JONAH 1:11
ABSENT ACRIMONY ALLEVIATES ANIMOSITY
I. ADVERSITY:
A. Accidental.
B. Acrimonious.
C. Acute.
II. ATTITUDE:
A. Amicable.
B. Accommodating.
C. Accountability.
III. ADMIRABLE:
A. Altruistic.
B. Analytical.
C. Acceptance.
The mariners now pose the second question to Jonah following his confession about the God he serves. The first question in verse 10 was in regards to the “Why” of his running. This question spoken here has more to do with an honest inquiry as to what should be done to him for his running away from this God.
As I study these two verses along with the rest of chapter one, I am convinced that these sailors were not as bad as one’s first impression of them could be. Far from being quick to act, these sailors took their time in trying to find out all of the facts before any type of action would be considered. There was no rush to judgment from these experienced men of the seas. The opposite seems to be the case. While Jonah thought nothing about them and what could happen to them via his rebellion, these experienced men acted with great restraint. As I read this chapter, I continually gain more and more respect for these men of long ago. While the sea continued to toss the boat with its angry waves and while all on board were in great danger and filled with all kinds of emotions, these mariners were careful to move against one who believed in the God of the Universe. Oh, I wish the world would be as considerate of those of us who claim the name of God through Christ and be more circumspect towards hurting the, “Apple of God’s eye.” The Bible warns all that if one of God’s children is hurt-it hurts Him also. The world needs to recognize just whom it belittles and harms for its own welfare.
As I study this question by these cautious men, I see three things, which come to my mind regarding the question they asked of Jonah.
The first part of my sermon has to deal with the ADVERSITY of the situation in which they all found themselves that day so long ago. The second part of my sermon has to do with the ATTITUDE, which was displayed, by these sailors and that of Jonah. Then, I notice the ADMIRABLE qualities of these pagan sailors and as such, I can see where I need to improve my attitude in so many areas as I meet circumstances, events and people whose lives become entangled with mine.
I. ADVERSITY: It would be nice if there were no problems, no adversity to enter into our lives but that is not the case. We all know that problems come and go and sometimes these problems are caused by events while others are caused by various other instances, including people. Some of these problems caused by people are from friends and acquaintances while others are caused by people entering our lives and never staying long enough to become our friends. Some times problems are caused by people with whom we work, or with ones with whom we are “thrown together” for a common cause. Sometimes we can just walk away from people who disturb us while at other times we have to stay and endure the situation until events change our relationships.
Such was the situation here in verse eleven. Jonah and these sailors were in a situation of convenience and Jonah was the one who brought the trouble. Jonah and these sailors, plus the people on board, were in a situation where they had to endure until something intervened or until one of them could depart from the others.
The first part of my sermon’s first division has to do with the entire group coming together as a mere Accident. These sailors were on board doing their jobs; the passengers were sailing in the boat to their destination and Jonah was on board-running from God. Each was a separate entity and each entity was settled on doing what was planed for the separate groups. These all boarded the boat with their individual plans and once on the Sea, they were thrown together in a storm, the likes of which they probably before never experienced. I really doubt the fact that if they were any place other than the boat they would be joined together for any purpose. Yet, they were here by mere chance and they were all locked into a very stressful situation.
Sometimes life is like that. Sometimes people come into our lives at work, social clubs, community activities and yes even at church and we are together not by any other fact but that we are in each other’s company by chance. There are some people with whom we have daily, weekly or maybe monthly encounters whom we really do not care for one in a personal manner, but we are where we are by chance for the accomplishment of a prescribed goal. Once that goal has been reached whether temporary or permanent, we go our ways and never really miss those with whom we have had to endure our time spent together.
This was the case here in my text. The ADVERSITY, with which these separate people were enduring, was strictly by mere chance: Accidental.
Not only are the happenstances of coming together by mere chance, the meeting between some people can be very negative, even Acrimonious. I have found over my lifetime that for the most part, people really want to get along with one another. Yet, there are times when personalities and the make up of people can be very disturbing and troublesome. I have also found it to be most common that the problem with people getting along together is always the other person’s fault. Rarely does anyone accept the blame for interpersonal conflict. In addition, regardless of how pleasant one may be to the vast majority of one’s acquaintances and friends there is always that instance when there arises conflicts between even the mildest people. As one Quaker once remarked to his fellow Quaker after surveying the world of sinful people, “My friend, me thinks there are just two people going to Heaven-you and me-and sometimes I wonder about, Thee.”
Maybe these people on board were not the best of people, but the tempest certainly made their nerves stretch to the limit and together they found that there were tensions and trials among some of the people on board. Did not the captain upbraid Jonah for being lazy and self-centered when he was sleeping and others were praying for help? If there are any rough edges to a personality, these often become evident in the midst of trials and tests. The adverse situation on board that ship that day was highlighted by people who were thrown together by chance and the circumstances brought out the worst in some and the best in others, as we will soon see.
Is this not typical of life? People who may be very easy going and as the Spanish say, “Muy Amable,’’ can suddenly turn about face and become something of which they wish they were not. When these things do occur-and they do-it takes all of God’s grace to help the level headed person to stay on target and not to sink to the depths of one who is very Acrimonious.
The last part of this first division of my sermon has to do with the sharpness of the situation once people begin to display their feelings to one another in a most negative manner. Sometimes these feelings and expressions can become very sharp, definitive and Acute. When people such as these people on board that day are thrown together by chance in the midst of great strife and some began to display their negative sides, feelings can become very raw, very sharp, very quickly.
The story is told of Sir Winston Churchill and a woman opponent with whom he had to deal from across the isle in the House of Commons during the Second World War. This particular woman had an acid tongue and she earned a reputation of absolutely cutting her opponents to shreds by her sarcastic wit. In fact, not too many people of the opposition really wished to engage her in battle due to her acidic tongue.
One day this woman engaged Sir Winston in a debate about his conduct of the war. Of course, she intimated that he was miss handling every aspect of fighting the enemy. She finally concluded her barbs by saying, “Sir Winston, if I were your wife, I would pour poison in your coffee.” The House gasped as the staid English protocol was breached by a personal attack on the PM.
Not to be out done, with those words ringing in the House of “…pouring poison in your coffee,” Sir Winston stood to his feet, looked her straight in the eyes and quipped, “And, Madame, if I were your husband, I would drink every drop.” The House exploded in guffaws of laughter.”
Sometimes people are put together not by choice but by chance and the good and the bad can be evidenced very quickly due to the situations at hand. Such was the case of Jonah, these sailors and crew. By chance they came together; the events, which unfolded produced some very disturbing feelings and these feelings became delicate very quickly. Jonah and these people suffered through this and sometimes we have to endure situations as they did. It is how we handle these issues which help us to become a better person or seek to diminish our own sense of being.
II. ATTITUDE: Once someone finds oneself in the above-mentioned situations, it is easy to let down one’s guard and to turn toward one’s baser composition. However, these sailors did the opposite.
The first thing I note about these sailors’ attitude towards Jonah was that they were Amicable. Notice the question they asked Jonah, “What shall we do unto thee….” Nowhere do I see that they berated him with insults, innuendoes, threats and cursing. Although they were cast together by accident, and they found him to be the cause of the situation in which they were, they never treated him badly.
What a lesson this is for all of us who have to work and worship with people who really are not the most pleasant people with whom to associate. Instead of belittling them, calling them names and making life miserable for them as they have and do to us, let us learn from these sailors and try to rise above the situation and the personalities involved and strive to treat them as pleasant as possible.
Not only did these sailors treat Jonah very cordially, but also they were also very Accommodating to him. They did not threaten to throw him into the brig, or to throw him overboard, or to string him up from the highest rigging on the ship, they simply asked him what they could do for him so the Sea would stop its tossing and the wind would cease. I find this trait in these men to be very remarkable. So often in life, when we are “thrown together” in a common cause and someone “rubs us the wrong way,” we tend to think negative thoughts about them and secretly we would not care if a sudden turn of events would separate them from us. In fact, sometimes our disgust and lack of patience may even help us to think that even if the worst came to our supposed “co-worker” we would not feel guilty and may indeed be happy about our good fortune. Not these sailors. There appears to be no malice in their voices as they merely asked him what they could do to help still the storm. Even when Jonah later told them to cast him overboard, they were hesitant to accommodate his wishes.
The last part of this section dealing with the enlightened ATTITUDE of these seamen has to do with their Accountability to Jonah and to each other. In spite of all he had done to them and to the ship, they felt that he was still important, that he deserved to live and not to die. For some reason or another, they felt that they were accountable to each other and were willing to let his actions go unpunished by them. They felt a certain responsibility for his welfare-in spite of what he did in the past.
I wish I had this type of an attitude towards everyone with whom I have had to work and fellowship over the past few years. I commend these sailors for showing me a little bit more of what it means to be a better Christian.
III. ADMIRABLE: I have already spoken about some of the better qualities of these mariners, but allow me to make one more positive observation of them as they sought to forestall all pains of anguish regarding a renegade prophet.
The first part of what I find to be a commendable trait of these men is centered on their Altruistic approach to the situation at hand and especially to Jonah. Putting themselves at his disposal regarding what he wanted from them speaks very highly of these men. The Bible tells us that a soft answer turns away wrath and that is exactly what was happening at this time. Far too often, we put ourselves first and others last regarding what we think is the best for everyone-not these men. I commend them for their laudable treatment of Jonah.
The next part of what I feel is an Admirable trait in these men, besides them being Altruistic to Jonah, is the fact that they were very Analytical in their seeking a solution to the situation at hand. They did not rush to judgment; they did not “jump to a conclusion;” they were not hasty in their words; but, they approached the situation from a logical approach and worked their way to a final conclusion.
These men condemn me because I have not always been slow and deliberate to reach a sound conclusion with what ever and with whom I was facing. When I think back of the times when I was hasty with this one or that one who irritated me, I stand condemned. Instead of taking the time to learn from my adversary, I formed an opinion of that one and moved forward post-haste toward a solution that was beneficial to me and to very few others. There have been many times when I was not Christ-like with those with whom I had to work and to worship. I was not a good representative of my Saviour at those times. After studying Jonah and these sailors, I have been smitten in my conscience of how I could have done better but I did not. I only hope that I can apply what I am learning from this book of Jonah to make me a better person.
As I conclude my sermon, my title bears up under the weight of the logic of what I see from these sailors-a pleasant and thoughtful approach to the situation at hand will alleviate discord as acrimony is replaced by good and thoughtful reasoning.
The last part of the Admirable quality of these sailors has to do with the Acceptance of the situation at hand and the knowledge that things could not be undone. Far too often, we waste time trying to set one another “straight” by our expert reasoning ability. Then when we realize that we have not convinced even the most stubborn persons to see our logic, we spin our wheels trying to get the impossible done with them and in the process we have wasted much of our energy, time and patience.
These sailors did not try this with Jonah. They accepted the situation at hand and tried to work through it for the betterment of all concerned. Even though they were not followers of our God at this time, they were sensible enough to approach the whole scenario from a logical approach and then tried to make the best out of a very bad happening.
I do not know about you, but I have a lot to learn from these sailors and my prayer is that I can put into practice for my Lord what they employed in their treatment of Jonah. If this could be done by all, I think the cause of Christ could move ahead much faster if we concentrate on winning the lost instead of fighting between ourselves,
“Lord, help me to see the bigger picture of Your cause rather than being sidelined by personal feelings which arise between godly people as we strive to build your Kingdom here on this earth.”
