11 The Culprit

 # 11 - The Culprit

 Jonah 1:7-8: “So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us? What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’”

 So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah

To every investigation, there’s got to be the discovery of the culprit – sometimes it takes a while and sometimes it happens instantly. In this case, it was an instant revelation – Jonah was the culprit responsible for the storm. What a sad turn of events. The man who was chosen by the God of the Universe to go and give a warning message to sinful people is now at the receiving end. He’s the one who’s the culprit, responsible for the trouble that both he and many others are facing. The man who thought that the people of Nineveh were too sinful to go and talk to, is now the one who’s guilty of sinful rebellion. We know what God thinks of disobedience, rebellion and stubbornness as recorded in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 – “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”

 While looking at this global pandemic, I wonder what role we The Church play in contributing to this crisis. Like Jonah, we have been commissioned by Jesus Himself, to make disciples of all nations; and like Jonah, we too have, to a large extent, neglected this responsibility, and call of God on our lives and rebelled against God. We’ve become so caught up with ourselves instead that we’ve put to risk the lives of those around us – the live of those whom the Lord died to save and left us here to help save from a lost eternity. I won’t be surprised if it soon becomes clear to the world around that we are the ones responsible for ‘the storms,’ the worlds is facing at present. Just like Jonah stood guilty before the mariners, do we stand guilty before a world that was meant to be saved by the life-saving gospel of Jesus? If that’s where we are at present, then it’s time to repent and turn back to the Lord before it’s too late. Let those of us in The Church, who are convicted of our rebellion stop today and do a U-turn and get back to the Lord and His call to make disciples of all nations.

 Then they said to him, ‘Please tell us! For whose cause is this trouble upon us?

When the lot fell on Jonah they requested him to tell them who was responsible for the trouble they were facing. By then, though they knew that Jonah had a role to play in the trouble they were facing they still asked him who he thought was the cause for it. Most often, in life it’s a wonderful thing to be asked a question for which you know the answer, and in those times, we can’t wait to blurt it out no sooner the question’s asked, but this was not one such time for Jonah. This was not an answer he was waiting to blurt out to the mariners. It was an answer he was trying to hide from the world, but one that was surfacing like a submarine at sea.

 What would we The Church say if we were asked this same question by the world around? “Who is responsible for the global crisis we are facing?” That’s a very valid question that not only should the world be asking of us The Church, but we should be asking ourselves as well. “Who is responsible for this crisis?” Is it nature, human error (or planning), the devil’s work, sin, or have we brought this upon ourselves and the world due to our rebellion against God to take His Word to The World and make disciples of all nations?

 What is your occupation?

The question, “What do you do?” comes up in the first 60 seconds of a conversation with a person we meet for the first time. It seems like the identity of most people is so tied up with one’s occupation, that the first thing we try to do when we meet someone for the first time is size them up by their occupation. Notice how we react to the responses we get to the question, “What do you do?” Most people continue or discontinue the conversation with the person depending on the response to that question. It’s funny how this virus has taught us in no uncertain terms that no one is exempt from being infected or affected, no matter what their occupation. It’s also taught many of us that our occupations are not permanent and as stable as we thought after all.

 

That’s a good question to ask ourselves The Church though. What is our occupation? What keeps us believers in Jesus busy every day? What consumes our desires, thoughts, words, energies, money, time, and other resources? Are we busy living for ourselves and our selfish desires or are we busy living to fulfill God’s purpose for saving us from a life of sin and death?

 And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?

For many people, the question, “Where are you from?” plays a major role in whether one develops a friendship with someone or not. This question is also one of the top 3 questions we ask someone we meet for the first time. This again is a sizing-up question, especially in places and cultures like India, where the place of birth is so connected with one’s identity. This usually refers to the city, town, or village of one’s birth. But the next question they ask him pertains to his country of birth. In a cosmopolitan city today, that might be a very important question that one ponders on, though one may not directly ask it for the fear of appearing racist. All the same, it’s tied up with one’s identity. The third question they ask Jonah pertains to his religion perhaps or his community. Once again an important question for many, and a deciding factor on whether to build a relationship with someone or not. All these three questions can be summed up in three simple words, “Who are you?” The mariners wanted to know more about Jonah before they wanted to know how he was responsible for the storm. It’s amazing that even in this difficult situation, identity played such an important role.

 

If we The Church were asked the first two questions, “Where do you come from,” and “What is your country” what would our response be? We cannot mention the name of anyone village, town or city, because we are from villages, towns, provinces, districts, cities, and states from different nations all across the globe. We do not belong to anyone place here on earth. In fact, we do not belong here on earth at all – we are merely sojourners here. (Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11).

 

If we were asked the third question, “Of what people are you?” what would our response be? Once again, we can’t claim to have come from anyone faith, because we’ve all come from different faiths – faiths in different gods, faith in no god (atheists), or the non-acknowledgment of faith in God (agnostics). As Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9-10, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” Let’s never forget who we are, because if we do, before long we will forget why we are. Once we forget our identity, it’s not long before we forget our purpose. Sadly, to a large extent, The Church at-large has an identity crisis. We have forgotten who we are and we’re sailing along in life, presently being battered by the winds that perhaps we have brought upon ourselves.

 

Let do what we can to help turn the tide. The Lord Himself said in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 says, “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” From these verses, it’s clearly evident that the people of God have a role to play in the health of their nation wherever that might be. In fact, it’s further evidence that we need to humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, so the Lord will hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land. Let’s each of us in The Church repent while we can lest something worse come upon us.