This week, we started the spring session of the Soul Sisters, the church based Bible study I have taught to the women of Zionsville Presbyterian Church for many years now. I enjoy it, in addition to the fact that I have attained honorary Soul Sister status in the group… The fact of the matter is that I find teaching is a great way for me to continue to study God’s Word and even though I have taught much of the Bible during the last 25 years or so, I learn new things every time I go back and refresh myself in the Word of God.
I was asked what I wanted to teach this spring and, for some reason, the book of Jonah jumped out at me. I casually suggested it and the leaders of the group set out to find a compatible workbook to foster discussion and self reflection during the first hour of our time together each week. The second 45 minutes or so is spent with me giving an overview of the lesson for the week as well as “nuggets” that I am aware of in the material.
I still believe that the greatest lessons I learned in seminary were “in the cracks.” In other words, they weren’t scripted lessons that we were taught but, rather, they were the things that came out in discussion as we shared things that we had learned under the illumination of the Holy Spirit during our studies. One of the most helpful tidbits I learned early in my seminary days was the fact that prophets and priests are different. Prophets represent God to the people and priests represent the people to God. The only one who holds both offices is Jesus. He represents us to His Father and also carries the word of His Father to us. Of course, he is our King, another office that is held exclusively by our Savior.
There are many prophets in the Old Testament – some rather well known – such as Isaiah and Jeremiah. But there are also a number of “minor” prophets. It’s not that they are any less important, but that they wrote shorter books that appear closer to the end of the Old Testament.
I have always been attracted to the story of Jonah. When I taught it to our home Bible study, I actually provided coloring books and crayons to use as I taught chapters to our longstanding group. Remember Jonah in the belly of a whale? You could color the candle and table or chair that Jonah was at? I was in seminary before I found out that it was a great fish, not a whale! Who knew! And wow, living for three days in a fish? How could Jonah survive? I was enthralled with the story.
Now, of course, I look at this short book through a different lens. Jonah was rebellious and tried to run away from God. He didn’t want the assignment he had been given. But he wasn’t any different than the Israelites themselves. They were God’s chosen people and they were also rebellious. So Jonah is a picture of God’s own people during a time of their disobedience. We are also bundling the books of Hosea and Amos with Jonah this spring. All three of these prophets were less than excited about their assignments from God. They aren’t the only ones…
There are times in my own life when I really didn’t want to do what I felt God was calling me to do. Maybe you’ve been there yourself. Eventually, I realized that God’s way will prevail and if I wasn’t going to be obedient, God would find another way to accomplish his will. And if that happened, I would miss the blessing that I would have received if I had been compliant. That just doesn’t sit well with me.
It is vitally important to understand that God will accomplish His mission whether we choose to participate or not. However, as in the case of Jonah, God didn’t select another vehicle – he chased Jonah and even used the events of the storm to lead others to believe in Him. Even Jonah prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. But it was short lived… God wasn’t done teaching Jonah. How difficult it must have been for Jonah to warn his enemies of their impending demise – knowing that they would repent and God would, in His grace, be merciful to them.
Our verse for tonight highlights the verse that I never caught as a child. We are told in Jonah 1:17-2:2, “But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights. From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”
My encouragement this evening is that God offers us opportunities to be integral parts of implementing His plan for the world; and our lives. We have free will to accept or reject His opportunity for each of us. My prayer is that we will all read the Scripture carefully and understand the importance of seemingly unimportant passages. After all, every verse in the Bible is there for a reason. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…