 Throughout my life, I've increasingly found that reading scripture in public isn't just about feeding our own spirits and minds, but about rehearsing the mighty acts of God for God's glory. So let's think together about Jonah 1.9. And first, we're going to need some tea. Jonah said, I am a Hebrew. I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land. The scene is on a boat in the Mediterranean Sea being tossed to and fro by storms and the sailors are anxious that the boat is going down any minute. Jonah has been fast asleep and they have to wake him up and say, hey, what's going on? Call to your God. Perhaps maybe they'll be away so that we don't all have to die through being drowned in this terrible storm. And then they say to him, who are you anyway? What are you doing here? Because they cast lots and discover that as far as they can tell, it's somehow Jonah's fault that this storm has come upon them. And that's when Jonah says, I am a Hebrew and I worship Yahweh the Lord, the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. Good for Jonah to remember that because actually he seems to have forgotten earlier on. God had called him to go to Nineveh, a great city to the northeast a long way away from where he himself lived and to preach against them and to say yet 40 days, just a month or so, and Nineveh is going to be overthrown. Jonah is terrified. So he gets on a boat going in the opposite direction as far and as fast as he can to the west. And that's the point at which God catches up with him and the storm catches him and they ask him who he is and this is his explanation. And I can feel already a sort of sense of resignation. Yes, I worship Yahweh the God of heaven and earth. He made the sea and the dry land. In other words, I should have known all along. Often when we're in a mess, we come to our senses. We are forced to remind ourselves of what we actually know about God, what we actually believe about who he is and what he has called us to do. And so then the men, the sailors on the boat are very, very much afraid and they say, well, what is it that you've done? And he tells them that he's been trying to run away from the presence of the Lord and he now realizes that that's impossible. That, of course, is a message which we all need again and again. Frequently, we find ourselves trying to do something on the side, trying just to escape for a minute from the presence and indeed the calling of God upon our lives, upon our hearts, our service, our prayer, whatever, as though God might give us a day off just going to your own thing for a while. That's not how it works because the God of love loves us far too much to let us escape into nothingness. If we do that, it'll be storms all the way and drowning in prospect. And so then you know how the story works. They throw Jonah into the sea and the sea is calm, astonishingly and a great fish swallows up Jonah and then you probably know how the rest of the story works that Jonah then is spat out by the fish and he does go and preach to Nineveh. And word seems to have got to the people of Nineveh. You'll never guess how this man came to be here and they repent. And then it goes on with Jonah being cross with God because when they repent God forgives them and Jonah is then cross because it looks as though he's being a false prophet. And again God has to remind him I am the God of heaven and earth. I care about all these people. It wasn't just a private deal between you and me. So the message I think for us from this is to remind ourselves again and again who's we are and whom we serve. When we follow Jesus when we find his call upon our lives it's not just for an incidental thing here and there it's because we are called to be part of his heaven and earth promise and purpose and we are caught up in that and in following that we will find his will. We will find that even though the storms may rage when we come back and say yes actually this is the one whom I serve and in Jesus I know him personally and he knows me and loves me then maybe bad things may still happen to us but we can be sure that we will be brought through safely and that God's purposes even if we don't always understand them will in fact be fulfilled. So may God give you courage and confidence to follow where he leads to do what he tells you to do and when you're stuck be reminded that he is the Lord of heaven and earth and you are right in the middle of his purposes. Amen.