Thanksgiving When the Water Is Over Your Head
Jonah 2:1-10
Sermon by Rick Crandall
McClendon Baptist Church - Nov. 22, 2009
*Thinking about Thanksgiving, let me ask you to turn to the Old Testament Book of Jonah. Almost everybody knows the story of Jonah. It’s one of the first Bible stories we hear as children. In this tremendous story, God told Jonah to go warn the wicked people of Nineveh about His coming judgment. But instead, Jonah took off in a ship for Tarshish. He was going just as far as he could go in the opposite direction. Then God sent a monster storm to stop the ship, and an enormous fish to swallow Jonah and steer him back to where the Lord wanted him to be.
*By the way, this is an absolutely true story. The giant fish could have easily been a shark. In fact, history records other sailors who were swallowed whole and rescued. One man in the mid 1700’s toured Europe with the preserved body of the 3,000 pound shark that swallowed him. Or take Sperm whales as another example. These whales are capable of swallowing humans. They live on squid, which they swallow whole. In 1955 a 405-pound squid was removed intact from the belly of a sperm whale. (1)
*On top of that, all things are possible with God.
-He is in control of every planet and every particle in this universe.
-God could prepare a giant hummingbird to swallow you if He wanted to!
*In Jonah 2, our runaway prophet looks back on his prayer from the belly of that great fish. -- That’s where we will start our reading today: Jonah 2:1.
1. Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.
2. And he said: "I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. "out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and You heard my voice.
3. For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
4. Then I said, `I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
5. The waters encompassed me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head.
6. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
7. "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple.
8. "Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy.
9. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.’’
10. So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
*Trapped for 3 days inside the belly of a really big fish.
-That’s what I call a bad week! -- And we all have them.
*Sometimes these things will hit you right out of the blue.
-The last thing Jonah thought when he got on that boat was that he was going to get swallowed by a giant fish!
*Now here we are near the end of 2009, and we wonder what is going on.
-The economy is in the tank, with unemployment at 10.2% and rising.
-The federal government seems determined to take over healthcare, and force taxpayers to pay for abortions, while they spend our country into bankruptcy.
*The list of national worries could go on for hours. -- But for many of us, the crises are a lot more personal than today’s headlines.
-Many of us have lost loved ones in recent weeks.
-Others have discovered traumatic health problems.
-Some marriages hang by a thread.
-Some of our children are on the wrong track.
-And we have deep-seated problems that just won’t seem to go away.
*How can we get to the place of thanksgiving? Let’s go back to Jonah.
-He found himself in one of the worst jams I can think of.
-But Jonah made it to the place of thanksgiving.
-Let’s look into God’s Word, and see how he got there.
1. First: Cry out to God for He will hear you.
*Cry out to God. When you are way under water, cry out to God! This is what Jonah did in vs. 1: “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.” Next in vs. 2, Jonah looked back on his prayer: And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, and He answered me. Out of the belly of hell I cried, and You heard my voice.” Cry out to the Lord and He will hear you too! We cannot overestimate the power of prayer.
*Sue Kidd was telling the story of Jonah to her Vacation Bible School class of 6-year-olds. The children started talking about how they would try to escape if they were swallowed like Jonah. One of them said, “I’d start a fire in the whale’s stomach, and he’d cough me out!” Another one said, “I’d stomp on his tongue till he spit me out.” The ideas got wilder by the minute. But then, one thoughtful little girl spoke up and said, “I’d call my daddy and wait till he got me out.” (2)
*That was a pretty good answer. But only God could have gotten Jonah out of that whale. And only God can help us with many of the problems we face today.
*Jonah only had to wait three days, but I promise you, that was a long three days. And Jonah didn’t give up. You may have to wait a lot longer than three days, but don’t you give up on either! How can I get to the place of thanksgiving? Cry out to the Lord for He will hear you.
2. And look up to God in hope.
*Jonah was deep in the sea in the belly of a fish, but he kept looking up to God in hope. In vs. 3&4, Jonah spoke with hope as he talked to God:
3. For You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me; all Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
4. Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
*In one of the darkest places you can imagine, Jonah kept looking up in hope.
-And in vs. 10, “The Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.”
*Jonah looked up in hope. And God helped him in a most unusual way. Remember that the giant fish saved Jonah from certain drowning in the sea. Of course at first that seemed like getting “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” But then the Lord led the fish to just the right spot, and the fish lost his lunch.
*God could send a big fish to help you if He wanted. But more likely, He will send someone with a big heart to help you. God will send people to help you in your time of need. That’s what He did when our country was just beginning.
*In late 1620, 102 passengers of the Mayflower began their new life in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The first winter was brutal. By spring, nearly half of them had died from sickness and starvation. The situation was desperate, but God sent a young Indian named Squanto to the rescue.
*More than a decade before the Pilgrims arrived, a group of English traders had also sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Some trusting Indians came out to trade. They were taken prisoner and sold as slaves in Spain.
*Squanto was one of the boys sold into slavery. But his owner treated him well and led him to faith in Jesus. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stables of a man named John Slaney. Mr. Slaney promised to put Squanto on the first ship bound for America. So, ten years after he was kidnapped, Squanto was finally allowed to go home. But when he arrived in Massachusetts, he met with more heartbreak because an epidemic had wiped out his entire village.
*If anyone ever had a reason to be bitter and hateful, it was Squanto, but he had given his life to Christ. And when the Mayflower arrived, Squanto went to them and shocked the Pilgrims by greeting them in English. Squanto’s help was priceless.
*Pilgrim Governor William Bradford later wrote that, Squanto “became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good. -- He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities.” He “was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died.” Squanto even left his possessions to the Pilgrims “as remembrances of his love.” (3)
*God helped Jonah through a fish that was able to swallow him whole. And God helped the Pilgrims through an Indian who had been sold into slavery, then saved half a world away. Surely God will make a way to help us! -- He is our hope.
*How can I get to the place of thanksgiving? Look up to God in hope.
3. And speak out to God about His help.
*In vs. 5&6, Jonah spoke to the Lord with great gratitude. There he said:
5. The waters encompassed me, even to my soul; the deep closed around me; weeds were wrapped around my head.
6. I went down to the moorings of the mountains; the earth with its bars closed behind me forever; yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
*And in vs. 9, Jonah said, “I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving.” God wants us to speak out to Him about the great things He has done in our lives.
*I read about a 4th grader who gave a report about Thanksgiving in our politically correct world. -- She said, “The pilgrims came here seeking freedom of you know what. When they landed, they gave thanks to you know who. Because of them, we can worship each Sunday, you know where.” (4)
*Cute -- but sadly a little too true in 2009 America. God doesn’t want us to be like that. He wants us to speak out about His goodness to us!
*Haven’t you been blessed by the thanksgiving testimonies we have heard this month? -- Yes! Every one of them has been uplifting to me. And they have encouraged me to count my own blessings. God wants us to speak out to others and speak out to Him about the great things He has done in our lives. It will grow more gratitude in our hearts, and it will give God the glory He deserves.
*How can I get to the place of thanksgiving? Speak out to God about His help.
4. And turn back to God in heartfelt obedience.
*It’s important to remember that Jonah was in the pits because of his own disobedience. -- A lot of times it’s the same with us. But we have to be careful here, because many people suffer from someone else’s sin. Other people suffer, because they have done something good, not bad.
*Regardless of how we got in the jam, it is always good to recommit ourselves to following Jesus Christ. We need the same kind of commitment Jonah had in vs. 7-9. There Jonah told God:
7. “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; and my prayer went up to You, into Your holy temple.
8. Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own Mercy.
9. But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
*We observe Thanksgiving today, because of this kind of commitment. Yes, the grateful Pilgrims declared a three-day Thanksgiving feast, starting December 13, 1621. And in 1789, the whole country celebrated its first Day of Thanksgiving to God after a proclamation by President George Washington.
*But by the 1820’s the Thanksgiving tradition was being forgotten. More and more people ignored the holiday. That’s when Sarah Hale took up the cause. Sarah was an unlikely champion for Thanksgiving, because she was well acquainted with hardship.
*Born in 1788, Sarah was the daughter of a disabled veteran from the Revolutionary War. She helped support her family by teaching school.
*In 1813 Sarah married David Hale. He died of pneumonia when she was pregnant with their 5th child. Sarah was left to support her children by making hats, writing poetry, and writing novels. But in spite of her sometimes difficult life, Sarah was thankful, and she believed that Thanksgiving should not fade away.
*She believed that the whole country should celebrate Thanksgiving on the same day, the last Thursday of November. So she picked up her pen and over the years wrote thousands of letters to politicians, asking them to make Thanksgiving a national holiday. Sarah eventually went to the top by asking President Zachary Taylor. He refused. She later wrote to Presidents Fillmore, Pierce and Buchanan. They all refused.
*Finally in 1863, despite the fact that our country was torn in two by the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln agreed to make Thanksgiving a national holiday -- a day for all Americans to give thanks to Almighty God. It had taken 38 years, an endless supply of paper and ink, and a whole lot of dedication. But Sarah Hale was victorious.
*That is the kind of commitment we all need for the cause of Jesus Christ, especially because of what He has done for us. As Jonah said in vs. 9, “Salvation is of the Lord.” And Jonah’s story points us to the cross of Jesus Christ.
*Think about it: If anybody ever needed to be rescued, it was Jonah. Was there anything he could do to save himself? -- No, of course not. But Jonah trusted in the Lord. And so should we, because salvation is of the Lord.
*And this story really is like the story of Christ. Jonah is a picture of Jesus. In Matt 12:40, Jesus said: “As Jonah was 3 days and 3 nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth.” Jonah was an Old Testament picture of the coming Christ: Jonah in the fish 3 days. -- Jesus in the grave 3 days.
*But the big difference is:
-Jonah went through intense suffering for his own sins.
-Jesus went through infinite suffering for our sins.
-Jonah felt like he was dead. -- Jesus really did die. And He rose again to save everyone who will trust in Him.
*Salvation is of the Lord, because the only one who can save us is the one who died on the cross for our sins. Without Jesus, we are in worse danger than Jonah was in the belly of that fish. But Jesus can and will save all who trust in Him.
*Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1863 came at a spiritual turning point in his life. During the first week of July that year, the Battle of Gettysburg had occurred. It was the turning point of the Civil War. Between 8 and 12 thousand men killed. Over 30,000 were wounded, and another 10,000 men were missing.
*The following November, Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address. It was while Lincoln was walking among the thousands of graves at Gettysburg that he committed his life to Christ. He later explained to a friend: “When I left Springfield [to assume the Presidency] I asked the people to pray for me. I was not a Christian. When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian. But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.” (6)
*Turn to the Lord and trust in Him. He will forgive your sins. He will give you eternal life. And that will take you to the greatest place of thanksgiving!
*I hope you are on top of the world today. If so, thank God! But some of us feel like we are in the belly of the whale. How can we get to the place of thanksgiving?
-Cry out to God. He will hear you.
-Look up to God in hope.
-Speak out to God about His help.
-Turn back to God in heartfelt obedience.
*And if you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to save you. You can call on the Lord right now as we go to God in prayer.
1. Found at evcforum.net and straightdope.com
2. Found in Dynamic Preaching sermon on Father’s Day - exact source unknown
3. BreakPoint Commentary #91103 - 11/03/1999 "God’s Instrument": The Story of Squanto by Charles Colson. (Found in Dynamic Preaching sermon “ENTERTAINING ANGELS” by King Duncan - Hebrews 13:2 - #1 for September, 2001)
(See - Lean on the Lord - 2 Corin 1:1-5 - MBC - 091601am)
4. sermons.logos.com - “We just need to say Thanks” by Robert Govoni - 1 Thess, 5:16–18 - Jan. 2008
5. Various sources:
-http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g007.html
-sermons.logos.com - “We just need to say Thanks” by Robert Govoni - 1 Thess 5:16-18 - Jan 2008
-“The Other Story of Thanksgiving” by Nimit Oliver - Nov 2007 - 1 Thess 5:18 Source: By Martha Wegner http://sermons.logos.com/#q=thanksgiving/1000002&content=/submissions/30574&tab=paneTabResults&pane=resultsPane
6. Adapted from http://www.christiananswers.net/q-wall/wal-g007.html and sermons.logos.com - “We just need to say Thanks” by Robert Govoni - 1 Thess, 5:16–18 - Jan 2008
