Even at this point, it seems that he's making himself comfortable for the thunderbolt and firestrike to come with the wrath of the Almighty. He wants to see what would become of the city. I fear it wasn't in a good way!

As he sits, the LORD is gracious towards him, and appoints a plant to grow up and be a shade for him in the hot sun. Once again, the LORD makes appointments, and his creatures fulfill his will (earlier, it was the great fish, later it will be the worm and the wind). Jonah is, as you would imagine, 'exceedingly glad because of the plant.' (4:6).

However, his gladness is turned to anger when God's next two appointments are fulfilled: A worm attacks the plant so it withers, and a scorching east wind from the desert, combined with the sun makes the conditions hard to bear for Jonah. Probably facing sunstroke, he is faint, and asks God that he might die. Better to die than live in this, he imagines. His anger is up again, and the whole world seems against him.

Once again, God's question comes to him: 'Do you do well to be angry for the plant?' Jonah says that he is very angry, angry enough to die, because what was benefiting him has been taken away. The LORD responds, with the final word of the book, but a final word that remains unanswered, reserving for God the right to do as he wills, to have compassion on whom he will have compassion:

You pity the plant, for which you did not labour, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?

Your priorities are all wrong, Jonah. You care about the tiny, insignificant things, while 120,000 speed along on the road to hell. You care about these small things that you didn't even have anything to do; things that were signs of God's grace to you, yet you don't care about so many people and cattle who don't know your God as you do (or should). You may not have compassion, Jonah, but I do - God, our God, cares about the foreigners, the outsiders, the inbetweeners, the misfits, the immigrants.

Have we got the same priorities of care and compassion for the lost? Or are we concerned with our own petty projects and wishing sudden destruction on them and theirs?

Do you do well to not care?

Exceedingly Angry

How do you feel when someone comes to faith? What do you do when someone becomes a believer and joins the church? It's almost a silly question, isn't it? Of course we would be celebrating that someone has been saved and added to the kingdom. Of course we should echo the party in heaven and the joy among the angels when the lost sheep is found.

Yet, it doesn't always happen. Think of the Pharisees in the Gospels. The tax collectors and 'sinners' are flocking round Jesus, and they don't like it. They have 'older brother' syndrome - when the Prodigal returns, they protest and refuse to welcome him. Is that how we feel too? You know, we've been going to this church for fifty years, our parents and grandparents before us for ever and ever, Amen. We don't want to see new people joining, who are maybe different to us - they'll bring the tone down, or they'll not understand our traditions, or they'll want to change.

They could be from the wrong part of town, the wrong social class, the wrong jobs (if they have jobs at all), the wrong age (too young or too old). Or horror of horrors, they could be... foreigners - immigrants!

Jonah, after the most successful prophetic ministry in the whole Bible, displays this same older brother mentality, which, as we'll see, was there from the start. Jonah has proclaimed doom, the Ninevite people have repented, and God has relented. A cause for celebration? A festal thanksgiving of praise to God for his rich and abundant mercy?

Well, not quite. Jonah has a face like thunder, and if looks could kill, there would be no saved Ninevites left standing. Despite what has happened - and that all very good - 'it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.' The people of Nineveh rejoice, and Jonah scowls. He wishes he hadn't come at all. He doesn't want to be around for the party, he wants to see the doom coming.

So Jonah prays. Not in the way you would expect. Here's what he says:

O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live. (4:2-3)

He knew the character and name of God - gracious, merciful, loving - and this was the reason why he tried to flee in the opposite direction! He knew that when God proclaimed doom the people would respond, repent and be saved. And he doesn't like it!

Can you imagine that a prophet of the LORD doesn't want to see people being saved? How much must he hate them to not want to tell them of God's grace, and then when compelled to proclaim it, is angry that they find joy and deliverance? And that to the extent that he would rather die than see them happy?

What a challenge to all of us, but particularly to gospel workers - do we long to really see people saved, even people who don't match up to our standards or culture? Do we love our gracious God, and the people we're sent to? Do we rejoice or mourn when people are saved? Hard questions to consider, yet urgent, pressing ones as we consider our motivations and our sinful prejudices towards other people groups.

Jonah is angry, and God asks the question: 'Do you do well to be angry?' Is it right to be angry when people are being saved? Jonah, plumb the depths of your heart and see if you are sinning or righteous in your anger. The question will be asked again, but we'll come to that tomorrow.

Do we rejoice in the character of God, and in salvation for the ends of the earth? Or are we narrow, racist, sectarian, seeking salvation only for people like us - as if God is limited to the people of Ulster, or those of the prosperous west, or men, or older people.

'You are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.' All praise to you, Lord God!

Radical Repentance

Who was the most successful prophet in the Old Testament? Which one saw the greatest turning back to the Lord through their ministry? Surprisingly, the answer is the most reluctant prophet, Jonah.

We left Jonah yesterday as he landed on the beach, wiping fish guts off himself, rejoicing in God's rescue operation which far exceeded the RNLI's work. Right then, the word of the Lord comes to him again to rise and go to Nineveh. He still has a message to proclaim there.

This time, he goes in the right direction, and arrives in the 'exceedingly' great city of Nineveh. Remember, this was the capital of the enemy, city of the Assyrians, a foreign place. Once inside the city a third of the way, Jonah cries out the eight worded message that God has given him:

Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown! (3:4)

In Northern Ireland we're very used to street preachers calling for repentance. Lisburn, Banbridge, Belfast, Ballymena, Portadown, I've seen them with their megaphone or loudspeaker system connected to the car battery preaching against sin and demanding repentance from all who hear. It seems that most people in Northern Ireland have developed a deaf ear syndrome - let the street preacher rant, they won't be listening. They might politely take a tract from some of the associates of the preacher, but you'll probably find them littering the ground about a hundred yards further up the street. Is street preaching effective in modern Belfast?

In Nineveh, though, it was a different story. As soon as Jonah had proclaimed his message: 'And the people of Nineveh believed God.' (3:5) The word of doom is preached, and they immediately begin a city-wide fast, with the fashion being for sackcloth to show their horror and repentance. The word of God is proclaimed, and the people believe it and instantly respond.

Already the people of Nineveh are more noble than the people of Israel, who never wholeheartedly and unanimously responded to the preaching of Isaiah, Jeremiah or the other prophets.

Even the king of Nineveh (who isn't named) comes down off his throne, exchanging his royal robes for the sackcloth, and sits in ashes. He publishes orders for the whole city - man and beast - to fast (both food and water), be dressed in sackcloth, and call out mightily to God.

Here the people of Nineveh are again more noble than the people of Israel and Judah, with a genuine fast of repentance, not an outward show of religion while inwardly plotting evil (see Isaiah 1:10-17). How do we know it was genuine here in Nineveh? The king's command continues to 'Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.' (3:8)

Do you see the almost comedic element here - where both the humans and the animals are all decked in sackcloth. Even the livestock are repenting, such is the wholehearted repentance at work in Nineveh.

The king ends his proclamation with a question: 'Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.' (3:9)

His words are as true and sweet today as they were when first uttered. Remember the character and deeds of our God - who desires not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live, to quote the old Absolution in the Book of Common Prayer order of Morning Prayer. As the Ninevites respond in obedience and repentance to God's word, their acceptance and absolution is guaranteed:

When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (3:10)

Jonah's preaching was a warning shot, effective to bring the people (and animals) of Nineveh to repent. God's glory is seen in his welcome for repentant sinners, and there must have been some party in heaven the day that all of Nineveh came home.

In The Belly Of The Beast

Yesterday we left Jonah as he took a dip in the sea. Man overboard, as the sailors hoisted him over the side of the ship, and the stormy sea became still. Imagine you've never read or heard Jonah before - is this it? Jonah is destined for a watery grave and the story is finished?

The story is far from finished. As Jonah sinks, something has been appointed to meet him. 'And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah.' (1:17). The LORD God who made the sea and the dry land (1:9) made everything in them too, and commands his creatures. Notice that here the fish, and also the plant (4:6) and the worm (4:7) are more obedient to the command of their Creator than the Lord's prophet is! The fish, plant, and worm were all appointed, and they do their job. Jonah, however is reluctant and rebellious.

Jonah spends three days and nights in the belly of the fish, the first person to ride in a submarine, albeit a horrible smelly one, amongst the fish guts. And eventually, Jonah prays to 'the LORD his God' - is Jonah on the upward rise now that he remembers to pray to his God?

In his prayer, which is like a Psalm, he tells his story of how he had been cast into the deep, into the belly of Sheol (the grave), and as he cries out to God he has heard him. His situation was bleak - '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.' (2:3). 'The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.' (2:5-6).

Yet in the midst of all this, there is a glimmer of faith and hope:

'Then I said, "I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple... 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. When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple... Salvation belongs to the LORD!' (2:4, 6-7, 9)

Despite his rebellion, having seen the power of his God, Jonah seems to be coming right. He's crying out to the Lord, he's aligning himself with the Lord, he's experiencing the salvation of the Lord, and as the fish vomits him out onto the dry land, he's returning to the Lord.

Jonah was a dead man. There was no RNLI lifeboat to go and rescue him from the water. He was as good as dead as he sank. In his moment of need, he cries to the Lord and experiences a great salvation through the fishy submarine. Jonah has been given new life and a living hope through his figurative resurrection, which points forward to the great resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, three days not in the belly of a fish but in the belly of the ground, in the new rock tomb. (Matthew 12:40) How will he use his God-given life?

What about us, who have also been saved by the Lord from our rebellion, changed from being dead in our sins to alive in Christ, also saved by grace (Ephesians 2:1-10), with good works prepared for us to walk in. Can we yet resist the call of the Lord to speak and act and think for him? We will never be the same again, when we taste the goodness of the Lord, and experience his great salvation.

Exceedingly Afraid

When you hear the word exceedingly, you probably think of Mr Kipling and his exceedingly good cakes. At least, that's what I do, which reminds me, I would love a French Fancy or a Lemon Slice. But five times in the book of Jonah (in the ESV) we find the word 'exceedingly'. We're working through the book and in today's passage (Jonah 1:7-16), we find the word twice.

When we left Jonah on Friday, it was like a soap opera cliffhanger ending - Jonah had been sleeping in the bottom of the boat as it was being tossed about in the perfect storm. The Captain had gone to wake him, and things are still looking bad for the ship and the seamen.

The sailors then decide to cast lots to see whose fault the storm is. Whatever method they used, Jonah pulled the short straw, and so they ask who he is and what he's doing. His answer leads them to be 'exceedingly afraid,' so what is it he tells them?

I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. (1:9)

Leaving aside for the moment the fact that he obviously doesn't fear the LORD too much or he wouldn't be running away, he witness is a terrifying one. Remember, the sailors had been crying out to their petty small-g gods, idols and images who couldn't do anything. Jonah is a follower of the one true God, the one who made the sea which is right now flying over the sides of the boat and threatening their very lives! He has already told them he's fleeing from his God, and their response says it all:

"What is this that you have done!"

You numpty! You serve the God who made the sea and the dry land - the only two categories of space on the whole earth, and you are trying to flee from him? What's more, you're getting us caught up in the whole thing as we're about the be shipwrecked for your folly? Any wonder we're exceedingly afraid!

Jonah tells them to hurl him into the sea, as the only way of calming things down. The sailors refuse, trying to row back to dry land, but the sea gets more and more tempestuous - that is, it was a mighty tempest in verse 4, more and more tempestuous in verse 11, and more and more tempestuous by verse 13.

Reluctantly, they throw Jonah overboard, but not before crying out to the LORD, asking him not to hold them guilty for Jonah's life. Instantly, 'the sea ceased from its raging.' (1:15). From tempestuous to the loudness of silence in a split second, as Jonah slips into the sea.

What was their reaction? 'Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.' (1:16)

They are turned from begin exceedingly afraid (of the circumstances and situation) to fearing the LORD exceedingly - believing in him, trusting in him, bowing before his great majesty and power as shown in the calming of the storm and the stilling of the sea.

Are we as extreme in our devotion and fear of the LORD? Do we throw ourselves wholeheartedly into our serving the LORD? These men, who had begun as pagan pray-ers finish the day fearing the one true God, having seen God at work. Can we, who have experienced the power of God in the cross, and in conversion fear God less than those sailors?

See the great glory of our God - that even in Jonah's rebellion there is a saving purpose, as pagan sailors are 'turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God' (1 Thessalonians 1:9). If God can use the rebellion of one of his prophets for purposes of good and his glory, then he can (and does) use our moments of weakness and rebellion for his glory.

How great is our God, that all things work for good - all things, not just some things, whether that be our slipping into sin, or the bad news at the hospital, or a family funeral, or a prophet's rebellion.

Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly - and it was exceedingly good!

Don't You Care That We Drown?

We left Jonah yesterday as he boarded the boat for Tarshish, attempting to flee from the presence of the LORD, the God of Israel. Off he sails into the sunset, a pleasant cruise towards what was probably Spain. Farewell Jonah.

How does the story continue? 'But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea...' (1:4). Jonah's trying to leave the presence of the LORD, but he can't manage it. God sends a storm, and the ship is in danger. The boat rises and falls in the waves, so high and so low that the ship seems certain to disintegrate. The Perfect Storm, if you will. It gets so bad that they even throw overboard the cargo, the precious goods, the profitability of the ship, lost, because life is more precious than money.

Despite the sailors being seasoned seamen, 'the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god.' (1:5) Prayer, the last refuge of the scoundrel? The text suggests that this wasn't a corporate worship gathering, a sing-in and pray-in, but rather an every man for himself praying to his own god, a range of religions and a divergence of divinities.

At this point, there was a gap in the muster roll. Someone was on board but wasn't praying - where was he? 'But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.' (1:5) The Captain goes to confront him and says: "What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish." (1:6)

The captain can't believe that Jonah can sleep like a baby when the boat is being tossed to and fro. All the gods haven't answered yet, all the prayers haven't made any difference - perhaps a concerted effort, with one more man praying to his small-g god will make all the difference. Jonah is roused, and comes on board.

What do you mean, you sleeper? It reminds me of the words addressed to another slumbering voyager: 'Do you not care that we are perishing?' (Mark 4:38). Like the mariners, some of the disciples were experienced sailors - fishing in their boats. Yet the storm was beyond them, frightening them because of its intensity. Both sent by God to display his glory - to turn pagan sailors to call upon the name of the LORD, and to drive the disciples to ask who Jesus is, who can still the storm.

Sometimes it's in the storms that we are more aware of our need, and more willing to cry out to the Lord - after all, when reclining on a deck chair on a cruise liner we're too comfortable. But pitching on a creaky vessel in the stormy sea reminds us that we need help, from the One who made the seas and the dry land, the One who can still storms, the One whose word has power.

Sometimes the storms can be a call for us to come back, to return, to repent. It was certainly that for Jonah. When your ship looks like sinking, will you cry out or be so comfortable that you ignore the danger completely?

Fleeing From God

For many people, the only thing they know about Jonah is his association with the whale (or great fish, as the book of Jonah actually says). But there's more to Jonah than him becoming the first person to ride in a submarine, as we'll hopefully discover in the days to come. Before we get to the great fish, let's meet the man himself.

Jonah, the son of Amittai receives the word of God which calls him to go to Nineveh, the city in Assyria. Jonah is an Israelite, one of the people of God, and yet he is called to go to the enemies of God's people. The message he is given doesn't sound too promising: 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.' (1:2)

Jonah is called to be a prophet of doom, calling out against the city of Nineveh as Jeremiah would later be called to do against Jerusalem. God calls him to go east, and Jonah does an aboutface and instead chooses to 'Go West'. Was it that he didn't like his assignment? Announcing judgement in a foreign city might be a risky endeavour. Much better to flee somewhere safe and comfortable.

Yet it appears that Jonah actually doesn't like the assignment because he reckons they will repent and God will forgive them anyway (see 4:2-3). Either way, Jonah sets off in the opposite direction and makes for a boat at Joppa to take him to Tarshish. Twice in verse three we're told what Jonah is trying to do:

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.(Jonah 1:3)

Tarshish represented a land far faraway, far enough away to be out of the presence of the LORD. Yet as Jonah learns through his futile attempt at fleeing, God is not restricted to the Temple of Jerusalem, or the shrine at Samaria. He is 'the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land' (1:9) who fills his creation so that there is nowhere where God is not.

Jonah discovers what the Psalmist says: 'Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? ... 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.' (Psalm 139:7, 9-10). Our God is a great big God, and he holds us in his hand.

Are there times when we also try to flee from God? We know what he requires of us, but we don't want to do it (or stop doing it). We think that God doesn't notice when we're in that place, or with those people, like a child who puts her hands over her eyes and then thinks that we can't see her!

We are always in the presence of the Lord, so let's seek to please him in all that we do, not just on Sundays or when in church. Jonah reminds us of the futility of fleeing. Will you stop running?