Sermon Series: Jonah
Most of the books of prophecy focus on declaring the wrath of God and calling people to repentence. Every prophet lives and proclaims in a unique context, but the message is consistent. The book of Jonah is unique among the minor prophets. Instead of focusing on the prophecy,
this book focuses on the prophet. Unlike the prophets who came before him, Jonah is told to arise and go proclaim God's truth to those outside the church. Jonah doesn't argue, he simply walks away, fearlessly running away from where God told him to go. Shamlessly, he refuses to call "those people" to repentence because, well, they are "those people."
We all have "those people" who we hope come to the Lord...sort of. All too often we recognize our responsibilty to preach to people who, honestly, we don't like, we don't feel "deserve" to be saved, and that we think shouldn't get to be loved. We'll tell them the truth but we certainly don't want to see them saved, or in our church, or....
It is so easy to look down on Jonah. But what I like about him is that he's real. He's honest. He's a prideful self-righteous Christian who thinks God should do it his way. He knows how God's mission should run, who should be saved, and is all but ready to help God fill out His book of life. The story of Jonah should sober us to whose mission this is, who we are called to reach as missionaries and call all of us to stop telling God how to run his plan for redemption.
Jonah Intro - I am Jonah. audio/notes
Jonah 1.1-3 - God lets us run audio/notes
Jonah 1.4-17 - Glory even through disobedience audio/notes
Jonah 2 - A prayer in the belly of a whale. audio/notes
Jonah 2.3 - A storm, some sailors, and the sovereignty of God audio/notes
Jonah 3 - Redemption of an entire city begins with one man audio/notes
Jonah 4 - A strong-willed child doesn't get his way audio/notes
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