The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-06-10

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 snip going to
Tarshish was opportune 1t 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 10
nah felt be would be SAFE from God and
that voice. That is why he so rapidly and
peacefully got asleep.
Now that is just why a 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 a Tarshisa mer-
chairman. And Jonah learned it. And
Jonah accepted it. At once he admitted,
81 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.
Tt is simply that part of the story which
teaches that if man repents God will re-
ceive him and care for him and give him
another chance. 1t IS the divine exposi-
ton of mans ''other chance"-a chance to
redeem his past and go forward to do
Gods Will-go forward to accomplish the
particular form Of service for which his
life has been endowed and prepared.
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. hut 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 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. 1t does not seem right
to speak of any Christian sorrow as some
thing allowed of God and overruled to
higher purpose. All Christian sorrow. as
we'll as all Christian experiences are but
different methods of Gods own through
which He gives higher and fuller revela-
lions of His love and blessing, and deve.-
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 Cod and that If
they persist in living tLeir awful lives OF
selfshness and sin destruction must come
to them as it must come to all men who
persist in SHINING. E7-g&~
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. 1t IS this that makes
this parable of Jonah so like the parallels
of Jesus--illustration 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. After preach
ing for about five weeks in Nineveh. Jonah
to this city. He was granting it too many
blessings. This he regarded as very pain
full reflection upon Jewish traditions, and
this he resented. At the close of days
preaching he went out into the country to
think it all out and have real satisfactory
grumble about it all by himself. He sat
down near to large, big lleaved gourd:
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.
and in his indignation pitied the gourd
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
with and upbraid God because He has
shown His plying love and blessing to-
ward these people of Nineveh-are not sim
full, sorrowing human beings of more value
than a gourd?" That was enough for Jo-
nah. He was satisfied God did care for
the people of Nineveh, and that it was
Godlike to do so; yea, and what was more
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, chat 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. [ 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 is why
I have been led to bring this study of Jo-
nah this morning. If we are not going to
help the people of our Nineveh, who is
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, ira
vel by land and sea- And these have all
their own place-but we must not forget
the people in Nineveh. In addition to our
own care for ourselves and our worship,
we have one other responsibility-the peo-
pie in Nineveh. For them I speak this
morning. We may take to sea as Jonah
did, but it is not a very profitable bust
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 creature-that is the
very essence of our creed, but we may say
with Jonah. Let some one else help Nine
veh. 1 don't want to do it; if Nineveh
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