When the “Safe” Play is Actually More Dangerous

Jonah 1

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.”

But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship.

But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.”

Then the sailors said to each other, “Come, let us cast lots to find out who is responsible for this calamity.” They cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.  So they asked him, “Tell us, who is responsible for making all this trouble for us? What kind of work do you do? Where do you come from? What is your country? From what people are you?”

He answered, “I am a Hebrew and I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.”

This terrified them and they asked, “What have you done?” (They knew he was running away from the Lord, because he had already told them so.)

The sea was getting rougher and rougher. So they asked him, “What should we do to you to make the sea calm down for us?”

“Pick me up and throw me into the sea,” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”

Instead, the men did their best to row back to land. But they could not, for the sea grew even wilder than before.  Then they cried out to the Lord, “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man, for you, Lord, have done as you pleased.”  Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm.  At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.

Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Today we begin with perhaps one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament, the story of the prophet Jonah.  The actual career of Jonah the prophet probably included more than just this episode in the book by his name.  Jonah is referred to in 2 Kings 14:25 in reference to declarations that he does not make in this book, but the great fish is what we think of when we think of Jonah. 

Jonah ends up in the big fish because he is running from God’s call.  In his defense, God asked him to go and proclaim judgement on one of Israel’s greatest enemies and one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world.  For us, in 21^st Century America, there really isn’t any modern day counterpart to Assyria, so it is hard to imagine.  The idea is that God is sending Jonah somewhere where no one would want to be sent to proclaim a judgement that no one would want to proclaim.  Today, at the very least, we would label it “a suicide mission.”

The great fish that swallows Jonah saves his life and threatens it at the same time.  He will not survive being thrown overboard in the middle of the sea, but neither will he live very long inside the fish.  This enables Jonah to put his life and God’s call for his life in proper perspective.  Going to Nineveh is dangerous indeed, but he faces greater danger running from God.  Just as the divinely-provided fish is a protection (albeit a scary one) from the fatal sea around him, so God shall protect Jonah on a dangerous mission to Assyria. 

I cannot claim that it has ever been a life-threatening proposal for me  to respond to God’s call (few of us could make such a claim).  However, what I can testify to is that I have been safer doing what God instructs me to do than the times I’m running away.  You are too.  It may seem overwhelming to go where you have been led to go and do what you know you are supposed to do, but I assure you;  you’re taking a greater risk in going it alone. 

Prayer:  God, help us keep your call in perspective.  We are always safer in your will than doing what we deem safe and/or more comfortable. Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for all our elected officials today – even the ones you didn’t vote for!

Song:  I couldn’t resist-had to use this song from the Veggie Tales movie about Jonah – Newsboys (In the Belly of Whale)