Like Jonah of old, many Christians are fleeing from our personal responsibility to be involved in reaching our world for Christ. We would rather spend time talking about evangelism as an abstract concept, rather than as a real command of God that we are to obey.
We are kind of like the drunk I heard about who staggered down a sidewalk and fell backward into some freshly poured concrete. When he was discovered by the workers the next morning, they sought to free him from the hardened concrete. Every time the sledge hammer crashed against the pavement, his body rattled with pain. When he was finally freed, he stood slowly and mumbled, “Getting drunk is all right in the abstract, but it ain’t much in the concrete.”
That’s the opinion of many of us when it comes to the work of evangelism. Evangelism is something we’d just as soon keep as a subject we discuss in the abstract.
Many of us are far better at talking about evangelism and critiquing those who are doing evangelism than we are at doing it.
In his book, Real Evangelism, Bailey Smith says, “Sometimes the church looks to the world like a luxury liner going through the ocean with drowning people all around it. Some are going down for the first time, others for the second time, and still others for the last time. The drowning people look up at the luxury liner (the church) and yell, ‘Help us! Help us; we’re drowning; save us.’ But the voice comes back from the ship, ‘Oh, be quiet, we’re trying to take a study course on how to be concerned for drowning people.’”
Yes, too many of us are content to ride on board the luxury liner and talk about evangelism, rather than help man the life boats and actually do evangelism. Like Jonah, we are running from the clear command of Christ.
1. The Command Given - Jonah 1:1-2
God commanded Jonah to go beyond the borders of his land to declare His Word to the people of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian empire, the enemies of the Jewish people. God was calling Jonah to go preach His Word to a people who were his sworn enemies. Jonah was called of God to go to a people who would make him feel very uncomfortable, to say the least.
In the same way, God has commanded us to go beyond the fours walls of our church to people who may not be like us at all. Indeed, He has commanded us to reach out to people whose lifestyle may even be one of which we might disapprove. He calls us to go beyond our “comfort zone” to reach out to folks whose lifestyle is often not at all like ours - to reach out to people who might make us uncomfortable.
But the fact is, that you and I, apart from our relationship with Christ, are no different than the people God is calling us to reach out to. Apart from our relationship with Christ, we are no different from any other person in this world. The fact is that there is only one kind of person in this world, and that’s a person for whom Jesus died; and God has told us that all of us who know Him, should go to all of them to let them know of His sacrifice and the new life they can have as a result.
The fact is though, that like Jonah, we are often filled with fear when we think of the command of God to go and make disciples of all nations. Being fearful and uncomfortable about reaching out to others is not an unnatural thing.
Billy Graham has confessed that his hands often go clammy and his knees shake before he preaches. While most would agree that standing in front of a crowd of people is probably not our favorite task either, this is not a confession one would expect from the man who has preached the Gospel to more people than anyone else in history. It is, however, a confession that should encourage a great many of us. "Every time I stand before a crowd I feel so unworthy to preach the Gospel," Graham admitted. "I feel fearful that I may say something or do something that may mislead someone, because I’m talking to eternal souls who have the possibility of living in heaven forever."
Like Dr. Graham and unlike Jonah, we should set aside our fears and seek to obey God’s command, understanding that God doesn’t leave us alone to obey what He has commanded - His commands always come with the promise of His presence to guide us and empower us.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” - Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
“Haven’t I commanded you? Strength! Courage! Don’t be timid; don’t get discouraged. GOD, your God, is with you every step you take.” - Joshua 1:9 (The Message)
Now what was true for Joshua, was also true for Jonah. The promise made to Joshua was a promise also made to Dr. Billy Graham, and it is a promise made to us. When God commands us to share the Good News with others, He also promises His presence to guide and empower us so that we might successfully obey Him.
Paul reminded Timothy that through the power of the Person present within us, we have access to whatever provision we might need to successfully obey the command of God to share our faith.
“God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. So never be ashamed to tell others about our Lord.” - 2 Timothy 1:7-8a (NLT)
Well, unfortunately, too many of us, like Jonah, understand that God has given us the command to make disciples and share the Good News, but we, nevertheless, choose not to obey.
2. The Command Rejected - Jonah 1:3-17
God told Jonah to go East, but Jonah went West. He went in the opposite direction of God’s calling, and as a result, ran away from God.
This is an important point - to reject a command of God is to run away from God Himself. Anyway you look at it, whenever you or I choose to not obey the command of God, we are choosing to go in the opposite direction that God is going.
It has been pointed out that through-out this chapter, Jonah is going down. He begins this downward trend when he chooses to reject God’s command. In running away from God, Jonah went “down” to Joppa (v. 3), he went “down” into the ship (v. 5), he went “down” into the sea (v. 15), and “down” into the belly of the great fish (v. 17).
Jonah experienced the chastening hand of God as he ended up being tossed overboard in order to calm a storm and then ended up being swallowed by a great fish.
It is interesting to note that as Jonah slept in the hull of the ship, a storm raged outside, which threatened the lives of others. What a picture of too many in the church today - enjoying spiritual slumber as they flee their responsibility to be a witness for Christ - while, as a result of their disobedience, others around them perish!
We need to understand that when we choose to not obey the command of Christ to participate in the work of sharing the Good News, we are choosing to go the way of Satan, which is the way of rebellion, and, as a result, rather than being used of God to draw people to Christ, we will be used of the Devil to turn people away from Christ.
“If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it.” - Matthew 12:30 (CEV)
Oh, that God would give us a glimpse of the impact our choices to obey or to disobey have on the lives of others. Rather than focus on the results of our disobedience, let’s think about the possible impact on eternity that our obedience might bring.
A Sunday School teacher, a Mr. Kimball, in 1858 led a Boston shoe clerk to give his life to Christ. The clerk, Dwight L. Moody, became an evangelist and in England in 1879 awakened evangelistic zeal in the heart of Frederick B. Meyer, pastor of a small church.
F. B. Meyer, preaching on an American college campus, brought to Christ a stu¬dent named J. Wilbur Chapman. Chapman, engaged in YMCA work, employed a former baseball player Billy Sunday, to do evangelistic work.
Sunday held a revival in Charlotte, North Carolina. A group of local men were so enthusiastic afterward that they planned another campaign, bringing Mordecai Hamm to town to preach.
In the revival, a young man named Billy Graham heard the gospel and yielded his life to Christ. And the story goes on and on.
We have no record of Mr. Kimball ever leading anyone else to Christ, yet what an impact his obedience has had on eternity!
“Again he said, ‘What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.’” - Mark 4:30-32 (NIV)
When we choose to obey the command of God to share the Good News with others, though what contribution we make may seem small, God will bless our efforts with eternally great results.
3. The Command Obeyed - Jonah 2:10-3:10
God reinstated the command to Jonah that he had previously ran away from. This time, however, Jonah obeyed. Even though it took him three days to go through the entire city, Jonah was willing to put forth whatever effort was required to fulfill the commission he had received from the Lord. As a result, the entire city turned to God!
Likewise, you and I need to commit ourselves to the task of fulfilling the commission God has given to us, regardless of the effort required. It will take effort on our part to reach others for Christ. But if our Savior was willing to bleed for the redemption of a lost world, shouldn’t we be willing to sweat for the same?
Accepting the command to reach others for Christ and obeying it takes effort. But it is effort that will be richly rewarded.
Unlike the preacher I heard about who decided to skip church one Sunday morning to play a round of golf? Every Sunday on his way to the church building he’d drive by the golf course and during warm weather he’d often see church members playing golf. It wouldn’t have bothered him so much if they’d both play golf and come to church. But that not what happened. No, they’d go golfing and skip church. One Saturday evening he decided he’d show those church skipping golfers - if they could do it, so could he. So he called in sick and said they’d have to find someone else to preach the morning service. The next morning he threw his golf clubs in his car and he headed for a golf course more than an hour away. He figured no one there would know him. By the time he arrived, it looked as if it was going to be a beautiful morning. He paid to play and went to the first tee. Now an angel had been watching this preacher and was asking God what he was going to do with this man who had lied about being sick and was now preparing to hit his first shot. God said just watch. The angel was thinking "oh man this guy’s gonna get it. I can just picture God zapping him with a bolt of lightning at the peak of his backswing." But there was no bolt of lightning, no earthquake, no rain - just a perfect shot - a hole in one in fact! The angel couldn’t believe it. He blurted out, “God, how could you let him hit a hole in one? I thought you were going to punish this man?” God said, “I am. Who’s he gonna tell?”
Conclusion: When we experience something wonderful or when we learn of something exciting, we can hardly contain ourselves. We feel like we just have to tell someone or we’re going to burst!
Oh, how we need to grasp the greatness of the Good News we are commanded to share! Once we do, we will be willing to go to whatever lengths are necessary to share that wonderful message with others!
George Sweeting, in his book The No-Guilt Guide for Witnessing, tells of a man named John Currier who in 1949 was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Later he was paroled to work on a farm near Nashville, Tennessee.
In 1968, his sentence was terminated, and a letter bearing the good news was sent to him. But John never saw the letter, nor was he told anything about it. Ten years went by. Then a state parole officer learned about his plight, found him, and told him that his sentence had been terminated. He was a free man.
Sweeting concluded by asking, “Would it matter to you if someone sent you an important message - the most important in your life - and year after year the urgent message was never delivered?”
We who have heard the Good News about freedom in Christ are responsible to proclaim it to others still enslaved by sin. Are we doing all we can to make sure that people get the message?
