Our Sermons

Bible Passage: From Rescue to Rescue
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  April 4, 2021

Have you ever felt trapped–like there was no way out? I think many of the events of the past year have lent themselves to feeling trapped. Trapped in our homes, trapped behind our masks, trapped in our own minds. Maybe there’s other things that have caused you to feel trapped? Trapped by guilt over past sins. Trapped by regret over missed opportunities. Trapped by uncertainty over what the future holds. Trapped by fear. Trapped.

There are certainly people that we meet today who could relate. There’s Mary Magdalene and the other women who came to Jesus’ tomb who were trapped with grief. There were the 11 apostles who were trapped behind closed doors out of fear of the Jews. But maybe the best example of someone who felt trapped was Jonah.

Jonah was a prophet in Israel during the time of Jeroboam II, in the early 8th century B.C. It was during Jonah’s ministry that the Assyrians were becoming the world power. They were the terrorists of the day. Everyone feared and loathed them. Their capital city, Nineveh was renowned for vile immorality. It was to Nineveh that God told Jonah to go, to preach against them, to lead them to repentance. Jonah did the complete opposite. Instead of heading northeast, Jonah found a ship heading west, to Tarshish in Spain. Only Jonah never made it to Tarshish. You see, while Jonah was trying to run away from God, God was running after him, not to punish him, but to save him. God caused a great storm to arise, threatening to sink the ship and everyone on it. Jonah knew it was because of him. He says in chapter 1, “Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will calm down for you, for I know that this violent storm striking against you has come about because of me.” After trying to get back to shore, the men on the ship cried out to the LORD in faith, begging for their lives, begging not to hold Jonah’s death against them. And then they threw Jonah overboard and immediately it was calm. 

I don’t know if Jonah thought that God would save him when they tossed him overboard. He certainly doesn’t sound like he thought that. He writes: “You threw me into the depths, into the heart of the seas. The currents swept around me. All your breakers and your waves swept over me…Waters engulfed me so that I was near death. The deep surrounded me. Seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the root of the mountains I sank down. The earth locked me behind its bars forever.” That doesn’t sound like a man who’s expecting to be rescued. That sounds like a man who realized how foolish it was to think he could outrun God. It sounds like a man who knew what was coming and was brought to the very conclusion: I deserve this.

We’ve been there too. When we look into the mirror of God’s Law, every sin, every selfish act, every instance of anger and envy and greed and guilt are all visible. We know what it is to try and run and hide from God, even if we never boarded a ship for Tarshish. We join Jonah as we sink down under the waves of guilt, the breakers of sin. We’re surrounded with our rebellion and our failures to keep God’s Law. The tentacles of sin wrap around our heads and we are brought to the very same conclusion: I deserve this.

But that’s where this story takes a drastic turn. All the while Jonah was running from God, God was running after him, to rescue him. And he does so with a great fish. We hear: “Then the LORD provided a large fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” And it’s while Jonah was in the fish that he had time to reflect on what had just happened. You see, as low as we might have been, we just can’t fully relate to Jonah. And what did Jonah do when he was as low as you can get. He prayed. Even from the belly of a fish, he prayed. “Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish. He said the following: In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the belly of the grave I cried out, and you heard my voice…I said, “I have been driven away from your sight. Nevertheless, I will once again look toward your holy temple…To the roots of the mountains I sank down. The earth locked me behind its bars forever. But you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD, my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered the LORD. My prayer came to you to your holy temple.” 

This wasn’t a prayer of atheistic desperation, this was a prayer of faith. We see that in Jonah’s use of God’s covenant name, LORD in capital letters. This was God’s name of grace and forgiveness, and yes rescue. And you know what else we see in Jonah’s prayer? God’s Word. There are some 20 different pieces of the Psalms that you find in Jonah’s prayer. That’s part of how God rescues us. God loans us his Word to use. When life is good, we borrow words from God to praise him and laud his goodness. When life is tough, we borrow again from God’s Word and speak his words back to him. God loans us his Word to use in our prayers. And what words does Jonah borrow? Words that allowed him to admit his sin. Words that allowed him to confess his faith. Words that allowed him to remember the LORD, to call out for help and to receive God’s answer, to receive God’s rescue. You see for Jonah, this fish was his resurrection. In this fish was life. In this fish is salvation. And that is why finishes his prayer with a bold, confident statement! “Salvation belongs to the LORD!”

When you want to emphasize something or draw attention to something, we might say we’d put it front and center. Hebrew literature does something similar. It often puts the most important thought right in the center of the writing. We saw that on Friday with Leviticus chapter 16 and the Day of Atonement which pointed to Jesus, and we see it here in Jonah chapter 2. “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” is the exact center of the book! This is the central message of not just the book of Jonah, but the entire Bible. God provided salvation for Jonah as we hear in chapter 1, “Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” And then we hear Jesus promise, “For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Three days and three nights is a Hebrew way of talking. Any part of the day was considered the day and night. And so we see Jesus buried on Friday, in the tomb on Saturday, and exiting the tomb on Sunday morning–three days and three nights. 

Jonah’s exit from the fish was rather graphic. We hear in the last verse of chapter 2, “Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” Jonah’s rescue was complete. But this was only possible because of the other rescue that would take place. This was only possible because God swallowed up his only Son by having him nailed to the cross bearing the sins of the world. On the cross, Jesus was sinking down into the pit of hell to endure the wrath of God’s punishment. There was no fish to rescue Jesus. No, on the cross Jesus paid the price our sins deserved. His powerful blood washed away all of our sin and guilt. On the cross Jesus provided the rescue that we needed, the rescue that Jonah needed, the rescue for the whole world. And how do we know that it was a successful rescue mission? Jesus’ resurrection proves it!

Jesus rose from the dead! This proves his Word to be true! He said this is what would happen! What do we hear in our Gospel from Mark, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Just as he told you. Jesus’ resurrection proves God’s Word to be true. From rescue to rescue, every single word is true! And that rescue changes lives.

It changed Jonah’s. Listen to the words of his prayer. “Those who cling to worthless idols forsake the mercy that is theirs. But I, with a shout of thanksgiving, will indeed sacrifice to you. What I have vowed, I will certainly pay in full.” Jonah realized his folly. After his ordeal in the fish, he went to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s warning, and the Ninevites repented. Jesus’ rescue has changed your life as well. He’s brought you out of the darkness of sin and unbelief into the light of life and the joy of his presence. He’s given you salvation. And now he gives you an opportunity. He gives you an opportunity to serve him wherever he’s placed you in life. He’s given you the opportunity to give him glory in everything you do. He’s loaned out his Word to you that you might share it with others who need to hear this good news of rescue. May we, with Jonah, with shouts of thanksgiving, offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. May we bask in the freedom that is ours because of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection! Say it with me: Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.