Jonah Christians Part 1 Series

Jonah Christians Part 1

Scripture: Jonah 1-4; Second Timothy 3:16-17; Matthew 12:40

Recently when I arrived here at Church there were two people asleep in the parking lot. One was disabled and had a wheelchair while the other kept there things in a grocery cart. Immediately my mind shifted from mentally preparing for the Church service to wondering about safely parking and waking the individuals and getting them to leave before our services started. I cautiously woke them up and explained to them that they had to leave as our church services would be starting soon. They immediately began to gather their things to leave. I came into the Church to put my things down, but the Spirit led me to go back out and give them some money so that they could purchase some food. When I went back out, I asked them had they eaten and if they had money for food. I gave them enough money for a couple of meals for the day. They said “Thank you and God bless you.” When I came back into the building feeling like I had adequately addressed the situation and provided them with a blessing, the Holy Spirit began speaking to me. He asked me, “Did you see them?” I was like, “Of course I saw them. I spoke to them and gave them money for food. I blessed them.” The Holy Spirit asked again, “Did you see them?” I thought for a moment and then realized what I “hadn’t” done. Sure I had spoken to them and gave them money for food, but my focus was on encouraging them to leave so they would not disrupt the service.

The Holy Spirit walked me through what I had not done. The first thing He said was I did not introduce myself or asked them their names. Next, He said I did not pause and ask them if they needed prayer. And the third thing He said was not easy for me to hear: I did not invite them to stay for the service, although we are limited by not having handicap access. Now I understood clearly what He was showing me. I did not really see them – I saw through them. I saw a temporary interference to my normal routine that I needed to handle. Yes, I saw two individuals, but I did not personally see them as God sees all of us. When the Holy Spirit unveiled my actions and motivations to me, I stopped what I was doing and went back outside to introduce myself and to try to undo what I had done, but they had already left the property. How I handled this situation has bothered me since it happened. I repented and asked God for forgiveness, but I cannot undo how I made those two individuals feel when my focus was encouraging them to vacate the parking lot versus taking the time to minister to them – taking the time to really see them. In this situation, I acted like someone I will be talking about for the next two week - a Jonah Christian, which is the title of this morning’s message.

Before I go into the story of Jonah, I first want to make sure you know that I believe that the story of Jonah is true. Now you might be wondering why I feel the need to make this statement. Well, mainstream Bible scholars generally regard the Book of Jonah as fictional, and often at least partially tongue-in-cheek. They do not believe that it really happened. Throughout history, there have been a lot of discussions as to whether or not Jonah ever existed. It has also been questioned as to whether or not there was ever a large enough fish that could swallow a man and preserve Him. To these points I would submit this: while the throats of most whales are too narrow to swallow a man, there are species of whales that can, for example the sperm whale. These whales could swallow a man and preserve his life and this is a proven fact. However the most convincing piece of evidence that Jonah existed, and that his story is true are settled for me in two passages of scripture. The first is Second Timothy chapter three and the second is Matthew chapter 12, where our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ compares His death and resurrection to what happened to Jonah. In Second Timothy 3:16 we read the following: “(16) All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” The verse says, “All scripture,” from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, is given to us by God. And verse 17 tells us why God inspired the Bible to be written: “(17) That the man of God (the person who is a child of God) may be complete (fully mature), thoroughly equipped for every good work.”