L esson 5 *October 28–November 3
Excuses to Avoid Mission
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Jonah 1–4; Nahum 1:1; 2 Kings
17:5, 6; Ps. 24:1; James 1:27; Isa. 6:1–8.
Memory Text: “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: ‘Whom
shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send
me’ ” (Isaiah 6:8, NKJV).
N
ot everyone called to mission was as compliant as Abraham.
Jonah is an example (read Jonah 1–4). God called Jonah to
cry out against Nineveh, capital of Assyria. This city, located
in modern-day Iraq, was 560 miles from Jerusalem, a good month’s
journey. Jonah not only refused to go—he ran in the opposite direction.
Arriving at Joppa, he purchased passage to Tarshish, now southern
Spain. Sailing the 2,000-mile trip would have taken at least a month,
depending on the weather. Not wanting to confront the king of Assyria,
Jonah uses the month it would have taken him to get to Nineveh to get
away from it. Why would he, a man of God, have done that?
The Ninevites were notoriously wicked, a people known for their evil
and cruelty and who had attacked Israel and Judah. Nevertheless, God
called Jonah to go to Nineveh and to cry out against its great wicked-
ness (Jon. 1:2). The wording here is very similar to the wording God
used with Abraham regarding Sodom and Gomorrah, in Genesis 18:20,
21. As we will see, however, Jonah was no Abraham.
What can we learn from Jonah’s attitude about the excuses that we
can make in order not to do mission?
* Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 4.
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S unday October 29
Our Excuses: Fear
Read Nahum 1:1; Nahum 3:1–4; and 2 Kings 17:5, 6; 2 Kings 19:32–
37. What do these verses reveal about Nineveh and the relationship
between Assyria and Israel? How might this relationship have
impacted Jonah’s decision to go to Tarshish instead?
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One of the reasons Jonah may have been unwilling to go to Nineveh
was fear. The Assyrians were a formidable foe, and Nineveh served as
the capital of the kingdom.
“Among the cities of the ancient world in the days of divided Israel one
of the greatest was Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian realm. . . . In the
time of its temporal prosperity Nineveh was a center of crime and wicked-
ness. Inspiration has characterized it as ‘the bloody city, . . . full of lies
and robbery.’ In figurative language the prophet Nahum compared the
Ninevites to a cruel, ravenous lion. ‘Upon whom,’ he inquired, ‘hath not
thy wickedness passed continually?’ Nahum 3:1, 19.”—Ellen G. White,
Prophets and Kings, p. 265.
Nineveh was a magnificent city. Historians tell us that Sennacherib
greatly expanded the city, including building the huge southwestern
palace that alone measured 1,650 feet by 794 feet. (503 by 242 meters)
and contained at least 80 rooms. He also built 18 canals to bring water
to the city from as far away as 40 miles (65 kilometers). Its size alone
would have been intimidating.
But the Assyrians were also ruthless. In his account of the conquest of
Babylon, Sennacherib boasted that he filled the streets with the corpses
of its inhabitants, young and old, and relief carvings found during excava-
tions depict scenes of soldiers impaling victims. These were not people you
wanted to cross; they were not averse to using violence, and gratuitously
cruelly, too, against those they didn’t like. Indeed, at the thought of walking
among the masses of people in Nineveh, Jonah must have quaked with fear.
In spite of all of this, we often read Jonah’s story with disapproval for
letting fear get in the way of carrying out God’s instructions. What we
fail to realize is that we can do the same thing (i.e., allow ourselves to
be controlled by our fears rather than by God).
Think back to a time when you felt strongly that God was direct-
ing you to do something that you, out of fear, really didn’t want to
do. What lessons have you learned from that experience?
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M onday October 30
Our Excuses: False Views
When the storm came, Jonah blamed himself (Jon. 1:1–12). His attitude
does reveal something about the kind of worldview and understanding of
God or “gods” that many had back then. While various gods, they believed,
ruled in their various lands, the sea was deemed the chaotic realm of
demons. In the worldview of the mariners, sacrifice was needed to appease
their wrath. Although Jonah was a Hebrew, he quite possibly had a world-
view that was influenced by the traditional beliefs of his times.
Read Jonah 2:1–3, 7–10. What do these verses reveal about how Jonah
started to understand God’s providence?
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Although Jonah was running from the territory where the people
claimed Jehovah as their God, he learned (the hard way) that even when
he was traveling into foreign cultures, Jehovah was still sovereign. The
wind and waves belonged to God. The fish, too. “The earth is the Lord’s,
and all its fullness” (Ps. 24:1, NKJV). Jonah’s heart was turned to the
Sovereign of earth and sea, and so he confessed and was saved.
We, too, can have misunderstandings about God and what He expects
of us. One common misunderstanding is that God’s desire for us is to
focus on our own salvation and to remove ourselves from the wicked-
ness of the world around us. Though we are instructed to keep ourselves
“unspotted from the world” (James 1:27, NKJV), our focus should be
on how we can bring God’s blessings and hope to those in need.
Another misunderstanding that stops us from accepting God’s call
into mission is believing that success depends on ourselves. We can
no more save a soul than Jonah could save Nineveh. We can have a
“savior” mentality about mission. Our call is not to do the saving but
to cooperate with God in His saving work. We give testimony praising
God for specific ways He is changing us, but only God can draw people
to Himself. We can plant seeds of truth, but only God can convert the
heart. We often confuse our role with God’s, which is enough to make
anyone find an excuse not to witness. Yes, God used Jonah, but only
God, not Jonah, turned Nineveh around.
Winning souls is hard, too hard for humans to do on their own.
How can we learn, instead, to let God win souls, but through us
and our life and witness?
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T uesday October 31
Our Excuses: Inconvenience
Jonah’s experience in the belly of the fish (see Jonah 2) was a dra-
matic show of God’s love and mercy, and Jonah’s prayer reveals that
he didn’t miss God’s message of love. But just because he had had an
incredible encounter with God didn’t mean that his old thought habits
or attitudes would easily change, even though he went to Nineveh
anyway.
Read Jonah 3. How did the people respond to what Jonah had preached?
What lessons are here for us about witnessing?
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Whatever Jonah’s personal feelings about the Ninevites, he preached
what God told him to, and the results were astonishing. The Ninevites
were moved to repentance! Yes, Jonah had to go through a lot, to do
what he didn’t want to do, but when he did it, God was glorified.
Thus, God’s mission is carried forward on the shoulders of those who
are willing to sacrifice, even if reluctantly. Our values must give way to
God’s priority for the lost. Like Jonah, we sometimes harbor prejudices
that keep us from reaching out to a person or group.
Having to face our prejudices requires humility. Mission also
requires time and emotional energy. Investing in others’ lives and truly
caring for them can be taxing. In an age when we are stressed keeping
up with our own lives and problems, providing emotional support can
seem just too exhausting.
And finally, being involved in mission often requires that we change
how we feel about and use our money. Whether related to providing
care for people, purchasing literature and outreach materials, or paying
for services or conveniences to free up time for mission work, there are
expenses related to mission. Whatever form it may take, mission work
requires sacrifice.
The good news is that in spite of Jonah’s inadequacies, God worked
powerfully in bringing the Ninevites to repentance. Sadly, Jonah did not
share in the blessing of heaven’s joy.
What sacrifice is God asking you to make—or be ready to
make—for the sake of sharing His love with someone else? How
completely do you trust that He will fulfill His promise to enrich
your life through sacrifice?
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W ednesday November 1
Our Excuses: Uncomfortable Confrontations
“Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country?
Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gra-
cious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness,
One who relents from doing harm” (Jonah 4:2, NKJV). What a beauti-
ful prayer on the part of Jonah. Or was it?
Read Jonah 4. What was wrong with this man?
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Jonah had such a deep hatred for the people God sent him to that
he felt it was better that he die than to lose face when the failure of
his doomsday preaching against Nineveh was revealed. Jonah wanted
Nineveh to be the next Sodom and Gomorrah. He was hoping for God’s
judgment on these hated people. When it didn’t happen, his worldview
was being shaken to the core, and Jonah would rather die than allow his
world to be turned upside down.
For the second time in the story of Jonah, God confronts him, not
with a sermon or a saying but with an experience. Worldviews are not
formed on demand. Nor do they change because we hear something
new or different. Worldviews are often formed and changed based on
life experiences and how they are interpreted or explained.
The new experience God gave was to help Jonah recognize his own
distorted worldview. God made a plant miraculously grow large enough
in one day to offer sufficient shade to protect Jonah from the blazing
sun. Jonah was grateful, not for God, who performed the miracle, but for
the plant. Rather than seeing this as an unmerited miracle, he saw it as
an appropriate and well-deserved blessing that followed his good works.
When the plant died, it was a misfortune that caused Jonah to grow angry
and insecure in his self-worth, and his thoughts grew suicidal.
The experience is followed by God’s voice of gentle correction, help-
ing Jonah see how foolish it was for him to value a plant more than the
many thousands of men, women, and children in Nineveh, as well as
their animals.
The story doesn’t resolve with an ending of Jonah’s repentance.
Rather, the unfinished story pivots to us. What will we do about
God’s concern for the wicked, for the bullies, for the unreached
across the globe?
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T hursday November 2
Here Am I, Send Me
Jonah’s story is more than amazing. The fact that God could save the
Ninevites in spite of the poor witness of Jonah is a stark reminder that
our role is merely to be a conduit for God, who alone can convict and
convert hearts. It is a reminder that God seeks only willing and humble
messengers who will follow His direction.
Read Isaiah 6:1–8. What is the central idea expressed in this passage?
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The call is there. God is looking for willing volunteers. We are to
answer that call by submitting to His leadership, listening to hear His
voice, and then choosing to obey whatever He tells us.
The story of Jonah also reveals God’s love for people who live where
His love is not felt and His voice not heard. Just as God had pity on
Nineveh, He has pity on the millions populating the cities today, where
buildings replace trees and flowers, and constant noise makes it diffi-
cult to be still and listen. Of Nineveh God said, they “do not know their
right hand from their left” (see Jon. 4:11, ESV). God needs messengers
who are willing to take His message of hope to those overwhelmed with
the busyness and ugliness of life.
Isaiah heard a voice saying, “Who will go?” What will your response
be?
Challenge: On a blank sheet of paper or in your prayer jour-
nal, make a list of ten people you know are not believers. We
will call them your “disciples.” List them by name if possible.
Keep this list close by, and for the rest of the quarter, pray
daily for each of your ten disciples. Pray that God will help
you become casual friends with those who are acquaintances.
Pray that you can develop deeper, closer, trusting friendships
with your casual friends. As you deepen your relationships,
carefully watch and listen so you can identify their specific
needs, hurts, and pain. Then pray that God will meet them in
that area of need.
Challenge Up: Choose a city near you as well as a city in another
part of the world. Begin praying for the people who live and work
in each. Ask that God will raise up a strong Adventist presence
that can share the truth as we know it—the truth about the soon
coming of Jesus.
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F riday November 3
Further Thought: Ellen G. White has a strong warning for those who
are struggling to follow the call of Jesus to witness to those around them.
“The excuses of those who fail to do this work do not relieve them of
the responsibility, and if they choose not to do this work, they neglect
the souls for whom Christ died, neglect their God-given responsibility,
and are registered in the books of heaven as unfaithful servants. Does
the minister work as did the Master, to be a strength and a blessing
to others, when he shuts himself away from those who need his help?
Those who neglect personal intercourse with the people, become self-
centered, and need this very experience of placing themselves in com-
munication with their brethren, that they may understand their spiritual
condition, and know how to feed the flock of God, giving to each his
portion of meat in due season. Those who neglect this work make it
manifest that they need moral renovation, and then they will see they
have not carried the burden of the work.”—Ellen G. White, Advent
Review and Sabbath Herald, August 30, 1892.
While these are very strong words highlighting the importance God
places on mission, we are not left without hope. “In the charge given
him, Jonah had been entrusted with a heavy responsibility; yet He who
had bidden him go was able to sustain His servant and grant him success.
Had the prophet obeyed unquestioningly, he would have been spared
many bitter experiences, and would have been blessed abundantly. Yet in
the hour of Jonah’s despair the Lord did not desert him. Through a series
of trials and strange providences, the prophet’s confidence in God and in
His infinite power to save was to be revived.”—Ellen G. White, Prophets
and Kings, p. 266.
Just like Jonah, we may find it easier to make excuses for not par-
ticipating in mission. Our motivation for these excuses could be one of
many. However, our call to mission is no less specific than was Jonah’s
call. The question is, How will you choose to answer?
Discussion Questions:
Ê What excuses have you been tempted to use for not being
involved in mission? What is your Nineveh?
Ë Think about how precious the truth is that we as Seventh-day
Adventists have. Think about how blessed you are to have these
truths. What is holding you back from sharing with others what
we love so much?
Ì How can you learn by God’s grace to overcome any fears you
might have about witnessing and mission?
44
i n s i d e
Story
Hope Amid Panic Attacks
By Andrew McChesney
As a girl, Grete had panic attacks. She woke up in the dark, scared, her
heart beating rapidly. Her fear was so intense that she wondered whether she
might explode. She didn’t know where to find help. She didn’t tell her par-
ents. She thought her fears were bigger than people. The world scared her,
even such ordinary things as school and walking on the street. She didn’t
think anyone in Germany, where she lived, could help.
On those sleepless nights, Grete began thinking about Annika. The two
girls had grown up together, singing in a children’s choir. Then Annika had
been diagnosed with cancer. Still, she had been brave and put her trust in
God.
“Don’t be afraid,” Annika had told her parents. “I know where I am going.
Everything will be fine.” Annika had died but without pain or fear.
Annika’s faith amazed Grete. She was scared every night. Annika’s words
were the first time that Grete had heard about a loving God and eternal life.
She wondered if there was something bigger than her and the world. How
can I get to this place where Annika planned to go? she wondered.
Grete stopped having the nighttime panic attacks when she was 14, but
she still felt afraid and lonely. Then she met her future husband, Nico. He
didn’t go to church regularly, but he strongly believed in God. His parents
were Seventh-day Adventists, and they opened their home to Grete for the
Christmas holiday. Never had Grete spent time with such a kind family. It
was a new world. Overwhelmed, she ran upstairs to cry.
As Grete sensed God’s presence in the home, she realized that she could
receive help for her fears. She saw that God is great, powerful, and able to
save anyone. She felt safe for the first time. She wanted to feel safe forever.
Grete began taking Bible studies, and later, she and Nico joined the
Seventh-day Adventist church on Germany’s Rügen island. They didn’t
know it at the time, but the church had faced closure because of declining
membership. Their presence was an answer to the prayers of church mem-
bers, including Nico’s father, Gunthardt, the head elder. Today, Grete and
Nico are active members of the thriving church, which recently constructed
a larger building to accommodate its growing mem-
bership.
“The most wonderful thing in my life is that I
got to know Jesus,” Grete said. “I know that this is
the best thing that I could have done. My life is so
happy.”
Thank you for your Sabbath School mission offerings that
help spread the gospel of hope in secular countries such as
Germany and elsewhere across the world.
Provided by the General Conference Office of Adventist Mission, which uses Sabbath School
mission offerings to spread the gospel worldwide. Read new stories daily at [Link]. 45