11 The Culprit Series

The Culprit

Jonah 1:7-8: “So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’”

So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah

To every investigation, there’s got to be the discovery of the culprit – sometimes it takes a while and sometimes it happens instantly. In this case, it was an instant revelation – Jonah was the culprit responsible for the storm. What a sad turn of events. The man who was chosen by the God of the Universe to go and give a warning message to sinful people is now at the receiving end. He’s the one who’s the culprit, responsible for the trouble that both he and many others are facing. The man who thought that the people of Nineveh were too sinful to go and talk to, is now the one who’s guilty of sinful rebellion. We know what God thinks of disobedience, rebellion, and stubbornness as recorded in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 – “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

While looking at this global pandemic, I wonder what role we, The Church play in contributing to this crisis. Like Jonah, we have been commissioned by Jesus Himself, to make disciples of all nations; and like Jonah, we too have, to a large extent, neglected this responsibility, and call of God on our lives and rebelled against God. We’ve become so caught up with ourselves instead that we’ve put to risk the lives of those around us – the lives of those whom the Lord died to save and left us here to help save from a lost eternity. I won’t be surprised if it soon becomes clear to the world around that we are the ones responsible for ‘the storms,’ the world is facing at present. Just like Jonah stood guilty before the mariners, do we stand guilty before a world that was meant to be saved by the life-saving gospel of Jesus? If that’s where we are at present, then it’s time to repent and turn back to the Lord before it’s too late. Let those of us in The Church, who are convicted of our rebellion stop today and do a U-turn and get back to the Lord and His call to make disciples of all nations.

Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us?

When the lot fell on Jonah they requested him to tell them who was responsible for the trouble they were facing. By then, though they knew that Jonah had a role to play in the trouble they were facing they still asked him who he thought was the cause for it. Most often in life, it’s a wonderful thing to be asked a question for which you know the answer, and in those times, we can’t wait to blurt it out no sooner the question’s asked, but this was not one such time for Jonah. This was not an answer he was waiting to blurt out to the mariners. It was an answer he was trying to hide from the world, but one that was surfacing like a submarine at sea.

What would we, The Church say if we were asked this same question by the world around? “Who is responsible for the global crisis we are facing?” That’s a very valid question that not only should the world be asking of us The Church, but we should be asking ourselves as well. “Who is responsible for this crisis?” Is it nature, human error (or planning), the devil’s work, sin, or have we brought this upon ourselves and the world due to our rebellion against God to take His Word to The World and make disciples of all nations?

What is your occupation?

The question, “What do you do?” comes up in the first 60 seconds of a conversation with a person we meet for the first time. It seems like the identity of most people is so tied up with one’s occupation, that the first thing we try to do when we meet someone for the first time, is to size them up by their occupation. Notice how we react to the responses we get to the question, “What do you do?” Most people continue or discontinue the conversation with the person depending on the response to that question. It’s funny how this virus has taught us in no uncertain terms that no one is exempt from being infected or affected, no matter what their occupation. It’s also taught many of us that our occupations are not permanent and as stable as we thought after all.