God Doesn't Quit - Jonah 3

Introduction

The pandemic has brought significant changes to the workplace. Because the COVID crisis required all-hands-on-deck, many employees were asked to work well outside of their job description and regular work hours to keep their employers afloat. Further, the pandemic also led to the Great Resignation and workforce shortage from which most businesses still haven’t recovered. That means that remaining employees have had to continue carrying an extra load, and the result has been that even in the face of record-breaking inflation, increased work hours and demands, compensation has not been increased in proportion to performance and sacrifice.

So, quiet quitting has become the latest trend. Quiet quitting is the refusal to do anything outside of the bare minimum requirements. It’s no longer staying late, no longer going the extra mile, no longer sacrificing for the team. It’s emotionally disengaging from your work, even though you still work there. It’s the elimination of internal drive, passion, and concern for a broader well-being.

God’s Word

What if God ‘quiet quit?’ What if He resolved to only operate according the bare minimum so that the universe stayed afloat? What if He only operated by what is just and deserved? What if His internal drive, passion, and concern for the world wore out? He’d certainly give up on people like Jonah, the Ninevites, and us, wouldn’t He? So, if I were to summarize the main point of chapter 3, it would be that God doesn’t quit. He’s determined to carry out his will in his creation through his people. Three Results of God’s Determination: (Headline)

God keeps “sending.”

The mantra of the quiet quitters is: “Why keep trying?” All they seem to get for their efforts is more work and more responsibility for no more pay and no more recognition. And, we’re deep enough into the Big Story now to recognize that this ought to be the mantra of God, shouldn’t it? He keeps loving his people, and they keep running from him. Jonah is just the latest case in a string of runners. But, we see in Jonah what we’ve seen time and again as we’ve charted our path through the OT: God is more determined to love his people than we are determined to live for Him.

He keeps sending the “reluctant.”

Jonah 3:1-2 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.””

Perhaps, there’s no words full of more grace in the book of Jonah than: “the Lord came to Jonah the second time.” God never promises us a second chance, and there are numerous instances in the Bible where a second chance isn’t given. But, here we see what is the more common reality: God doesn’t quit on you just because you quit on him. This is true here of Jonah, isn’t it? God is determined to use Jonah, and He’s determined to reach Nineveh. This is only the second time that we’ve heard God speak in the book of Jonah, and do you notice what He says? The exact same thing. Word for word. A lot has happened in Jonah’s life as a result of his reluctance. He’s been thrashed by the waves, nearly drowned in the sea, and then swallowed and spat out by a great fish. But, God’s call, God’s word didn’t change at all. God was determined to send this reluctant prophet.

We must never presume a second chance will come, but we must never waste it when it does. Because, you see, He’s going to keep sending because...

He keeps going to the “wretched.”

Jonah 3:3-4 “So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days’ journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!””

So, it’s the same message to Jonah, but, thankfully, a different response from Jonah. Verse three starts the same way as 1:3. But, in chapter 1 Jonah “arose and fled to Tarshish” and in chapter three Jonah “arose and went to Nineveh.” It’s really strange that God is so determined to go to Nineveh, isn’t it? These were truly awful people. Even the king of Assyria says that they were evil in verse 8. They would rape the children of conquered villages. They would cut the noses off of conquered men and make them live with the wound as a humiliation. They were truly wretched people. But, God is determined to reach them with his mercy.

There are incredible glimpses of mercy in these two verses. First, there is the man of mercy. God actually sends his prophet to dwell with them and minister to them face-to-face. Jonah is literally the incarnation of the word of God. He’s standing in the middle of Nineveh as the picture that the very Almighty himself has come to them. Then, there’s the message of mercy. If God was determined to destroy the city, why would there have been 40 days for them to think about it? That certainly wasn’t the case for Sodom. The 40 days are an offering of mercy for them to turn away. This is even clearer when you recognize that Jonah’s five word sermon is loaded with double meaning. “Overthrow” is used in Genesis 19 to speak of the destruction of Sodom. And, the exact same word is used in Deuteronomy 23:5 to speak of God “overthrowing” or “turning” judgement into blessing out of love. That one word is both a warning and an invitation to them. It’s a Good News message.

Jonah’s ministry reminds us of the ministry of Jesus where see the determination of God even clearer. Jesus is the Word incarnate — the Word who becomes flesh and dwells among us. And, yet the very people among whom He dwelled to save hated him for it. They were wretched, but God was determined to go to them. If we’re going to impact the secular culture of today, that has to be the posture of the church today, too. We must go to people who hate us with a message of mercy for them.

But, the ministry of Jesus is difficult one for us to take up. Quiet quitting — just going to church, going to lunch, and going home — is much easier, much less taxing, much less threatening. But, we should keep going because...

God keeps “stirring.”

Quiet quitting can only set in when there’s an absence of passion. Wherever you find sincere passion, you find, at the same time, indomitable resolve. So, it’s interesting that we often quiet quit on God, isn’t it? Really, that’s what Jonah did. He didn’t make a big production about going to Tarshish instead of Nineveh. He went quietly. Like us, his passion for God’s glory wilted under the difficulty of God’s call. But, God’s passion for his glory doesn’t fade. His burden for the nations doesn’t diminish. That’s why He doesn’t quit, and, ironically, that’s why He sends prophets that do want to quit. God sends us his word and his preachers and his Spirit to stir us up toward him. And, surprisingly, perhaps, the Ninevites of all people show us...

How we should “respond.”

Jonah 3:5-6 “And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”

Nineveh responds to Jonah the way that every prophet and preacher dreams. It’s a vivid picture. The word of the Lord came to Jonah, but his heart was hard. He “arose” went the other way. So, that’s in our minds when we read verse 6, and “the word reached the King of Nineveh, and He arose” to leave his throne for the ashes of grief. The king of the wicked Ninevites had a softer heart toward the word of God than his very own prophet. And, you see in him and the people of Nineveh what it looks like when someone is really stirred by the Lord. “The word reached” has a double meaning, too. It shows that the word of God goes TO him and then it stirred IN him. It reached his ears, and then it reached his heart. It gets TO him, stirs IN him, and then works OUT OF HIM. Same is true of everyone. They heard the word, “believed God” inwardly, professed faith verbally, and then moved toward God outwardly.

This is the difference between worldly sorrow and godly repentance as Paul puts it. Worldly sorrow is sorry that you got caught. It’s guilt and shame, but no change of heart. As soon as the guilt and shame wears off so does any behavioral change that came. Godly repentance is when the word of God reaches your heart and stirs you up entirely. It’s a heart change that is matched by your words and your transformation. It’s not guilt, but conviction. It’s not shame, but sorrow. It’s not, “I want you to think of me differently”; it’s “Now, I really am different.”

When was the last time the word of God “reached you”? When was the last time that it stirred you up so that you weren’t the same? When’s the last time that you heard it and couldn’t just move on with lunch? When’s the last time you turned from sin?

And, when was the last time the word of God reached someone through you? Nineveh responds to Jonah the way that every prophet and preacher dreams. So, it’s ironic that Jonah didn’t want to go there to begin with. The result is that Jonah shows us...

Why we should “go.”

Jonah 3:9 “Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.””

In the belly of the fish, Jonah realizes: “Salvation belongs to the LORD!” Nineveh recognizes it on the first day. That’s what’s meant by “Who knows?” That is, they recognized that their past attitude toward God deserved only judgement, but they repented in faith that they would receive a different future from the one they deserved. Their response wasn’t to save themselves; it was to turn to God. It’s really beautiful.

And, Nineveh’s response to Jonah presents us with a question that has convicted me to tears this week: What if God is more willing to save than we are to go? And, what if our our neighbors more willing to respond than we are willing to tell them? It’s an inescapable question that confronts us in Jonah. In the book of Jonah, the sea responds to God, the mariners respond to God, the fish responds to God, the Ninevites respond to God, and Jonah runs from God. What if that’s us? You see, it’s possible that we can so resent the lostness of our society that we can resent the very call of God on us to reach it. It’s possible that we can allow our prejudices to justify our disobedience. Do we love homosexuals or resent them? Are we going to those who are pro-choice, or are we hating them? Are we mentoring the next generation, or are we bemoaning them? Are we befriending our Muslim neighbors or fearing them? Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” What if they’re more willing to respond than we are to go? I pray that God would stir us. I’m praying that He would reach our hearts with his word. That He might sends us to stir them.

You see, we ought to go to the great cities — like Nineveh — around our globe and we ought to go across the street in our neighborhood because God isn’t quitting.

God keeps “saving.”

It’s a guarantee. The spreading of the Kingdom of God is not a “hope so” movement. It’s a promised reality. You see, quiet quitting is the result of lost ambition. There was a time when you thought about upward movement and the possibilities of promotions, or better yet, the accomplishment of a vision or mission that was bigger than your job and your paycheck. But, you’re over than now. Perhaps, we’ve quietly quit on the advancement of Jesus’ kingdom in a similar way. We used to have the holy ambition of reaching our neighbors, classmates, the Cheaha Valley, and the nations, but now our ambition has settled in. But, ambition for the nations can only wane when our passion for God’s glory wanes.

Let’s look at Nineveh this morning. Even more than that, let’s look at God! That’s the main point.

God’s mercy is “willing”.

Jonah 3:10 “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.”

Perhaps, we’d wonder why Nineveh was so quick to repent. How could they understand the broken language of a reluctant prophet so clearly? Historians tell us that around this time a sequence of phenomena occurred that the Assyrians were particularly sensitive to. They had experienced devastating invasions and a major earthquake. Then, on June 15, 763BC a total solar eclipse took place, which would’ve been convincing that it was the displeasure of the gods they were facing. And, suddenly, a scraggly prophet shows up to tell them that they had done evil in the eyes of the Lord. Imagine what it would’ve looked like to see Jonah just after he’d lived in a fish’s stomach. His voiced weakened and gruff. His skin whitened, leisured, and hairless from being immersed in the stomach acid. His walk gimpy and staggered. Jonah bore both the wounds of wrath and the evidence of mercy in his very body. It suffered by wrath but stood by mercy. And, they are cut to the quick.

So, “God relented.” It’s not what they deserved, but it’s why God went to them. And, the mercy they found transports us in an instant to the cross. On the cross, Jesus’ body bore the wounds of God’s wrath, but then, three days later — like Jonah — He stood again by mercy. Because, you see, God’s mercy is more determined than his wrath. God always prefers grace to judgement. His mercy is willing to save. And, this is the foundation for true gospel ambition. Do we have gospel ambition? Will we send and go?

You see, Nineveh is a fulfillment of what God promised to Abraham. Through Abraham’s descendants, He would bless the nations. That is, through Israel — and now the Church — God would fill the earth with his glory the way it was intended. Don’t you see?

God’s glory is “spreading”.

The book of Jonah is traditionally read by Jewish families on the Day of Atonement. It’s a reminder to them that God’s glory will spread through the Nations, and they will be blessed by him. Oh, God’s mercy is willing. His glory is spreading. His Kingdom is coming. He will not quit. Will we?