Jonah and Nineveh: Second Chances, Mercy for All

When it falls on Jonah, Jonah does the right thing. He looks good. He says, guys, it's all my fault and here's how you remedy it. Throw me overboard. Okay? Now, I think it's interesting that that that was not their first recourse even after he offered it. But they tried all these other ways and god would not relent and finally, they agreed to follow-up with Jonah's suggestion and they threw him overboard. And we come to the end of chapter one and here's the takeaway. Running from god affects more than just you. [01:03:56] (48 seconds)

and the fact is is he did that and I can look back now and go, I appreciate what you were trying to teach us because what he wanted us to understand was our lives never just affect us. It affects the folks that you live with, the family around you, it affects the folks that you work with, and the fact of the matter is, is what Jonah teaches us in this first section is when you run from god and attempt to do your own thing, it does not only affect you. It affects everyone around you. [01:07:34] (37 seconds)

Here's the takeaway from the last section of Jonah is every soul matters to god and to us That's why we make such a big deal about Easter because every soul matters to god and to us. That's why we make such a big deal about Christmas because every soul matters to god and to us. And I believe that there is always room at the table for one more. [01:17:36] (55 seconds)

Now, at this point, Jonah should be pumped. I mean, he just walked into a city of of of you know, 600, zero people and he looks at him and he says, repent and they did it. Like, come on. He should've called Charisma Magazine. He should've called Trish and Television and said, hey, I wanna be on your next talk show, right? Like, it's something should happen, right? Like, I just went and did this and we had the greatest revival. Here's the takeaway before we run into that next section. God has enough forgiveness for everyone. Let me talk to you for just a quick second. [01:11:14] (47 seconds)

There's a lot of folks in our nation that we disagree with. But god has enough forgiveness for everyone and I would encourage us Listen, step away from political Christianity. Step into biblical Christianity. I'm not asking you to step away from sin issues. Cry out against sin issues. Okay? We're not going get wrapped up in the political ideologies of our day because the fact is, is we are sent to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ and that gospel is big enough that it reaches way outside of my comfort zone. Right? I've watched god save some people that if it had been left up to me, come on. Oh, y'all going look at me like, oh, I can't believe pastor would say that. You know, you like that too. [01:12:02] (64 seconds)

Now, with that as a backdrop, god looks at one guy who doesn't even get a big book. At least if I'm a do all that, make me a major prophet. You know what I'm saying? No. And he speaks to him and he says, I want you to go. I want you to go to Nineveh. Now, Jonah doesn't seem like that big of a sissy anymore. Because I would like to stand up and go, well, yeah. I'd be man's god's man of faith and power for the hour but not really looking at being skinned alive. Come on. I might get ridiculed on Facebook but nobody's cutting my head off and stacking my skulls. Come on. [01:00:26] (55 seconds)

Then, the mariners were afraid and every man man cried out to his god and threw the cargo that was on the ship into the sea to lighten the load but Jonah had gone down into the lowest parts of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So, the captain came to him and said, what do you mean sleeper? Arise. Call on your god. Perhaps, your god will consider us so that we may not perish and they said to one another, come, let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause this trouble has come upon us. So, they cast lots and it fell on Jonah. [01:03:19] (38 seconds)

Now, and he likens Jonah being in the belly of the fish to him being in the grave. Now, I don't I don't know if you missed this and maybe maybe you did. So, I'm just going to remind you. Last week, we gathered together to celebrate because Jesus came out of the grave. Okay? And so, if we believe that Jesus literally and physically arose from the dead and Jesus likens his death, burial, and resurrection to Jonah's being swallowed by the great fish and then vomited back up on the land. Then we have to interpret. Nothing indicates that this was a fictional story meant to teach a lesson, okay? Now, with all of that said, spent way too much time on that. [00:52:02] (64 seconds)