God’s Reluctant Missionary

Jonah 1:1-6

Introduction – the story of Jonah

1.      God’s call

2.      Jonah’s response

3.      God’s response to Jonah’s failure to obey

4.      Jonah’s repentance and his mission to Nineveh

5.      Nineveh’s response and Jonah’s response to God’s change of heart  

Discussion

1.      Jonah was called to obey God

a.       Jonah’s dilemma  

b.      Consider the difference between Jesus as Savior and Jesus is Lord – the confession is not “Jesus is my Savior,” but “Jesus is Lord” (see Rom 1:9 and also Matt 7:21-23)  

c.       Some songs we sing:

                                                            i.      “I’ll go where you want me to go” – but we prefer, “Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep”

                                                          ii.      “All to Jesus I surrender” while reserving “veto” power over particular things that he demands  

2.      Jonah was called to preach God’s message

a.       While Jonah was quite prepared to preach God’s message, he was not willing to preach that message in Nineveh  

b.      Jonah’s reluctance stemmed from his belief that the people would accept his message: our reluctance is often because we believe that people will not accept our message  

c.       While people demand tolerance, God requires faithfulness to His message  

d.      Jonah’s message to Nineveh was to repent – the same message as preached by John the Baptist and by Jesus  

e.       Isaiah describes the difficulty of preaching God’s message in Isaiah 30:9-11  

3.      Jonah was called to love all people

a.       The heart of Jonah’s problem is seen in his anger toward God  

b.      The story of the vine that withered  

c.       The lesson for Jonah (and for us):  God is the Creator of all and God’s love extends to all  

Conclusion

1.      To run away seemed like an easy solution for Jonah

2.      One lesson from the story:  you cannot run away from God

3.      To obey the Lord is to find a way through your difficulties