Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.61LIKELY
Sadness
0.47UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.62LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.6LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.56LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.48UNLIKELY
Extraversion
0.08UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.74LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.62LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
The story of Jonah always makes me think of who I relate to most in the story.
Far too often, it’s Jonah.
Last Week: When following God gets uncomfortable, most try to run from him.
But as the story of Jonah teaches us, you can't outrun God or his Relentless Grace.
Jonah was called to “those people” in Nineveh.
Jonah was angry with God because he didn’t believe the people even deserved a chance of hearing a message of repentance.
Yet throughout the first chapter it is the pagan, idolatrous sailors who pray to God, take vows in his name, and offer a sacrifice to God.
What does Jonah do?
He’d rather die than go preach the Word of God to “those people.”
God Provided
The fish was not a punishment for this unrepentant prophet, but rather a means of saving his life, and a push from God to motivate Jonah to do the right thing.
This action is God not only saving Jonah’s life, but trying to save his soul by giving him an opportunity to repent!
Jonah’s Psalm
Jonah’s prayer is delivered in the style of a Thanksgiving Psalm.
In a world where people didn’t have access to the written Scriptures, they came to know God through the Psalms they sang in worship.
The Psalms shaped their entire world-view.
Imagine having no access to a Bible and only knowing God through the songs you sing, and seeing others live this out.
Could you walk faithfully doing this?
When Jonah is at his lowest point, near death, he “remembers” the Psalms and sings/prays one to God.
A song of rededication to God.
Last week we spoke of how sin is referred to as “forgetting” and the need to “remember” all throughout the Psalms.
Jonah does that here!
Do you hear echoes of Psalm 23? Do you hear echos of Jonah’s prayer?
God Hears & Answers
Did God answer the way Jonah wanted?
He saved him, but probably not the way Jonah would have liked.
Yet he still praises God and acknowledges his attentiveness even though it’s not what Jonah would have chosen!
Confession to God
Jonah opens up and confesses how he felt, what he went through, and who he attributes his situation to…It’s God doing this!
Jonah feels God is reversing the situation...”I ran from you, now you banish me to the heart of the sea.”
Commitment to God
Jonah vows to “look again toward” God’s temple.
Basically, Jonah will stop looking for his own way, and look to God for direction.
God as Savior
Even though Jonah doesn’t have all he wants at the moment, he praises God for what he has already done and trusts/begs God to continue to move.
Many of David’s psalms work this way as well.
“Thank you for what you’ve done…now about this...”
Jonah chased the idol of comfort/prejudice.
He realizes that doing so is turning away from the love of God…the grace of God.
But Jonah has decided to do so no more.
A Different Storm
How would you respond in a storm?
How are you currently responding to the storm?
Are you running, or are you praising?
Are you hiding, or are you trusting?
How you practice is how you will perform.
Jonah was so saturated in the Psalms that when a storm came he responded with praise and recommitment to God.
What are you preparing for?
We can run from God, or we can draw near to God.
We can try to face the storms on our own, or we can praise God in the storm.
We can walk with the one that can end the storms!
Why do storms happen?
I don’t know, but I do know the one who is greater than any storm we will face.
Even when we are the cause of the storm, God’s relentless grace pursues us.
Are we going to trust God through the storm and walk with Jesus who calms the raging storms in our lives?
That is the decision each of us has to make.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9