Part 9, Jonah

If you haven’t picked up already, if you’ll be finding in your copy of God’s word the book of Jonah, Jonah. If you’re using a Pew Bible, it’ll be page 821. The Pew Bible there in front of you, page 821.

And when you get there to chapter one in the book of Jonah, if you’re able, if you will stand with us as we read God’s word. Chapter 1, beginning in verse one.

Now hear the word of the Lord.

Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,

"Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa, and found a ship going to Tarshish; so he paid the fare, and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

But the LORD sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up.

Then the mariners were afraid; and every man cried out to his god, and threw the cargo that [was] in the ship into the sea, to lighten the load. But Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship, had lain down, and was fast asleep.

So the captain came to him, and said to him, "What do you mean, sleeper? Arise, call on your God; perhaps your God will consider us, so that we may not perish."

May God at his blessing to the reading, the preaching, and your hearing to understand his holy word. May our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ forever be praised. And all of God’s people say, “Amen.” Amen. And amen.

A voyage with Jonah and the God who pursues with grace. The story that everyone knows, right? Because even if you haven’t been to Sunday school, if you’ve seen Veggie Tales, you know the story of Jonah. Everybody seems to know it, but very few people understand it.

Jonah is one of the most familiar stories of the Bible. is so familiar in fact that sometimes we miss its depth because when we know it so well we just sort of skim over it. We’ve turned it into the children’s tale about the runaway prophet and the big fish.

But the truth, the eternal truth is far greater and it is also far more personal. The story of Jonah and the great fish is also a story about us. Jonah’s story isn’t about a man and a whale. It’s about a man and his God.

Jonah’s story is a story about rebellion. It is a story about repentance. And it is a story ultimately about God’s relentless grace given to his people.

Jonah was a real prophet in the northern kingdom at that time. He was called to deliver a real message to a real city of Nineveh. They were a violent people, a godless people, an empire that was known for its brutality. And God said, “Jonah, go and preach to them.” And when God said, “Go,” Jonah said, “No.”

And in that moment, he set sail not just away from Nineveh, but he also set sail away from obedience, set sail away from joy, he set sail away from peace. He set sail away from contentment. And we do the same when we tell God no.

But the good news of Jonah’s story is this. You can run from God, but you can’t outrun God. Amen.

And so let’s begin this morning by retelling the story. A voyage of rebellion and of redemption.

So Jonah, as we read there this morning, boarded a ship bound for Tarsish. I don’t know why that word is so hard to say. Let’s rename that city. Tarsish. Tarsish.

And what he’s doing, he’s running in the opposite direction away from God’s will. And that’s what God’s people do. So many times when God tells us what to do and we don’t want to do it, we don’t just maybe adjust 10%, we go 180 degrees the opposite direction. Amen.

And so the Lord sends, the Bible says, a great wind, a storm so fierce that the hardened sailors who had seen it all, they fall to their knees.

And after what we read this morning, Jonah finally admits to the captain, “It’s me. It’s me. All of this is happening because of me.” And he tells them to throw me overboard. Throw me into the sea. And reluctantly, they finally do.

And when they do, the sea calms instantly and the storm ends instantly.

And when the sailors who were on board, remember these are pagans. When the pagan sailors who were on board that ship, they see what the real God, the true and living God has done. They fall to their knees. They offer sacrifices to the real Lord and God. Look what happened. Those sailors got saved right there on the deck of the boat.

Meanwhile, as they’ve thrown him over, Jonah sinks like a rock. sinks down into the depths of the sea. And just when you can imagine and you can visualize it, Jonah maybe trying to hold his breath and holding his breath till all breath was gone until the last the last millisecond. All is lost and God appoints a fish.

I wish I had time to we’ll talk about it on Wednesday night about what it means for God to appoint the fish. It means that God was there when that fish was an egg and he washed it the whole time. I don’t have time for that this morning. I don’t have time for that this morning. We’ll do it Wednesday night. Okay.

And God appointed that fish not to punish Jonah. No, we won’t do it this Wednesday night because we’ll do it later. Thinking on the fly here.

God appoints the fish. And he appointed the fish not to punish Jonah, but to preserve Jonah. If he had not sent the fish, Jonah would have been dead inside the belly of that great fish.

And once inside the belly of the great fish, Jonah prays. And he prays one of the most desperate, heartfelt prayers in all of scripture. Jonah says, “When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord.” Salvation is of the Lord. You’re going to hear it several more times. Salvation is of the Lord.

And right then, as we were watching there with Veggie Tales, God commands the fish and Jonah spit out onto dry land.

Then comes one of the sweetest verses in the Old Testament. This verse here in chapter 2. The word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time. Aren’t you glad that God gives second chances? Amen.

Jonah obeys. Halfheartedly obeys, but he obeys. He goes, he preaches to Nineveh a short reluctant sermon. You say, “This is our evidence. There’s no such thing as a bad short sermon.” He goes there, he preaches to them, “Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be destroyed.” That’s all he preaches.

And to his astonishment, then the entire city repents from the king in his palace to the beggar in the street. They believe God. They turn from their evil ways. They repent in ashes and sackcloth. and they are spared.

But instead of rejoicing, Jonah pouts. He throws a fit. He sits on a hillside angry that God would forgive such people. Angry that God would spare such people.

So the book of Jonah ends with God teaching Jonah a final lesson through a vine and a worm. I encourage you to read the entire book, only four chapters. The vine and the worm, a living parable of teaching us grace is undeserved.

You don’t deserve the grace God gives you. I don’t deserve the grace God gives me. The people of Nineveh did not deserve the grace God gave them. And Jonah did not even deserve the vine that God made grow and shade his head from the sun. It was all grace.

So, we retell the story.

Number two, we remember the truths. I’ve reminded you of this before. On the back of your bulletin is a blank space. It’s a great place to take notes. Some of these truths may you may need to go back and review them.

But truth number one that we see, you can run from God’s call, but you can’t outrun God’s care. Watch this.

Jonah’s flight to Tarses didn’t surprise God. The storm, the sea, the sailors, and the fish were all part of God’s plan to bring his child home. When you run, God doesn’t give up. He shows up.

You can run from God’s call, but you can’t outrun God’s care. God sent the fish to rescue Jonah, not destroy him. Amen.

Truth number two, the storms of life may be severe, but they’re never senseless.

I don’t know where everybody is. I know where some of you are in life. I don’t know where everybody is in life. And those of you that I know some of the things in your life because you shared them with me for prayer, I don’t know everything. Amen. But I know a God who does.

So here’s the truth. some storms in your life. Not all storms. You didn’t hear the preacher say all storms, did you? Did the preacher say all storms? No.

But some storms are corrective for you, not senseless. Some storms in your life are not destructive.

God was not trying to drown Jonah. If God wanted to to punish Jonah, if J if if God wanted to kill Jonah, he could have struck him dead right there while he was sleeping on the boat.

God wasn’t trying to drown Jonah. He was trying to deliver Jonah. And some of the hardest seasons in your life, maybe you’re in one of them right now. Some of the hardest, most difficult things that you could ever go through in your life are God’s way of steering you back to the path you need to be on. Are God’s way of bringing you back to the obedience that he’s called you to in the first place. Amen.

The storms of life may be severe, but they’re not senseless.

Number three, truth. Number three, when you can’t do anything else, you can still pray, praise, and persevere. Amen.

Jonah, when he was in the belly of that fish, he could not lift a finger to save himself. He could not do anything to save himself. The fish did not have a steering wheel, did not have a rudder in his gut.

He couldn’t do anything to save himself, but he could lift his voice in the belly of a great fish. Chapter 2. Read it.

Folks, sometimes the most powerful prayer you’ll ever pray comes from the darkest place that you’ve ever been. No matter what’s happening, you can still pray. You can still praise. And sometimes that when when praising God’s all you can do, it’s the best thing you can do. Amen. And you can persevere.

All right, hold on to your hats. Truth number four. God’s mercy is greater than our prejudice.

The truth is Jonah didn’t want the Ninevites to be saved. Jonah did not want the Ninevites to repent. Jonah wanted the Ninevites for God to blast them. That’s what Jonah wanted.

Jonah didn’t want the Ninevites to be saved, but God did.

Folks, we often divide people into the deserving and the undeserving. We do that. But God only sees one category, the undeserving.

Grace doesn’t fit inside of our neat and tidy little prejuditial lines that we draw in our mind. God’s grace reaches the sailor and the city, the preacher and the pagan.

God’s grace is not prejuditial.

Let me give you a some personal examples. Can Can you hand a little conviction this morning? But you gonna get some. Here you go.

when you’re watching the news or you’re watching the reals or you’re scrolling through the Tik Toks and there’s I’ve learned that about 40% of the population get their news from Tik Tok. That’s just how it is now. And you see the videos and you know that once you’ve clicked on about seven or eight different things, it’s learned you and it’s learned what kind of things to show you.

and you see on those videos or on those news stories or wherever it is you’re consuming media, when you see those protesters that you don’t support what their cause is and you’re on the opposite side of their cause, what do you think about them?

When you see the crooks on the Scotty Ray report or Shad White report, when you see the crooks that get caught, what do you think about them?

When you see the defense department have a report about foreign adversaries, all these groups. Do you think blast them, God, get them, God?

And to be honest, you may even think strike them dead, God. Especially if you’re watching State of the Union response by the other side.

Do you pray that or do you pray what you should pray? God open their eyes. God open their heart. God draw them to repentance and faith. God, let your Holy Spirit draw them to salvation.

God’s mercy is greater than our prejudice.

Truth number five, grace isn’t just what God gives. Grace is who God is.

Jonah got angry that God forgave. Jonah got mad and God asked him said, “Jonah, why are you so upset? You don’t have any reason to be upset.” And Jonah said, “I am mad. I’m so mad. I could die. I’m so mad.” He pitched him a little fit. He got angry.

I mean, he he was expecting hellfire and brimstone like Sodom and Gomorrah to fall down on him. And instead, when he saw God’s grace and he saw people repenting of their sin and getting right with God, they got mad.

And God tried to teach him a lesson there with the vine and the worm. that the same grace that saved Jonah again and again. The same grace that kept Jonah from dying in the storm. The same grace that kept Jonah from dying in the belly of the fish. And the same grace that caused the fish to spit Jonah out on dry land was the same grace that God had given to the Ninevites.

Folks, we don’t get to control who God loves. We don’t get to control who God forgives. We don’t get to control who God saves.

I’ll tell you just this last week we had some work done at the church by the the Royal Repair Group and I praise God for what Pastor Jay Clark and Philip Prince are doing through Onisimus House and and I’m doing the jail ministry at the front end and and I had three guys that were came to the church and and they did some work for us here that they were employed by this ministry giving them experience and a second chance in life and all three of them had been in my jail ministry on Thursday night and they recognized me and they I knew them and we got to rejoice and we got to to celebrate because I saw how far they had come. Still a long way to go. Amen.

But what will we do? We’ll see somebody and we’ll see the criminal record and we’ll write them off. No hope for them. God can’t even save them. Friends, if God saved you, he can save them.

We don’t get to control who God loves. We just get to thank him that he loved us first. Amen.

So, let’s respond with faith. Here’s what we need to do as we respond with faith.

Number one, stop running. Start returning.

Jonah’s first step away from God was disobedience. But your first step back to God is repentance. Repentance literally means stopping the direction you’re going away from God. Stopping turning around and going the opposite direction back to God.

Jonah’s first step away from God was disobedience. But your first step back to God is repentance. If you’re tired of fighting that same storm, it’s time to surrender.

Respond with faith. Number two, trust that God’s discipline is only his mercy in disguise.

The fish wasn’t punishment. It was preservation. Folks, the hard thing you’re facing right now might be the very thing God is using to save you.

Number three, and I I praise the Lord for our teenagers. We’ve got some young ladies that have God has put a burden on their heart and they’re sharing the gospel at school and they’re sharing the gospel on social media. And I say, God bless them.

Share the gospel. Share the gospel even when you don’t think it’ll work. You don’t get to decide whether it’ll work or not. It’s not up to you whether it’ll work or not. It’s up to you to be faithful and share the lifechanging message with Jesus. You just put it out there and let God do the rest. Amen.

Jonah’s reluctant sermon and he didn’t even want to preach it. That short little bllythe sermon he preached caused a nationwide revival. Don’t underestimate what God can do with your one little small act of obedience.

Number four, rejoice when grace reaches other people.

Young people at school, that bully who has been bullying you since the third grade. And just be honest with me, you hate his guts.

Jesus said, “Pray for those who persecute you and do all manner of evil against you.” And when Just go ahead and claim it. Go ahead and claim. When that person gets saved, you be the first person to run up to them and give them a big hug and say, “Welcome to the family of God.”

Rejoice when God’s grace reaches others. If you are saved, you have received the same mercy you might be tempted to resent in others. Celebrate every sinner who finds their way home because that, my friends, is the heartbeat of heaven.

Respond with faith. Number five, live in the light of the greater Jonah, Jesus Christ.

Jonah, listen carefully. We’re almost done. Jonah spent three days and nights in the belly of a great fish. Jesus spent three days and nights in the tomb. Jonah came out preaching judgment. Jesus came out proclaiming salvation. Jonah went unwillingly to his enemies. Jesus went willingly to cross for us.

Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 12, Jesus said, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights, and the men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it because they repented at Jonah’s preaching.” And look, he said, something greater than Jonah is here, the son of God, the savior.

Folks, to conclude, the gospel is the gospel of a God who pursues.

If you’ll bring up that last screen, Jonah’s story ends with a question. Chapter 4, the book of Jonah. And so does this sermon.

God asked Jonah. God asked Jonah when he was so mad, when he was stomping his feet, the people got saved. God said, “Should I not be concerned about that great city?”

The same question echoes to us today. Should God not love the world enough to send his only son? Should he not love you enough to chase you down even in your rebellion?

Folks, you can run, but you can’t outrun his mercy. You can fall, but you can’t fall beyond his reach. And you can fail, but you cannot fail so badly that his grace can’t restore you.

Friend, the God who pursued Jonah across the sea and through the storm is pursuing you right now with nail scarred hands and a heart full of grace. So stop running. Surrender to his will. Receive his mercy. For just as Jonah said in the belly of the great fish, for salvation is of the Lord.