Second Chance

Job application

Over the years, I’ve had a bit of experience with various aspects of job recruitment. I’ve been the applicant. I’ve been a member on an interview panel. And I’ve even been the convener of a panel. Predominantly, this experience relates to initially engineering jobs, but more recently with a number of teacher positions at the local school where I got to be the parent representative on the panel.

It’s always an interesting process. Generally speaking, you usually seem to get a few exception applicants. Then there’s usually some fairly average applicants. And of course, my favourite - the applicants who completely missed the point and are completely unqualified, or sometimes maybe have some qualifications, but just completely fail at any attempt to show they understand what the position is about, even when the job advertisement clearly says what it’s about.

I’ve also been on a panel where no suitable candidates were found, and so we re-advertised and someone re-applies. Perhaps the new advertisement failed to put in the line: “Previous applicants need not apply”.

Actually, on one occasion, the panel thought we had someone good. Their resume read well. They addressed all the selection criteria well. The problem came when we called a referee. It soon became apparent that this person was not suitable. Despite the good talk in the application, they were not considered up to the task.

It can be a harsh process. Particularly if you are the applicant. You really want a new job. But you just can’t get anywhere.

Now we can argue if this traditional process of recruitment is fair or not. Certainly I’ve noted in my time some positives and some drawbacks to the process. But it’s a process that generally speaking, we’ve learnt to accept.

The problem is, however, that we naturally assume that this must be the way that God works as well. Maybe not quite exactly the same.

But you see, we assume that God’s got this criteria that he uses for people who want to be associated with him. Now, possibly, you might think well, hey, I’m very qualified to be associated with God. I’ve lived a good life. I can talk the talk and walk the walk. The problem would probably come however when our referee was called and it was revealed how many people we’ve let down. How many times our amazing facade has crumbled when a thoughtless remark has left someone in tears… or when we lashed out in anger following that small trigger.

The reality is, that person who missed out on the job following the referee call, if we’re honest, that would be us.

Thankfully, however, and I hope you’re not surprised, being united with God is nothing at all like a job application.

But I find it curious, that though you most likely knew that already, we so often work on the assumption that we somehow need to prove something to God. We also seem to work on the assumption that there are things we do which will automatically disqualify us.

What I’m talking about is the subtle shift that occurs in our thinking. You see, you can know that you’re saved by grace and grace alone. But yet, all those slip ups keep coming to mind. God wouldn’t have liked that.

But let’s take this to the next level. You see, maybe you actually have got it right in your mind about your salvation. Maybe you do have the assurance that the Bible allows for that despite your mess ups, God still loves you.

But God will never use you for anything of any significance, because, let’s face it, you’re not good enough.

You see, I think this is where things start to bite. I’ll come back to the issue of salvation later, but for now let me just think about the service that we could possibly offer to God.

This month where in May Mission Month. And at times we’ll hear stories of great missionaries. And let’s face it. It’s so easy to look at these missionaries as some sort of extraordinary super Christians. They are just incredible. They give up good paying careers. They sell up much of what they have. And they go and live in places that are right outside their comfort zone.

Those people are incredible. But you couldn’t do that, because you don’t have what it takes. You’re not a good enough Christian.

But even if its not a cross cultural missionary, we can start to feel that we can’t do anything of significance, because we aren’t good enough.

But do you see what’s happened in our thinking here?

We’ve shifted into the type of thinking that the world teaches us - if you want to do anything of significance for God, then you need to go through a sort of job application. And only the most elite will succeed.

So is that how God works?

Absolutely not.

One of the most incredible things you notice as you read through the bible is that almost without fail, the people God chooses to do his significant work are not the most qualified, but usually the most unexpected.

Jonah

In the case of Jonah, that’s exactly what we find.

Jonah is not your typical prophet. What makes him a prophet is that he hears from God. But he’s not typical in the sense that he really does not want to do what he hears from God.

In fact, as we saw in chapter 1, when he heard the word from the Lord telling him to go to Nineveh, he ran in the other direction.

But to be fair to Jonah, Nineveh was not exactly going to be a holiday. These guys had a reputation for acting in horrific ways. You see, Nineveh, as we’ve looked at in the last few weeks, was the capital of Assyria, the world power at the time of Jonah, and when they went to war, it could perhaps be called barbaric.

Of course Jonah didn’t want to go, so he went the other direction. He tried every trick up his sleeve to avoid obeying God, and it took a huge fish in the sea to finally turn things around.

So, Jonah might now be on solid ground, but lets just think about this a moment.

So we know that God wants someone to go and speak to the Ninevites. But if you were God, would you really want Jonah? He’s been shown to lack loyalty when the going gets tough. He has absolutely no sympathy for the Ninevites. He seems to me like someone who’s quite lazy. He’s prepared to try and cheat God.

Actually, let’s think if God did this like the job interview process. I’m not exactly sure what would be on the selection criteria for the job, but I’m not sure Jonah has those qualities.

But here’s the thing. For God, this actually has nothing to do with the job interview process that assume.

Rather, we read that God speaks to Jonah a second time, and tells him, come on, I need you to go back to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.

What I really want you to see, is that this has got nothing to do with Jonah’s qualifications. This has got everything to do with God’s call.

There’s a saying that’s worth remembering...

‘God doesn’t call the qualified… he qualifies the called’.

It’s worth repeating… ‘God doesn’t call the qualified… he qualifies the called.’

You see, for God, this isn’t about those failings in your past. The reason those failings of your play such a big role in your thinking is because your focus is on yourself. Rather, shift your focus to God and see that actually, this isn’t about our past, this is about what God is promising to do with you now.

This should be very liberating for all of us.

If you feel God prompting you to move in a certain way, stop with the excuses and just move in the direction God is pointing.

Moses

It’s similar to the story of Moses. Perhaps you might remember back in Exodus 3-4 when Moses meets God in the burning bush. God needs Moses to go back to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and understandably, Moses tries to give every excuse under the sun why he possibly couldn’t do it.

There’s obviously more to it than just this, but God essentially says, stop with the excuses Moses, this isn’t about your ability. This is about me going before you. God says: I’ll do the work… I just want you to partner with me.

Partnering with God

And this really is what is so extraordinary.

You see, we could rightfully ask, not only why does God need Jonah, but indeed, why does God need anyone at all? If God is all powerful, he could just change the hearts of the Ninevites without any human intervention.

But this is what we need to understand. You see, God chooses to partner with us.

He chooses to partner with us because he loves us and wants us to be part of the process.

We should actually see this as the greatest privilege of all time. That the creator of this universe, would want failed little me to be part of his grand scheme.

He wants me, and he wants you. He’s not waiting for you to get everything together. He wants you right now, just the way you are.

He just wants us to be ready to follow.

As you follow, you’ll see the most amazing thing happen. You’ll start to see that you actually can do the things needed. This won’t be in your own strength, this will be God working through you.

Indeed, this is the very Spiritual Gifts that we spent the month of March looking at.

Most extraordinary result

And as we follow, because it is God going before us, you will see amazing results.

As we read through Jonah 3, what actually happens would have to be one of the most unexpected things.

First let’s follow the narrative in the chapter before us.

Verse 3 we finally read that Jonah obeyed. I get the impression it is somewhat reluctantly, but hey, he is obeying, so that is something.

He gets to Nineveh, and the author wants us to be clear how big this city is. Three days it took to get through it.

And as he goes, he gives a short message - in fact it is just five Hebrew words: “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown”.

Now let me just pause just a moment on this message of Jonah, and in particular, the word overthrown.

The Hebrew word used is actually quite interesting. Essentially, that word “overthrown” can carry two main conotations.

On the one hand, it can carry the connotation that Jonah no doubt thought it meant - namely some sort of defeat - in the sense you might talk about an army overthrowing a city.

However, that same Hebrew word, can also be translated as changed or turned around.

In other words, Jonah’s five word message could actually mean, in forty days, this city is going to be changed.

Now, I’m pretty confident that Jonah has in mind that he is pronouncing judgement on this city, and he’s counting down the days till it is destroyed.

But of course, verse 5 happens in the most extraordinary way.

It tells us: “The Ninevites believed God”.

You can wonder why in the world would they believe Jonah.

We actually joked when we discussed this on Thursday that perhaps Jonah still had the seaweed around his head and stank like Whale, but the reality is that Nineveh was a long way in-land, and quite likely a significant period of time has elapsed between being spat out by the fish and finding himself in Nineveh. I suspect he probably had a wash somewhere along the line.

You see, I’m actually pretty confident that the reason they believed Jonah actually had nothing to do with Jonah. It had everything to do with the fact that God was involved.

Verse 5 continues and tell us that a fast was proclaimed and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sack-cloth.

The king even issues a decree telling them to put on sackcloth.

In verse 10 we then read: “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened”.

It’s interesting that in this way, the five word sermon that Jonah preached did in fact come true, just not in the way he thought it was meant.

Nineveh might not have been overthrown in the sense of a defeat, but it was changed and turned around. It really is very extraordinary.

Now, perhaps you might question to authenticity of what has just happened here. But it’s interesting to note in Matthew 12, Jesus actually makes references to the men of Nineveh standing up at the judgement to condemn a wicked generation. Now I want to be careful and not read too much into those words of Jesus, however, it would seem to imply that Jesus at least thought that their change was genuine.

Salvation issue

Now, for a moment, I want to focus on a particular aspect of this change in the Ninevites.

You see, when I introduced the idea of the job interview, there were really two ways in which we can incorrectly think that God might be using such a process. On one hand, we could think that God couldn’t possibly use us for his purposes. But on a deeper level… that God wouldn’t even want to be associated with us because of our failings.... That God would in some ways be repulsed by us.

On this second way, it becomes a salvation issue.

Well the start of Jonah 3 corrects the first of these misunderstandings. That is, Jonah is used for God’s mission, despite Jonah’s obvious failings.

Well, the end of Jonah 3 corrects the other misunderstanding. God is not repulsed by your failings. The Ninevites were terrible people, but when they repented and turned to God, God saved them.

And this is so important for us to understand. If you are willing to repent and call on the name of Jesus - then it doesn’t matter what’s in your past. It doesn’t matter even if you’ve done things that society might even consider unforgivable. The only unforgivable sin is turning your back on God.

Mission

So this third chapter of Jonah should be a real encouragement to us. After reading it, we should be ready to say to God, okay God, I’m ready to go where ever you have to send me.

So where is God sending you?

Can I urge you to try and not restrict God in the boldness of where he might be sending you. Remember, as we learnt in Jonah 1, even if it takes us out of our comfort zone, if God wants us to go, it going to be worth it.

But it might be as simple as sending you on a walk by the water front where he’ll put someone in your path that needs comforting.

You might have lots of excuses. You might even be thinking, but what would I even say if I met someone.

Well, if that’s your concern, let me just say, forget the prepared speech. Just allow the love the Jesus has shown you to shine through and just love them… and as you do, the right words will come.

God will give you what you need when you step out in faith.

And don’t be surprised when you see amazing results. God can change even the most stubborn heart.

Conclusion

The beautiful thing is that God is in the business of giving second chances.

We’re often not so good at the second chance. Once someone has let you down, you feel they’ve abused your trust, and so you become wary of them.

But this is not how God works.

He will call you, just the way you are right now.

You just need to follow.

As a church we have a mission statement. It is to Love - Share - Serve.

This is the real practical outworking of what this is all about.

God is calling us into the community around us, and sometimes even beyond our own local community, to be people that show love to others. To share our resources and the love of Jesus with others. And to follow the example of Jesus and serve others.

If you’re struggling to hear the voice of Jesus, then at least start there. Start by just showing love to the person next to you. And as you do, listen to where next God wants you to show love.

God is amazing. He doesn’t wait till we have everything together. He wants to partner with us now - just the way you are.

Let me pray...