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Listen to sermons from Christ Covenant Church in Charlotte, NC and Pastor Kevin DeYoung.
Sermons
Zach Fulginiti | Running From God
Sunday Evening, November 2, 2025
Given by Zach Fulginiti | Pastor of Campus Ministry
Christ Covenant Church
Running From God
Sermon Text: Jonah 1
As you're finding your seat, take your copy of God's word, and turn to the book of Jonah. Jonah, chapter 1. I am cognizant that there are cookies out in the fellowship hall, and it is already 6:42. So, we had planned that this might be a slightly shorter sermon, so fear not, friends. The cookies are coming. Jonah chapter 1:
“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’ But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his God, and they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had laid down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, ‘What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your God. Perhaps the God will give a thought to us that we may not perish.’ And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.’
So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And what people are you?’ And he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, ‘What is this you have done?’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you that the sea may quiet down for us?’ for the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, ‘Pick me up and hurl me into the sea. Then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.’
Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, for they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore, they called out to the Lord, ‘Oh Lord, let us not perish for this man's life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, oh Lord, have done as it pleased you.’ Then they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.”
Let's pray. Lord, we thank you tonight for your word and ask that once again, your word would do its work in our hearts. This is our prayer. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.
Well, if you're just here with us hopping into this series, it is a series entitled Pastors’ Favorites. And so, in a series like this, I do feel a sense of obligation to do a little autobiographical work. Pastor, how did you choose this passage? Why is this your favorite? Over the past week or two, I have had more than a couple people say, "Really? Jonah? That's your favorite passage?" Well, not exactly, but it is my favorite passage that I have been wanting to preach on for some time. If you have lived in Charlotte for any length of time, you know that the idea of snow is just that – it's really more of an idea than a reality. Oh, but we do love the idea of it. And when that idea does become a reality, you know, it has the tendency to become a borderline apocalyptic event. Well, that idea did become a reality way back in January 2022 when the possibility of snow became a reality. Maybe you remember it. There were several inches of snow. Maybe that much. The city shut down. We even shut down church. We were not able to have church that Sunday. And lo and behold, you know who was supposed to preach that Sunday? This guy. And you know what he was supposed to preach on? This passage. So, this has been my favorite passage to preach on for almost four years now. So, I have just been – this has been my favorite. I've been really excited about Jonah 1 and been wrestling with it for four years now.
More seriously, I have always been drawn to the life of Jonah, because in him I can often see myself, and maybe you can too. No, I have not been swallowed by a great fish, but when I look at Jonah, I can see some of the same shortcomings and the same tendencies. Hopefully not expressed in the same ways, but when you do that wrestling of the soul, maybe that you just see that I would probably respond the same way of those same kind of grumblings, and I don't want to do that, Lord. And there is that piece of me that, if I'm being honest, I find myself in Jonah far too often. So that's why I'm drawn to Jonah. That's why it is a favorite of mine, not just because it's been ready to go for quite some time, but because he is someone that I find myself relating to, more often than not.
Tonight, very briefly, I want us to ask two questions from this text. One, can you see yourself in the story of Jonah? And two, can you see the God of Jonah in your own story? First, can you see yourself in the story of Jonah? And second, can you see the God of Jonah in your own story?
So, first, can you see yourself in the story of Jonah? Well, looking at this passage, it doesn't take very long to see that Jonah is not a very inspiring prophet. We see in verse 2 that Jonah is called to go to the city of Nineveh. He's called to go and deliver God's message, to preach to this people – an evil people, a people that have become so evil that it has risen up to God. Nineveh is described as “that great city,” and great it was. It was set on the east bank of the Tigris River. It was a little more than 200 miles north of present-day Baghdad, 500 miles east of Israel. In chapter 3, it says it took Jonah three full days to walk from one end to the other. 120,000 persons involved in it. It was the capital city of Assyria, one of Israel's great enemies of the day. And here was Jonah, this prophet, this man of God, called to go and to preach into this great, wicked city. How does this man of God respond? Well, he runs away. God calls him in verse 2: "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city. Call out against it. Their evil has come up before me. It's time to do something about it." Verse 3, Jonah does rise up. He does get up and go – to Tarshish. God calls him to go to Nineveh, but instead he goes to Tarshish. Arise, go to Nineveh, but Jonah goes someplace else. It's kind of difficult. It's hard for us to comprehend. We're not familiar with these ancient cities. But a modern-day equivalent for us would be if God called us to go to Baghdad, but instead we drove down to Charleston and hopped on a cruise ship to the Caribbean. He doesn't just not go to where he was called. He goes in the exact opposite direction, for Tarshish was 2500 miles away, near Spain. So here he is, called to the Middle East, and he decides to go to Spain. It was the exact opposite direction of Nineveh. It was as far away as he could get. He was running as far away – not just from Nineveh, but from God.
What does the text tell us? He rose to flee, primarily from the presence of God. And this is where, if we're honest, and I'm honest, I find myself doing the same thing too often. Maybe you do as well. Here is someone who is supposed to be a man of God. But we see someone who is rebellious, cowardly, fearful, avoidant, disobedient, defiant, prideful, resistant, indifferent. Are those not qualities that can define us in our worst moments? I mean, just think about if you and I were in the position of Jonah. Here we are, in presumably our nice, comfortable context – safe, secure, in Charlotte, North Carolina. And God says, "It's time to go to Baghdad, to North Korea. Libya is calling. Gives us a little bit of compassion, maybe, for Jonah. I fear that many of us, myself included, would look just like Jonah.
Five things we see in Jonah, very quickly. We first see that he was faithless in his calling. He didn't obey. He didn't go when he was called upon. Here was God's prophet, unfaithful to God's call. He was faithless in his calling. Second, he was fearful of his mission. Humanly speaking, this is somewhat understandable. Remember, here's Nineveh, this very large, imposing, wicked city. Jonah 1:2 said, "Their wickedness was so great that it has risen up before God.” God could no longer tolerate it anymore. So he says, "Jonah, it's time for you to go. It's time to do something about this." This was a city that was known for its brutality. The Assyrians were a brutal people. Jonah knew this. There was likely great fear in his heart. So, he's called to go preach against them, to go right up and to call out their wickedness. I probably would have been afraid too. And so, here is Jonah fearful of his mission. Third, he was fleeing from his Maker. Verse 3, once more – yes, Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish, but what does he really flee from, as we saw earlier? He was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, which we know sounds silly here in our context, right? We read Psalm 139. We could scratch our heads to say, "Well, Jonah, you can't really run away from God, can you? God owns it all. He knows it all." But in the midst of sin, we just don't think properly, do we? We forget Psalm 139:7, "Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?" Where can Jonah run in which God cannot find him? Friends, where can we run in which God is not there? And yet we know sin makes us do irrational things. We see that Jonah was fleeing from his Maker.
Fourth, Jonah was fighting God's mercy. Though it is not explicitly stated in our chapter here, we do know that Jonah did not want the Ninevites to receive God's mercy. Chapter 4, verse 2, he says, "I knew you were a gracious God. I knew you were merciful. I knew you were slow to anger. I knew you were abounding in steadfast love." Jonah says, "I knew this was going to happen. I knew you were going to save these people." He wanted justice and vengeance, and he didn't want to see his enemies receive God's mercy.
Lastly, Jonah was frozen in indifference. As Jonah is on the boat, the great storm is all around him. The sailors are panicking. They've hardly seen a storm like this before. The wind and the waves are crashing all around them. Where is Jonah? He's taking a nap. He just doesn't care anymore. He's asleep, content in his sin to let the boat sink all around him with casual indifference. You know, the text reads that Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship. That phrase had gone down is the Hebrew word yarad. It's used a number of times in the first couple of chapters. Look at verse 3: he went down to Joppa, and he paid the fare and went down into the boat. And then in verse 5: and Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship. What is the author trying to tell us here, as he uses the same word over and over? Jonah keeps going down and down and down, with every single decision and every single turn. He's going down further and further. He continues to make decisions that not just harm others, but harm himself. As he's diving further and further into sin, as he moves further and further from the presence of the Lord, every decision he is making is taking him further and further down. And friends, we know this is what sin does. Every little step we take away from God hardens our hearts more and more. Every step of sin and rebellion we take brings us further and further down. And friends, what we need to know is what Jonah either didn't know or didn't care about – that there is no running from God. There is no way to escape him. We may be able to hide for a moment in a boat. We may be able to sleep, thinking we've escaped God's eye. But make no mistake, we cannot run from God.
Jonah was a man who was faithless in his calling, fearful of his mission, fleeing from his Maker, fighting his mercy, and frozen in indifference. That may be you here tonight. You may be a Christian who is caught in sin. Or you may know someone, or you may be someone, who is far from God. The good news is that there is a God who did not leave Jonah to himself, which leads us to our second question that we are to see tonight. Can we see the God of Jonah in our own story? Not just can we see ourselves in Jonah, but can we see the God of Jonah in our own stories today? Just look back at all the ways that we see God pursuing Jonah in chapter 1. I saw seven. We'll look at them very quickly.
First, we see God speaking to him in verse 1: “Now, the word of the Lord came to Jonah.” We should not miss this, that God speaks to Jonah. He interrupted Jonah's life. We don't know what was happening before Jonah chapter 1. We don't know all the little steps that maybe were happening in Jonah's life that got him to this point of being this hardened person. But God interrupts Jonah's life and speaks to him. He interrupted his life with a word that would arrest him, that would change the course of his life. There may be a moment like that for you, where God speaks to you. That might be tonight. Could it be that God is speaking to you, where he might want to stop your downward spiral, where he wants to speak and he wants you to stop, and he wants you to turn to him?
Second, we see God sending a storm. God wasn't content to let Jonah sail off to Tarshish. He wasn't going to let him ride off into the sunset. He had something better in store for him. Now, certainly, it was not an easy better, right? This was going to be good for him, but it was going to be very difficult for him. He sends the storm and interrupts his voyage off to Tarshish.
Third, God stirs in the hearts of the sailors. So, he gets on the boat, and God stirs in the hearts of the sailors around him. Look at verse 5. The mariners were afraid. They begin to cry out to their gods around him. This storm that God sends is so significant that these men who have spent their entire adult lives, presumably, on the waters are deathly afraid. These are sailors. They know how to sail a boat. They've done this before. And here they are deathly afraid. And they began searching and crying out and throwing things overboard. What can we do to save our lives? But even in chapter 1, we can see that maybe God might be stirring in them, even as they are around Jonah.
Fourth, God sends the captain to awaken Jonah. Jonah is asleep. So, God sends the captain to wake him up. Jonah was not going to be able to sit this one out. God had something for him, and he uses the captain to rouse him.
Fifth, God exposes Jonah and his sin. The men cast lots, and lo and behold, the lots fall on Jonah. Now, lots are not what we use today to discern God's will, but in dire situations like this, God will use whatever it takes to awaken us. They start asking him questions as the lots fall on him. Why are you here? Where has this evil come? What's your background? And you have to think that Jonah is just thinking, I cannot believe this. I thought I was out of here. God exposes Jonah and his sin.
Sixth, God intensifies the storm. The sea grows more and more angry. So, they get to the point where they can't do anything else. They have to throw him overboard.
And then finally, God sends a great fish. Verse 17, the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Now, certainly there was an element of judgment upon Jonah. It can't be fun to sit in the belly of a great fish. But was it also not an act of preservation? Jonah was going to die. He was not going to be able to swim back to land. And so, God appointed this fish to save him. Do we see just how committed God is to Jonah? It should be startling to us to see this juxtaposition between Jonah's rebellious heart and God's gracious one. How many opportunities was Jonah going to be afforded? How many chances was Jonah going to get? And our God, as Jonah himself points out in chapter 4, is merciful and gracious and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, not just to the Ninevites. But what Jonah didn't see is that he was all those things to himself.
Friends, we have to see that for all of those who were in Christ, this is not just the story of God in Jonah's life, but this is the story – this is the God of Jonah in your life. For we are just like Jonah each and every day, are we not? And our God is still the same God who meets us each and every step of the way, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. The God we see in Jonah's story is the same God that we see working in the world today. It's the God that we see working in the lives of college students on our campuses. It's how he's worked to draw us to himself. And he'll use whatever means necessary to continue to draw people to himself.
I do love the story of Jonah. It's challenging and it's encouraging, all at the same time. But there is another reason why I love the story of Jonah. And it's because the story of Jonah is not just the story of one individual's salvation. It's the story of the salvation of the nations. I always marvel at the mariners, the sailors, in Jonah 1. Just look at what God was doing in the sailors’ lives, and notice the movement in them. They began in verse 5 by being afraid of the sea and crying out to their own gods. Then we move on in verse 10, and they move to fear of Jonah's God. They say, "Okay, he made the sea and the dry land." And then in verse 14, they're moved to prayer and to calling out to the Lord, to Yahweh. And then we see in verse 16, after they've tossed Jonah into the sea and they've seen how God calms the waters, they're moved to reverent worship. Now, do we know for sure that these sailors have become true worshippers of the Lord? I don't think, for sure, we can say that with certainty. But it does seem that the author, many of whom believe is Jonah himself, does seem to imply that something is happening to them. These sailors who began the story as pagan polytheists, worshiping many gods, at the end of the story, at the end of the chapter, are worshiping Yahweh. Notice how they use the personal, covenantal name of God in verses 14 and 16. Capital LORD – in Hebrew, the personal, covenantal name of God, Yahweh. Not only do they use this name, but they're moved to fear him exceedingly, to offer sacrifices, to make vows, to worship, and to follow him. The author wants us to see here that the man of God is running from God. But here are the enemies of God doing what? Worshiping God. What an example of God's sovereignty, his providence, and his irresistible grace. For when God calls a man, no one can resist him. Not Jonah, not the pagan sailors, not you, and not me.
It's an amazing story that even in my disobedience, God still wants to work. Even when I'm a grumpy and stingy and lazy and just frustrated pastor, God still is working in the people around me. And that could be true of you, too. Even when I'm not at work, God is still at work, and that encourages me. Even when the nations aren't on my heart, the nations are always on the heart of our God. Tonight, I think God wants us to see ourselves in Jonah, yes. But I think it's also right for us to see the God of Jonah is still at work in our world today. And we should praise him for that. Amen? Amen. Let's pray.
Oh God, we thank you for your Son, the greater Jonah, who obeyed when Jonah fled, who entered death and rose in triumph. So we pray that his obedience would shape our hearts, that Jesus' mercy would move our hearts and our hands, that his resurrection would fill our hope. And we pray that you would give us grace and strength to be obedient as Christ was. We pray, God, that you would help us to proclaim to all around us that something greater than Jonah is here, and his name is Jesus. And it's in his name that we pray. Amen.