Transformers - Nervious Goingimus

                                                           September 24-30, 2007                

 

Day One       Hating Them

Sometimes hatred and prejudice can get in the way of life.  That was the case for the Montague and Capulet families in the story of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare. In this tragic love story we see two young people in love attempting to cross the boundaries of hatred and prejudice created over time between their two families.  The hatred between these two families was so intense that the government officials had to intervene to put a halt to the ongoing fighting.  Romeo and Juliet had been raised in the midst of this hatred but somehow managed to rise above their prejudice in regard to each other.  While they managed to overcome their own prejudices, in the end that prejudice doomed their fate.

 

Hatred and prejudice usually come from a misunderstanding between two individuals or a group of individuals.  It also can come from an injustice that is held on to even though it no longer truly impacts or exists.  Either way, it causes us to forget the shared humanity with this person or these people.

 

Jonah had a problem with hatred and prejudice; it created a great conflict for him.  Jonah lived in Israel during a time of great confidence.  Israel had been able to be free from captivity and to regain her borders.  It was in the midst of this confidence that the people became arrogant and began to gloat over their new found power.  They looked as outsiders as somehow inferior to them and definitely not to be considered by God.  Jonah felt this way toward the people of the city of Nineveh.

 

Nineveh was not only considered inferior by Jonah but it was also a place described as being very wicked.  God instructed Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach to them, read Jonah’s response in Jonah 1:1-3.

 

Jonah was a prophet of God which meant that he went where God told him to go and said what God told him to say.  He, no doubt, understood this about God and that you could not escape God.  Even though he knew this about God, still, he refused to obey God in regard to going to Nineveh.  Imagine his disdain and the fear that would lead him to take such a risky action.

 

We live in a time when we are confronted with groups that we can easily find ourselves being prejudice against.  What are your views toward individuals of different faiths where some in that faith have acted in and out of violence?   What about the current discourse in our country regarding immigration? What about your own fellow Americans who have different political views than yourself?  What about closer to home are there individuals or groups that you have decided are outside of God’s reach?

 

As you identify these attitudes, what are you going to do with them?  Are you going to run like Jonah or are you going to ask God to change you from the inside?

 

Day Two                      Undeserved Compassion

Elisabeth Elliot Green is the opposite of Jonah.  Her first husband, Jim Elliot, was killed in 1956 while attempting to make missionary contact with the violent Guaraní tribe of eastern Ecuador. She later spent two years as a missionary to those very tribe members who killed her husband. She is an unbelievable example of a person who acts compassionately toward those who are not deserving of such compassion.

 

Very quickly in the story of Jonah we see Jonah, who has refused to show compassion to the people at Nineveh, become the recipient of compassion directed at him.  Read Jonah 1 and identify the compassion displayed by humans and by God toward Jonah that he in no way deserved to receive.

 

Why do you think the sailors on the doomed ship chose to attempt to not throw Jonah overboard even though he was the recognized reason for their situation?

 

What do the actions of God tell you about His compassion?

 

What does the manner of His compassionate rescue tell you about how God works?

 

How have you been the recipient of undeserved compassion?

 

Day Three                         Feeling Cramped

In the summer of 1987 I took at group of young people from Colorado to California for camp.  The group had a great time and a wonderful experience.  On the trip home we stopped in a small town, in the middle of nowhere, for the kids to eat at a small McDonalds.  Outside of this McDonalds there was one of the older McDonalds playgrounds featuring play equipment that was made to look like the McDonald characters. You may remember these playground elements.  One of the features was the Hamburgerler (I have no idea how to spell, nor does my spell check) which small children could climb up into the meat portion of the burger.  I had a teenage boy in my group who was usually pretty cool in the way he looked and acted.  For some reason this boy chose to climb up into the Hamburgerler (still have no idea how to spell his name).  Once he got up there he got many laughs from the other youth which I am sure was his goal.  About this time I was calling the youth to get back on the bus so he began his descent from the Hamburger.  It was not long until he found that he could not get out, he was stuck.  Pretty soon, all the other youth, and others that were in McDonalds, were watching as well as attempting to hide their snickering at this event.  Pretty soon, this usually cool young person was beginning to panic.  The manager of the McDonalds was out attempting to assist and I was trying to keep him calm.  There were no emergency officials in this small town who could come and rescue us so we had to stay with it until we finally got him out of the hamburger.  Being cramped and unable to get out could cause even the coolest person to lose their cool.  I don’t think he ever looked at those playgrounds the same again.

 

Imagine this cramped and scared feeling that Jonah must have felt from within the big fish!  Read his prayer from inside of the fish as detailed in Jonah 3.  How do you see Jonah remembering who God is, what God has done, and what God desires in this prayer?

 

Have you ever had “cramped” and scary situations?

 

Did you respond by remembering God or did you continue to flee?

 

How can you remember God’s work in your life and his call on your life without having to be in the belly of a fish?

 

How would this impact you if you were to do this daily?

 

Day Four                     No Way!.....It Worked!

I am sure that it is no surprise to you when I say that I am not the best in the world at fixing and repairing things around the house.  Usually, if I begin a project Andrea has the phone in hand ready to call a professional to come and finish the job.  Her most common question when I begin a project is, “Should we call your dad first?”  Now I take no offense at this, actually I made sure that she completely was aware of this fact prior to her agreeing to marry me.

 

I recently had to replace the ceiling fans in the girls’ bedrooms.  The last time I attempted to undertake such a feat we did end up having to call a professional who spent thirty minutes attempting to figure out what I had done and why I had done it.   When I began this recent home fix it job I opened up the box only to find out that this was not just an ordinary fan with a light attached, it actually had a remote control which required additional technical work.  I do have to say that half way through the project I did have to call my dad with a question and then had to make an additional call to Wayne Scoggins, but I did eventually finish the project.  There is hung, nothing seemed to be about to fall but still I had not had the nerve to actually attempt to turn it on, let alone using the remote.

 

There I stood in great fear of discovering the true nature of my work.  I had followed the instructions explicitly and when I didn’t understand I had even called for help, but still I was doubtful it would actually turn on.  More than a fear that it would not operate properly was the concern that I would end up turning off the power of half the city of Norman, if not the entire state of Oklahoma.

 

I hesitantly turned on the switch and was amazed to discover that the fan and the light worked, and no one had been harmed or injured in the process.  Empowered by my victory I decided to tempt fate so I grabbed the remote and boldly pushed the button….and it, too, worked!  “No way!”  I thought to myself, “It worked!”  I just remained in the room and turned it off and on relishing this unbelievable life moment.

 

In chapter 3 of Jonah we see Jonah have a “No way, it worked!” moment.  God had almost dragged him kicking and screaming to preach to the people at Nineveh.  He had decided that it was a lost cause and a total waste of time.  The people in Nineveh were wicked and in his mind they were inferior.  What did Jonah preach to the people at Nineveh?

 

What was their response?

 

Have you ever seen God complete a successful work that you knew was a lost cause?

 

What do you think keeps us from believing in lost causes?

 

What is your current lost cause?

 

Day Five                           Failing to Fully Experience

When Isaiah was four years old he went to a half day preschool two days a week.  This preschool concentrated on music and had been attended and enjoyed by all of our children before Isaiah.  Isaiah had gone with Lily the year prior but this particular year, Lily was in “real” school so he attended by himself.  The year did not begin well when “Brooke the Biter” for some reason bit Isaiah’s arm followed by Brooke’s equally evil sister slapping Isaiah across the face.  For the entire fall semester we dragged Isaiah to preschool assuring him that it was fun. He went be obviously never enjoyed.  After Christmas he very firmly informed me that he would not be returning to school the next semester.  I used my best child psychology and said, “OK, but you have to go tell the teacher” knowing that this would manipulate him to remain in school.  I was wrong.  On the first day of school we went in the classroom and he walked up to the teacher and said, “I am not going to be going to school anymore.”  He then turned and walked back to the car.  There was not much more for me to say except “thanks and goodbye.”

 

Isaiah had spent a semester attending school only because he had to.   He did not enjoy or fully engage in the experience. He was there only because mom and dad made him and he was not going to have a good time regardless of what anyone did.  He went through the motions externally but his heart was not in the experience.

 

We often do the same and miss the experience.  We often go through the motions at school, at work, at play, at home, at church, and sometimes even in our walk with Christ.  We do what we are supposed to do but our heart is not in it.  Therefore, we gain nothing from the experience nor do we enjoy the experience.

 

As you guessed, this was especially true of Jonah.  Read in Jonah 4:1-9 about his reaction to the positive response from the people in Nineveh to God’s message.  What did he think, do, and say?

 

Why do you think he missed out on the joy of this mighty work of God?

 

What did his reaction reveal about his heart?

 

Read God’s response in Jonah 4:10-11, what did God say?

 

What did God reveal about His heart?

 

In what areas of life are you going through the motions and failing to gain from and enjoy the experience?

 

How can you change this?

 

Do you want to change this?

 

Change that takes place from the inside out is true transformation.  External change is momentary and is gone with the moment.  What inside change do you need to experience?  Spend some time in prayer in regard to this.