Jonah 1: Actions Have Consequences
I will never forget one of my elementary school teachers. Mostly because it was a school year filled with utter and complete turmoil for me. Rarely do I ever blame a teacher for being problematic, but this one took the cake. I probably was not the easiest kid to teach, so I played a role in the problems, but for once in my life, I am going to blame the teacher. The worst part was she told my mom at a parent-teacher conference that I was playing around in class constantly saying, “I don’t get it,” and she believes I was just acting out and saying that. However, when the report card came out, it was VERY evident that I “didn’t get it.”
So this teacher told my mom I was “acting dumb” getting me in trouble, then she gave me a bad grade which only made life worse. Finally, in order to explain myself and try to wiggle out of some kind of trouble I said, “But everyone did poorly, we all compared grades. No one did well!” My mom said one of those things which will stay with me forever, “I don’t care how everyone else did. YOU are my son. I only care how you did and that you did well. And if you didn’t do well, we’re going to work together until things are right.” My concern is how well you did, for you are my child. Jonah is a story of how God sometimes works in and through us even despite us and our worst behaviors. Today we look at the idea that actions have consequences, and in doing so we see that disobedience leads to dangerous places, our disobedience can have a ripple effect on others, but God does not let us down or cast us aside even when we are contrary.
In our lives, disobedience can often lead us to dangerous places. Jonah was called by God to go to Nineveh, the capital city of the Assyrian Empire, which was a very war-like and dangerous empire. God wanted Jonah to preach to them and announce judgment should they not be willing to end their wickedness. Jonah did not do this; instead, he directly disobeyed God. I have no idea the motivation. Some theorize he was afraid. Some say he hated Nineveh too much to even want to prophesy to them. And some have said he wanted Nineveh conquered to elevate his own status in Israel. Whatever the motivation, Jonah pointedly disobeys and goes literally the opposite direction.
Sometimes though, we take this too far. God does not send disasters as punishment, for instance, you will not get a hurricane because your city did something God doesn’t like. God is more concerned with redemption than smiting things off the face of the globe. But there is a natural consequence to disobedience. If you put your hand on a hot stove, it will burn. God doesn’t burn you on purpose or for philosophical reasons. It simply happens. God sent the storm to Jonah to make him compliant, not to destroy or punish him. And we see that God used the struggle both to work God’s mission within Jonah as well as to bring Nineveh to repentance.
But disobedience doesn’t just bring consequences to us—it has a ripple effect. The storm, meant to inspire Jonah, appears to have fallen flat with him, although it severely affected those with him on the ship. We read in verse 5 that “fearing for their lives, the deperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship.” Where was Jonah? He was downstairs asleep. Jonah, though, knew he had caused the trouble, yet he didn’t even own up to it. It wasn’t until they cast lots that he admitted what he had done and how God was unhappy with him.
It’s a reminder that we do not live in a personal bubble—we live in a community. The other day I read how a lady went to a nail salon then texted the owner and nail technician, “I’m so sorry, but I was diagnosed with COVID two days ago. My nails needed work so bad and I was bored. I’m sorry—you should probably quarantine.” The woman had been silent when asked if she was sick or had been diagnosed. The nail technician is now out of work two weeks struggling to pay her bills. She is also immunocompromised and terrified she will die from getting sick. How we live and act and the choices we make affect others whether we like it or not. Jonah’s selfish choice left his fellow sailors terrified and miserable thinking they had killed him when they threw him overboard.
Jonah was God’s prophet, the voice and witness of the Holy One on earth. And Jonah was just as stubborn, disobedient, and sinful as a shady televangelist caught red-handed. Jonah had an obligation and responsibility to follow God. We have an obligation and responsibility to show Christ in our love, our actions, and our behaviors. Sometimes we even have to get up and drag ourselves through our own Nineveh no matter how bad we would rather not. We do not live all alone—we live in a community of people who need us to lead with Christ’s grace and Christ’s way of behaving. When we disobey, it affects everyone around us.
But there is good news, for even when we are stubborn and rebellious, God does not let us drown or cast us aside. When the sailors threw Jonah over the side of the boat, it was all but certain that he would drown. But instead something else happened. God sent a large fish to swallow Jonah. I am sure this was not pleasant, but it was not doom, gloom, death and destruction as predicted. God still had plans to work in and through Jonah despite his need for an attitude adjustment. And ultimately, the sailors were spared as the storm dissipated.
The story of Jonah shows us that at times we must learn to be yielded to God and yielded to God’s will. That often requires us to have already or receive the hard way a dose of humility, which is a very bitter medicine. Jonah had his mind made up. Jonah knew best. Jonah was fully aware of Nineveh and had no intention of going there. Jonah did not care what God said or asked. Sometimes we must calm the frenzy within us, quell that fiery fury that takes over instead of our Christ-like walk. My mom is fond of quoting from the movie Signs, “Everybody needs to calm down and eat some fruit or something.” But in our souls and spirits we must bring ourselves to be humbled and yielded to God’s will. Always and in all ways God’s will is best even when Nineveh looms on the horizon ahead of us. God’s will is still what is good and what is right.
Sometimes we are troubled and unwilling in life. Sometimes we find ourselves weary and “done.” Sometimes we are just plain stubborn and contentious like Jonah was. We are now on month 5 of interrupted lives from politics, pandemic, and the craziness of life around us. We are all getting quite sick of it, tired, and weary. Sometimes this can lead us to go “full-Jonah” and have a meltdown before God in a big way. The better path though is to seek out God’s mission, to rely on the wisdom God gives, and to use the intelligence God gave us. Actions have consequences in our lives. We have to live with every choice, every action, and—yes—every reaction we make. Why not take God’s path? We can simply say, “Take my hand, Precious Lord, lead me on.” As one old pastor said in a Jonah sermon, “Remember this: it is better to find yourself on the paths of righteousness than in the belly of a fish.”
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