God calls Jonah (again)

Good morning everyone…it is yet another beautiful day where we get to all get together and worship together both here and online. Those of you online, I want you to know that we are honored that you have chosen to worship with us this morning and we can not wait for the day when everyone feels secure and healthy enough to join us in person again. I know that things are still a little up in the air for some, but we hope that you will feel comfortable soon and let me say this to anyone online that is in the Ogle County area…If there is anything that we can do in order to make you feel more comfortable and welcome please just reach out and we will see what we can do. With that being said…welcome everyone! :) Again, I am so happy that you have chosen to worship with us here at LRBC!

Hey, today we are continuing on our study of Jonah. So far we have seen that God called Jonah, Jonah ran, Jonah got swallowed by a large fish and then he prayed…After he prayed he was vomited out of the mouth of the fish onto dry land that that is where we will pick up this morning. By the way, do you guys all see the story of a diver being swallowed by a whale and then being spit out this weekend…That was funny to read. This guys was just down there diving, and all of a sudden he said he felt a ump and everything was dark. Finally he realized he was inside a whales mouth and he thought he was a goner for sure. Well he swam I guess against the current of the whale trying to swallow and then the whale thought he tasted nasty and spit him out…Kind of like what i do if i accidentally east a piece of cauliflower or brussel sprouts.... Anyway, this morning I am going to try and keep it a bit shorter than last week, so we are just looking at the first two verses of chapter three. However, there is actually alot going on in these first two verses that I believe will be a blessing to each of us this morning, or this afternoon, or whenever you may be watching this message online.

Those of you that know me, know that I am not typically excited to spend extra money. As a matter of fact it is killing me right now because I have to replace the septic system at our house and we are still trying to figure that out. I am also planning to go see some family this summer, so money is not something that I get excited about spending, even when its on something fun…like a septic system. Well, a few years ago I was having a new insurance policy quoted for our cars and the house. Well, as is normal I was asked about accidents and other claims. I asked about things like rock chips in the glass and I was assured that those are considered acts of God and will not cause the rates to go up. Cool…Then I said that I didn’t think that there was anything that was inside of the three year window, but they would have to double check. So our agent came back to us and let me know that there was a claim on the policy that was less than three years. She asked me about a particular accident, and my response was that we had not been in any accidents. Nope, every claim that we had experienced was in fact an act of God. I was asked how a car driving into our house was an act of God. My response…God is sovereign and there are no accidents. :) So we laugh, but at a certain level this is actually true. You see, the dictionary defines an accident as “an unforeseen event or one without apparent cause”. Well if God is sovereign then there is no such thing as an accident. Jonah is going to be learning this more and more as his life continues and as we go through this story of his life.

So let’s continue looking through this story and see what we can learn today from the first couple of verses in chapter 3.

Jonah 3:1–2 ESV

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.”

So if we were to read this particular book in one sitting, we might think that we already read this part. That is because these two verses are very familiar to the very beginning of this book. Actually, as we read this we can see that pretty much Jonah is right back where he started from. Actually the fact that this is happening all over again really shows us, as the reader, God’s patience and compassion. You know, the scary thing is that not everyone gets a second chance. Think about Adam and Eve, or about the people of Israel who were disallowed to enter the Promised Land, or others who experienced the judgement of God. However, this passage should bring joy to the heart of every believer who has been given another opportunity to do what God requires. This text, more than anything else, points to God’s sovereignty and his desire that his will be accomplished. Which also gives us assurance to know that we cannot truly get in his way.

Anyway, as we read through this passage, through this short section that mimics the first two verses of this story we will see four things that God did to Jonah this morning. First of all we will see that...

God Met Jonah

Yeah, God met Jonah. God did not wait for Jonah to catch up to where God was already working, God came to Jonah to the place where Jonah already was. We don’t know exactly where this great fish vomited Jonah up, but we do know that God was already there. There is actually something really important that we should all know about God. You see, God is far more concerned about his workers than he is about his work. The reason I can say that is because if God’s workers are who they are supposed to be, then God’s work will clearly be as it needs to be. Actually, I can prove this to you based on Jonah’s story. Jonah was not living a life that was pleasing to God as he was running away. I think that is pretty clear. Jonah likely hoped that God would simply call another to go to Nineveh instead of him going there, and that is exactly what God was capable of doing. However, that’s not what God did. No, God never abandoned Jonah through this whole situation. Listen, God hurled a great wind on the water causing a storm, later God prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, and God kept Jonah alive for three days and nights, and finally God ejected Jonah from the fish. Every step of the way God is with Jonah. Yeah, God is working on Jonah, which means that wherever God had this big ole fish dump Jonah out, God was there waiting on Jonah.

That is actually pretty comforting to us as well. You see, God makes promises to us throughout Scripture, and it is really comforting when we see God uphold his promises to others. Look at what God tells Joshua in

Joshua 1:5 ESV

No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

or even in the New Testament in

Hebrews 13:5 ESV

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

We can be encouraged by the fact that God came to Jonah, because that means that God comes to you also. Well, after God came to Jonah...

God Spoke to Jonah

Ok, well this is both crazy and awesome all at the same time. The reason I say crazy and awesome is that the last time God spoke with Jonah, Jonah ran the other way. So think about this for a second. Let’s say you are having a conversation with someone and they just turn around and run the other way. That is essentially what Jonah did here. Jonah was already a prophet of God’s meaning that Jonah frequently heard messages from God and relayed those messages to the person that God intended it for. However, this time, God starts talking to Jonah, and Jonah likely started listening. Well, that is until God said something that Jonah didn’t want to here.

Ok, lets think about this for a second here. What would you do if you and I were in the middle of a conversation and while you were mid sentence, I just bolted the other direction…Now, let me just say, if I have ever done that to you for real, or some version of that…I am very sorry. Sometimes I finish a conversation in my head, and so I don’t realize that I haven’t actually finished saying things out loud…So, please forgive me and just call me out on it. However, what if I did that just because I didn’t want to hear what you were saying. Like I knew what you were going to say, and I just didn’t want to hear it so I literally ran away. That was be pretty hurtful, right?

Now, I just have to share something with you real quick because it is so crazy that I wouldn’t have believed it if it didn’t happen to me. In Lafayette, one of the things that I managed for our church was the welcome team. That means that I would schedule people to be on duty and let them know what I needed them to do for various Sundays. Well, I also had to build a team because when I started doing that there was no real team functioning. Ok, so I cannot tell you how many times this actually happened to me, and I didn’t know what to do with it. I would email people and ask if they would like to be a part of the team. They would never respond to me, but they would respond to other emails. So, I figured that it must be missing emails or something like that. So, I would talk to people in person. Here is what is amazing…I would start talking about some small topic like the weather, or their kids or something like that. Then I would move into asking them about joining the welcome team. They would just stare at me…I would ask again…they would just stare at me. I asked them another question totally unrelated, they answered without skipping a beat. I mean it was like they were on pause while I was asking them about serving in the church in some way. It was insane. You know, as I say this, I kind of wonder if God ever thinks that about us...

Now, I know that no one here would ever do that would we…Me: “God I just need your wisdom” God: “Ok Billy, I want you to be a lead pas…Me: na na na na na (fingers in ears). God, can you just give me some guidance with my life and ministry?” God: Yes, Billy, I want you to be a le…Me: na na na na (fingers in ears).” You see, we all actually do this exact same thing don’t we. Maybe it’s about a job, or maybe it’s about a financial situation, or a relationship, or whatever, but we just ignore God speaking if its something that we don’t want to hear…or maybe its because we are actually just not paying attention to what God is saying in our lives. Pastor Warren Wiersbe says,

One of the tests of our relationship to God is, “Does God speak to me as I read and ponder His Word?” If we don’t hear God speaking to us in our hearts, perhaps we have some unfinished business that needs to be settled with Him.--Warren W. Wiersbe

Jonah knew God was talking, he just didn’t like what God was telling him. That’s because...

God Called Jonah

There is something victorious about the Christian life that we all have the opportunity to experience. You see, the Christian life is actually victorious, but so many people live lives struggling because they don’t realize who God really is. Yes, they understand that God is the creator, but they don’t truly realize what that means and they don’t realize the depths of their own sin in the face of God’s grace. This is something that Jonah realized, even though he continued to fight against what God was calling him to do. We will see later that Jonah doesn’t want to go to Nineveh because he knows Gods character is to forgive those that cry out to God. However, lucky for Jonah, God is in the business of forgiving even when we don’t cry out at times. This is one of those times for Jonah.

You see when we fall, the enemy wants us to believe that our ministry is ended and there’s no hope for recovery, but our God is the God of the second chance. “Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time”. Can you think in your own life how God is a God of second chances? I know I can. I can remember stories of Billy that was rebelling against God because I wanted to live the life I wanted to live, and I cannot tell you how many times I literally should have been dead. I should have died in a car accident when someone loosened the lug nuts off my truck and the wheel popped off when I was going 70mph..I should have died when I lost track of my truck going 70 mph and ended up facing oncoming traffic…I should have been dead when people shot at me. You see, God is a God of second, third, fourth, fifth, and so many more chances. I wonder if you think in your life if you can realize that was still there for you when you rejected what God had clearly called you to do. You see, before I was ever a Christian, before I ever actually gave my life to Christ, I knew that God was calling me into ministry, but I didn’t want to do it. What has God called you to do? Are you being the light at work…or do you just go to get a check.

Listen, this is gonna be hard to hear, and I know that this was hard me for to hear when I was told this. Whatever your job is, whether you are a CEO or a janitor, God called you to be exactly where you are at this time. Do you know what means. That means that when someone asks how you like your job and you say something like “it’s a paycheck”, then you are not being honest about what God has called you to do. You see, your job, is your calling…that means when someone asks you how you like your job your response should be something like, “man, its tough sometimes, but I love that I have the opportunity to be a blessing to those around me…Im glad I get to be used by God to make an impact on the lives of others..” God has called you to do something where you are working, just like God called Jonah to take a message to Nineveh. Jonah ran from God’s calling, but God didn’t remove his calling on Jonahs life just because Jonah didn’t like what God was calling him to do....So, what is God calling you to do? Are you running, or embracing that call?

You know, You don’t have to read very far in your Bible to discover that God forgives His servants and restores them to ministry. Remember Abraham fled to Egypt, where he lied about his wife, but God gave him another chance. Jacob lied to his father Isaac, but God restored him and used him to build the nation of Israel. Moses killed a man (probably in self-defense) and fled from Egypt, but God called him to be the leader of His people. Peter denied the Lord three times, but Jesus forgave him and said, “Follow Me”.

Now, I want to ver very clear for a moment, because some people may get the wrong idea. God is a God of multiple chances…However, that is not a license to sin. You see, if you are a person who says, “I can go ahead and sin, because I know the Lord will forgive me” has no understanding of the awfulness of sin or the holiness of God. The thing is that God is a God of grace, but he is also a God of justice. God is a God who says you shall reap what you sow. Look at how Paul wrote it to the church in Galatia...

Galatians 6:7–9 ESV

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

...That harvest…can be very costly. Look at Jonah, he paid an incredible price for rebelling against the Lord.

That’s not all though, part of God being there for Jonah and caring about Jonah as a person is to shape Jonah into the person God was calling him to be. So...

God Challenged Jonah

You will remember a little bit of what we talked about a few weeks ago. We talked a little about Nineveh and how this was in fact a great city. Well, the book of Jonah uses this term “Great City” four times, showing us the greatness of this city. I want to briefly tell you again how great this city was.

Nineveh was a great historical city, having been founded by the great hunter and grandson of Noah, Nimrod

Nineveh was a great city in its size, having a circumference of the city and its suburbs of 60 miles, and based on what the Lord says later likely had a population of over 600,000 people. Just one of Nineveh’s walls had a circumference of 8 miles with 1500 towers on that wall.

Nineveh was great in influence, having become one of the leading cities in the Assyrian Empire. Merchants would have traveled the Tigris and Khoser River bringing wealth, and protection from the Assyrian army, into this city.

More importantly to God however, is that Nineveh was great in sin…They were known all over for their violence, showing no mercy to their enemies. This is partially why Jonah was afraid of God ‘s calling. You see, they impaled live victims on poles and left them to roast in the desert. They removed the heads of thousands and left their skulls piled by the city gates, and they even skinned people alive. They didn’t have concern over the sex or age of their victims killing babies and young children just so that they would not have to care for them....Now, just for a moment, does any of that sound familiar to our own culture? Unfortunately, I would say that the modern western culture has a great deal in common with the culture of Nineveh, or of Sodom and Gomorrah, or any number of civilizations that God removed from the Earth in the Old Testament.

So the question remains…what has God called you to do? At your job, in your community, what impact has God called you to make? You see, it was to the wickedness of this great city that God called a single man named Jonah, telling Jonah that he would give him the words to say. Finally, Jonah decided that it was time to obey the word of the Lord and embrace, or at least accept his calling and begin to travel to Nineveh. Finally, Jonah realized, or maybe just remembered that God is in fact sovereign over all situations, and if God required Jonah to die, then Jonah would die. However, God has chosen to use Jonah to deliver a message and Jonah will now begin the travel to accept that call. This travel will likely take up a month to complete, but he will begin to travel, because he has come to grips with the fact that…

The will of God will never lead you where the grace of God cannot keep you and the power of God cannot use you. — Billy Graham

The question is really, who is sufficient for these things…Where is our confidence that God will work through us?

2 Corinthians 3:4–6 ESV

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

You see, whatever it is that God has called you to do, or be…He is sufficient to complete the work within you, so the question remains…will you submit to what God has called you too, or will you continue to run and avoid? God called Jonah, and God stayed with Jonah…He will do the same for you...

—Prayer—