Sermon Tone Analysis
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One of the most famous plays in football history happened on New Year’s Day in the 1929 Rose Bowl.
Georgia Tech was playing the University of California.
A player for California by the name Roy Riegals recovered a fumble but somehow got turned around and ran over 60 yards the wrong way.
A teammate by the name of Benny Lom caught Riegals and tackled him just before he crossed the goal line.
A few plays later California would attempt a punt deep in their end zone as a result of “wrong way Riegals” run, only to have the kick blocked with Georgia Tech scoring a safety.
Those two points would eventually be the margin of a Georgia Tech victory.
Riegals’ mishap occurred in the first half.
During halftime, Roy settled into a corner draping a blanket around his shoulders.
He cried like a baby.
The locker room was uncharacteristically quiet.
As halftime was coming to an end, California coach Nibbs Price looked at his team and simply said, “Men, the same team that played the first half will start the Second.”
Everyone started out of the locker room except for Roy Riegals.
The coach approached his broken player and said, “'Roy, didn't you hear me?
The same team that played the first half will start the second.”
Roy Riegals looked up at his coach and with tears still streaming down his face said, “Coach, I can’t do it to save my life.
I've ruined you.
I've ruined the University of California.
I've ruined myself.
I couldn’t face the crowd in the stadium to save my life.”
Coach Price reached out and put his hand on the shoulder of Roy Riegals and simply said, “Roy get up and go on back.
The game is only half over.”
Roy Riegals did get up and go back onto the field to play an outstanding second half of football against the yellow jackets of Georgia Tech.
How many times has a single event, or an unfortunate failure, in a person’s life defined his life from that point on?
Why is it that we are so hesitant to extend a second chance, or to let the victories in a person’s life define them instead of their defeats?
Fortunately for Jonah and many others in Scripture—and very fortunately for us—our God is a God of the second chance.
What God did for Jonah by giving him a second chance at success, He did for a number of other saints in biblical history.
And that has been the story of the church through the ages.
We have all received a multitude of opportunities to return and serve God.
And once God corrected His reluctant prophet, He continued the work He intended.
Jonah's third chapter reminds us that authentic revival impacts both the individual and the culture.
And He stands ready to do the same for us.
Relentless Love Through Correction
Sometimes it’s easy for us to forget that we can choose to correct our ways.
In order for us to correct our ways we must,
Seize our Opportunities
God doesn’t just deliver us from the belly of our fish
He gives us a second chance
When he gives a second chance, its our responsibility to do something with it
Jonah was given a second chance and he seized the opportunity
It’s comforting to realize that even the best of God’s servants have made foolish mistakes, and they were given a second chance
Adam & Eve ate of the forbidden tree
But God provided the opportunity for a second chance to fix their broken fellowship
Lot selfishly chose the best land for himself.
God provided the opportunity for a second chance before Sodom was destroyed
David was the king who had it all before he tried to hide his sin when his lust had gotten the best of him
But God provided the opportunity for a second chance and David went on to the most effective years of his life
Samson also had a lot going for him until he fell into sin
In his last days God provided the opportunity for a second chance
Allowing him to correct his ways before it was too late
Peter denied Jesus not just once, but three times
Jesus later meets him on the shore and provides the opportunity of a second chance.
We could go on and on throughout the Bible.
If God could use people like that again
Surely He can use us again
God’s not through with us yet
But it’s not enough that he provides the second chance, we have to seize the opportunity when it’s presented
Many of us are here today because the Word of God came to us second time, or a third, or a fourth, or even a tenth time
One statistic says that it often takes someone 7 times of hearing the Gospel before it sinks in.
Maybe you’ve gone your own way in life
Like Jonah you’ve disobeyed God and gotten out of His will.
God is giving you a second chance today
Nothing you’ve done is unforgivable, except continuing to refuse to receive His grace
What can one person do?
We can begin by correcting our ways.
Throughout this story God has gone through great lengths to show that He is the ruler of all things and he has everything at his disposal and uses His power to accomplish his will
His will is motivated by great love
Jonah was not a faithful servant but God saved him and gave him a second chance
Repentance Learned Through Connection
You have to understand that there is major significance for Jonah in this whole situation
The first few verses of chapter three are identical to the opening in which God tells Jonah to go to minister to Nineveh
The most surprising aspect of this entire situation is the fact that Jonah is still alive to have a second chance
In the OT, the office of the Prophet was a very serious thing because they were the voice of God
The penalty of being a false prophet was death
So much so there was an account in 1 Kings 13 in which a prophet was killed by a lion because he disobeyed God
Jonah rebelled and God was gracious and patient with him
God's objective wasn’t just to get the message to Nineveh.
If so, he could have just let Jonah die at sea.
But God wasn’t interested in what Jonah could do for Him, He was interested in Jonah.
He didn’t need Jonah to get the job done.
He went after Jonah because Jonah needed God.
Jonah was a changed man; by the grace of God.
He learned that God is sovereign, that God was on his side, that God had called him and he was now determined to go.
Jonah is obeying God; he has been changed; he's submitting to God.
But we have to be careful how we think about change.
If we're not careful we can start to think of change as perfection instead of change by degree.
Jonah was changed in the fish, not perfected.
He's doing what God called him to do but he lacks the heart of God.
Repentance simply means a complete change of orientation involving a judgement about the past and a deliberate redirection for the future
Jonah repented with his actions but not his attitude or his understanding
One of the things that we are most guilty of is half-hearted repentance with everything in relation to God
Jonah’s heart was not softened toward the Ninevites
He loved God and wanted to act in obedience to Him
But he still didn’t understand God’s desire to show Ninevites compassion or grace
Many of us like, Jonah, don’t recognize it but we have similar attitudes and I think the reason for this is our lack of understanding of God’s grace.
We want grace when it comes to us, but not our enemies.
We talk about hating the sin and not the sinner, but our actions often show that that’s just nice talk.
Restoration Lended through Compassion
If Jonah doubted whether after sin like his he would ever be restored to favor and service
He didn’t have to wait long for the answer
The second call of Jonah was divinely given
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