Scripture

The story of Jonah is one that we have heard since we were children. It is a favorite among Sunday school curriculum writers. We know the story... God called Jonah to tell the Ninevites that they needed to change their ways. After trying to run away from the job Jonah finally obeys God, goes into the city and proclaims the message.

Now, think about this. Nineveh is a large city, probably bustling with activity. This stranger comes into town with his message of doom and destruction. He might have walked all the streets of the city or maybe just the main roads... we don’t know. But he is shouting that God is about to destroy the whole city. It’s not unlike the times that, what we call crazy people, go to Las Vegas or Atlantic City or New York City or to any other city with a reputation of moral degradation and try to get people to change their ways. We occasional see these stories on the news... we usually laugh at them.

The Ninevites were no different... they were happily going about their business when this strange man, that, by the way, may have smelled like the inside of a fish’s stomach, this strange man goes around shouting,‘doom, doom, doom, I say.’

But a very interesting thing happens... verse 5 says that the Ninevites believed! They heard Jonah’s message and believed that God was, not only behind the message, but also meant what Jonah was telling them.

Can you imagine the people in the streets of Las Vegas all stopping to listen to a crazed man crying out death and destruction, and then falling on their knees in repentance? It is beyond our imagination... it is beyond our experience... we just don’t believe it would ever happen.

So how is it that the people of Nineveh listened and believed?

Turn with me to Genesis 15:2-6, "2 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

Abram believed God.... Let’s go to Exodus 4:29-31, "29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the LORD was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped."

In Abrams case... he simply believed, but according the text, the Israelites needed to see the signs before they would believe.

How about you? What does it take for you to believe? When you hear a message from the Lord do you accept it as true? Or do you need to see signs proving it?

In my experiences, both, as a pastor and as a human being, I have witnessed people’s response to God’s challenges for them. What I have seen is that people are willing to listen if the message makes some kind of sense to them. If the message is within the scope of what they have heard before then they have a tendency to follow along. BUT! If the message is something weird or off beat or beyond their thought process... then no one believes.

For example; if I say to you that the Bible teaches us that sin is bad... no one would have any difficulty going along with that. But if I were to tell you that the world is going to end tomorrow... no one would believe me. It isn’t reasonable, we’ve heard it before and it didn’t end... why believe now? People won’t believe.

A weird man came into town crying out fire and brimstone.... to hundreds of thousands of people. People who were used to doing whatever they pleased, people in the throws of prosperity and affluence; why should they believe some strange message from an odd man?

It doesn’t make any sense... one or two people... maybe, but everyone? The Bible says, "from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth." The people, all the people, believed God, not only did they believe, but they put on sackcloth and mourned their past behavior... they changed their ways... they... repented!

They did not see any miracles; the Bible doesn’t say that Jonah went around doing miracles and casting out demons or walking on water. They didn’t have a chance to get to know Jonah; to spend years listening to his sermons so that some level of trust was built up. As far as we know there was no other messenger; like John the Baptist, helping the people get ready for Jonah’s message. From the text we only know that Jonah went about telling people to repent or suffer the wrath of God... and they believed. They stopped what they were doing; they declared a fast; they put on sackcloth and they repented of their ways. They believed God! A message that was way too ‘out there’ to make any sense... yet, they believed God.

Abram believed and it was to his credit. The Israelites believed, but only after seeing signs and wonders. No credit is awarded them. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." God does not lie! God has never let you down! God has never taken advantage of you!

We can trust that God is true and what He has told us is true... we have never been duped by God, never been hung out there to dry, never been left holding the bag. What God says... is true! Believe it! Count on it! Accept it! Live by it!

Oh, now what a minute preacher, we can hear it and accept it... but don’t call us to live by it. We like our lives just the way they are. We like having a few off color stories to tell the guys, we like having the ability to fudge the truth a little here and there, we like not having to actually get out of our comfort zone and put our faith into action. We like our lives.

God is true! What God says is true! God says to reach out to people with the Good News.

A rhetorical question... how many people have you witnessed to? How many people have you actually opened your mouth and shared Jesus with? How many people have you invited to church so they can hear the Good News?

I once heard it told that if one person would tell one other person about Jesus, in a years time, then both of them, over the next year, told one other person, then each of those four, over the next year, would tell one other person... after less years than Jesus lived on earth, the whole world would have heard the truth of God. One person a year.

Asia Minor, what we now call Turkey and Greece, was the birthplace of the Christian church. Paul started churches all over that region... it was the beginning of the movement of God. So what faith is the predominate faith in that region today? Muslim! Why? The people didn’t believe God. They didn’t tell the story to one other person. The church soon died out and today is mostly non-existent in that part of the world.

In America, today, people live however they want to. Surveys say that the majority of Americans believe in God... so why are they living the way they are? They don’t believe! The Bible says the wages of sin is death... they don’t believe! The Bible says, ‘go into the world, preaching, teaching, baptizing’ ... they don’t believe! The Bible says to live as though Jesus were standing right beside you... people don’t believe!

God is losing ground every day, in America; unless you are doing everything you can to, first, live as Jesus would have you live, and second, telling other people, then you are partly to blame for the shape our country is in. Imagine if everyone in this building brought one other person to church, once a year... the place wouldn’t be big enough. People don’t believe God!

The challenge for today is to believe God. Believe Him when He says to not use course language; believe Him when He says not to lie, cheat, steal, commit adultery; believe Him when He says to serve Him only; believe Him when He says to tell other people the Good News; believe Him when He says there is more to do. Believe God when He says, "I want you!"

Do you need ever more miracles before you will believe, like the Israelites? Or will you be like Abram?