Lessons from Jonah - The Crew (1:5-16)
One of the many ironic aspects of Jonah’s situation was that he disobeyed God’s call to go and witness to the pagan people of Nineveh and then found himself talking about God to the exact same sort of people that he was fleeing from. The sailors were most likely a pagan crew that had assembled from parts far and wide. As a staunchly “religious” man, they weren’t his kind of people.
The experienced sailors knew that storm was not natural and must be sent from “the gods.”As the storm hit, they were terrified yet Jonah was in the bottom of the ship sound asleep. Jonah wanted to escape the reality of his situation. While Jonah is thoroughly self-absorbed in his own problems, the sailors begin to seek the “common good” of all. They each pray to their own god, Ironically, the religious man Jonah isn’t praying to his.
The sailors then call on Jonah to pray to “his god.” He appears to have no interest in their “common good.” The captain was basically challenging Jonah with “you are a man of faith, why aren’t you using your faith for our good?” It was now the pagan sailors pointing the religious man Jonah back toward God.
The Christian church should seek the “common good” of their communities. This is a topic that I have found myself challenged with over the past several years. People outside our community of faith have a right to evaluate the church on its commitment to the good of all. people. We should be a model for loving and serving others.
Jonah had much to learn about seeking the common good of others. Jonah fled because he did not want to work for the good of the Ninevites. He only wanted to serve the interests of other believers. God shows him here that He is the God of all peoples. Jonah needed to see himself as part of the whole human community and not just a member of the faith community. This is a call to us as well.
Jonah’s story teaches us that God cares how we relate to and treat people who are different from us. God calls us to treat people of different races and faiths respectfully, lovingly, generously and justly. The captain was right to challenge Jonah to help the people around him just like we should not be oblivious to those that are in need around us. We are supposed to be recognized and known by our fruit. Jesus reveals this to us in Matt 7:16 You will know them by their fruit.
Who is my neighbor? Jesus told the parable of The Good Samaritan in response to the question of - Who is my Neighbor? The Good Samaritan risked his life and reputation to sacrificially love someone seen as his enemy. Jesus instructed us at the end of the parable to “go and do likewise.” The means that we see every human being is created in the image and likeness of God.
Our role in life is not just to build up the church. We must also work sacrificially for the common good of our communities.
It is easy for us to reject or dismiss those that don’t believe what we believe. We might even feel hostile towards them. But, when we do this, we are merely participating in a form of cancel culture. Christians should be humble and respectful of all people regardless of their beliefs. There is an opportunity to learn from everyone and we should appreciate the contributions of all people. Jonah is learning this the hard way. It’s also a lesson that I am trying to learn and apply in this season of life.
Stay hungry,
Big E
Matt. 5:6