January 12, 2003
Morning Service
Text: Jonah 1:1-17
Subject: Running from God
Title: Looking for the Perfect Church: Part One
There are people out there who move from church to church to church hoping that someday they will find just the right one. It will be the one where everything is just perfect. They sing the songs that they like, the preacher preaches nice little sermonettes and never steps on toes and is always done at 12:00 sharp. Nobody ever asks them to do any kind of work there and they have never been asked to witness to anybody. The pastor has never said anything about tithing. Sounds like the perfect place doesn’t it? I DON?T THINK SO!!!!
I have told friends before (maybe I should say former friends) that if they ever find the perfect church, don’t go there. You’ll ruin it. Even though the church is the institution created by a perfect God to do a perfect work, it is inhabited by less than perfect creatures who for some reason always seem to think they know better than God what is best for the church.
In a museum in Greenfield Village in Detroit there is a huge steam locomotive. Beside the machine is a sign showing the boiler pressure, size and number of wheels, the horsepower; all the details about this wonder of technology. The thing was so large that it seems that it took 96% of the energy created to move the engine alone. Only 4% was left to pull the load. There are churches are like that.
Will anyone ever find the perfect church? Not in the here and now. Will people ever stop looking for the perfect church? I doubt it. Will we keep trying to build the perfect church? Yes, as long as Jesus is building it through us.
William Temple said that the church is the only cooperative society in the world that exists for the benefit of its non-members.
Today let’s look at a man who thought he knew better than God what the perfect church should be. Looking for the perfect church!
I. Where do you go to find the perfect church? (Verses 1-2)
Conversation between God and the Holy Spirit.
God: "Go speak my word to Jonah."
Spirit: "Jonah? Come on now. You know how he will respond."
God: "I’m going to teach him a lesson." Besides, he’s a whale of a guy. Tell him to go to Nineveh and preach against it."
Spirit: "Nineveh? Jonah hates Nineveh. He’ll never go!"
God: "Go and speak my word to him and then I’ll let you put some conviction on him later."
Even though Jonah knew he was receiving a word straight from God he ran away. He had already prejudged Nineveh. It was a city full of heathens - The capital of the Assyrian Empire. I know that is not where the perfect church is. James 2:1-4, "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to this man wearing fine clothes and say, ’Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ’you stand there’, or, ’sit on the floor at my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"
Often we look at the church with the eyes of man. We perceive what we think would be right. We judge people before we ever consider sharing the gospel with them.
OH, I know how they live. They would never accept it.
We don’t want people like that in our church. OR - They have lots of money. Why would they ever want to hear the gospel? That’s the way we look at things. The way God looks at the church? He desires that none should perish. He is not a respecter of persons. Mark 10:24, 27, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. With man this is impossible; but not with God; all things are possible with God." Jonah looked at the kingdom with a man’s eyes and refused to do the will of God.
II.’What do you do when you are looking for the perfect church? Don’t run away from the obvious answer.
The obvious answer is in the word of God. Jonah ran as fast as he could go in the opposite direction to run away from God. Nineveh was at the far eastern boundary of Old Testament knowledge and Tarshish was at the western point of the known world. (Probably the south west coast of Spain) For most people, the perfect church is the one that blesses them the most - Where they can receive maximum effect with minimum effort.
Face the consequences. When we are out of God’s will, storms will rise. God has a right place for every believer. If you think you are in this church by accident, run away and see what happens. Just a casual look around town tells me that there are a large number of people who used to go to church here, but for whatever reason stopped attending church. Going to a church that is not where God wants you is still better than not going at all. Many of those people are going through struggles in their lives right now. Am I saying that if you are in the right church you won’t have problems? NO! But when you are in God’s will you can face any problem the enemy will throw at you. Psalm 92:12-15, "The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ’The Lord is upright, and there is no wickedness in Him’." Embrace your cross. Jonah would rather go into the belly of the ship and die rather than do God’s will because it just didn’t seem right to him. He was not only sleeping but was spiritually napping as well. Verse 6, "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, and we will not perish." Wake up out of your spiritual slumber and do something. Do you know that when you are out of God’s will you may be placing others in danger as well. While some of us may be in a spiritual sleep others around us are perishing every day. The storms of life are raging and we sit in the ship called Church and slumber unconcerned with the problems of others. We have to come to the place in our spiritual walk where we can stand and embrace the dross we must carry. Running from problems doesn’t make them go away. Sleeping through doesn?t make them any better. They are not bad dreams that will go a way when you wake up.
III. Waking up to the reality of church.
When Jonah woke up He began to tell others about God. Notice that spiritually awakening is a process.
We begin to see needs and respond to them as they come.
We begin to see God’s will for us little by little. We begin to see the place God wants us to be, one step at a time. Paul and Barnabas did not go anywhere unless they were allowed to go by the Spirit. If there was a stop sign, they stopped. If there was a caution sign, they took it slow. But when they got the green light they didn’t hesitate. While those on the ship began to lay blame, Jonah began to lay a foundation. "I worship the God of heaven, who made the sea." When others are pointing fingers at us we should be pointing to the cross. Not like the Peter who denied Christ three times, but like the Peter who stood on the day of Pentecost and preached - Like the Peter who, along with John, was placed in prison for preaching in the temple, then when supernaturally released, went right back to where he was supposed to be. He was building a foundation of faith with Christ as the cornerstone.
IV. How do you move toward that perfect church?
Sacrifice yourself. Jonah was willing to be thrown overboard to save others. Remember I said that spiritual awakening is a process? Jonah saw the needs of others as more important than his own life. But he would rather be thrown overboard and drowned than go to Nineveh. His willingness to give himself drew others to the Lord. Man’s way - (Verse 13) What seems right? "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (Proverbs 14:12)
The easy way - "The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work." (Proverbs 21:25) Bring attention to yourself - Jesus said, "Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted in the marketplaces and having the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at the banquets,"
God?s way. (Verse 15) -
Sacrifice yourself - Present yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)
Submit yourself - Submit yourself then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7)
Sanctify yourself - John 17:17, "Sanctify them by your truth; your word is truth."
Strengthen yourself - Finally, be strong in the Lord in his mighty power?. (Ephesians 6:10)
What appeared to be Jonah’s last sacrificial act of giving was a step in the right direction in finding the perfect church. He brought others to the point of worshiping the One True God. Was it a lasting faith? We don?t know. Was Jonah"s act complete? Not hardly. He still was running from God. He thought by being cast into the sea he could escape the call of God on his life.
Jonah had let his prejudices get in the way of God’s plan for the church. Israel was destined to be a blessing to the Gentiles and help them come to an understanding of God.
Are you looking for the perfect church?
Backward Christian Soldiers - Anonymous
Backward Christian soldiers, Fleeing from the fight, With the cross of Jesus, Nearly out of sight.
Christ our rightful master Stands against the foe
Onward into battle, we seem afraid to go.
Chorus
Backward Christian soldiers, Fleeing from the fight, With the cross of Jesus, Nearly out of sight.
Like a might tortoise Moves the church of God.
Brothers we are treading, Where we’ve often trod.
We are much divided, Many bodies we,
Having different doctrines, but Not much charity.
Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane, But the cross of Jesus Hidden does remain.
Gates of hell should never ’gainst the Church prevail, We have Christ’s own promise, but we think it might fail.
Sit here then ye people, Join our sleeping throng.
Blend with ours, your voices in a feeble song. Blessings, ease and comfort Ask from Christ the King, But with our modern thinking, We won’t do a thing. Source Unknown.
