WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.600 Let's pray this morning. 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:07.280 God, we give you thanks this morning for this beautiful story, and we ask that you would help it to come alive to us. 00:00:07.599 --> 00:00:12.240 Pray, God, even for those of us in this room who've heard this story of Jonah many times. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.160 Would you help us to have new eyes, to see it in fresh ways? 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:22.800 And I pray that you would help us to recognize our own selves in this story, in whatever way that means for us. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:24.640 And God, would you give us new life? 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.679 Would you help us to be reborn in all the ways that we need it so badly this morning? 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.839 Would you empower us by your spirit? 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:34.000 God, give us a love for our neighbor, even the ones we don't like. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:37.679 Even our mortal enemies, would you give us a love and a passion for them? 00:00:37.840 --> 00:00:40.399 Help us to see the world the way that you see it, God. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:50.960 And we just ask God that you'd give us courage this morning to go into all the dark places of our lives we need to go into and find what you would have us to find. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:54.560 And would you bless us this morning in Jesus' name? 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:55.280 Amen. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:55.920 Amen. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:57.039 You can be seated. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:03.439 Now is a good time to silence your cell phones or other beeping noises or devices or whatever else you got going on. 00:01:03.679 --> 00:01:04.319 Well, good morning. 00:01:04.400 --> 00:01:04.959 My name is Ryan. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:07.200 I'm the pastor here, and it's a great privilege to be with you. 00:01:07.359 --> 00:01:16.319 This morning, my sermon is titled Thusly Rules for Life, Yoda, of course, and the belly of a great fish. 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:17.840 Are you with me so far? 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:18.959 Excellent. 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:25.599 Well, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine and I, after reading a book uh called The Twelve Rules for Life, we wanted to make our own rules for life. 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:34.879 And we wanted to do it so we could live a life of intentionality, of courage and strength and grace, and hopefully wisdom at some point, somehow. 00:01:34.959 --> 00:01:37.200 And so we began to make our own rules for life. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:40.480 These rules that would sort of govern how we want to live our life. 00:01:40.719 --> 00:01:44.560 Now we've been working on them, massaging them for about, I don't know, a couple of years now. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:46.879 And I've ended up, I've got 15 right now. 00:01:47.040 --> 00:01:49.359 I'm not gonna share all of them with you, because they're my rules. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:50.480 You can make up your own. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:54.480 Uh but I wanted to share I don't have time either, but I wanted to share four of them with you. 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:55.519 Would that be all right? 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:56.959 Okay, thank you. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:02:00.799 Uh by the way, I told Peter, I go, I gotta use the bathroom while the scripture was being read. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:04.879 I go, if I'm not back in time, jump up there and give a sermon on Jonah. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:06.560 He would have done fine too. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:08.240 So here's my number one rule. 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:12.159 I'm gonna give you rule one, rule three, rule four, and then rule thirteen. 00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.680 So here's rule one. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:17.280 Drink water, lots of water. 00:02:18.879 --> 00:02:20.240 Are you not impressed? 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:24.240 I hope you weren't expecting anything too philosophical this morning. 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:26.159 Uh now, of course, I mean water. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:27.360 Now, here's the thing though. 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:30.560 Uh, we're in our series called Story, Context, and Symbols. 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:36.560 So maybe I mean literal water, maybe I mean symbolic water too, like living water. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:37.360 Okay, moving on. 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:39.199 Number three, you're not that impressed. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:43.840 Number three is this if somebody asks you to dance, dance. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:45.759 Right? 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.719 If you go to a party and you get asked to dance, the answer's always yes. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.879 No, I know, unless you're Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears, you can't dance. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:02:55.680 I get it. 00:02:55.919 --> 00:02:57.439 But nobody can dance. 00:02:57.599 --> 00:02:58.560 It doesn't matter. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:00.319 You show up and you dance anyway. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:01.120 Are you with me? 00:03:01.599 --> 00:03:02.159 All right, thank you. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:03.280 That's there, you go. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:03.759 Adopt that one. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:04.159 That's a good one. 00:03:04.240 --> 00:03:06.879 That'll make you have a more interesting life and more stories to tell. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.680 Number four, this one's my special favorite. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:12.560 Go out into the woods and howl at the moon. 00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:14.080 Stay wild. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:19.840 Live within the system, but don't forget the origins, the untamed nature of it all. 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:25.759 Now you might drive by Casa Braille this summer at 4 a.m., and you might hear some howling back there. 00:03:26.080 --> 00:03:28.800 It could be a wolf or it could be your pastor. 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:29.199 I don't know. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.879 You just have to you might not want to even venture in there and figure it out. 00:03:32.960 --> 00:03:33.919 Just let it be. 00:03:34.159 --> 00:03:43.759 I was in Israel and we were in the Jordan River, and I remember we were talking as a group, and we went to this, we went, we went to the part not where all the people are getting rebaptized, and they have these robes. 00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:45.199 You pay five bucks to get baptized. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:46.639 We didn't go to that place. 00:03:46.879 --> 00:03:49.199 Went to a more wild, untamed part of the Jordan. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:53.280 And we climbed into it, and we were told, hey, don't forget this. 00:03:53.599 --> 00:03:58.159 That John was a priest who leaves the temple. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:04:03.199 He leaves the whole system, goes out into the wilderness and starts dunking people underwater. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:05.120 And guess who shows up? 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:06.479 Everybody. 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:07.840 It's a wild story. 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:08.560 I love it. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:10.479 So don't forget your origins. 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:12.159 Alright, number 13, here we go. 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:13.280 Rule 13. 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:16.879 In the belly of the whale, cry out to God. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:19.920 Die and be reborn. 00:04:20.160 --> 00:04:27.680 Go into the darkness as far as you can go, and there you will find what you need and be resurrected. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:37.279 The story this morning of Jonah is a story of this: going into the darkness, finding what you need, and being resurrected. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:40.319 Just like Luke Skywalker. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:47.120 Now I know you remember the story, but just for clarifying sake, Luke winds up in this mysterious planet in episode four. 00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:51.839 I'm not a Star Wars fanatic, I'm a wannabe, so if I get it wrong, correct me later. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:53.920 Not now in front of all my friends, okay? 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:55.759 Later, privately. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:04.079 And he winds up here at a place called Dagobah, under the master tutelage and the wise guidance of the master Jedi, Yoda. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:09.199 And he tells him, Well, hey, over here, there's this dark, mysterious cave. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:11.360 And he tells Luke this. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.439 Then you must go. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:16.959 Thank you. 00:05:17.199 --> 00:05:17.839 Thank you. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:21.680 I was not expecting the applause. 00:05:21.839 --> 00:05:23.839 At the first gathering, they're just like, what are you? 00:05:25.360 --> 00:05:28.000 This guy's our pastor, how embarrassing. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:31.120 And then Luke responds, What's in there? 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:33.199 Only what you take with you. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:37.040 I'll stop, I'll stop. 00:05:38.959 --> 00:05:43.759 And now, decades earlier, there's a guy called Galen Malik, if I've got this right. 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:47.600 He's also a Jedi or a soon-to-be Jedi or something like this. 00:05:47.759 --> 00:05:51.360 And he finds himself out in front of the cave as well, same cave on Dagobah. 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.519 And Yoda tells him this brought you here the galaxy has. 00:05:55.680 --> 00:05:58.000 Your path, clearly, this is. 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:00.480 And then he says, You know what I'm looking for? 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:02.240 Yeah, something lost. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.480 A part of yourself, perhaps. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:07.759 That which you seek inside, you will find it. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:14.959 So, fast forward, Luke goes into the cave and he's told, Don't bring anything but yourself, but he brings something else. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:15.680 What does he bring? 00:06:16.399 --> 00:06:16.959 What's that? 00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:17.439 Fear. 00:06:17.920 --> 00:06:19.120 Fear, yeah, for sure. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:20.639 His lightsaber, though, right? 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.920 He goes in there, and who does he find in the cave? 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:26.959 Oh, you guys gotta go back and watch Star Wars. 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:27.439 What is the deal? 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:29.759 Hang on, hang on. 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:31.120 You're jumping ahead of me, Lynz. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:31.839 What does he find? 00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:33.279 What comes around the corner? 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:34.959 Darth Vader, thank you. 00:06:35.040 --> 00:06:35.920 Thank you, Gavin. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:37.839 My own son has to answer the question for. 00:06:39.360 --> 00:06:41.279 Vader comes around the corner. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:47.759 And so he attacks Vader, cuts off his head, the head falls down, the mask falls off, and underneath the mask isn't Vader. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:48.639 Who is it? 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:50.240 It's himself. 00:06:51.199 --> 00:06:54.959 This is wildly symbolic and like deeply profound, you guys. 00:06:55.040 --> 00:06:57.600 You should rewind this scene and watch it eight times. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:01.839 Because he goes in there, he has to confront that which he's most afraid of. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.759 And he's terrified of Vader. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.519 But Vader represents the dark side, and he's also afraid that he himself will be lured to the dark side. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:14.399 Also, also, also, he's afraid of himself. 00:07:14.879 --> 00:07:17.199 Why would he be afraid of himself? 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:21.759 So he has to go in there and confront his own fears. 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:23.519 Jonah does the same thing. 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:24.720 I love the story of Jonah. 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:25.920 It's one of my all-time favorites. 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:27.120 Here's a great picture of it. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:32.319 You can't quite see it, but deep beneath there, it's like this shadow or silhouette of a giant fish. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:33.439 I love this image. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:38.160 And I love this, it's one of my all-time favorite Bible stories because it's deeply profound. 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:44.000 And the meaning is not just Jonah disobeyed God and God punishes him by eating him with a fish. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:45.839 That's not a great interpretation. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.360 So we're going to dig a little bit deeper. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:51.279 But it's got tons of layers and nuances and symbols. 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:58.639 Jonah goes into the darkness, into the cave, like Luke, confronts the darkness, the belly, and he's reborn. 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:02.399 Now, we're in our series called Story, Context, and Symbol. 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:10.160 And we're going to examine lots of different stories in the Bible using this framework, this lens, this interpretive, or a$5 word, a hermeneutical lens. 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:16.720 And it's story, what's going on, where the character is, the context, where does it take place, what's happening, and then the symbol. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:18.800 But this story is so beautiful. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:20.399 Here's what we'll actually do. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:27.600 We're going to do story, context, symbol, context, symbol, story, symbol, story, symbol, story, symbol, Jesus. 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:32.960 Because we're going to go in and out, back and forth, top to bottom in this beautiful story of Jonah. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:34.000 Okay, here's the story. 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:34.639 Here's how it starts. 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:35.759 You heard it read by Linda. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:36.320 Thank you, Linda. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:37.120 Good job. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:46.399 Now the word of the Lord comes to Jonah, the son of Amitai, and says, hey, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, because their wickedness has come up before me. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:52.080 God wants him to go and preach the word of repentance to Nineveh and get them to repent. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:58.559 But Jonah sets out to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:07.600 So he goes down to Joppa, finds a ship, going to Tarshish, he boards it, pays his fare, goes on board, and with them he goes away from the presence of the Lord. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:15.440 Which raises the question then is there anywhere you can go that's away from the presence of the Lord? 00:09:17.360 --> 00:09:18.639 That's the good Christian answer. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:19.600 Good job. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:25.759 If so, where can you go where God doesn't already exist? 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:27.679 So some context, Nineveh. 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:30.240 Nineveh is a city in Assyria. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:31.759 There it is, right there. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:43.679 Now, Assyria, in case you forgot, is a violent, murderous, warmongering country or nation state that has a history of slaughtering people. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.240 They're bloodthirsty warriors. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:49.440 And they did lots of damage to Israel as a nation. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:51.200 Jonah is an Israelite, a Hebrew. 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:52.399 He told you so in himself. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:54.320 Here's some examples throughout history. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:10:04.879 In 740, the king Tiglath Pelazar plunders the northern tribes of Israel, destroys cities, and murders lots of people. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:06.080 740. 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:06.720 How about this one? 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:11.600 In 735, King Shalmanesar, I want to name my next dog Shalmanesar. 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:22.720 Maybe not after this, though, but he's saying because he slaughters the inhabitants of Samaria because the king of Israel refuses to pay tribute to the king of Assyria, this megalomaniac. 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.639 And he slaughters all the inhabitants of Samaria, this wonderful place. 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:27.440 How about this one? 00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:31.440 In 720, you probably notice this when the northern tribes are decimated. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:37.200 All ten tribes in the northern part of Israel are destroyed and never to be heard from again. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:39.120 They're slaughtered, destroyed. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.360 It's ravaged the whole land. 00:10:41.519 --> 00:10:42.720 How about this one? 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:47.200 700, King Sennachareb destroys Judah. 00:10:47.440 --> 00:10:49.759 Lots of people lose their lives. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.879 Structures are destroyed and raised to the ground. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:55.200 And then this one from the prophet Nahum. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:11:00.159 So Nahum 3, Naum pronounces this: woe to the city of blood. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:01.519 He's talking to the Assyrians. 00:11:01.759 --> 00:11:12.960 Full of lies you are, full of plunder, never without victims, many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:17.840 It's like a great horror movie or an episode of Game of Thrones, this Assyria. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:19.120 It's wild. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:23.840 Then one king, uh, go ahead for me, King Esarhadin, he says this. 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:29.200 He braggadociously declares, Behind me, or excuse me, before me, cities. 00:11:29.519 --> 00:11:31.279 Behind me, ruins. 00:11:31.679 --> 00:11:34.559 This, of course, becomes his pickup line at the local bar. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:39.360 Hey girl, before me, cities, behind me, ruins. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:42.240 It worked like a charm for kids. 00:11:43.200 --> 00:11:44.960 This was Assyria. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:46.399 This is Nineveh. 00:11:46.639 --> 00:11:51.200 God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and pronounce judgment over them. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:56.399 Nineveh! Assyria! Jonah doesn't want to go. 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:58.480 Why would he? 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.120 This is who he wants God to send him to preach. 00:12:01.360 --> 00:12:03.440 He's gonna go preach a sermon to these people? 00:12:03.679 --> 00:12:08.720 Can you imagine if God called you to go preach a sermon of forgiveness to your enemies? 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:10.559 Would you do it? 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:12.559 Jonah doesn't want to go. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:13.759 Now, here's the deal. 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:17.279 Nineveh is a literal place, a real place, but it's also a symbol. 00:12:17.440 --> 00:12:19.039 It symbolizes this. 00:12:19.600 --> 00:12:27.919 God wants even the murderous people of Nineveh to repent from their wicked ways and come to righteousness. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:33.919 Even those people, the enemies of Israel, he wants them to repent. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:35.600 Why would God want that? 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:38.960 Why would he want them to repent? 00:12:40.159 --> 00:12:44.639 In case you haven't been paying attention, it's because God loves them. 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:46.559 Even them. 00:12:47.279 --> 00:12:48.559 God loves them. 00:12:49.120 --> 00:12:51.120 See, God doesn't just love you. 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:59.440 He doesn't just love your tribe or your village, your family, or your church. 00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:02.240 He loves the entire thing. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:06.639 For God so loved the world. 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:11.279 And in the original language, it's the whole world, the entire world. 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:14.559 God loves all of them and he wants them to repent. 00:13:14.720 --> 00:13:21.039 Now, Jonah is having it because he's not going to go to his enemies and preach the gospel to them. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:22.559 He doesn't want to do it. 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:28.639 He runs and goes to a place called Tarshish, which raises the question: where in the world is Tarshish? 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:29.919 Well, here's the deal. 00:13:30.080 --> 00:13:31.360 No one really kind of knows. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.120 All we know is that it takes a long time to get there, and you have to go by boat. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:36.320 So it's across the sea. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:38.639 Here's a picture of what it might look like going to Tarshish. 00:13:38.960 --> 00:13:40.480 It's just out there somewhere. 00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:42.639 It's like the end of the known world. 00:13:42.799 --> 00:13:47.440 In the ancient world, it was hard to pinpoint on a map where exactly Tarshish was. 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:51.679 But the idea is it's just far, far away by sea. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:56.080 And a place where the presence of the Lord apparently is not there. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:59.759 It's like an ancient world version of Las Vegas or something. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:02.480 Or like standing in line at the DMV. 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:07.759 Some Godforsaken place, you know, like the middle seat on an airplane. 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:11.759 Well, maybe if you're like me, it's just cramped in there. 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.039 Those jokes work better this service, but not great, I'm gonna admit it. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.279 But he's going to someplace where God apparently is not. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.799 It's just beyond the known part of the world. 00:14:23.039 --> 00:14:26.399 And he's going as far away from God as possible. 00:14:26.720 --> 00:14:33.279 Tarshish is a symbol for out there, far away, the opposite direction where God had called him to go. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:40.399 In fact, Luther, when he translates it, he translates it as simply the sea in concert with other Jewish commentators. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.440 Because it doesn't matter where Tarshish really is, it doesn't matter at all. 00:14:43.759 --> 00:14:53.919 Jonah is running, running from his path, his calling from God, his vocation, and he's going to the end of the world to escape from God and the place he's supposed to go, his own path. 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.240 Here's what one commentator says. 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:58.720 Sheldon Blank says, What is Tarshish? 00:14:59.279 --> 00:15:01.120 Well, in the story, it's anywhere. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:03.120 Anywhere but the right place. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:10.399 It's the opposite direction, the direction a person takes when they turn their back on their own destiny or their call from God. 00:15:10.720 --> 00:15:15.440 But here's the deal: what I've learned, it's a saying in AA in other places. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:19.120 Wherever you go, there you are. 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:26.080 And also, as a theologian, I might say, wherever you go, there God is. 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:37.840 See, sometimes you might end up in wild places, a seemingly Godforsaken places, not because we're running to something, but because we're running from something. 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:43.519 Jonah's not running too Tarsus as much as he's running away from God. 00:15:44.000 --> 00:15:45.279 Back to the story. 00:15:45.519 --> 00:15:52.000 So he goes down, finds a boat, pays a fee, his ferret, gets in this boat, the ship, and goes out to sea. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:56.480 And out there on the sea, a storm comes up. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:01.919 Now I need your help, because this is also, in case you hadn't figured it out yet, a symbol. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:04.720 What do storms symbolize? 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:06.639 What does this storm symbolize? 00:16:06.720 --> 00:16:07.440 In the story? 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:10.000 Maybe in the ancient world, or in your own life? 00:16:10.159 --> 00:16:12.399 I want to have you just shout out some answers. 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:15.200 What might the storm symbolize? 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:18.159 Tribulation, for sure. 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:20.080 Struggle, difficulty. 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:20.960 What else? 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:21.600 Pain. 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:22.720 Pain? 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:23.600 Who said that? 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:25.200 Yeah, absolutely. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.120 Pain, discomfort. 00:16:27.519 --> 00:16:28.000 Excellent. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:28.480 What else? 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:29.200 You guys are doing great. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:29.840 This is wonderful. 00:16:29.919 --> 00:16:31.120 We've taught you some stuff. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:32.159 Chaos. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:33.360 Chaos. 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:34.080 Absolutely. 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:34.799 Who said that? 00:16:35.039 --> 00:16:35.600 Good call. 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:36.080 Yeah. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:37.200 Absolutely. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:38.639 It's the darkness. 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:39.360 It's mystery. 00:16:39.519 --> 00:16:41.279 Also, it's just nature itself. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:45.840 Sometimes, because of hubris, humans think we can kind of conquer all the places in the world. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:47.200 And then a tornado comes through. 00:16:47.679 --> 00:16:48.240 Nope. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:49.679 Or a hurricane. 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:52.080 It's humility. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:52.799 It's humility. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.679 It sort of represents this sort of, hey, the sort of the opposing of the hubris of the humans. 00:16:58.000 --> 00:16:59.600 So what does it mean then? 00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:18.319 Sometimes when you go the opposite direction of where you're supposed to go, when you go away from your call, your path, your vocation, when you don't follow that, and you go instead the other way, storms will come up on the sea. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:25.119 You might find yourself somewhere that God had never intended you to be, and you know what I'm talking about. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.480 Have you ever been somewhere and be like, what am I doing here? 00:17:28.720 --> 00:17:30.160 I'm not supposed to be here. 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:31.440 I don't mean because of destiny. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:35.519 I mean, like, this is not a good place for you to be, and you know what I'm talking about. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.960 Don't be surprised if seas get stormy. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.640 And not because God's punishing you as though he had to. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:44.240 That's just the way that it works. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:48.480 When you go off the path, the seas get stormy. 00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:50.559 That's sort of how life is. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:53.039 So the story continues. 00:17:53.920 --> 00:17:58.559 The men start to panic on board the ship, and they sort of cry out to their gods. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:00.799 They all have different gods, they start crying out to their gods. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:02.480 And where's Jonah? 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:07.839 He's asleep! Oh my gosh. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:09.279 Hey, look at me. 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.119 Some of you in this room have fallen asleep. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:23.119 And it might take a storm in your life, or being swallowed by a fish, to wake you up. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:31.920 By the way, can you think of another story where a Hebrew man is on a boat at sea and there's storms and he's sleeping? 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:35.680 They wake him up. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:36.960 Dude, what's going on? 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:37.839 And they cast lots. 00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.359 They're kind of like, it's like divination. 00:18:39.440 --> 00:18:41.440 They roll the dice to figure out who's at fault. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:43.759 And the lots all fall to Jonah. 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:46.640 The technical term here is busting. 00:18:46.960 --> 00:18:50.640 And Jonah's like, yo, yo, let's roll again, roll again, do it again. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:52.400 No, he's like, it's me. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:53.599 It's my bad. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:55.119 Throw me overboard. 00:18:55.359 --> 00:18:56.240 And they do. 00:18:56.400 --> 00:19:05.759 Now, I know not many of us in this room are marine biologists, but if you're out at sea and it's a storm raging, there's one boat, and that boat throws you overboard, what does that mean for you? 00:19:06.480 --> 00:19:07.759 You're gonna die. 00:19:08.240 --> 00:19:12.160 Jonah is certainly abandoning ship for all intents and purposes. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:13.759 He's going to die. 00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:16.880 You ever been there? 00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:19.200 By the way, the sea, I love this. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:21.119 This is actually context and symbol. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:25.359 In the ancient world context, the sea symbolizes chaos. 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:31.920 Evil, the place where the evil lives and the unknown monsters of the world they live under the water because nobody knew what was under there. 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:38.640 Jonah goes from the stable ground, safety, food, nourishment, into the water. 00:19:38.880 --> 00:19:46.880 Into the chaos, headfirst, probably, into the upside down, the darkness, the disorienting place, the place of the evil one, where there's beasts and wild. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:50.319 Instantly his life is upside down. 00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:52.960 Have you ever been there? 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:57.119 And Jonah's swimming for his life. 00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:06.160 And here's what happens in verse 17, in an oh by the way moment, it says, Oh, but the Lord provides a large fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah's there for three days and three nights. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:07.200 Like, whoa, what? 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:10.720 It's like, oh by the way, uh, fish comes, swallows him, and he's in there for three days or nights. 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:13.119 It's almost a throwaway line. 00:20:13.359 --> 00:20:17.119 I mean, things take a dramatic turn in three verses. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:21.680 Jonah's going from, hey, I'm getting out of here, I'm running from God, I'm gonna be safe and Tarsous, no problem. 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:22.960 Boom, in the water. 00:20:23.200 --> 00:20:24.960 You thought you had a bad week. 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:29.680 Jonah's like, oh my gosh, he had three verses, and he's in the water, gonna die. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:32.559 Now, here's the deal. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:36.319 This is the most beautiful symbol of the whole story, if you ask me. 00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:38.160 The belly of the whale. 00:20:38.400 --> 00:20:40.559 Now, there's several things that this could symbolize. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:42.799 I want to give you, I think it's five of them. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:44.400 Is that okay? 00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:46.880 Number one, the belly of the whale symbol. 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.920 Oh, bye, here's some here's some live pictures of Jonah and the belly. 00:20:50.240 --> 00:20:52.960 This guy's like, hey, let's make some, let's make some food. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:54.960 Get a fish, let's cook him up. 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.319 He's got a chimney and everything. 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:56.799 This is great. 00:20:57.119 --> 00:20:58.000 You know, how about this one? 00:20:58.079 --> 00:20:59.279 This is Rabbi Jonah. 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.680 He's gonna study up on some Torah, you know, get his teachings in order before he gets. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:05.279 How about this one? 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:08.720 Sheesh. 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:10.480 This guy, look at him. 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.519 How about this one? 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:12.559 I love this one. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:14.319 Olivia, I found this one for me. 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:14.960 It's great. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.599 If you can't see, it's a guy in a treadmill. 00:21:18.000 --> 00:21:19.680 Where's he running to? 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:21.680 He's in a treadmill. 00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:23.440 Can't outrun the fish, man. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:24.799 How about this one? 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:26.559 Yeah, that's good. 00:21:27.200 --> 00:21:29.359 Notice the contrast of that one. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:31.279 How about this one? 00:21:34.640 --> 00:21:37.039 By the way, it never says whale, just it's a great fish. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:38.240