Insights From a Prophet In Over His Head.

Josh Waltman

[0:00] We have the privilege this morning of having a good friend of the village here with us. [0:04] Now, if you were here for our auction for missions, we had the awesome opportunity to worship [0:10] with a bunch of guys called the Worship Collective. [0:12] One of their members is here to talk to us this morning. [0:15] His name is Josh Waltman, a good friend of ours from Lynchburg, Virginia. [0:19] And he’s going to come and share God’s Word with us.

[0:23] And what he does, part of what he does is he’s the president of an organization called [0:26] And what they do is, it’s an organization on the Campus of Liberty that teaches everybody [0:33] in all walks of life as college students of how they can use their faith and dialogue [0:39] in rational ways with people in business, philosophy, every area of life, [0:44] about having faith in Jesus Christ and why it’s a reasonable faith and a rational faith that we can have. [0:49] And so without further ado, I’m just going to ask Josh Waltman to come up and share God’s Word with us this morning.

[0:57] Morning.

[0:59] Oh, man, we’re not awake. [1:01] Good morning. [1:03] Thank you. [1:03] We are Baptist, but you can talk to me. [1:06] So look, it’s a privilege to be with you this morning. [1:08] I understand.

[1:09] Congratulations are in order for Nate and Katie. [1:12] You guys. [1:14] Yeah, I don’t know where you are. [1:16] We had a precious moment this week. [1:18] He we’ve been talking through Facebook and he sent me this text. [1:23] I guess it was Friday and he was like, yeah, last time we talked, I wasn’t a dad.

[1:28] And now that I am. [1:29] And so I just thought that was really cool. [1:32] But also, let me tell you this. [1:34] I’m really honored to be here because Steve is probably one of my favorite preachers. [1:41] I’ve never told him this, but I always follow him on the podcast. [1:44] And so it’s a bit like if you’re a worship leader being asked to come speak or to come lead worship at David Crowder’s Church or something like that.

[1:50] So it’s a little nerve wracking, but I really believe that this morning’s message is applicable to every single person in here because it’s been applicable to me this week. [2:01] It is a matter of fact, I didn’t get much sleep last night in part because I’ve been dealing with some sickness, but in part because God was telling me something about how I need to apply this to my life. [2:10] And so my prayer for you this morning is that we wouldn’t just go through church as normal as if it were just this thing we do that it wouldn’t be mundane. [2:19] But that we come to the text and ask how it can read us and into our lives. [2:26] With that being said, I’m a bit of a dork. [2:29] Okay, I’ll just be honest with you.

[2:30] I was reading Martin Luther this week and my fiance will tell you this is not a new thing. [2:36] It’s just I’m a bit of a geek. [2:38] It’s just what it is. [2:39] I was reading Martin Luther this week and he was saying this about Scripture. [2:42] He was saying that if we set aside Scripture and we think about God, who we know God to be is a lot of things. [2:53] We know that he is glorious, that he is the judge, that he must be morally perfect, that in all ways he is greater than us.

[3:01] But what we see in Scripture is not, it’s not something that we could have already known. [3:06] It’s unexpected. [3:08] Scripture doesn’t take away from that understanding of God, but it adds to it. [3:13] It gives us a fuller picture. [3:15] And especially you think about the cross, right? [3:19] We know that God is the judge, but it’s unexpected and altogether surprising that he would become a man

[3:25] and that he would become a man and allow himself to be tortured for our sake. [3:31] It’s altogether surprising. [3:33] That’s what Scripture does for us. [3:35] It shows us surprising truths about God in so many ways. [3:40] And that’s what we see in the book of Jonah. [3:43] Jonah is obviously a book that many of us knew we grew up with.

[3:46] If you’re churched at all, you’ve heard the story and you think about the book in terms of the giant fish that swallows Jonah. [3:53] But really that’s only a couple of verses of the book. [3:56] The book has so many facets to it. [4:00] And really the star of the book is not Jonah himself. [4:03] The star of the book is the Lord and what we can learn about who God is. [4:08] What it reveals to us and how it gives us a glimpse into the heart of God.

[4:14] And so this morning, just if I may, I don’t want to tear it apart piece by piece as if we were studying a New Testament epistle. [4:23] I think you guys have been going through Ephesians. [4:26] And I’m sure that Pastor Steve goes through that epistle by looking at the intricacies and all of the small, fine details of that. [4:35] But really Jonah is more of a story. [4:39] There’s a reason it works as a bedtime story for our kids. [4:42] It was written that way.

[4:45] The literature itself was written that way. [4:48] And so I want to look at it as if it were a story. [4:51] And what specifically do we learn about God from this? [4:55] Look up here. [4:57] This is what we learned that’s unexpected and surprising about God in the book of John. [5:02] It is God’s mission to relentlessly pursue sinners.

[5:08] It is God’s mission to relentlessly pursue sinners. [5:15] And if you’re churched at all, maybe we’ve been desensitized to this fact because we’ve heard it over and over again. [5:20] But think about the logistics of this. [5:23] In response to our sin, [5:27] God doesn’t necessarily just sit back on his heels and wait for us to come to him. [5:34] God is more active in that.

[5:36] In his mission, he is pursuing us. [5:39] His automatic response is not judgment and condemnation, [5:45] though there are consequences to our sin.

[5:48] Instead, we see a picture of God that is patient, [5:52] a picture of God that is pursuing us, [5:55] and dare I say relentlessly pursuing us. [5:58] And I say that, and I don’t want you to take away from this, [6:01] that what I’m saying is that there doesn’t come a point in a person’s life [6:04] where they say no, no, no, no to the gospel,

[6:06] and God doesn’t just give them over to their sin. [6:08] It comes a point, it seems, in Scripture, [6:11] that someone can say no to the conviction of the Holy Spirit enough, [6:15] and God will say, well, that’s what you want, I’ll give you over to your sin. [6:18] But think about it this way. [6:20] God creates the world knowing full well that the fall was going to occur.

[6:26] He knew full well that we would sin. [6:29] He knew all of your sins before you committed them, and yet he still created.

[6:34] Why? [6:35] God was committed to a mission of redemption in his creation. [6:42] Already committed before he created. [6:45] To the point that he’s willing to send his son to die on a cross. [6:51] It is God’s mission to relentlessly pursue sinners.

[6:57] The judge comes off of the seat of authority, [7:00] walks around behind, comes down to the front, [7:02] and tells the criminal that’s been convicted that, [7:05] I care about you, I’m going to give you mercy. [7:07] That’s what we see. It’s surprising. It’s unexpected. [7:11] So with that being said, before we dive into the text,

[7:13] let’s spend some time in prayer if we will. Let’s pray.

[7:16] Father, you know my heart. [7:20] I ask that this morning, first of all, I pray against this feeling [7:23] that I’ve been dealing with this week, [7:25] that this would be just another church service. [7:28] God, may we be invigorated by your word and the power of your Holy Spirit [7:31] that we need to be connected here today, this morning,

[7:34] and the power of your Spirit in your house, Lord, [7:36] as we fellowship amongst one another, [7:38] as we come to your word, as we hear from you this morning. [7:42] I’ve had a long week, and my brothers and sisters have probably had a long week as well. [7:46] I pray, dear God, that you would connect us to the source in your word, Lord. [7:52] Illuminate and apply it as you would see fit.

[7:56] In Jesus’ name, amen. [7:58] So let’s dive right in here. [8:00] Turn in your Bibles, if you have them, to Jonah chapter 1. [8:03] It will also be on the screen. [8:06] As you turn there, Jonah is an interesting book. [8:09] I mean, we think we have an idea of what’s happening in Jonah,

[8:14] just from Sunday school, and sometimes we don’t have our facts right. [8:18] And if you notice, the title of the sermon is [8:21] Jonah 1 and 2, Insights from a Prophet In Over His Head. [8:25] So we’re going to look at the insights that we can learn about who God is from Jonah’s life. [8:30] Again, the star of the book is not Jonah. [8:32] The star of the book is the Lord.

[8:35] So, Jonah chapter 1, let’s start. [8:37] Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amittai, saying, [8:42] Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, [8:45] for their evil has come up before me. [8:48] But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. [8:52] He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish,

[8:55] so he paid the fare and went down into it, [8:58] to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. [9:03] So what happens? [9:05] God recognizes that this city, Nineveh, capital of Assyria, [9:09] it’s quite the metropolis, 120,000 plus people. [9:13] It’s a huge city, especially for the ancient Near East.

[9:16] It’s the capital of a vast empire, it’s a superpower at the time of Assyria. [9:20] And this is the capital city. [9:22] It is notorious for holding very wicked people. [9:27] Notorious, and we’ll talk about some of the details of that in just a second. [9:30] But it was so wicked that God even recognized it as being that wicked. [9:36] So much so that he’s going to send a prophet to go prophesy there.

[9:40] So, you know the story, we just read it, Jonah chooses not to, [9:44] and instead he’s going to Joppa to hop a ship to Tarshish. [9:49] Now, if you know anything about the geography of the ancient Near East, [9:52] you know that going to Joppa and Tarshish, when you’re supposed to go to Nineveh, [9:57] is like going to North Carolina instead of going to Washington, D.C. [10:02] I mean, it is quite literally the opposite direction.

[10:05] It’s pretty amazing. [10:06] He literally turns his back and goes the other way.

[10:10] And so, again, we’re talking about a people of 120,000 plus, a great military power. [10:19] It’s known to be notoriously wicked. [10:22] So, I guess on some level, Jonah is afraid. [10:27] Do you see that? Are you checking with me? [10:29] He’s afraid to go there. [10:31] But he gets this rep, okay, and he gets labeled as a bit of a racist.

[10:37] You guys ever heard that about Jonah? [10:39] He’s a bit of a racist, and on some level, that’s true. [10:43] He is a bit of a racist. [10:45] I mean, he legitimately does not like this nationality of people in Assyria.

[10:54] But as we’re going to see, in some way, it’s understandable that he wouldn’t like them. [11:00] So, what’s the insight? And then we’ll talk about it. [11:02] The first insight into Jonah’s life is that God’s mission is not prejudicial. [11:10] If you have a pencil and paper, please write this down. [11:13] God’s mission is not prejudicial. [11:18] I said a minute ago that he was a bit of a racist, but it’s understandable.

[11:20] Let me tell you what I mean.

[11:25] Assyria likely had their eyes set on Israel. [11:31] It is very likely that in their conquering of everything around them, [11:37] that they were going to have their eyes set on Israel next. [11:41] And more than that, their reputation preceded them. [11:44] I mean, these were a people that would, they would take prisoners of war when they conquered a nation, [11:49] string them up by their heels and filet their skin off, rub salt in the wound and leave them to die.

[11:57] Very wicked people. [12:00] And so it seems, on the face of it, that Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh, [12:08] because what happens if Nineveh responds? [12:12] What happens if Nineveh responds and finds favor with God, [12:16] and all of a sudden you’ve got the superpower that’s probably got their eyes set on Israel next? [12:21] What happens if they keep growing and thriving and flourishing?

[12:25] What will happen to Israel? [12:27] You see the difficulty he’s in. [12:29] He’s in a bad spot here. [12:31] I guess it would be like if during World War II, [12:34] God told you to go tell, go to stand in Berlin and tell the Nazis how evil they are. [12:38] They should repent.

[12:40] You’re scared of what they might do, [12:42] but also what happens if they semi-listen to you and then God lets them continue for a while, [12:49] and eventually they get enough power and they take over the world? [12:53] This is a real concern.

[12:57] So I guess on some level we can empathize with Jonah, right? [13:01] I can see where he’s coming from. [13:05] Let me tell you this. [13:06] Look up here. [13:08] Jonah’s sin is not necessarily just that he was disobedient. [13:13] It’s not just the sin of Jonah.

[13:16] At its heart, I think Jonah’s sin is that he wants to determine [13:22] how the mercies of God should be distributed to everyone else.

[13:27] He wants to determine over and against God’s will, [13:31] over and against God’s mission and plan. [13:33] He wants to determine how God’s mission should be distributed. [13:37] His agenda is more important than God’s agenda and his mission. [13:43] The consequences of him going, he determines, wasn’t worth the risk.

[13:50] That’s the heart and root of the sin here. [13:52] It’s not just disobedience. [13:55] The interesting thing that we find about this is that at the same time, [14:00] God sends Jonah to go to Nineveh, which is the capital of Assyria, [14:04] at the exact same time we find another passage in Scripture [14:07] tells us that Amos the prophet is sent to Israel

[14:11] to tell Israel to repent of their sins, [14:14] lest God raise up an army to judge them. [14:16] And guess what the army is? [14:19] Assyria. [14:20] So God is extending an offer of mercy to both Israel and to Assyria.

[14:29] Let me be very honest here.

[14:33] No matter where you are in your life, [14:36] no matter what you’ve done, [14:38] God doesn’t withhold an offer of mercy from you. [14:42] As long as you still have breath in your lungs, [14:44] no matter what sin you committed, [14:46] no matter where you stand,

[14:47] God does not withhold an offer of mercy if you’re willing to repent. [14:52] That’s just the truth of what we find from God here. [14:56] I can’t help but wonder if in principle though, [14:59] we don’t do the same thing that Jonah does.

[15:03] I mean the obvious application is this, [15:06] Steve and a group of you guys just got back from, [15:08] and the obvious application is maybe the Spirit was telling you, [15:11] you were supposed to go, and you said no. [15:15] If that’s possible, then this is the same sin.

[15:19] But more than that, I think about something that Steve was telling me earlier [15:23] about someone that he was talking to, [15:26] that his objection to the Gospel was that it wasn’t fair [15:29] that some people get to be saved after they’ve done so much sin.

[15:35] This runs in the face of what we see about who God is in this text. [15:39] He is not prejudicial. [15:41] He is not prejudicial. [15:43] But let me give this example.

[15:46] My fiance and I, Whitney, we had this sort of running joke. [15:50] I went over to meet her extended family one day, [15:54] and I’m a big guy, I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, [15:57] big guy, and I’ll meet one of her, [16:02] we’ll just say uncle, it wasn’t really your uncle, [16:04] but we’ll just say uncle, and get to talking to him,

[16:08] shake his hand, get to meeting him, you know, [16:10] and I can tell he does one of these numbers.

[16:14] What was he doing? [16:15] Guys know this, he was sizing me up, right? [16:18] He was making decisions about me in his head, you know, [16:20] hey, can I take this guy or not? [16:22] If I got to go get a shotgun, I will. [16:25] No, but seriously, we have these ways of doing things,

[16:30] filters in our mind’s eye. [16:33] We don’t necessarily sometimes come right in and say something [16:36] or do something externally that’s a sin, [16:39] but sometimes the sin happens in our head. [16:42] It happens when we decide to filter ourselves. [16:45] It happens when we decide to filter whether or not

[16:48] we talk about Jesus and when we’re with our family members. [16:52] When we decide to filter whether or not we talk about [16:53] what the Lord’s doing in our life when we’re at work. [16:56] And look, don’t take this the wrong way. [16:58] I’m not saying this, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have [17:01] tact, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be wise,

[17:04] but I’m saying that if at some point being tactful and wise [17:08] keeps us from the mission of God, then that becomes sin. [17:14] Amen?

[17:16] Then that becomes sin. [17:18] Here’s the point, I was talking to Whitney about this this week. [17:21] She just got a job at Chipotle. [17:22] If you like Chipotle, oh man, it’s incredible. [17:24] Don’t go to Moe’s, go to Chipotle. [17:26] Somebody’s rolling their eyes out there, that’s okay,

[17:28] we’ll talk about it later and you can repent. [17:30] But look, she just got this job at Chipotle, [17:33] and we were talking about this week, [17:34] her role there is not simply to make us money. [17:37] Her role there is to be a missionary in that place. [17:40] She is a missionary in Chipotle.

[17:43] And if being a missionary, just like you guys are called to be [17:45] missionaries, wherever the heck you’re going during the day, [17:49] you’re called to be a missionary there, [17:50] and if you decide to never talk about Jesus and never build [17:56] relationships and never say anything to do about your [18:00] spiritual life, I have to wonder if you’re really involved in

[18:05] the mission of God. [18:06] I have to wonder if you’re disobeying the Great Commission. [18:09] I have to wonder if you’re quenching the Holy Spirit.

[18:13] In your mind’s eye, you may be justifying it because of the [18:17] consequences for your life or it’s uncomfortable. [18:20] But so did Jonah.

[18:23] If God tells you to do that, then we need to do that. [18:25] We need to be engaged, or maybe in our family. [18:28] As the Lord tells us in Scripture, [18:30] you’ve been going through Ephesians, [18:31] and I’m sure Steve talked about this, [18:33] that we as fathers, Nate, we as fathers are supposed to

[18:39] disciple our kids, right? [18:41] And so if we never have anything to say about spiritual things [18:44] at the supper table, I just have to wonder if we’re not [18:46] telling God no to his mission.

[18:50] God is not prejudicial in his mission. [18:52] He offers it to the Ninevites, the wicked. [18:55] He offers it to Israel, the people that knew his word. [18:58] He offers it to a self-righteous prophet who tries to decide [19:02] how God’s mercy should be distributed. [19:04] He offers it to all.

[19:06] Let’s continue on.

[19:10] Verse 4.

[19:36] Call out to your God, because perhaps the God will give us [19:39] a thought to us that we may not perish. [19:41] So what happens here? [19:43] He hops on this ship, and the perfect storm hits, man. [19:47] It’s like that movie. [19:47] You’ve got big enough waves to where these deadliest catch

[19:51] kind of dudes that have been on the ocean their whole life [19:53] are scared out of their mind. [19:55] They go down into the hole, and what do they find? [19:57] Jonah’s asleep. [19:59] I don’t know why he’s asleep. [20:00] I really don’t.

[20:01] I’ve been agonizing over this over the past week, [20:04] trying to figure out what the heck he’s doing. [20:05] I think it has something to do with this. [20:08] I think it has to do with he had accepted that he was running [20:11] from God, he had accepted that he was sinning, [20:14] and he was trying to go hide in a hole somewhere.

[20:16] You ever do that? [20:18] I’ve done that. [20:19] I’ve done that. [20:20] I’m telling you. [20:21] You just want to go to sleep and forget all about it. [20:23] But what’s the principle we can glean?

[20:26] The insight, the second insight here is God will break you [20:30] of your sin in order that his mission be fulfilled. [20:34] He will break you of your sin. [20:37] Jonah’s off hiding in a hole, and if you’re like me [20:40] at this point in the story, you have to wonder, [20:43] why did the Lord choose Jonah?

[20:46] You ever think about that? [20:48] God knew before he chose Jonah what Jonah was going to do. [20:52] Why would he choose Jonah, someone that was going to run away,

[20:56] knowing full well that he was going to disobey? [20:58] Why would God choose Jonah to do this? [21:01] Surely there was someone else qualified. [21:03] It’s very encouraging to me. [21:06] I mean, all the stuff, excuse me, the crap that I’ve done in my life, [21:11] all of that crap, how can God use me is what I find myself asking.

[21:18] If God can use Jonah, he can use us. [21:19] Even when we sin, he can still use us. [21:22] But here’s the point. [21:24] And again, if you would look up here with me, this is very profound.

[21:30] In our sanctification, our sanctification has everything to do [21:36] with our participation in the mission of God. [21:39] I’ll say it again. [21:41] Our sanctification, that Jesus looks at us when we get saved [21:44] and says we are dirty and says we are sinful and says we are unclean [21:48] and that he decides that he’s going to take us on

[21:50] and make us more like him over the course of our life. [21:54] That sanctification process has everything to do [21:58] with our participation in his mission. [22:01] There comes a point in your spiritual development [22:04] that you just simply cannot grow anymore. [22:08] You cannot be any more close to God if you keep saying no to his mission.

[22:13] If you keep saying that you’re not going to have anything to do with mission, [22:16] or if you say you’re only going to have mission on Sunday [22:18] and you’re only going to be involved in mission [22:20] when it comes to short-term mission trips a couple times a year. [22:25] If you’re not actively living for God’s mission,

[22:31] I don’t think you can grow so much. [22:34] You’re very limited. You’re stunning your growth. [22:37] And once more, look at how God handles this. [22:42] Again, he’s not sitting back on his heels. [22:45] He goes to extreme measures to make sure that Jonah gets to the point [22:49] that he’s willing to obey.

[22:51] To the point that he sends a perfect storm, dare I say, endangering his life. [22:57] God’s not passive in this, and he’s not doing it as some dictator [23:01] that has to have his way, though he will have his way. [23:04] He’s doing it so that you can understand that your life only has purpose [23:11] when it aligns itself with the mission of God. [23:14] And he will break you of anything that’s keeping you from that.

[23:18] And I don’t know, I’m not saying that we should be scared, but maybe we should. [23:24] Let’s continue. It is God’s mission to relentlessly pursue centers. [23:28] And the passage says, And they said to one another, [23:31] Come, let us cast lots that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us. [23:37] So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. [23:40] Then they said to him, Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us.

[23:44] What is your occupation, and where do you come from? [23:47] What is your country, and of what people are you? [23:50] And he said to them, Check this, I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, [23:54] the God of heaven, catch this, who made the sea and dry land. [24:00] Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, [24:04] What is this that you have done?

[24:06] For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them. [24:10] So what happens? They get him up on the top of the ship. [24:13] Why is this guy sleeping? [24:15] They start to question him, and what do they find out? [24:18] That he actually serves the God who made the sea, and that he’s running from him. [24:23] Oh no, this is bad. Let’s continue.

[24:27] Then they said to him, What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us? [24:32] For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. [24:34] He said to them, Pick me up and hurl me into the sea, then the sea will quiet down for you. [24:40] For I know it is because of me that the great tempest has come upon you. [24:44] Nevertheless, the men rode hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, [24:50] for the sea grew more and more tempestuous.

[24:52] Therefore they called out to the Lord, O Lord, let us not perish for this man’s life, [24:57] and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O Lord, have done as it pleased you. [25:02] So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. [25:07] Catch the end result here. [25:08] Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows. [25:14] Why did Jonah accept that he should just be thrown into the sea?

[25:20] Again, I’ve really spent a lot of time as we try to figure this out. [25:23] I ultimately don’t know. [25:25] The best I have for you is that it seems at this point he has already committed, [25:30] he’d rather die, he’d rather be thrown into the sea, [25:32] than to go ahead and repent and ask God to save him. [25:35] That’s how committed he was to this disobedience.

[25:39] That’s the best I got to you by way of explanation there. [25:42] But at any rate, they finally throw him in, and the result is that the sea quiets, [25:50] and these men recognize Yahweh, Jonah’s God, as the true God. [25:56] It’s interesting, isn’t it? [25:59] Let me give you the third insight. [26:01] Refusal to accept God’s mission has consequences.

[26:07] Refusal to accept God’s mission has great consequences, both in the positive and the negative. [26:15] And I’ll tell you what I mean. [26:18] First of all, your sin, your disobedience, my disobedience, is not private.

[26:31] It’s not.

[26:34] When I refuse to be involved in mission, when I refuse to be connected to the Savior, [26:41] when I decide to disobey the Lord, everyone around me is affected by that.

[26:51] Everyone around me is affected by that. [26:52] It’s a lie from the pit of hell that says we can sin, and it only affects us. [26:57] Your family, your coworkers, your church, everyone around you is affected by sin and disobedience. [27:05] It’s just undeniable. [27:08] There are two types of sin that I want to call attention to. [27:11] I study theology, that’s sort of where my heart lies, and in theology, the theological terms,

[27:18] I’m going to give you a couple here, there are at least two different types of sin. [27:21] The first one is sin of commission. [27:24] A sin of commission is like if you told your kid, hey, don’t scratch my car, [27:31] and then they run up and on purpose scratch it, right? [27:34] That’s a sin. It’s an active thing. [27:36] You decide to go do something you know you weren’t supposed to do.

[27:39] There’s also the sin of omission, omission. [27:43] That’s the sin of knowing full well your responsibilities, [27:46] knowing full well what you’re supposed to do, and yet just not doing it. [27:51] See the difference? [27:52] Are you tracking with me? [27:55] Two different types of sin here.

[27:58] And the minute that we decide that, Lord, I don’t want to have anything to do with telling others about who you are, [28:05] telling others to repent, telling others about your word, [28:09] the minute we decide that and we decide to just go along with business as usual, [28:13] we’re committing the sin of omission, and that has consequences for everyone around you. [28:18] You think your kids don’t pick up on that? [28:22] I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this.

[28:25] There are things that as a son, my dad did, and good and bad, okay, that I find myself doing. [28:33] Your kids pick up on this. [28:34] Your kids pick up on whether or not your life is missional. [28:37] You can’t help but see that. [28:40] And the same goes with your spouse. [28:42] You can’t help but rub off.

[28:44] And so your sin and disobedience, being unwilling to be involved in mission, [28:49] it really has all sorts of consequences. [28:53] I think that this passage, though, is really written and thrown in here for at least two purposes. [28:59] I want to give those to you. [29:00] Number one, God’s discipline, it brings about the good for everyone, okay? [29:07] You see how God disciplines Jonah.

[29:09] He does it decisively. [29:11] He does it extreme, in the extreme. [29:14] But in the end, he, through his sovereignty, brings about the good. [29:19] In the end, God still gets his way. [29:22] In the end, others come to know who God is. [29:25] I find great comfort in that, that even when I screw up, God is still in control,

[29:33] and God is still going to bring about the good. [29:35] Secondly, I think the writer here wants to rub it in. [29:40] I think the writer here wants to rub it in. [29:41] Look at how these mariners respond to God in contrast to how Jonah responds to God. [29:47] The first thing that these mariners do in the time of trial is turn to find out how they could please God. [29:54] How can they appease the one who’s doing this, the authority here?

[29:58] Jonah instead runs away. [29:59] Even while he’s on the ship, even while in the midst of this storm, Jonah is still saying no. [30:06] The prophet. [30:08] That’s his job. [30:09] That’s his calling. [30:10] That’s what he’s supposed to do.

[30:11] He was, for our terms, he was a believer. [30:15] And these unbelievers understand full well what obedience means. [30:20] It’s really interesting here.

[30:23] In any case, it is God’s mission to relentlessly pursue sinners. [30:27] So let’s look at the next part of the passage. [30:30] And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. [30:33] And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. [30:36] Then Jonah prayed to the Lord as God from the belly of the fish saying, [30:40] I called out to the Lord out of my distress.

[30:43] And he answered me out of the belly of Sheol. [30:46] I cry. [30:47] And you heard my voice. [30:49] Jump down to verse nine. [30:50] But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you what I have vowed. [30:55] I will pay.

[30:57] Salvation belongs to the Lord. [30:59] And the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land. [31:03] The fourth insight.

[31:06] In God’s mission, God answers a cry for help. [31:10] In God’s mission, God answers a cry for help.

[31:15] I think it’s interesting that Jonah appeals to God’s mercy when he’s knee-deep in judgment, [31:22] the very thing that he withholds from the Ninevites. [31:25] Don’t you find that fascinating? [31:27] That’s just the insight into human nature, I think. [31:29] But once more, check this out. [31:34] I want to read something to you.

[31:36] He answers Jonah even when Jonah is guilty. [31:40] He answers Jonah even though Jonah is under judgment. [31:45] He answers Jonah even though the circumstances are bleak as a result of his decisions. [31:51] He answers Jonah even when he’s in over his head.

[31:57] God does not withhold an offer of mercy to anyone as long as we’re willing to repent. [32:06] He will answer you. [32:07] He will answer you when your kids have picked up on your bad habits. [32:13] And he will answer you when your marriage is failing. [32:16] He will answer you when you’ve fought with your wife and when you storm out [32:22] and need to come back and apologize.

[32:23] He will give you the patience to do that. [32:26] He answers you when you’re supposed to go on that mission trip today and you told him no. [32:32] He answers you even though we’re guilty, he answers us.

[32:39] That’s just the nature of God here. [32:42] Why does Jonah have to stay in the belly of a fish for three days? [32:48] I think it has to do with, note, that vehicle of salvation, that fish, okay, [32:53] was not necessarily the method of salvation he had in mind, okay. [32:57] He didn’t want to be swallowed by some fish. [32:59] But he was thankful nonetheless.

[33:01] I think God is chipping away at Jonah’s stubbornness [33:04] because by the time we get to chapter three, he’s all of a sudden willing to engage in the mission. [33:09] He’s all of a sudden willing to go to the Ninevites, [33:11] and he sees 120,000 plus come to know Yahweh as God.

[33:19] God is chipping away, even though this isn’t the method of salvation he had in mind necessarily. [33:24] God is chipping away at Jonah’s stubbornness. [33:27] And in the end, he answers Jonah, provides salvation for Jonah. [33:33] So, in conclusion this morning, here’s what we see. [33:37] It is God’s mission to relentlessly pursue sinners.

[33:42] God’s mission is not prejudicial, [33:45] and God will break you of your sin in order that his mission would be fulfilled. [33:49] A refusal to accept God’s mission results in severe consequences every time. [33:56] But in the end, God is willing to answer you when you cry out for help, [34:00] even when you’re under judgment, even when you’re guilty. [34:04] If I have to, I would have failed this morning if I didn’t say this.

[34:09] Don’t you see Christ in the text?

[34:13] Don’t you see the Gospel here, even in the Old Testament?

[34:19] God is not prejudicial in sending Jesus. [34:22] He’s not prejudicial. He sends for the whole world, is what the text says. [34:27] He doesn’t choose one person over another, regardless of how much you send. [34:32] The Gospel is for you no matter what you’ve done. [34:34] He’s not prejudicial, and he’s going to pursue you by sending his Son, [34:39] regardless of where you find yourself, and regardless of what kind of mess you’re in.

[34:44] Even if that mess is something that you’ve done.

[34:49] But, even still, God is going to pursue you, even when you’re a prophet, [34:55] even when you’re a minister running from God, [34:57] even when you’ve been disobedient after being a Christian for 30 years, [35:01] God is not going to stop pursuing you. [35:03] He’s going to see this thing to the end. [35:08] He’s going to make you more like himself.

[35:10] Jesus doesn’t stop as soon as he would get saved. [35:12] He keeps pushing. [35:15] Sometimes with radical measures.

[35:19] He pushes so that we can have eternal value in our lives. [35:23] He pushes so that our lives can have meaning, that we might have crowns in heaven. [35:29] He knows that our lives mean nothing in terms of eternal things [35:32] if we aren’t in coordination with the will of God, in coordination with the mission of God.

[35:40] Christ and his Spirit will break us of our sin. [35:44] And if we’ve refused his mission, again, there are consequences for all of us, [35:48] but even still, he’s there to pick us up, even when we’re in over our heads. [35:54] That’s the gospel.

[35:57] He sends Christ to pursue us. [36:01] It’s radical. It’s unexpected. It’s surprising. [36:06] If we hadn’t been desensitized to this from hearing it for so many years, [36:10] I think we might be blown away by it. [36:13] I wonder, I haven’t really asked Steve, but I wonder the response to the gospel from people who’s never heard it before. [36:20] I wonder if they’re not just blown away.

[36:24] It’s unexpected. [36:26] And so this morning we have the opportunity to respond by taking communion. [36:32] We respond in thankfulness to God’s mission, that he allows us to partake, that he saves us, [36:40] that he is willing to, and his kindness lead us to repentance, [36:44] that he’s willing to answer our cry for help when we get in over our heads. [36:50] Let’s pray.

[36:53] Father, thank you for your word and how it reads us. [36:55] It reads into our lives. It tells us and shows us who you are. [37:01] It tells us and shows us how we are to respond to you. [37:06] Father, I ask that we would apply this generously to our lives, liberally to our lives. [37:12] I ask, dear Lord, that today and every Sunday would be a chance for us to grow closer to you, [37:18] and we wouldn’t take that lightly, that we would see the enormity of your mission,

[37:22] that we would engage in purposeful mission with our lives, that we would be missionaries [37:27] wherever we find ourselves, Lord, that you would empower us in the power of your Holy Spirit to do that, Lord, [37:33] that you don’t leave us there, but you answer our cry to help. [37:36] And God, I just pray that this morning that your Spirit would illuminate and apply as you see fit. [37:44] In Jesus’ name, Amen. [37:46] Thank you so much. I don’t know where you are. I don’t know how that hit you.

[37:53] But I can tell you, over the past few weeks, what I’ve been learning about myself is that I’m so prideful [37:58] that I don’t cry out for help enough for my Father. [38:03] And one thing that we learn in communion is that in that relentless pursuit of us, in his great mission, [38:11] God will not stop at anything to save us. [38:14] He will not stop at anything to respond to our repentance.

[38:19] We see in the bread the broken body of Jesus. We see in the cup the shed blood of our great Savior. [38:27] And in this table, what we see is God saying all the barriers to fellowship with him, [38:33] all that would keep us from having a relationship with him, [38:36] in the sacrifice and death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. [38:41] He takes those away, and he just says, cry out to me. [38:46] And wherever you are this morning, I invite you, not by my invitation, but by the invitation of the Creator of the Universe,

[38:55] that you can come and you can share a time of fellowship with our God [39:00] and reflect on the great sacrifice that he has made so that you can have a right relationship with him. [39:09] Not just so that you can live a life of doing the right things for him, [39:14] but rather so that you can have the freedom where the pressure is off, [39:17] where you can just live and be with him and have the privilege of taking that good news to everyone, [39:26] with no prejudice, where sin is broken, where he responds to you as his child whom he loves.

[39:37] And so this morning God invites you to come to his table up here in the back. [39:42] If you’ve never known the freedom that is in Jesus, I invite you to first come talk to me, come talk to Josh. [39:49] There’ll be those in the back ready to share the good news of God’s redemption with you. [39:55] And then maybe today you can have fellowship with our great God for the first time. [40:01] When you’re ready, come, because God loves you.