8-22-2020 8:29pm

Pastor's Corner: Von Anderson

Rick Amburgey Neighbor

Jonah 1:15 (ESV): "So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging."

I know it seems like an odd verse to start an article with, but I really do have a reason why. We are living in times where the country just seems to be spinning faster and faster out of control. Where people continue to point the finger at everyone else for the problems and situations we find ourselves in. America has become the “great blame game” country of the world. It is always someone else’s fault as to why there is so much conflict and chaos. Sadly enough, over these last few months the “church” as a whole has remained relatively silent.

Of all the people within Scripture, I have a tendency to see myself more with Jonah than most others. Whether it be for good or bad, the two of us seem to have a lot in common. Here, in the beginning of the book of Jonah, we see God coming to him and giving him a task. Simply, he is to go to the city of Nineveh and inform them that God is about to judge them for their sins. Jonah chooses not to go and instead goes completely the opposite direction. It would be like me asking you to go to Columbus and you deciding no, and your response would be running to San Diego.

So Jonah goes down to the port and buys passage on a ship headed to the end of the known world at that time. Convinced that hopefully, being that far away, God will release him from this task. He goes down to the bottom of the boat and in his complacency falls sound asleep. Meanwhile. on deck the ship is experiencing a storm unlike any these sailors have encountered before to the point these seasoned seaman were fearful for their own lives. They begin to cry out to any and every “god,” hoping that maybe one will be powerful and merciful enough to hear and help. Having no success, the captain goes down and finds Jonah fast asleep and awakens him forcefully. So the captain came and said, “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.” Jonah 1:6 (ESV). When Jonah gets up and goes on deck, he sees the dire needs of the ship. The sailors then decide to cast lots and see if they can determine who is at fault, causing this disaster. The lots fall on Jonah. Now, Jonah has a few options, 1-He can deny that he has anything to do with this, 2-He can play it off and say it is really not is fault, but someone else’s fault that has caused him to do this, or 3-He can take full responsibility for his own actions. Jonah, to his credit, takes option 3. Not only does he take option 3, he takes his admission of guilt and moves up to the next level. He gives the sailors a solution to their dilemma. He tells them to take him and throw him overboard and the storm will cease and the will be saved.

Did you catch that last part? Please, oh please, do not miss it. Jonah not only takes full ownership of his sin, but he is willing to sacrifice himself, as payment, for these people he doesn’t even know. You see Jonah was showing us the fallacy of a saying we hear all the time. “Its my sin, the only person I’m hurting is myself.” That is a lie straight from the pit of Hell itself. All sin effects and affects all of life, not just the individual committing the sin. Jonah lets these sailors know that it is “HIS” sin that has caused the chaos in their lives and he knows that the only true remedy is to remove the sin. Therefore, they are to remove him from their presence. Much to these sailors credit, they choose not to at first. Instead, they continue to do everything they can to battle against the storm. But the harder they fight, the stronger the storm gets. To the point that finally they come to the only solution left, and they throw Jonah overboard.

Scripture tells us, 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. (ESV)

Not only did the storm cease the sailors recognized just where and who caused the sea to cease its raging.

Look, the lesson itself is fairly straight forward. I believe that many of the storms we have in our country today are a direct result of the sins of the “church” that are being unconfessed, un-dealt with, ignored, hidden under our beds. What are we really willing to sacrifice for the lost world? Are you willing to sacrifice yourself, your pride, your comfort, your life for the soul of someone dead in their trespasses? How many of the storms in this country are due to the churches’ refusal to deal with their own sins first?

We as the church need to remember that judgment always begins in the house of the Lord, I Peter 4:17 (ESV). So let us, as the body of Christ, commit to begin the pains of confession and repentance of our sins, not the world's. Let us give the world the example of being transparent in our own faults and weaknesses. Let the healing begin with us, nay let it begin with me.