The Saved Castaway: God Is In Control (Section 1) (Part IV)

Sermon Title: Castaway: Jonah’s Prayer is Our Prayer (Part 1)

Good News Statement: God provides us salvation through our prayers

Preached: Sunday, July 30^th, 2023, at Dogwood Prairie and Seed Chapel UMC

Pastor Daniel G. Skelton, M.Div.

 

Scripture (NRSV): Jonah 2:1-6 – Today’s Scripture reading comes from the Book of Jonah chapter two verses one thru six. In these verses we listen to Jonah’s prayer of reflection—a prayer and psalm of thanksgiving—as he sits in the belly of the fish. This reflection is our prayer today: to return to the LORD and to make promises before Him.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, ² saying, “I called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.
³ You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
⁴ Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?’
⁵ The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head
⁶  at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;
yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God.

⁷ As my life was ebbing away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
⁸ Those who worship vain idols forsake their true loyalty.
⁹ But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Deliverance belongs to the Lord!”

¹⁰ Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto the dry land.

 

This is the Word of God for the People of God; And all God’s people said, “Thanks be to God.”

 

 

Introduction:

A colonel in the Army was in his office.  A private knocked on his door.  Wanting to impress the private, the colonel picked up the phone and started talking while waving this private into his office.  The colonel stated, “yes Mr. President.  I will get on this right away.  You have the right man for the job.  Thank you for thinking of me.  By the way, give my best to the first lady” and hung up the phone. The colonel then turned to the private in harsh tone, “What do you want!”  The private said, “Nothing sir.  I am just here to fix the phone.”

Sometimes what we think is the best solution is not the best solution. Remember, God is in control.

Lamentation, promise, and thanksgiving are what Jonah experiences and commits to while sitting in the belly of the great fish that has just saved his life from resting on the bottom of the sea for eternity. After confessing his sin of running from the LORD in the presence of the sailors on his way to Tarshish, Jonah is thrown over the railings of a boat to calm the raging storm that has engulfed the panicked sailors and captain at sea. As soon as Jonah encounters the towering waves and begins to sink below the surface of the water, the storm ceases: the winds are stilled, the waves calm down, a rainbow appears over the ship, and the internal storms that the sailors were battling have now been turned over to the LORD for opportunities of restoration. Even though, it is now calm on the surface, there is still a storm below the surface taking place within Jonah as he sinks, drowns, gasps for air, and realizes that his willingness to risk his life for the salvation of others has now become the beginning of his watery death.

We don’t know if the sailors attempted to rescue Jonah after the storm calmed down. We don’t know how long Jonah was drowning for. We don’t know when exactly God sent this huge, great, and large fish to rescue Jonah. Remember, the average person can only survive without oxygen for three minutes. And according to Dr. Timothy Watkins, a board certified pediatrician, “a person can drown in less than 60 seconds.” It has been reported that it only takes 20 seconds for a child to drown and roughly 40 seconds for an adult to drown. In some cases, it takes as little as a half a cup of water to enter the lungs for drowning to occur.

There are many factors that we don’t know when it comes to the story of Jonah. However, we know that Jonah—although a prophet who ran from God, risked his life, was swallowed by a large fish, and was spewed onto the shore of Nineveh—was a human who found himself drowning, struggling to keep his airway clear of water. Whether Jonah was saved within 40 seconds or shorter or longer, we will never know; but we do know how this drowning and being saved changed his life. In the belly of the fish, Jonah offered a prayer of lament, promise, and thanksgiving. In this prayer, Jonah gave his life to God: Jonah surrendered all to the LORD, Jonah made vows and promises to the LORD, and Jonah admitted that his salvation belongs to the LORD. Through his prayer, Jonah was rescued from the depths of the sea and was brought back to the surface of the water: he was given a second chance.

Today, we look at Jonah’s time in the belly of the fish as our opportunity to pray to God to be saved: to be saved from our sin, our temptations, our tribulations, our trials, and from whatever is drawing us closer to the bottom of the sea. The beginning five verses of Jonah’s prayer teach us that even when we are sinking God is still in control.

Body:

Jonah Chapter Two is not only a prayer of salvation; it is a psalm, a song, of thanksgiving. Author and Biblical Scholar, James Bruckner, notes in his commentary when discussing Jonah 2, “The amazing context of this poetic prayer is Jonah’s gratitude while inside the fish.” Bruckner continues a few lines later, “[Jonah] fully expected to die in the water. His thanksgiving within the belly of a fish is a proclamation of joy, with the realization that God has delivered him in spite of his running.” Though he is not yet on dry land, his faith reaches a new dimension of understanding. He seems to have no doubt that, as he was delivered from drowning, he will also eventually be delivered safely to the shore. This deliverance begs us to ask ourselves, “What do we need God to deliver us from?” and “Are we giving God the gratitude that God deserves, especially when He saves us and helps us find dry land?”

Before we dive into Jonah’s prayer, let me take a moment to remind you of what we talked about last week. Last week we listened to what God was telling us as we read Jonah 1:17, the famous verse that everyone knows when it comes to identifying Jonah. Jonah 1:17 states, “But the LORD provided a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” From this verse, we were invited to consider three things: 1) The LORD provides, 2) It takes time to be healed, and 3) What have we been swallowed by.

First, the LORD provides: The LORD provided a fish to swallow up Jonah. In the same way, God provides for us. He may not provide a large fish or even a whale, but He does provide for us in ways that catch our attention. Philippians 4:19 and Matthew 6:31-32 assert that God promises to provide what we need. Matthew 25:35-36 states, “[F]or I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” God provides us with food, with drink, with shelter, with clothing, with His presence and so much more.

God also provides us with rest (Matthew 11:28-30). God provides us with peace (Philippians 4:7 and Romans 5:1). We are reminded in Proverbs 20:24 that God provides us direction: “All our steps are ordered by the Lord…” In 2 Corinthians 9:8, Paul tells us that God gives us grace, “And God is able to provide you with every grace in abundance…(2 Corinthians 9:8). The Psalmist informs us that God provides us with help when we are hurting: Psalm 34:17-18 shares, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Lastly, God always provides us with a way to outrun temptation. Every time God provides for us, we are saved. Every time God provides for us, we are healed. Every time God provides for us, we are given a new life, a new start, and a new resurrection. Are you letting God provide for you today or are you trying to do everything on your own?

 Second, it takes time to be healed. Jonah was in the belly of the large fish for three days and three nights. As Peter notes in his first epistle, “And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10). We must suffer a little while. After we suffer, we can begin to be healed and that healing will take time. God needs us to experience suffering and pain so that our resurrection will be more glorious and grace-filled. Jesus walked out of the tomb three days later proving that death would never have the last word; that there is healing to be received by all people. But are you seeking to be healed? Are you allowing God to heal you?

And Third, swallowed by saving grace or distraction.[1] The final takeaway from this verse is the following question, “What are you being swallowed by today?” On the outset, Jonah being swallowed by the large fish is viewed as God’s willingness to not only provide for Jonah but to also save Jonah. In life, we all need to be saved by “a large fish.” We all need to be swallowed up a Godly sent large fish. We all need to be swallowed by the saving grace of God.

However, being swallowed by a “large fish” also has its down falls. Some say that the large fish in Jonah is a metaphor for the things that take you away from God. Is there something in your life that is taking you away from God? Every day you face distractions. Every day you experience something that is keeping you from God. Our lives are filled with distractions—with things and temptations that are seeking to swallow us up. Don’t be swallowed up by distractions but be swallowed up by God’s grace. What are you being swallowed up by today?

Now that Jonah has been swallowed up by this huge, great, and large fish, he begins to have a change of heart; and this change of heart is seen through the prayer that he utters while sitting alone in the dark abyss of the fish’s belly. When reading or studying this text, you will notice that it has divisions: the first division is Jonah 2:2-6 and the second division is Jonah 2:7-9 with two bookends–Jonah 2:1 and 2:10. Scholars have identified these two divisions as stanzas to a song and the song’s refrain. Within this song, we are called to pray alongside Jonah as we, too, offer laments, promises, and thanksgivings to God.

God is in control: Jonah 2:2-6 is our reminder that God is in control. After reading that Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from inside of the fish (2:1), we encounter the beginning of Jonah’s prayer: a prayer of lament. The word lament is often defined as the “passionate expression of grief or sorrow; weeping.” To lament comes from the Latin word lamentatio meaning “to wail, moan, or weep.” So, in the opening lines of Jonah’s prayer, you can envision Jonah, sitting in the belly of this fish, in the dark, confused and possibly overwhelmed, wailing and weeping at the top of his lungs confessing his sin and life before the LORD.

Jonah 2:2 states, “I [Jonah] called to the Lord out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.” In this opening line we hear Jonah’s cry of distress: he is calling out from the “belly of Sheol” –the dark abyss of the sea, “the depths of the grave”—as he finds himself drowning in the sea. But then, from the darkness, Jonah realizes that God heard his voice: God heard his cry, his weeping, his moaning, and his wailing. Even in our distress, in our moments of weeping and wailing, and in our moments of darkness and uncertainty, God will always hear our cry. From that cry, God knows what we need before we, ourselves, know what we need. From the depths of the sea, from the deepest valley, God will hear our lamentations because God is in control.

Jonah’s prayer continues: Jonah 2:3 asserts, “You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.”  Notice here how Jonah does not blame the sailors for his fate of drowning, but instead places the blame on the LORD. According to Bruckner, “Jonah was thrown overboard by the sailors, but Jonah knows that the LORD has done it,” and thus he says “You cast me into the deep,” implying that the sailors were innocent (1:14). In life, when things don’t go to plan, we often play the blame game or we try to pass the buck, but the only person to blame for our situation is ourselves. Jonah got himself into this mess because he ran from God. At first the sailors didn’t want to throw an innocent man overboard but then they decided to do what they were told to do. And now God is the one who motivated Jonah to launch himself into the deep sea knowing that sooner or later Jonah would be saved, not just physically but also spiritually. Jonah is starting to realize that this is all part of God’s plan as the waters and waves surrounded him. God has things under control and in life we must take ownership of our mistakes, faults, and sinful acts.

This isn’t the first time God used the depths of water to take control of the situation. Genesis 1:2 states, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Exodus 15:4-5 states, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he cast into the sea; his elite officers were sunk in the Red Sea. The floods covered them; they went down into the depths like a stone.” And Psalm 107:24-26 state, “They saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity…” Even in the depths of life, when we are surrounded by sin, raging storms, and chaos, God, hovering above us, has things under control.

Then Jonah said, “I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?” (Jonah 2:4). Jonah turns for the first time to look back toward God. Malachi 3:7 asserts, “Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD.” Jonah proclaims that he feels driven away from the sight of the LORD, from the presence of the LORD, but he wants to look again toward the holy temple—the place and presence of the LORD. Jonah wants to return to the LORD. In your life, I believe it is safe to say that you have felt driven away from the LORD; that the LORD has forsaken you and can no longer see you. But that is not true! Deuteronomy 31:6 notes, “Be strong and courageous; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” Paul notes, when writing to the people in Rome, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

Jonah is beginning to realize that God has been with him this whole time. Remember, God is in control. God has never forsaken Jonah, even though he disobeyed God; God has never stopped loving Jonah, even though he ran from God; and God has certainly never created separation between himself and Jonah. It’s Jonah that believes these things have happened that God has forsaken him and has been separated from him to the point where Jonah can no longer see Him. Although we may feel distant from God at times, we must remember that God never feels distant from us. Return to God: pray to Him, worship Him, praise Him, cry out to Him, need Him, want Him, and seek Him out. God is always there for you and He will never stop being there for you. So, return to Him and look again upon His holy temple. God is in control.

Jonah continues to lament in the next verse: “The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains” (Jonah 2:5). Drawing back to Bruckner, who paints a vivid picture of Jonah’s drowning: “He nears the bottom of the sea, with seaweed wrapped around his head. He is in deep trouble.” This verse echoes that of verse three. Jonah is surrounded by death: he is deep in the sea, seaweed is wrapped around him—chaining him to the sea bottom—and he lies at the “roots of the mountains”—the deepest point on earth. Jonah is desperate. Jonah is at the lowest point of his life. Jonah has lost hope, there is no longer any light at the end of the tunnel. Jonah is lamenting and nearing death: he is moments away from taking his last breath—his 40 seconds are almost up.

Jonah is like many of us when life gets tough or when life is against us; he hit rock bottom. He saw no point in trying to fight against the seaweed. He began thinking that he would never see the light again. He was thinking his heroic act of risking his own life for the sake of saving others was a mistake. In times like this we often feel as if giving up is the best answer. But remember God is in control.

I recently came across a story that was published in a newspaper back home. In this story, a young man truly believed that giving up was the way out of life. This young man wrote, “It was the summer of 2015. The earth was silent. The house was empty. The sun was covered by dense gray clouds that brought forth a feeling of night even though it was mid-morning. The freshly cut grass was covered with a very light dew that somehow still glittered in the darkness of the earth. I thought to myself, this is the perfect day to say good-bye.

“I walked out the front door and locked it for what seemed like would be the last time. With a rope in my right-hand and note to my family in my left-hand, I walked, with tears streaming down my face, towards a tree that could not be seen during the day but became completely visible under the setting sun. Not looking back towards the house, I looked straight ahead at the thing that would simultaneously hold my life and my death in a single moment: a tree.

“I climbed the tree. I always loved coming trees: it brought me a sense of freedom and risk that when accomplished granted me with a heavenly view of God’s creation. I made a hole for my neck with the rope. Then, I tied the rope to a sturdy and thick branch. The branch appeared to be healthy: there were no cracks, there was no loss of bark, and there were no signs of decaying. This branch would support my life for a few minutes, but it would support my death for eternity. At 12:29PM, I closed my eyes and leaned forward…. I woke up laying on the ground. The branch broke.” Today, this young has devoted his life to Christ and lives to tell his story.

No matter what we think is the best solution to our problems, God knows what the best solution to our problems is. God is in control. Just because we cannot see the light doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist. Just because we may feel hopeless, doesn’t mean that we are absent of hope. Just because we are scared of the unknown, doesn’t mean that we are weak. With God in our life, the impossible becomes the possible. Jonah thought that he was at the end of his life, but God saw his life as just beginning. Be strong and courageous and know that God is walking by your side, experiencing and feeling everything that you are experiencing and feeling. Don’t give up. Keep going. Rely on God to save you. God is in control.

The first part of Jonah’s prayer ends with a change of heart—the beginning or transformation. Jonah prays in 2:6, “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God.” In the NIV translation of the Bible this verse reads, “I went down to the land which barred me in.” This phrase has different meanings in English as it does in Hebrew. In both languages it means “bars” as those on a prison cell. It also denotes a “river bar” or “sand bar.” Both meanings are relevant to Jonah’s distress as Bruckner asserts in the following sentence, “Jonah is about to be imprisoned forever in a grave of sand.” Jonah feels trapped, tied down, barred in.

However, even though Jonah feels “barred in,” God was there to lift up his life. Essentially, in a time of desperation, darkness, and loss of hope, God saved Jonah. Let me say that again: God saved Jonah. Being lifted from the Pit is a reference to the large fish, the very thing that saved his life, which gave him a second chance, which granted him the opportunity to truly pray to God and to give his heart and life to God. What seemed like the end, was actually the beginning! God saved Jonah just like He can save you. God is in control.

Jonah began his prayer in lamentation, distress, and sadness, but now his prayer is hopeful, filled with light, and renewed with a new life. Even in our darkest moments, we can be saved. We can see the light. We can embrace hope. We can be swallowed up by grace and love and be given a second chance. But we must be willing to pray to God and tell God what is causing us to sink.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Jonah’s prayer of lament and distress is our prayer of lament and distress. In this prayer, we are sinking but we are also being raised up. In this prayer, we see darkness but we are being guided by the light of Christ. In this prayer, we are tangled up by seaweed and placed behind bars but we are strong and courageous and have been set free by the love and grace of Christ. In this prayer, we are hopeless but we are being saved by the presence of God in our life. In this prayer we are being renewed, given a second chance, and seeing life through the eyes of Christ. Best part is, is that there is still more to come! Jonah has a conclusion to this prayer that will change our life. Lament is just the beginning; but being saved is where we are needing to go.

In the meantime, I invite you this week to pray to God. Let God hear your laments and struggles, let Him know that you need Him, and let Him know that you want Him to bring your life back to the surface. Let things go, and let God save you! Remember, God is in control.

I leave you with these words from the hymn Cleanse Me: Search me, O God, and know my heart today; Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be some wicked way in me; Cleanse me from every sin and set me free. I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin; Fulfill thy word, and make me pure within. Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame; Grant me desire to magnify thy name. Lord, take my life and make it wholly thine; Fill my poor heart with thy great love divine. Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride; I now surrender; Lord, in me abide.”

Let it be so…

 

Closing Prayer:

Let Us Pray…Dear Saving God, search our heart today, hear our cries of distress, and listen for our pray of surrender. O Lord, in times of darkness, when we feel as if we are sinking, lift us from the Pit, set us free from the seaweed and bars, and save us from the root of the mountain. O Lord, grant us the wisdom to know that you are in control and that nothing can separate us from your love and care. O Lord, abide in us today. All honor and glory is yours, now and forever, amen.

 

Benediction:

This week, may you find time to let God hear your prayer of lament as you strive to find ways back to the surface. Let God rescue from the depths. Let Jesus be the light and hope in your life. And let the Holy Spirit swallow you up in grace and transformation. Remember, God is in control. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, go out into the world knowing that you have been saved by God. And all of God’s people said, Amen. Amen. Amen.

 

 

[1] Leviticus 18:25-28 and 20:22, the residents are spewed out of the land. In Isaiah 28:4 Ephraim is swallowed in judgment like a ripe fig. In Jeremiah 51:34, Jerusalem is swallowed, digested, and vomited out by Babylon. In Jonah, the metaphor of being swallowed and vomited is turned on its head. Both the swallowing and the vomiting are Jonah’s salvation and deliverance.