Living for THE Day Instead of Living for TO-Day
Jonah 1-4
I’ve had the opportunity to attend Promise Keeper events all over the country from Minneapolis to Georgia, Phoenix to Washington, DC. Promise Keepers events are wonderful times of worship and instruction, a day and a half of great preaching and music. Typically a different pastor will preach on a different aspect of the theme of the conference for that year. I don’t recall which one it was, but at one of them, there were three different pastors, and each one in the course of introducing his sermon, used the exact same illustration! By the third time the guys heard the story of ‘the lighthouse and the battleship,’ an audible groan went through the crowd, and the speaker said, “you’ve heard this before, haven’t you?”
A small church had been searching for a pastor for a number of months, and after much prayer and seeking after the Lord, the new pastor arrived for his first Sunday. He gave a great message. Everyone was thrilled and couldn’t wait until the next week. That next Sunday, he gave the same message. The people glanced uneasily at one another. The third Sunday, he gave the exact same message. Afterward, the Elders came to him and said, “Umm, pastor, we don’t want to be overly critical, but you DO have other messages, right?” The young pastors smiled, and said, “Yes, and as soon as these people have really heard this one, I’ll do another!”
Over the past few weeks, we have been focusing our attention on finishing well. We talked about the BEMA seat, the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Bible tells us that one day, every Christian will stand before Jesus, and give an accounting of our faithfulness in this life. How did we use the time, talents and treasure that Christ entrusted to us? Paul makes it clear that if we have wasted our lives - spent our time talent and treasure chasing after the temporal things of this world, (he calls them “wood hay and stubble), our time before the Judgment Seat of Christ will be a tragic scene. We will still be saved, but, Paul says, “as one suffering loss.” He further expresses this thought when he says that he is very careful with his life, and disciplines himself, so that after preaching to others, he himself will not “be disqualified for the prize.”
Paul makes it clear that if we are not diligent, and disciplined in our walk with Christ, we could very well find ourselves standing before Christ, on that judgment day, empty handed. I can’t imagine anything worse in life than standing before Him, with nothing to show for my life, and hearing him say, “You wasted the gift. You did nothing of eternal significance with your life.”
We’ve been talking about this for 6 weeks now. After my sermon on “Legs That Persevere,” two weeks ago, I asked Carol how she thought it went. She said, “It was OK, but I had heard it before. It was the same message as the rest of this series.” She didn’t say it to be mean or critical, I understand. We have been talking about this for a fair amount of time. We’ve talked about having eyes that see, hearts that feel, legs that persevere, feet that step out. Is it time to move on? Maybe – in fact, we’re going to move on after this week…but before we do, we have one more part of the body of Christ to examine – ears that hear. Before we move from this critical issue, I have to ask – “Are you hearing me? Have you got the point? Is it changing the way you view your world and live your life?” If not – then these have truly been wasted weeks… “Are you hearing me?”
We tend to hear the words of Paul about being “disqualified for the prize,” and we read of those whose life’s legacy would be consumed and leave them empty handed, and we think of it as empty talk – hype. Come on, do you really take it seriously? Do you actually see yourself in that spot one day? Or do you find yourself saying, “God wouldn’t really do that, would He?” Or, “I’ll be OK – God will understand my schedule, my unique struggles.” But there are Biblical examples of that happening – godly people being disqualified – and some pretty big names at that.
Like MOSES, for example. Yeah, Moses! The Prince of Egypt! The burning bush! The Ten Commandments guy! The dude who spent so much time with God that he had to put a veil over his face because it glowed so bright that people couldn’t look at him! He did so much for the Lord – took on Pharaoh, led the people across the desert, through the Red Sea, all with the goal of bringing them to the promised land. Moses dealt with it all – he endured their lack of faith, led them for 40 years through the wilderness, and back to the edge of the promised land. Moses was called “the friend of God” – The one who knew God “face to face.” Yet in a moment of frustration and anger, Moses disobeyed God and did not honor God with his life before the people of Israel, and the Lord disqualified him from entering the promised land. In Numbers 20:12 we read this,
But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them."
Moses knew God’s voice – he had ears to hear – but he did not listen! He had every opportunity – every advantage – incredible and amazing experiences – and yet he found himself disqualified for a major prize – entering into the promised land. Of all the people in the Bible, wouldn’t you think God would have cut him a break? But God did not, and I think it’s worth our noting that reality. “Are you hearing me?”
There’s another example from the Old Testament that I want to focus on for the rest of our time together today. A man who had amazing experiences and opportunities, but is found, at the end of his story, hollow, bitter and empty-handed. His name is Jonah.
If you are familiar at all with Jonah’s story, it’s probably in the context of a whale. But there’s a lot more to the story than being swallowed by a big fish – it is actually a tragic story of lost reward. Let me give you a Readers Digest Condensed Version of the story…
Jonah was a successful prophet of Israel living in the 8th century B.C. during the reign of king Jereboam. In 2 Kings 14, verses 23-37 we read that under Jereboam, the kingdom of Israel expanded. It expanded exactly the way God had said it would through the prophet Jonah, son of Amittai – the same Jonah who is discussed in the book of Jonah.
Jonah was a successful prophet. He had delivered the word of the Lord, and everything had happened just as he said it would. That got him respect in the eyes of the people. Now, to the book of Jonah. In chapter 1, verse 1, wee read that the word of the Lord came to Jonah, with clear instruction – “Get up, go to the great city of Nineveh, and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” The message is clear, direct and he recognizes it. He had ears to hear - AND HE RUNS THE OTHER WAY! (Verse 2)
He runs to a port, catches a boat, and thinks he’s off the hook! In verse 5 the ship is being torn apart by the storm, the sailors and the captain are scared to death, but Jonah is sleeping in the lower decks! The tossing of the ship is nothing compared to facing God – and Jonah thinks he’s safe…but you can’t run from God.
Apparently Jonah had mentioned to them that he was running from God when he got on the boat, because they already knew (verse 10). They did all they could to save the ship, but it just got worse and worse – Jonah said, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea, and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.” So they did, and God had a fish swallow Jonah. Most people think it was a whale, but I think it was a Muskie! Anyway, from in side the fish, Noah calls out to God
I’m fascinated by how Jonah hears from God, and runs away. But when God hears from Jonah – he responds. Jonah cries out for deliverance and forgiveness, and God restores him. God gives the fish a case of indigestion, and he spews Jonah up on the shore. But God does not let Jonah off the hook – He issues the call again – “Go to Nineveh, and preach against it!” This time, Jonah responds. He has ears to hear, and he obeys.
Jonah goes to Nineveh, and preaches of the impending judgment of God. For three days Jonah preaches in the streets of Nineveh. Imagine the scene – a guy who has spent three days in a fish’s belly, and been vomited up on the shore, is walking down main street warning of God’s judgment. Maybe it’s not surprising that the people respond to his preaching. The king of Nineveh, and all the people have ears that hear, and they cry out to God in fasting and prayer for 40 days.
Verse 10 of chapter 3 says,
When God saw what [the Ninevites] did, and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.
God again has ears that hear, He’s heard Jonah cry out for mercy, and now He hears the people of Nineveh. He sees their repentant hearts, has compassion on them, and He forgives them. It’s a wonderful display of God’s grace! And what a wonderful result of Jonah’s preaching! Imagine preaching to a city of more than 120,000 people - and the entire population repents and fasts and seeks after God! Any prophet would be ecstatic! Well, not any prophet.
Not Jonah, he is ticked off! He is upset because he preached that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days, and now here it stands on day 41! Who is ever going to believe him when he preaches again? He can just imagine going to Damascus and preaching there and having them mock him about Nineveh.
Listen to him whine in chapter 4, verses 1-3!
1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."
Can you believe this guy?! “I knew it! I just knew that I was going to go there and preach, and you were going to forgive them, like you always, do! I just want to eat some worms and die!” In this paragraph Jonah reveals something about his character that is key to our lives. He says, in verse 2, “this is why I ran in the first place – and got on the boat…” He had heard God’s word, but he wanted his own way. He wanted those dirty rotten sinners in Nineveh to die! He wanted them to get what they deserved! And Jonah put his agenda, his prejudices and his values above God’s plans.
After preaching in Nineveh, Jonah goes up to a near-by mountain top, sets up one of those portable deck chairs and a beach umbrella, makes himself comfortable, and waits for the fireworks. But the fireworks never come. Listen to the rest of the story from Jonah 4:5-11:
Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live." 9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 10 But the Lord said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"
And that’s where the story ends. That’s Jonah’s legacy. At the end of his story, we see a man with amazing opportunities, incredible grace, fantastic results, sitting in the hot sun, his bald head getting blistered by the heat, pouting, whining and angry with God.
So here’s the point for us today.
For six weeks we’ve been talking about finishing well. About living our lives today in light of the fact that on THE Day we will stand before Jesus and give an account of our faithfulness with these lives. We will be judged regarding the gifts, talents, time and treasure that Jesus has entrusted to us. For six weeks we’ve had dramas, special speakers, tears and pleas, challenges and rallying cries.
Are you hearing it?
Are you hearing it? I don’t know because if we are really hearing it, we will be responding to it. We won’t be running the other way. We won’t have our agenda and our opinions ahead of the Lord’s. If we’re hearing it, we won’t be living every day for that day’s pleasures and delights. We won’t be allowing our petty complaints to get us off track with God’s call. We won’t be sitting around pouting that things haven’t gone the way we thought they should – we will instead have the heart of God – a heart of compassion that sees beyond the tip or our nose and sees the hundred and twenty thousand lost and dying around us, and loves them!
Are you hearing it?
Let me tell you something – if God takes His word so seriously that he would deny Moses access to the promised land for a seemingly minor offense, and if He is so protective of His will that He would leave Jonah sitting in shame at the end of his story – then you better believe He’s not going to let any one of us off the hook when it comes our turn to stand before Him!
Do we want to stand before Jesus empty handed on that day? Do we want our legacy to be one of embarrassment and sad shaking of the head over the selfishness, bitterness and complete waste of our lives?
No? Then we’d better be hearing Him – and responding to Him – and living our lives accordingly! With His values as our own, His agenda in front of ours, His kingdom first and foremost in all we do.
Are you hearing it?
Are you hearing it?
Let’s pray.