HERO to ZERO

Wednesday, April 19, 2023

Jonah was much like Moses, a hometown HERO that became a ZERO.  He was a Hebrew prophet, who walked intimately with God.  That changed with one rebellious act, disagreeing with God that the Lord should spare judgment on the wicked city of Nineveh.  The prophet ran away from his home with the intention he’d hide from God’s view.  He was wrong.  Chapter one ends on the open sea with a storm, and Jonah’s disobedience being discovered as the cause; he’s tossed overboard and a great fish swallows him. 

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish.  He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble,  and he answered me.  I called to you from the land of the dead, and Lord, you heard me!  You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea.  The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.  Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence.  Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’  “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me.  Seaweed wrapped itself around my head.  I sank down to the very roots of the mountains.  I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever.  But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death!  As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord.  And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple.  Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies.  But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows.  For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.”  Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach.  Jonah 2:1-10

Perhaps a better title for today’s message would be:

From HERO to ZERO, and BACK!

So, what do we make of a prophet who runs from God, gets thrown overboard by some superstitious sailors, swallowed by a gigantic fish, and spit out on the beach, in the town God wanted him in the first place.  You could make at least two assumptions (only one of them correct):

     1.    Honest, genuine, prophetic prayer nauseates fish!

     2.    You should never try hiding from God.

Jonah was reluctant, but finally showed up in Nineveh, and preached God’s message of destruction to that pagan city.  The surprising turn of the story is that all the people of that huge city repented and trusted God, who forgave their sins.[1]  Jonah…not so much; the prophet sunk into a depressive adolescent pout, still refusing to join God in compassion for a city and people he hated.  If there’s one irrefutable conclusion you can draw from the story of Jonah, it’s:

Sometimes We are our own Worst Enemy

For You Today 

Jonah truly went from HERO to ZERO, and BACK…and the process continued, because his selfish attitude never changed.  The preacher finally preached, did God’s will, wasn’t happy about it, sat under the whining-tree, and pouted.  And God still loved him.  It begs the question, though about petulant Jonah…and us:

If he (or we) have to be swallowed by a big fish, and on the verge of death, before cooperating with God…are we EVER REALLY COOPERATING with God?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   Fall - Redemption - Obedience  and  Jonah's Praise  and   Why, Jonah? 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Read the rest of the story HERE

Us Too?

Wednesday, August 10, 2022

Peter asked, “Lord, is that illustration just for us or for everyone?”  And the Lord replied, “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them.  If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.  I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.  But what if the servant thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk?  The master will return unannounced and unexpected, and he will cut the servant in pieces and banish him with the unfaithful.  “And a servant who knows what the master wants, but isn’t prepared and doesn’t carry out those instructions, will be severely punished.  But someone who does not know, and then does something wrong, will be punished only lightly. When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.  Luke 12:41-48

Jesus was telling the disciples about responsibility in being his follower.  If you choose to respond and follow Jesus, the reward will be reconciled with the faithfulness of your service.  In true teaching mode, Jesus had to go over the main points a few times before even the sharpest disciple got it…there is no inside group…it’s the same instructions for everybody. 

It's much more popular (for obvious reasons) to dwell on the loving, inclusiveness of Jesus, than to even mention the possibility of judgment.  However, if you check the Gospel accounts closely, or even scan them quickly, we find that Jesus regularly taught about the reality of judgment.  His parables all consistently contrasted reward and punishment.  In fact, there is much more about Hell in Scripture than Heaven.  Consider these:

·       In Matthew’s Gospel there are foolish virgins who let their oil run out, a lazy manager who abuses his power, faithful and unfaithful servants who face an accounting on judgment day.  They are the goats separated from the sheep in final reward and remorse.  (Matthew 25)

·       In just two chapters of Luke’s Gospel (Luke 16, 17) there is the judgment of a lazy manager who abused his power, religious leaders who loved money more than the God they were supposed to be serving, serial wife-changing power people, and a rich man in Hell, begging a poor man in Heaven to bring him a drink.

·       In the Old Testament account of Esther, Haman, a proud official, second only to King Xerxes, plotted against the Jews, and particularly Esther’s uncle Mordecai.  Haman’s plan was to kill all the Jews, and impale Mordecai on a 75-foot high sharpened pole, to highlight his power.  But, in the final chapter, this is how Haman’s plan turned out:

Then King Xerxes said to Queen Esther and Mordecai the Jew, “I have given Esther the property of Haman, and he has been impaled on a pole because he tried to destroy the Jews.  Esther 8:7

For You Today

Punishment and Reward are as understandable (to even a child), as is the simple fact that keeping your fingers out of the fire will be better than not. 

It may be more popular to dwell on a loving God who forgives us.  But to ignore the righteousness of God who judges those who will not obey His Word, is to walk on the edge of a cliff overlooking the eternal abyss.  Be wise!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these:  Meet You at the Woodshed and When You Have a King for a Friend      

[1] Images:  Wickimedia Commons     Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

Too Late

 

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

“So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:  May all your jars be filled with wine.’  And they will reply, ‘Of course!  Jars are made to be filled with wine!’  “Then tell them, ‘No, this is what the Lord means:  I will fill everyone in this land with drunkenness—from the king sitting on David’s throne to the priests and the prophets, right down to the common people of Jerusalem.  I will smash them against each other, even parents against children, says the Lord.  I will not let my pity or mercy or compassion keep me from destroying them.’”  Listen and pay attention!  Do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken.  Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late.  Acknowledge him before he brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains.  For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom.  And if you still refuse to listen, I will weep alone because of your pride.  My eyes will overflow with tears, because the Lord’s flock will be led away into exile.  Say to the king and his mother, “Come down from your thrones and sit in the dust, for your glorious crowns will soon be snatched from your heads.”  The towns of the Negev will close their gates, and no one will be able to open them.  The people of Judah will be taken away as captives.  All will be carried into exile.  Jeremiah 13:12-19

Jeremiah, ever the weeping prophet, received a “not-so-veiled” threat to lay at Israel’s feet:  from the throne room to the common rooms, drunk with the power of personal choice, the hangover of exile for God’s people was coming. 

As the grandson of an alcoholic, I am aware of the results of too much celebrating, and not enough common sense, or self-respect.  My mother’s childhood was spent moving from one rented apartment to the next.  My grandfather had a good job, but his habit consumed even the rent money.  He was not a physically-abusive person, but addiction to alcohol carries its own brand of abuse.  When my mother was asked where she lived growing up, she had lots of addresses from which to choose.  One of those addresses she never even saw.  She had been hit by a car while walking home from school, and spent over a month in the hospital.  The family was in the process of moving that week; they moved-in, but had to move-out a few weeks later.  Mom added a new address to the pile, even though she never saw the front-doorstep.

Jeremiah’s prophecy was about the consequences of drunkenness, but this hangover wasn’t really about wine filling every jar.  Rather it was the confusion of why the kingdom fell apart, and every citizen would be at odds with every other citizen, from the palaces to the playpens.  In a massive pandemic of arrogance, Israel assumed the role of bad-chilld, leaving the Father no other choice but the woodshed from the North.  Destruction was on its way like a juggernaut of grief and mourning.  The rent money was due, and it wasn’t there; it was too late.

For You Today

It is impossible for me to read any of the prophets and not make the mental leap from Jerusalem in Judea, to Washington D.C.  I pray every day for the leaders of our nation in that jungle of self-importance called “government”. 

That for which I pray is an awakening, and the resultant sweep of revival.  Because, without revival in the lives of leaders, and without it spreading to the board rooms, businesses, schools, and every main street, back street, and dirt street, our drunken stupor of anger and violence, with its accompanying wrecking of the homes across the land, will make us a ripe, low-hanging fruit for a trip to Babylon’s jail.  In the darkness of national disaster, we won’t even know what happened.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©    

Shebna's Retirement

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Thursday, January 16, 2020

This is what the Lord, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, said to me:  “Confront Shebna, the palace administrator, and give him this message:  “Who do you think you are, and what are you doing here, building a beautiful tomb for yourself—a monument high up in the rock?  For the Lord is about to hurl you away, mighty man.  He is going to grab you, crumple you into a ball, and toss you away into a distant, barren land.  There you will die, and your glorious chariots will be broken and useless.  You are a disgrace to your master!  “Yes, I will drive you out of office,” says the Lord.  “I will pull you down from your high position.  And then I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah to replace you.  I will dress him in your royal robes and will give him your title and your authority.  And he will be a father to the people of Jerusalem and Judah.  I will give him the key to the house of David—the highest position in the royal court.  When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them; when he closes doors, no one will be able to open them.  He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall.  They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowliest members of his family.”  But the Lord of Heaven’s Armies also says: “The time will come when I will pull out the nail that seemed so firm.  It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it. I, the Lord, have spoken!”                Isaiah 22: 15-22

Shebna was palace administrator in the most powerful kingdom on earth.  The next moment he was retired…to the garbage dump!  Hero to zero in nothing flat!  Horatio Alger wrote novels in the so-called Gilded Age of U.S. history, always the rags-to-riches of young, impoverished boys who grew up to be rich and admirable.  Shebna is the downside of this theme.  He had it all, but was unfaithful, and God was going to toss him into Hell’s wastebasket!  Shebna’s seat of power would belong to Hilkiah’s son, Eliakim, who would do well for a while, but even his legacy would resemble a loose nail in a wobbly table.

When I read passages that show God’s displeasure with unfaithful servants, I get a case of the night sweats.  After all, I am a pastor, charged with leadership in God’s house, and, whether the membership is a dozen or thousands, it is a holy calling, and not to be a trifling thing.  An unfaithful servant is just as wicked in a small place as having charge over Jerusalem’s palace.

It’s tempting to think only about the blessings God brings into our lives.  In a rather obtuse way that lends itself to a Pollyanna existence, resembling an ostrich with its head in the sand.  Because, for all the benevolence of God to provide and bless his children, there is also the holiness of God’s sovereignty.  And when our responsibility to serve Him is breached with self-importance, or impudence, that disrespect invites God’s wrath in response.  What happens then is the dominoes of our little kingdoms falling one after another, right into the retirement village of a garbage dump.

For You Today

We are all servants in God’s kingdom, and we are all, in some way, called to be at work in His vineyard.  As you ponder that thought about how you are involved as a vineyard servant, ask this question also – is my service for Him, or for me?

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©

God's Life Skills - Not for the Half-Hearted

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Thursday, January 4, 2018

My child, never forget the things I have taught you.  Store my commands in your heart.  If you do this, you will live many years, and your life will be satisfying.  Never let loyalty and kindness leave you!  Tie them around your neck as a reminder.  Write them deep within your heart.  Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation.  Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.  Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.  Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.  Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.  Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything you produce.  Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with good wine.  My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.  For the Lord corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.  Proverbs 3:1-10^(NLT)

A man was driving home late one afternoon from a visit to a nearby mountain resort.  As he rounded a particularly sharp curve his car tumbled off the road and over the side of the mountain, launching him free of the car.  Free-falling, the man was flailing-about, clutching at anything; his hand caught a branch growing out of the side of the cliff.  Momentarily relieved, he hung there by one hand, unable to move up or down. 

He began to cry out for help.  Hello…anyone up there?

After several calls he hears a deep voice seemingly from the clouds:  I’m here child. 

The man haltingly responds:  God? 

Yes, my child; you called; what is it you’re asking?

Uh…save me, please…uh…in the name of the Father, Son…well, you know.

You want me to save you?  

Yes, please…and hurry, my hand is slipping.

Let go of the branch, child.

The dangling man looks down 1500 feet to the rocks below:  Let go?

Yes, you heard me correctly; let go and I’ll save you.

He looks down again, to each side, and then above:  But, God…

Let go.

He looks down one more time and then lifts a plea:  Is there anyone else up there?

This silly little story highlights the kind of half-hearted trust that goes nowhere with God.  And that is a sure way to have to repeat Basic Faith-101.  Trusting God is not a sometimes-you-do/sometimes-you-don’t, on-again/off-again proposition; you either trust Him fully, or you do not trust Him at all.

The Proverb writer gave us 5 basic benchmarks for a life of fully-trusting God:

·       Be a disciple, not just a believer

·       Be God’s servant, not the other way around

·       Be impressed with God, not yourself

·       Be generous, just like God is with you

·       Be teachable, you can’t get better without correction

For You Today

Go back and re-read Proverbs 3 until those benchmarks begin to sink-in, take hold, and change the way you think about trusting God.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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[1] Title Images: Courtesy of Pixabay.com