Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1904-05-19

was sure was right, but he did not wish to
do it. This is the sphere in which we SO
often are Jonahs. That voice we have al
ways heard, and like Jonah we have tried
God and our friends when they dare to
keep suggesting it to us; we do not want
to hear about the right when we don't
want to do it. Jonah, therefore, fed He
did not care where. That ship going to
Tarshish was opportune. It made him de-
eide that the safest place for him would be
at sea. God was never known to have spo-
ken to Jew on the sea. And so now Jo-
nah felt be would be safe from God and
that voice. That is why he so rapidly ard
peacefully got asleep.
Now that is just why storm was neces-
sary. Jonah had to learn, and through
him all men had to learn. that God is pres
ent as much on sea as upon land-on an
ocean greyhound as on Tarshish mer- :
chairman. And Jonah learned it. And
Jonah accepted it. At once he admitted,
i have done wrong, cast me into the sea" :"
And the storm ceased. The lesson had
been learned, and through Jonah the :
Israelites learned that God is everywhere,
and no man can get away from Him. That
a fish should pick him up and cast him
ashore is a mere incident of the parable.
To have learned that God is everywhere
was also to learn that since God is God
there can be no limit to His divine love
that God has love and blessing for all peo-
pie and every person. So that in Jonah
being cast into the sea. it was not pun
ishment, but one method of fuller reve-
lation of the care and love of God for those
who became willing to obey Him. Our sOr-
row is not a punishment, but method for
a higher and fuller revelation OF Gods love
and blessing. There is often little tinge
of atheism in our thought about Christian
| trouble or sorrow. It does not seem right
to speak of any Christian sorrow as some
| thing allowed of God and overruled to-
higher purpose. All Christian sorrow,
well as all Christian experiences are but
different methods of Gods own through
| tions of His love and blessing, and devel-
ops His people to better fitness for service.
| And this is what Jonah learned, and hav-
| ing learned It he went at once to that city
| Of Nineveh and delivered the message God
had given him to deliver. He tells the
| Ninevites all he knows about the love of
God. He tells them also all about the pure
and righteous demands of God.
| The city did repent and God did bless
the people. And in this way Jonah learned
| that the very blessings he had himself re-
ceived and his people had received were
not for themselves alone, but also for 9th
| ers-Nineveh and every other Nineveh that
needed the knowledge of the love and
Righteousness of God. It is this that makes
/ this parable of Jonah so like the parallels
| of Jesus illustrations of the love OF God
| and of what God expects from those who
already have been blessed.
! And this second thought was just as WV
| idly taught as the first one. AfteEs preach
ing for about five weeks in Nineveh, Jonah
| thought God was showing too much favor
| to this city. He was granting it too many
blessings. This he regarded as a very PAIN
/ full reflection upon Jewish traditions, and
| this he resented. At the close of a day 8.
L
| think it all out and have real satisfactory
grumble about it all by. himself. He sat
down near to large, big leaved gourd ;.
| whose refreshing shade, as the sun moved
around, kept its burning rays from harm
/ ing him. Next morning he went back to
the same place, but the gourd had with
| cred during the night Jonah got angry,
| thus destroyed SO soon. But as he cooled
| off and his reason and his heart again as
serted themselves. that voice seemed again
to speak within him, ''Jonah, what fool
! ish, unreasonable creature you are! Here
you pity this gourd, and yet You find fault
shown His pitying love and blessing to-
ward these people Of Nineveh--are not sim
full, sorrowing human beings Of more va.ue
than gourd?' That was enough for Jo-
nah. He was satisfied God did care for
the people of Nineveh, and that it was
I
! important, that His love and blessing were
| to be made known to them through the
people already blessed. That is the teach
ing of the book of Jonah; that is the les
son Jonah learned, that he must offer God
missionary service as well as worship, that
he must offer God service as well as love,
that to carry the message of Gods love to
his fellow men is to worship God.
Do you know, L think that is what God
still asks? And yet and yet, [ sometimes
think we rebel against the thought of it
quite as much as Jonah did That i: why
l have been led to bring this study of Jo-
nah this morning. If we are not going to
going to do it? Like Jonah, we spend
enough upon ourselves; we do not deny
ourselves a single thing we set our hearts
upon-social parties, theatres, entertain
ment, home comforts, bodily comforts, tra-
| vel by land and sea- And these have all
the people in Nineveh. In addition to our
! own care for ourselves and our worship,
| we have other responsibility-th peo-
| pie in Nineveh. For them l speak this
morning. We may take to sea as Jonah
did. but it is not a very profitable Dus-
| ness. Much better respond to the Lord
gladly. True, we do not say with Jonah
that God is not everywhere, Or that His
love is not for every creatuPe--that IS the
very essence of our creed, but We may say
with Jonah, Let some one else help Nlne-
veh, don't want to do it; if Nineveh
can't take care of itself and some one must
help them, let some one else do SO. This
is not what we are going to say to-day.
We are going to say, rather, tell us where
our Nineveh is, tell his now we can best
help at this particular time and we will do
it! My answer is, this home mission offer
ing is our Nlneveh.
Why should We? Because it is Godlike
God Himself is our supreme example. Be-
cause it is good for us to give-we feel our
brotherhood better and the JOY of giving
becomes ours. Because new American
communities need our help to fill them
with hope, and by church privileges inspire
them with those same God-giyen princi-
PIES and truths that have made New Eng
land and New York, that have made our
selves and given us our prosperous environ
raent. For Gods sake, for our own sake,
for Americas sake, this is our opportunity.
We want these people to know the same
God we know and to speak to Him as CON
6dently as we do and cal! Him Father y
When these people come together on Sun
DAYS we want them to be abe to say with
Ms Our Father" When they gather their
little, white-robed children around them
at the even hour, we want them, children
end parents together, to say Our Father; y
-