Perishing at Sea

Perishing at Sea

“But Jonah ran away from the LORD and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the LORD. Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god. And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and fell into a deep sleep. The captain went to him and said, “How can you sleep? Get up and call on your god! Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish.” Jonah 1:3-6 NIV

Maybe when you were a kid, you heard the story of Jonah and the whale. We know that Jonah ran away from doing what God told him to do and ended up in the belly of a whale for three days. But before he got to the whale, he was on a ship, with other people. Jonah wanted to go in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to go, and found other people who were just minding their own business sailing away to Tarshish. Jonah was told to go to Nineveh. Tarshish is located in the extreme west in what scholars say is southern Spain. Nineveh is located in the east in Iraq. Is Spain near Iraq? Not so much. Jonah went to the farthest place he could think of to avoid doing what God called him to do. But do you think Jonah expected God to just say, ok? Not at all. God sent a huge storm to the boat that Jonah was in, which affected the others on the ship. As the other sailors tried to keep from dying out on the sea, Jonah was asleep below deck. . . chillin’.

There have been a million sermons on Jonah preached over the years. I have preached one. It is actually one of my favorite passages of scripture. It reveals so much about the heart of God, the mercy of God, the power of God, the love of God, among other things. But in this passage, what I find myself drawn to are the other sailors in the ship. I can imagine the panic in their hearts as the wind began to blow harder and harder. I can see them looking around for ways to ensure that their ship didn’t go down. I can hear them all crying out to their own gods for help in the violent storm. And I can also see their confusion as to why the guy asleep in the deck doesn’t seem to have the same urgency as the rest of them.

We can all be Jonah in our lifetime. But sometimes we are also the sailors. We are being affected by the disobedience of others not moving towards what God is calling them to do. Sometimes the storm we are in is not because of us, but because of who we are carrying with us. Maybe we were going exactly where we needed to go, but the person we invited along is running away from God. If that is the case, God can, and often does shake things up so that we can begin to take notice of who and what is around us. The storms in our life are not always about us being off track, but may be about who is in our boat.

In these days, God is calling people to take their positions in various places in society. It is not for nothing. Nor is it just about you getting more money or more material possessions. God is calling people to take positions because there are people who are going to die if we don’t go. God was going to destroy Nineveh but was giving them one more chance to repent. He was using Jonah to deliver that word. And God loved Nineveh so much that even when he was angry with them, he still made provision to save them. And wouldn’t even let Jonah get away with running away. So much so that he was willing to send a sea to those he was with.

We all have a responsibility to one another. My calling in this world is not just about me. But if I decide to run away from what I know God is calling me to, I can eventually cause disruption in other people’s life. Not because I mean to, but because God loves me and loves the world. The word that God gave to Jonah to speak in Nineveh was a word that was going to save the land from destruction. But Jonah didn’t want to go and other people suffered. If we are selfish enough to believe that our own choices affect only us, we are foolish and sadly mistaken. And we also must be willing to call other people out when they are running away from their call and their purpose. If not, we may all perish at sea. And if I know that I am running away from what God is calling me to, maybe I need to confess. I don’t know how much what other people around me are experiencing is because I am out of place. Can I love my brother or sister enough to get where I belong? Maybe if we all stop running away from God, we can calm the stormy seas of this world.