In studying the book of Jonah in preparation for a sermon series, I have been seeing myself in Jonah all to easily.
In the well-known and memorable story of Jonah and the fish, the book of Jonah teaches us this disturbing truth: all sin is a form of rebellion against God precisely because it is self-reliance… obeying ourselves rather than God.
The truth is… I believe Jonah’s rebellion probably started before he fled to Tarshish. Why do I think that? Because sin is self-reliance rather than God-reliance… allegiance to self rather than allegiance to God. And obedience to his own selfish ways rather than the call of God likely characterized Jonah’s life before the call to “Go” to Nineveh. Even an esteemed prophet of God– who is relying on himself — instead of relying upon God– is really running from God no matter how “religious” they are on the outside. And allegiance to self was Jonah’s heart attitude before he boarded the boat. The call of Jonah to “Go” to Nineveh simply revealed the self-reliance that guided Jonah’s life.
This is beautifully explained by Father Mapple, the preacher portayed in the Herman Melville novel, Moby Dick. This great insight from a fictional preacher comes from a sermon in the chapel at the dock before fisherman loaded their boats to head out for whales, He told the would-be whale-hunters about the Biblical story of Jonah and the big fish. In describing Jonah’s flight from God he explained:
“…the sin of the son of Amittai was in the willful disobedience of the command of God… a hard command… But all things that God would have us do are hard for us to do …And if we obey God, we must disobey ourselves; and it is in this disobeying ourselves, wherin the hardness of obeying God consists… With this sin of disobedience in him, Jonah still further flouts from at God by seeking to flee from Him.” (p. 62-63, Google Books: , Nook edition)
I don’t know about you, but the words of that fictional preacher Mapple are absolutely truthful in describing the heart of sin… of Jonah’s sin and my sin! Author Herman Melville hits the nail right on the head: We sin whenever (and because) we would rather obey ourselves rather than obey God. And since Jonah has decided to obey himself rather than God, he has no choice but to run.
And, if we look into our hearts as well, we will see that self-reliance and a desire to obey self rather than God is at the very core of our sin. Like Jonah, that is why we run from God!
