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Jesus is a true and better……what?
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God, R U kidding me? (Part 6 / conclusion)
And sometimes we get angry that God asks us to do these things. There are all kinds of people out there. People we would like to ignore. People that if God said I want you to go and serve them, we would try to find a way to run away from it. We would try to find some kind of way to make it difficult for God to use us that way. Maybe God will forget and will send somebody else. City people? People of other races? People of other countries or speak other languages? Gay people? Rich people? Poor people? There are so many people we would like to ignore and just stay comfortable, stay inside of what we would like, what we expect from God in our own lifestyle.
And what Jonah is teaching us is that that isn’t always an option. Jonah did not want to be at Nineveh. God who loves even the Ninevehites called Jonah to go there.
These words are to shake us out of our own selfishness. And God finally asks us, “Why are you so concerned about doing something you like? Why are you so concerned about your career proceeding a certain way? Shouldn’t you be more concerned about serving the people who need to hear the word of God?”
And, finally we hear it, and we understand it; but we aren’t a whole lot more graceful than Jonah in obeying. We all have these parts of our lives that are like Jonah. God is calling us out of the shade. God is calling us out of our comfort zone. He is calling us to serve somebody, to sacrifice for somebody who is different than us
When that call comes, and that hard thing shows up in our lives, we don’t have to be hypocrites. Jonah was a hypocrite. We don’t have to be. The same mercy we have received, we can share. We can share it here, in our homes and churches. We can share it out in our communities, or overseas on mission trips. We can share it to the ends of the earth.
The most important thing we want to take away from the story of Jonah is that we don’t really want to be like him. Instead our call is to be like Jesus Christ who willingly gave up all that was due to him and took upon himself the form of a servant. He became human and suffered willingly for us. He was willing to face the cross for our sakes, to bear the weight of our sins. That is our Lord. That is our Savior. That is what we rejoice in and that is the pattern we are called to follow.
So, get over yourself. Pray and calm down. Get back in the race. Be the people God expects us to be.
Amen…
God, R U kidding me? (part 5)
Text: Jonah 1:2, Jonah 4:1-10
Okay, Jonah has preached, and he leaves the city. There are not a whole lot of trees in the area, so he stacks up some rocks and builds to make as much shade as he can. Here, he squats down to watch the city, and if he’s really lucky, they will not have repented. Perhaps God will still judge the city harshly, so he sits to watch the show.
But God has forgiven them, and as he is sitting there waiting for what might happen, he is hot. But then a plant grows and shades him and he says, “Okay this is good. Glad this has happened.” But then overnight the plant disappears, it withers away and the next morning it is dried up and it’s not of any further value to Jonah, and guess what, he gets really, really angry. God decides to make a little lesson out of this. He tells Jonah, he didn’t tend this plant, so he couldn’t be concerned about it because of all of the effort that is gone into growing it. And, he couldn’t be concerned because he valued or and loved this plant. “The reason you are angry is because you are uncomfortable. The reason you are angry is because I have called you here. I have sent you through all of this. Here you are outside of this city where you don’t want to be and to make matters worse, you are hot; it’s all just too much.” And so, God says, if you have all of this passionate concern about your own comfort, about all the things that surround your own life, your own concerns… shouldn’t I be even more concerned about the hundred thousand plus people who will perish if they don’t hear the news of my love and of my judgment?
You see, Jonah is acting out of a distorted theology. It is a theology which many of us adhere to. It says that God is nice to us because we are so important. And so when things don’t work out just right, we start getting angry at God. Hey, I am not where I expected to be in life. Things aren’t happening the way that I want them to right now. God, what’s going on? And God is trying to get Jonah to see that there are concerns bigger than you in the world around you. I think we all struggle with this a lot more than we’d like to profess.
We talk, sing and pray about how important it is to know God’s love and forgiveness. We do it all the time. And that’s good. That pleases God. But at the same time that we are praying, praising and thanking God for the incredible mercy shown to us, it is very hard for us to sacrifice or do anything uncomfortable so that we can share that mercy same mercy with other people; so that we can serve other people that need to be served, in order to bring the compassion and help of God to people who need that compassion.
Like it or not, this is a hard thing for us to do!
[conclusion tomorrow…]
Memorial Day Holiday
God, R U kidding me? (Part 4)
The whole book of Jonah sets us up for what is about to happen. Jonah disobeys God and through his own words says, I am deserving of judgment. God shows mercy to Jonah and he praises God for that mercy and re-commits himself to serve God. Jonah goes to a people who have been disobeying God and deserve judgment. God shows mercy on them and here is Jonah again, but instead of praising God, he is angry. The whole book sets this up to show us how absolutely inexcusable Jonah’s attitude is at this point. And when we read this, we’ve got to look at Jonah and say “Where are we in Jonah?””Is this really how I am?”
Jonah rejoiced in being forgiven, but he wasn’t willing to forgive. Many people carry around hate like that. Rejoice at being forgiven, but just are not willing to forgive others. Sometimes it’s a specific person, or a particular incident that has hurt us deeply. We are not willing to forgive and we hope that God doesn’t either. We don’t want them to be forgiven. Let’s be honest, we want them to pay. We are like Jonah.
Sometimes it’s a group of people, maybe a nation. With all the unrest in the world, maybe it’s a whole nationality that we don’t want to forgive. We don’t want to see God bless them.
There are all kinds of things that stick in our hearts that we struggle with. So here we have a prophet, sent by God who is having the similar issues. Jonah had this deep-seated prejudice and hatred for these people, but there is something more going on in Jonah’s life. And, we can sense it even if we can’t personally identify with this sort of hate; maybe we can identify with the other kind of problem that Jonah is dealing with.
Let’s pick up at Verse 5: “Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.” But God said to Jonah, “Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?” “I do, he said. I am angry enough to die” But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 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?”
Jonah has been completely comfortable on the hillside waiting for the city to be consumed like Sodom and Gomorrah. Okay, the shade may be gone and its a little hot….but the people have repented. Praise God! Isn’t this a good, if not a great thing? What is wrong with Jonah?
[continued…]
God, R U kidding me? (part 3)
A review of what we’ve covered so far: In Chapter 1, we see Jonah running from God. In Chapter 2, God preserves Jonah as he’s running and now Jonah is going to commit his life to God because salvation comes from God. He calls out to God for deliverance, God delivers him and so now he is going to pledge himself to the God who loves him this much, who has been this patient and compassionate with him. In Chapter 3, we come back to where we were in Chapter 1, exactly the same words. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
So we find ourselves back at square one, but this time Jonah is willing to obey the word of the Lord. So now Jonah goes off to Nineveh. Nineveh is a large city by the standards of the day. There was a wall around it that is eight miles in circumference. It was a power center for Assyria, Israel’s sworn enemies. And so Jonah goes into this city and proclaims his message. Short, but to the point: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.”
Now the greatest miracle in the Book of Jonah is that this city actually repents. This gigantic city of over 100,000 people, from the king on down, decide that this is a real word from God and they have got to listen to it and obey. This is wonderful! What more could a preacher or prophet hope for?
But then, we move on to Chapter 4, and things don’t sound quite right:
“But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “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.” But the Lord replied, “Have you any right to be angry?”
Jonah is not just unhappy, he is angry. Why is he so angry? Because God is going to show mercy to the people he hates. The real reason Jonah didn’t obey God wasn’t because he thought it was too dangerous to go to Nineveh. Jonah did not run away because he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news; this good news, repent and be saved. Jonah did not go directly to Nineveh because he knew that God would be merciful. Jonah knew that God would give them this chance, and that if they turned things around, He would be compassionate and gracious. And, Jonah did NOT want that to happen. Look at what he says. “I know that you are gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”
Does that sound familiar to you? These are the same words spoken to Moses in the infancy of the nation of Israel; that God is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love, who doesn’t want to send calamity. These words were said again and again in the life of Israel. These words were part of what they held on to. This is what they rejoiced in. This is what they went to praise God for. You, Lord are a compassionate and gracious God.
But here we find Jonah stating the fact that You are a compassionate and gracious God, and I am angry because you are being the same way with those other people that I don’t like. This is what makes Jonah a hypocrite.
[continued…]
God, R U Kidding me? (part 2)
We pick up our story of Jonah after God has asked him to go and preach to his enemies, to people hi despises. He wants nothing to do with this. He’s thinking, “God, are you serious, are you kidding me? These people have slain my countrymen. I’m not going!”
Again, this illustrates to us that, as servants of God, no matter what He asks, we have a choice. God has, after all given us the choice of free will. God can actually call us to do something, and we can refuse; or like Jonah, run away.
But there is a caveat separate from this current story. We must remain careful that we don’t overplay our hand. God doesn’t really have to wait for us. His will shall be done. If we find it too inconvenient, or we are too busy, or lazy, God can remove His blessing and His favor, and send another. God’s plan will be advanced.
The importance of the Book of Jonah lies in what happens to Jonah after he makes the decision to run away. God says, “Go to the northeast to Nineveh.” Having already decided that he’s not going to do this thing, Jonah heads west to go to Tarshish. It’s hard to figure out his frame of mind. Jonah is after all a prophet, and we can assume that he had been undergoing teaching and training at the Temple. He knows Psalm 139. How far would you have to go to get away from God? Duh.
Perhaps he was thinking he could make this a problem for God. You know, if God calls me to a church in New York, I can’t serve if I move to Chicago. God will see that I’ve got with all these time zones and travel issues to deal with, and that this just isn’t going to work out. He will release me. But I digress…
Jonah is struggling with an issue that many of us struggle with. And that is, God asks us to do something and we really don’t want to do it, and so we start looking for ways to squirm out of it. Have you ever had that experience? Well, I’ll be honest, I have. For a long time God asked me to move in a certain direction, but I was preoccupied with family and work. But, He kept pressing in on my heart, until I knew I couldn’t run from it any more.
So Jonah is having an experience most of us can understand, even if we don’t know exactly what his thought process is when he decides to run. The story gets more interesting, because what Jonah is actually famous for is his inability to get away from God. God does all sorts of things to make that totally impossible.
Jonah gets on a boat, still trying to get away. A storm slams into the boat. The people in the boat are afraid, and wondering what’s going on. They start to throw things overboard trying to stay afloat. That doesn’t work. As it starts to look like all hope is lost, and they are in danger of sinking, they finally try to figure out who is at fault, and why God is angry with them. So, they cast lots, and Jonah wins or loses, depending on how you look at it. And so they ask Jonah, “What’s up?” And Jonah says, “Yes, I am the cause. I am running away from God.” They ask, as their boat is starting to sink, “Well, how can we solve this?” He tells them, “Throw me out of the boat. Throw me overboard.” This is an uncomfortable idea, but eventually they realize that this is the only option, so they do it.
Enter the whale. God then provides a giant fish to swallow Jonah and actually uses that fish to save him. The big fish comes and swallows him, but the fish is not there to judge him. The fish is there to keep him alive.
Quick review: In Chapter 1, we see Jonah running from God. In Chapter 2, God preserves Jonah as he’s running and now Jonah is going to commit his life to God because salvation comes from God. He calls out to God for deliverance, God delivers him and so now he is going to pledge himself to the God who loves him this much, who has been this patient and compassionate with him. In Chapter 3, we come back to where we were in Chapter 1, exactly the same words. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”
[continued…]
God, R U kidding me? (Part 1)
I’m having one of those weeks. Things aren’t all going the way I’d like or the way I’d planned. And, no matter how many leadership articles I read, absorb and try to implement, some things are just beyond my control.
What is in my control is my response. We all get tested and upset. And, as much as anyone hates to say it aloud, we get angry with the people around us, and occasionally at God. There is no one alive who hasn’t wanted to ask God “Why,” “What am I doing here?”, “God, are you kidding me?”
But you’ll notice that these questions are not really about God at all, they are about me, and my feelings. They are questions essentially asking God, “Why don’t you think the way I do?” “Why can’t it be done my way?” “Just let me smote them just a little, and we can get this thing back on track.”
And, as much as I’d like to proclaim that it’s about God, it is about getting myself out of the way to do His will and His work. So… onto Jonah
What’s the basic problem with Jonah? Like many of us, he was a hypocrite. He thoroughly enjoyed the forgiveness of God, but deep down inside, didn’t really want to share it with Nineveh. We talk and sing about how life changing the grace and forgiveness of God has been in our lives. Yet, far too often it seems we aren’t willing to face any inconvenience to share this grace with others!
Most of us know about the story of Jonah. Jonah was one of the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament. Unlike many of the other prophets, Jonah is not noted so much for his prophecies and what he said, but instead he is noted for what happens in his life. In looking at Jonah’s story, we are witnesses to a conversation that he has with God over what’s happening around him. It is from his struggle with God that we in point of fact learn something.
Jonah’s experience and journey begins in the first Chapter. It begins with the Lord saying, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it.” In other words, the word of the Lord has come to the prophet and He tells the prophet to go and do something specific. What’s unusual about this is that Jonah is called by God to go and speak to people who aren’t even from Israel. This is unusual.
It’s also strange for another reason, and that’s because Jonah is sent to preach to Israel’s enemies. Well, Jonah wants nothing to do with this idea. We can all hear him say it, “Are you freaking kidding me, God? I am not going to do that.” What this demonstrated is that, as servants of God, no matter the call or calling in our lives, we have a choice. God has, after all given us free will. God can actually be calling us to do something, and we run away from doing it. And that’s exactly what Jonah does. The Israelites, looked down on most groups, and the Ninehvites were no exception. They were sworn enemies of Israel. So he decides first, that he is not going to do it and second, that he will just run away from all this nonsense.
[continued…]
Let’s NOT do life together!
Why worry about theology, service or “doing life together”? Try the Shallow Small Groups / Bible Study / Sunday School class Method and you won’t have to worry about being uncomfortable again!
Sound familiar?
Sadly for many of us it does. What is demonstrated in most of these clips are classes that you don’t even really have to show up for. If it’s just a monologue, or “I” stories, and no one cares about what’s happening in my life, then why am I getting dressed and leaving my house?
I can stay home and go to church online or watch “Law and Order” marathon. I can remain in my PJs and watch the TV evangelists. It’s not really a conversation, but I can talk back, disagree, or if all else fails, shut them off. The best part is that I don’t have to send any money.
This is sleepwalking through the motions, phoning in your praise, texting in your worship, punching your timecard to get credit toward your “get-out-of-Hell” free card. You are marking time, wasting life, and neglecting your soul
The whole point of going to church, Bible study, Sunday school, small groups is to connect. We must find a new paradigm. shift gears and move toward true connection, engagement and involvement. We must reach out to meet people where they are and offer them help, knowledge, guidance. We are to offer them life!
A Right Faith, Sermon notes 5-22-11
A Right Faith
Text: Ephesians 1:18-22
The church at Ephesus is west of Galatia, referred to as Asia Minor; near where Greece meets Turkey.
As the second largest city in the Empire, it was a thriving metropolis, populated with a lot of intellectuals. At least a portion of Its importance lay in the fact that it was the intellectual capital of the known world.
This is a good place for Paul to be.
Our faith is based on a “solid rock.” There are “espitalogical” principles that we can stand on that will stand the test of time.
We don’t have to resort to hocus-pocus, scare tactics or mischief to bring people into the church or into the Kingdom of God.
“I’m not crazy, my faith is based on a solid foundation!” Christianity is not a fringe religion.
We hold on to our faith, not because of Doomsday, but because it is right.
In verse 18, our understanding is illuminated”.
In Psalm 27, “The Lord is my light and my salvation…”
Faith is rich, right, required and robust!
Illustration: Summer day, cold root beer poured over cold ice fizzed up and runs over, making it appear that you have more than you started with. Faith is like that.
Faith fills you up, helps you out and keeps you when the days are dark.
Life loses its meaning without the illumination of the transcendent God, who is fully aware of the ugliness of existence and the right-now-ness of need.
God who sits in eternity, knows where we are going, but gives us enough of what we need right now.
Jesus is coming back for the redeemed. Be ready when He comes!
Who are the redeemed? People who have come through the blood of Christ and believe in His name. But, we must be invited.
Illustration: During Prom season, you can’t just show up to the dance. You must be invited and have a paid ticket to gain access.
Those of us who are going to the “Big Dance” can invite others to witness and make it in. We should send out as many invitations as we can. We should invite everyone we know to get to know Jesus.
In verse 18, it says, “part of your inheritance is the gospel message and the gospel promise that is to be promoted.” You should not be ashamed to chime in when others are talking about Jesus. He is our rock in a weary land, the rock of our salvation; He is a mighty God.
We don’t have to resort to scare tactics to get people into the Kingdom.
There are people out there waiting for the right invitation.
In Matthew 22, we have the tale of the wedding feast. We need to go out into the highways, byways, streets, alleys.
Even though Ephesus was intellectually esteemed, they were soulfully -deprived. They had low spiritual esteem.
In comparing the two churches, Corinth and Ephesus-
1. The Corinthian church was spiritually gifted, and moving in grace according to the Spirit.
2. The church at Ephesus was not particularly spiritually gifted and don’t feel that they could stand in the promises that God have given them.
Many of the people in the church find themselves in this same condition- low spiritual esteem. But we must remember in the words of that old song, “Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.”
You (we) are qualified to serve God if we have been redeemed. Paul is trying to lift them up so that they can labor for the Lord.
Ephesus is one of the seven churches that John addresses in The Book of Revelation [link}. He encourages them to continue to lift the Lord, and not buy into feeling less than qualified because that haven’t been in “long enough.”
Our salvation is rich, not bound to us, but bound to the life of Jesus.
He qualifies us to serve, edifies us, and sanctifies us- by the power that is in HIM!
Verse 19, says that the power is “us-ward”. There is a sense direction here, inward, toward us.
Verse 19-20 talks about operation, using the power. Jesus was taken up by the power at resurrection. And, that same power can be sent back down by the Holy Spirit.
We see evidence of this in the Upper Room with the disciples and the birth of the New Testament church in the Book of Acts, as well as other places in the Bible.
Do you want the power that is available to you in God?
Right faith is from the Righteous One, right on time, right on point and right on the money. It is the right way, the bright way to the highway to heaven.