What Are You Waiting For? Series

Bench Warmers

Pt. 1 - What Are You Waiting For?

I. Introduction

We all love the superstar! The super talented athlete who dominates the field or the court. It is their jerseys that sell out. It is their highlights that are played nonstop on the sports shows. It is their name that garners millions in endorsement deals. But what about the guys and girls who are usually on the sidelines. They are the ones riding the pine. Bench warmers. Unknown. Unnoticed. And often under-appreciated. There are more of these than there are superstars. Did you know that on average there are 460,000 NCAA athletes competing in sports each school year but less than 2% make it to the pros in the respective sport? That is less than 9,000 gifted, skilled athletes who make it to the big dance. Benchwarmers are common. You can certainly find them in scripture. I want us to examine a well know but often misunderstood story of benchwarmer in the Old Testament. His story can certainly challenge us!

Text: Jonah 1:1-5, 12-17 (TLT)

The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish. But the Lord hurled a powerful wind over the sea, causing a violent storm that threatened to break the ship apart. Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. But all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.

“Throw me into the sea,” Jonah said, “and it will become calm again. I know that this terrible storm is all my fault.” Instead, the sailors rowed even harder to get the ship to the land. But the stormy sea was too violent for them, and they couldn’t make it. Then they cried out to the Lord, Jonah’s God. “O Lord,” they pleaded, “don’t make us die for this man’s sin. And don’t hold us responsible for his death. O Lord, you have sent this storm upon him for your own good reasons.” Then the sailors picked Jonah up and threw him into the raging sea, and the storm stopped at once! The sailors were awestruck by the Lord’s great power, and they offered him a sacrifice and vowed to serve him. Now the Lord had arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights.

I want you to notice that nowhere in this account does it ever say that Jonah was not gifted or anointed. In fact, the account indicates that Jonah was called, commissioned by God with a life-or-death message. So, Jonah didn't ride the pine because He wasn't able or due to lack of ability. Jonah's issue is the exact same issue that most of us who have never seen the field, stand on the sidelines and remain in the stands . . .

Benchwarmers are often reluctant!

Jonah was reluctant for several reasons that we will look at in the coming weeks. However, for now let me just tell you that the reasons that so many are reluctance are numerous.

- We are reluctant to respond because we underestimate our own call or gift.

- We are reluctant because we know our own story and our own heart too well and we disqualify ourselves without ever even consulting God to find out if He still has a place on the field for us. We allow our mistakes to anchor us to the bench.

- We listen to someone else's opinion about us and therefore we allow their voice to become louder than God's voice in our life. We become like the star in college that hears the pro scouts saying he doesn't have the arm. He doesn't have the speed. He has made too many mistakes for God to use them. She made one too many bad decisions for God to use her. And so, we hesitate.

- We become trapped by the schedule of our own making until we no longer have the time or energy to fulfill the call of God on our lives and so when the opportunity to serve comes, we refuse to give up our warm, safe, comfortable, scheduled seat on the sidelines.

Why are you hesitating? Why are you so reluctant to respond?

The reasons for reluctance are numerous. The implications of reluctance are disastrous.