The Clock Is Ticking! Series

Bench Warmers

Pt. 2 – The Clock Is Ticking!

I. Introduction

They are flashy. They are dominate. They are the superstar. We love the superstar. But don't overlook those who are on the sidelines and on the bench.

After being a starting QB on his college team this young man spent four years without being named to an NFL roster. No one would give him a look. Finally, in 1994 he was signed by the Green Bay Packers. However, he never even stepped on the field in a regular season game before they not only benched him but released him. He went home and began working for $5.50 an hour at the local grocery store. He made his way to the Arena Football League and played there for the next 3 years. He finally made it back to the NFL in 1998 and was riding the pine as a backup on the Rams football team. He was a benchwarmer. Finally, he became the St. Louis' starter the following season. During his first season as an NFL starting quarterback, Kurt Warner led The Greatest Show on Turf offense to the Rams' first Super Bowl title in Super Bowl 34, earning him league and Super Bowl MVP honors. He won his second league MVP award in 2001, enroute to a Super Bowl 36 appearance, and also appeared in Super Bowl 43 with the Cardinals. He is now considered the NFL's greatest undrafted player. He is the only undrafted player to be named NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP, as well as the only undrafted quarterback to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. He is also the first quarterback to win the Super Bowl during his first season as the primary starter. Warner was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. He was benchwarmer who finally got off the pine and made a difference.

Last week, we began to look at another well-known benchwarmer. We discussed the fact that most benchwarmers stay on the bench and refuse to answer the call to serve or fulfill their destiny due to reluctance. I mentioned last week there are numerous reasons why we are reluctant. I want us to look at one of the reasons Jonah was so reluctant because I think his reason to resist and hesitate is the same reason so many of us refuse to get in the game.

Text: Jonah 2:10; 3:1-5, 10; 4:1 (TLT)

Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.

Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to see it all. On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!” The people of Nineveh believed God’s message, and from the greatest to the least, they declared a fast and put on burlap to show their sorrow.

When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways, he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.

This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.

Too many of us are riding the bench because we are angry!

Jonah was reluctant because Jonah was angry. His anger kept him from responding to the call of God on his life.

How many of us sitting here today are on the sidelines simply because we are angry? We will talk about the target of our anger in a minute but let's talk about the result of anger first. For Jonah it leads to being thrown overboard and swallowed by a fish. It then leads to a pouting session in chapter 4 because He gets angry that God doesn't destroy the 120,000 in the city. His anger sidelines him.

How many of us could be living productive and effective lives, but instead we are so angry that we sulk, sour, and are swallowed up by what made us angry?

If you don't think anger will destroy you, then would you please go reread what Paul says in Ephesians 4:26-27. He gives us these instructions . . . “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry . . . great instructions but we miss the last line and fail to connect them to the instructions he has just given . . . and do not give the devil a foothold.”

You missed it . . . if we don't handle anger correctly it gives the devil a foothold. It gives the enemy of our soul a point of leverage in our lives. It gives him entrance. A foothold is literally a secure starting position from which further advance can be made. Haven't you discovered that a foothold can quickly turn into a stronghold? What started out as a minor issue can mushroom into a full-blown war. A small offense can end up exploding into something that destroys the relationship entirely.