In the film adaptation of "Moby Dick," Father Mapple, portrayed by Orson Welles, delivers a stirring sermon about Jonah's disobedience. He powerfully states, "Shipmates, the sin of Jonah was in his disobedience of the command of God. He found it a hard command, and it was, for all the things that God would have us do are hard. If we would obey God, we must disobey ourselves." This resonates deeply with my own experience. For years, I, too, resisted God's call, offering one excuse after another, attempting to hide from His purpose through the busyness of work. But just as Jonah learned that there is no escaping God's plan, so too did I come to understand that His will is inescapable, His calling irresistible.
My journey began in much the same way as Jonah's—with a desire to run from the mission God had placed upon me. However, God's persistent love and the changing circumstances of my life eventually led me to a small retirement community called Lakeline Oaks, where I first began to preach. It was here that I stopped running and started fulfilling God's purpose, which later expanded into the online ministry we share today. Through my story and Jonah's, we see that God's mercy is unending and His call, though daunting, is always for our good and His glory. Let us journey together today through the lessons of Jonah, Father Mapple's sermon, and my own experience, to understand the power of answering God's call.
The story of Jonah begins with God’s command for him to go to Nineveh and preach against its wickedness. But instead of obeying, Jonah chose to flee. He boarded a ship bound for Tarshish, attempting to escape from the presence of the Lord. Jonah’s struggle was rooted in the difficulty of the task before him, a task he found too hard to bear. As Father Mapple so eloquently preached, "The sin of Jonah was in his disobedience of the command of God. He found it a hard command, and it was, for all the things that God would have us do are hard. If we would obey God, we must disobey ourselves." Jonah’s disobedience was not merely a refusal to go to Nineveh, but a deeper rebellion against the very nature of God’s calling.
In my own life, I found myself in a similar position. The call to preach the Word was clear, but I resisted, believing that I was not the right person for the task. Like Jonah, I sought to flee—not by boarding a ship, but by immersing myself in work, convincing myself that my responsibilities elsewhere were too great to leave behind. I told myself that someone else would be better suited, someone more eloquent, more prepared. But, in truth, these were merely excuses, a way to avoid the difficult path that God had set before me.
As Father Mapple noted, "Jonah thinks that a ship made by men will carry him into countries where God does not reign." Just as Jonah thought he could outrun God’s command, I believed I could bury myself in work and avoid the divine calling. But God’s reach extends far beyond our attempts to escape. No ship, no work, no distraction is strong enough to keep us from His will. In Jonah’s story and in mine, we see that God’s call cannot be outrun, and His purpose will ultimately prevail, no matter how far we try to flee.
Jonah's attempt to flee from God's command led him into the midst of a raging storm. The ship he boarded was nearly torn apart by the tempest, a physical manifestation of the turmoil within Jonah's soul. As the sailors frantically tried to save the ship, Jonah recognized that the storm was a direct result of his disobedience. He confessed to the sailors, "I fear the Lord, the God of Heaven who has made the sea and the dry land!" Realizing that he was the cause of their peril, Jonah urged them to cast him into the sea, believing that only by surrendering himself to the depths could he save those around him.
In the film "Moby Dick," Father Mapple captures this moment with profound insight: "Behold Jonah, taken up as an anchor and dropped into the sea, into the dreadful jaws awaiting him. And the great whale shoots to all his ivory teeth, like so many white bolts, upon his prison." Yet, even in this moment of seeming defeat, Jonah's story takes a remarkable turn. "Jonah cries unto the Lord, out of the fish’s belly. But observe his prayer, shipmates. He doesn’t weep and wail, he feels his punishment is just. He leaves deliverance to God."
God, in His infinite mercy, did not abandon Jonah to the depths. Instead, He prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, not as a final punishment, but as a means of redemption. From within the belly of the fish, Jonah prayed, acknowledging that his predicament was just, yet still trusting in God’s deliverance. And indeed, God heard his cry and commanded the fish to release him onto dry land.
In my own life, I, too, reached a point where I could no longer flee from God’s call. The circumstances of my life began to change in ways that I could not ignore, much like the storm that Jonah faced. Opportunities to preach and share God’s Word began to present themselves, despite my continued attempts to focus on other work. It became clear that, like Jonah, I needed to surrender to God’s will and trust in His plan for me.
As Father Mapple so powerfully preached, "And God spake unto the whale, and from the shuddering cold and blackness of the deep, the whale breached into the sun and vomited out Jonah upon the dry land." Just as Jonah was delivered from the depths, I, too, was brought out of my self-imposed darkness into the light of God’s purpose. Starting at Lakeline Oaks, I began to fulfill the calling that I had so long resisted, and from there, God led me to establish this online ministry.
Through Jonah's story and my own, we see that God's love is persistent and His mercy unending. Even when we run from Him, He is always ready to guide us back to His purpose, offering redemption and a new beginning.
As we draw this message to a close, it is clear that the stories of Jonah and my own journey are not simply about the struggles and resistance we face when God calls us, but about the overwhelming joy and fulfillment that come when we finally surrender to His will. Jonah’s story teaches us that no matter how far we run, God’s love will always pursue us, offering us grace and a second chance to fulfill our purpose.
Father Mapple’s sermon captures the essence of this surrender: "Delight is to him who, against the proud gods and commodores of this Earth, stands forth his own inexorable self, who destroys all sin, though we pluck it out from under the robes of senators and judges. And eternal delight shall be his who, coming to lay him down, can say, 'Oh father, mortal or immortal, here I die. I have striven to be thine, more than to be this world’s or mine own, yet this is nothing. I leave eternity to thee, for what is man that he should live out the lifetime of his God?'"
This eternal delight comes from knowing that we have done God’s bidding, that we have stood firm in our faith, and that we have preached the truth in the face of falsehood. For me, the joy of finally embracing God’s call has been profound. No longer running, no longer making excuses, I have found peace in fulfilling the mission God laid out for me. Whether in the halls of Lakeline Oaks or through the words shared in this online ministry, I have seen God’s hand at work, transforming lives and bringing hope where there was once despair.
Brothers and sisters, I urge you to reflect on your own lives. Are there ways in which you, like Jonah, have been resisting God’s call? Have you been running from the hard commands He has placed upon you? If so, take heart from Jonah’s story, from Father Mapple’s stirring words, and from my own journey. Know that God’s love is relentless, His mercy boundless, and His purpose for you is greater than anything you could ever imagine.
Let us surrender to God’s will, trusting that in doing so, we will find not only our true purpose but also the eternal joy that comes from living out His call. May we all be blessed with the strength to obey, the courage to stand firm in our faith, and the grace to fulfill the mission God has entrusted to each of us.
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