The Sign of Jonah: Don't Sink Like a Rock!

I began this sermon series after Christmas, and the original plan was to continue the series through Lent. We have been looking at the hero’s journey as it appears in Bible stories and popular books and movies. We have looked at: Jonah and Star Wars; Joseph and The Count of Monte Cristo; Lot and Orpheus; Paul and The Great Escape. Biblical and secular stories share the pattern of the hero’s journey; in brief:

● the hero is living in the ordinary world,

● he receives a call to a different place,

● in his journey to that place, he encounters supernatural help,

● he reaches the gateway of this new place, a place that will transform him,

● he encounters increasingly difficult trials and temptations leading ultimately to an abyss (or place of death),

● either the hero does not die, or he dies and is resurrected,

● he begins his return to his former world; however,

● he has been transformed, even as he returns to his former world with a gift.

The intent has been to have some fun, but also to familiarize you with the pattern of how God tends to operate in the world: God does not simply change us; rather, he calls us to go with him. In the process— a journey full at trials and temptation—we are changed. It is not just the pattern for Bible heroes or superheroes, it is the pattern for your life with God as well.

Read Matthew 14:22-33

He wanted to be a hero. The prophet had told him that he would be a hero, but he was a man of little faith. He was an ordinary guy, with an ordinary background, an ordinary job, but the prophet said that he was a rock. The prophet said that he was a rock that would change the world. Finally believing the call, the hero took a chance, found himself out on the water, and began to sink. He panicked. Perhaps he was wrong about everything, and having taken a chance, now he was going to drown.

I’m talking about the movie Unbreakable, of course. Bruce Willis is David Dunn, a former football player, and now a security guard. As the move opens, Dunn seems to be the only survivor of a horrible train wreck, and he does not even have a scratch. If it is a miracle that he survived, how much more a miracle is it that he does not even have a scratch? Dunn is approached by Elijah Price who has a theory; what if the miracle is Dunn himself? Elijah tells Dunn that Dunn is a superhero, a rock, an unbreakable hero for the world.

Similarly, consider Simon, aka Simon Peter, aka Peter. He is born Simon (meaning “He [God] has heard”) but then this unusual prophet shows up and starts calling him Peter (“the Rock”). The prophet tells him:

I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16:18-19)

When Jesus finds Simon, he is fishing on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus calls him to follow—to become a disciple—but as they journey together, Jesus begins to unfold his vision for something more for Peter, something that will change the world.

But I was talking about Unbreakable. Over time, the skeptical Dunn begins to believe. He has strength he never dreamed of. He realizes that he has never been sick a day of his life, has never been injured even while playing football. But he has one weakness: water. As a child, he almost drowned in a pool. Elijah counsels him that every hero has a weakness, “Water is your kryptonite.”

Similarly, Simon—now Peter—begins to believe. He discovers power that he had never dreamed possible. He and the other disciples—under the authority of Jesus—are exorcising demons and healing the sick. He is learning about the power of prayer, where faith the size of a mustard seed can change the world. But he has one weakness. Yes, the water is dangerous, but that is not his real weakness. He real weakness is the faith he has in himself, a faith that repeatedly threatens to undo everything in his life; his weakness is pride.

Back to Unbreakable: at the bidding of Elijah, Dunn goes into the world to determine the full extent of his power. The security guard leaves the security of the world he knows to discover who he really is. He discovers a serial killer who has kidnapped a family, torturing them. Dunn frees the children, but then dropping his guard for a moment, he allows the killer to sneak up on him. Dunn is pushed from a window, landing on a tarp-covered swimming pool. For a few moments, Dunn—like Peter—is on top of the water, but then the tarp slowly begins to sink into the pool, wrapping itself around Dunn, taking him to the bottom.

This is the fast-enveloping power of evil in our lives. We set out to follow our calling; we believe ourselves to be on the right path; but then it all goes wrong so quickly. Our innate weaknesses (e.g. pride, selfishness, or fear) cause us to lose focus. Others, unaware of our calling, impede us, and we treat them as impediments instead of people. An argument gets out of hand. Or perhaps, tired and lonely, we try to take a short cut. Surely nobody will notice that we strayed from the path just this once. A moment’s lapse, everything collapses. We forget that the hero’s journey inevitably contains trials, and how we respond to the trials is not only part of the journey, it is the heart of the journey itself, the heart of the transformation that is going to change us and the world.

Peter responds to Jesus’ call by getting out of the boat. The deep water symbolizes death and the deadly forces that threaten to destroy us. Peter leaves the safety of the boat to follow the one over whom and depths and the waves have no power. Faith in Jesus gets Peter out of the boat, but then Peter loses focus for a moment; his attention is no longer on the master of the waves, but on the waves themselves, and Peter’s thought is, “What am I doing out here? I can’t do this!” The Rock begins to sink like a rock.

Dunn is saved at the moment of his impending death; a pole thrust beneath the water by an unlikely savior delivers him from the water, and he can rise to be the hero once more. Peter is saved at the moment of his impending death; the Savior’s hand reaches down to deliver him from the deep, and he can rise to be the Rock once more. This Rock will have to learn humility at least one more time; at the Last Supper, he will swear to never abandon Jesus, only to deny him three times before the next dawn. However, eventually this unlikely hero becomes the Rock of the church, leading the infant church through many trials as his keeps his eyes on the Savior.

I do not know what trials the future holds for you and me. I am leaving to oversee my mother’s health care in Virginia; that much I am certain is God’s call on my life. I do not yet have a job; I do not know when, or if, I will ever preach again; however, these are merely the waves, the trials for a time such as this. If I focus in the trials, I will stray from the path that God has called me to walk. If I try to handle everything on my own power, I will fail; rather, I am only called to follow God daily and trust in him. Likewise, in the next few months, you will not have a pastor; you will be short a leader; the future of the church looks uncertain; however, these are merely your waves, your trials for a time such as this. Please do not focus on the trials; do not take it upon yourself to fix everything by your own power. If you do, you risk straying from the path. Instead, remember that God is strongest when we are weakest; that is, God is most capable of working in our lives when we are the most willing for admit to our need for him.

In the hero’s journey, the trials are not merely obstacles to be avoided, the waves are not merely terrors to test our fortitude; rather, they are an essential part of the journey to which God has called us. Our trials go to the heart of our weakness; thus they are part of the process by which we are transformed. Now, go and be the hero.

Points to Ponder

Where has God called you to abandon the apparent safety of your former way of living for the sake of following him?

If you have left the safety of your former way, what waves are you encountering?

Where are you tempted to focus on the trials instead of on God? Can you see God at work within the trials? (I believe once we see God at work in the trials, the trials lose some of their power to terrify us.)

Benediction

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)