Redemption Through Repentance | Jonah 1:17 - 2:10 | Oliver Aridi

One of the great joys of being part of a church family is watching the next generation rise up and grow in Christ.

And so this morning we're going to get to hear from our pastoral intern, Oliver Ariti.

If you don't know Oliver, he is a graduate, recent graduate from Washington Hills Regional High School this fall.

He's going to be attending Liberty University, where he's going to be studying for ministry there.

He has been studying as an intern here this summer under Johnny Graves, our youth director.

And we have just seen him grow in his love for Jesus, grow in his ability to communicate God's word.

He's got a willingness to really step out in faith, and the Lord has really anointed him with a special boldness for Christ.

And so we're very excited to hear what God has laid on his heart through his word today.

So turn with me to Jonah chapter 2, and please provide a warm welcome for our own Oliver Ariti this morning.

Jonah 2 · chapter mention

All right, all right.

Thank you, Pastor Dave, for that intro.

Yeah, as you mentioned, I'm 18.

I just graduated high school.

My name's Oliver.

And uh yeah, I'm just thankful to be here, part of this community.

I came to this church around like sixth grade, around fifth and sixth grade, and I just love being here, I love serving.

I'm usually in the kids' ministry serving, you'll see me there.

And Miss Rachel told me that there's no Sunday school, so shout out to all my kids out there who are in the house today.

I'm glad to have you guys here with me.

And uh, they usually know me as the kid who gets pie in the face.

That is my unfortunate title, and um I can't wait to see what happens to this VBS.

But we're not gonna be talking about pie today because we're gonna be talking about Jonah.

And see, if you remember back to last week, we we heard about this prophet Jonah who got a word from God to go to this evil and wicked city, Nineveh, and get the people to repent, to turn from their ways.

But instead of going, Jonah, he tries to run from the calling that God had placed on him.

And don't get me wrong, he gave it his best shot.

He tried running 2,500 miles in the opposite direction.

But he must have forgotten what David said in Psalm 139 of, where can I go from your spirit, or where can I flee from your presence?

He's soon to find out that that answer is nowhere.

There's nowhere you can run from God.

But family, I don't think we're that different from Jonah.

Right?

Jonah was a man of God, he loved God, and I believe we love God too, but the second his plans interfere with our plans, then it's it's not so much then we don't want to walk with him down that path, we don't want to follow him there because we're comfortable.

We're comfortable doing the things that we know, what we can see, the things that we've planned, instead of trusting in God and trusting that his plans, the path that he has prepared for us, is better.

And we too would rather run 2,500 miles away from God than simply 500 miles to him and to his assignment, to his mission, to what he has called us to do.

Right?

To make disciples of all nations, to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth, to make heaven a little more crowded.

So on this boat ride, the Lord He sends a storm, not to just literally, but also spiritually wake Jonah up.

Because sometimes the only way to get our attention is by sending a storm in our lives.

Right?

Maybe it's those transactional relationships we love to have with Jesus.

We love praying when we want something from him.

Yet we wonder why these storms keep coming back in our lives.

See, what he really wants is a genuine relationship.

He wants you to call on him in the valley lows and on the mountaintops, to rely on him when you don't have enough to pay the bills and when you have more than enough.

In the good times and the bad times.

And Jonah, we're gonna see him realize this in chapter two.

So when you think that your way is better than God's, when you think that your plan is better than God's, he can very easily send a storm, he can very easily shift something up to show you that it isn't.

And the only answer to calming these storms is surrender, surrendering to the Lord.

So that's what Jonah did.

He went overboard, he surrendered, and the sea grew calm.

But the part I love most about this is that when the other sailors on the boat saw this, they praised the Lord and they offered sacrifices to him.

See, even in his disobedience, even when he was trying to run from this, the Lord still uses Jonah in this way to impact the lives of others, to rescue others.

Because where can you run from his spirit?

Since this is my first time here, I thought we get to know each other a little more.

See something about me is I'm a big movie guy.

I like to kick back, relax, throw on a good movie.

Anyone else out there just love to do that at the end of the day.

I think it's awesome.

And one of my all-time favorites is this movie called Batman, The Dark Knight Rises.

The youth over here are probably laughing at me because I mention it every time I talk.

But um, see, after years of being a hero in Gotham, Batman or Bruce Wayne, he he's suffering these severe injuries and he's unable to walk, he's unable to operate and do things on his own.

But now there's this new villain in town named Bain, and his first mission was to infiltrate the Gotham Stock Exchange and bankrupt Wayne Enterprises.

So Bruce, he hears about this and he rushes his recovery to try and stop him.

But that only ends with Bain breaking his back and throwing him in this foreign prison called the Pit, which is this picture on the left.

And you see, this place was brutal.

This place was an actual pit deep in the ground, and the only way to ever escape, the only way to ever get out is by climbing your way out.

And out of the thousands and thousands of people who have attempted this over the years, only one has ever made it out.

So Bruce he hears about this and he's thinking to himself that he has lost everything now.

Right?

His money is gone, his he's suffering these critical injuries.

He thinks that all hope is lost, that that this is the end, and he's ready to give up.

But then something shifts inside of him.

See, as he's down there, he he's reflecting and he remembers something.

He remembers the city and the people that he loves so much, his whole reason for becoming Batman in the first place, to protect them and keep them safe.

And that's what motivates him to train and to strengthen and to work his way out of the pit so he can stop Bain and save the city.

But I say this because maybe you're sitting here today thinking that all hope is lost.

Right?

You've been struggling, you've been suffering through this thing for a while, and there seems to be no answer.

You don't know what the answer looks like, you don't know how to get out of this.

And as we walk through the text today, we're gonna see Jonah in a similar spot, in this dark pit.

But just like Batman, he is reminded of something.

Right?

He's reminded of the love that God has for him.

He's reminded that God has never abandoned him and how he was there with him every step of the way.

And in this passage, Jonah answers the central question of where is salvation found?

And as we break it down, we see it's found through prayer and a panic on the road to repentance with shouts of salvation.

So let's get into it this week.

Here we are, we have Jonah, he's probably around a thousand miles into the open sea, and although the Bible says the sea grew calm, the thing about a storm is after it leaves these heavy currents and riptides under the surface.

So Jonah, he's not floating on his back, having a good time, waiting for someone to rescue him.

He's most likely in a panic and stressing, fighting these currents, wondering if he's going to survive.

Later in chapter 2, he even talks about how the waves swept over him and the waters threatened him.

And if you flip with me to Jonah 117, that's where we're going to start off today.

It says, Now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah.

And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Now, before we get into this, I just want to point one thing out.

It's that the Lord spoke to that fish.

Right?

It's so simple, we might skip over it, but the Lord spoke to that fish.

And I know I'm easily amazed at things now every now and then, but this is just so amazing.

We see how the power of God is working, and this is showing us how worthy he is of our praise.

But he also gave that fish a mission.

The same way he gave Jonah one, right?

What did he tell Jonah?

He said, Jonah, go to Nineveh, tell the people to repent, rescue them.

Right?

And he told the fish, hey, fish, go to Jonah, save him, bring him to me, rescue him.

Except the fish obeyed, and Jonah didn't.

It's funny, creation always seems to obey the Lord when we, as his best creation, the creation that has dominion over the rest, seem to struggle with this.

Right?

Luke 12 talks about how if we are silent, God can just make a rock cry out to him.

Right?

You know what that shows me?

It shows me the love and the grace that he has for us.

It shows me that he cares about us, he's pursuing us, he's chasing after us, even when we don't want it.

And when I read this, I reflected on the times that God has kept me even in my disobedience.

Right?

He might not have sent a fish, but he sent the right person at the right time or with the right prayer.

He revealed the right scripture at the right time that showed me something.

And he's just done this over and over.

He may have done it in your life too.

Because that is our God.

That is the God we serve.

We serve a God who doesn't say figure it out on your own.

He doesn't leave you stranded in the middle of the sea trying to fight to stay alive, to stay afloat.

The Bible says he hasn't forsaken his people.

He hasn't left, he hasn't abandoned his people then, and he won't start now.

Now look at those first four words in verse 17.

It says, Now the Lord provided.

I love that last word, that provided.

Because I think the biggest mistake we have reading this is mistaking God's provision for punishment.

Alright, let me say that again.

I think we mistake God's provision for punishment.

See that fish, it wasn't some revenge plan for his disobedience.

It wasn't God angry at him trying to get back at him.

What it was is God trying to send something to heal his broken spirit, to mend his broken spirit, to make him whole again.

Now, if you've only ever seen this story through veggie tales or through Sunday school, I've got some unfortunate news for you.

Alright?

It was heartbreaking the first time I found this out, but the inside of that fish did not look like these pictures behind me, okay?

Right, Jonah, he wasn't sitting there all cozy on the campfire, roasting some dogs and making s'mores with this cool looking asparagus choir singing songs to him.

I mean, if that were the case, you probably would have asked God, you know, let me stay a couple more nights, right?

But it's actually quite the opposite.

It would have been pitch black to the point where you can't see your own hand in front of your face.

And it's also this very tight space.

If you've ever been stuck in a confined area for a while, you would know the anxiety that it brings, right?

How your heart starts to pound, you start to panic a little, you think, oh, I'm in this uncomfortable situation with no way out and no escape.

You feel trapped.

That's Jonah.

That's where he is, that's what he's dealing with right now.

And it's easy to look at this and think, oh, yeah, that's a punishment.

That's that's the Old Testament God doing his wrathful thing again.

But what this actually is, what's actually going on here, is spiritual discipline.

See, Jonah's problem in the first place was that he tried to run from God.

He was afraid of the calling that God had given him, so he tries to flee.

But time out, time out, real quick.

Haven't we seen Jonah do this before?

Right, 2 Kings 14.

He went out and ministered a prophetic word that God had given him.

Jonah was labeled a prophet, which means this wasn't his first time.

He most likely had experience, he was good at this.

So, what was different about this?

Like, what changed from now to then, or from then to now?

It's that he knew his audience.

See, Jonah knew the Ninevehites, he knew of their wickedness and what they would do to him if he went there with the word that God had given him.

And so this fear started to build up inside of him, and that fear is what blinded him from trusting in God, from trusting in the one who says he works all things for the good of those who love him.

And now being stuck in this fish, God has taken his ability to run away from him.

He can't run anymore, there's nowhere to go.

And sometimes God has to take things away from you in your life in order for you to look to him and rely on him and call on him.

Right?

That person who's been a terrible influence on your life, you weren't able to notice it until God removed them from your life.

Not as punishment, but discipline.

Now, this fish, it isn't just to physically stop Jonah, but to heal his broken spirit.

And so if you've ever broken a bone, you know you go to the doctor, they put a cast over it, and it's not just for signatures or to decorate with glitter.

See what it does is it compresses and it stabilizes the bone, it holds it in place, but it's not to fix it.

Alright, that's the important part I want you to get at here.

The the cast is not what fixes the bone.

It just creates this opportunity for the bone to heal on its own.

Right?

So stay with me here.

The fish, it's sent not to fix Jonah, it's not meant to heal Jonah, but it's meant to provide this opportunity, this space, this quiet, secret place for Jonah to call on the Lord, to rely on him, to look to him, to pray to him, and to heal on his own.

So this isn't a story of God forcing Jonah to follow him, forcing him to do what he says, but it's a story of how God's grace is limitless even in the times we go against him.

And we might not notice it at first because God doesn't always provide the easy way or the way that we want, but he provides the way that we need, even if it's uncomfortable, even if it's hard.

See, I don't think, I would assume Jonah doesn't want to be didn't want to be swallowed by a huge fish.

Right?

I don't think that's on our bucket list this year, but what it was what was necessary in order for him to eventually in chapter three go out and preach against the wickedness in Nineveh.

Without that healing time in the fish, that would have never been possible.

So coming to the second half of this verse, I like to think about how Jonah didn't know how long he'd be there.

He doesn't have the foreknowledge that we do, he didn't know that after three days he'd be spit out onto dry land, ready to do his thing.

And going off basic human nature, it's only right to assume that Jonah was scared, that he was worried, he feared for his life.

I mean, if we get scared of things like spiders or watching horror movies or roller coasters, I can only imagine what Jonah is feeling here.

It's like your worst fear, whatever that is.

And that's what Jonah's going through.

But see, it's what he does in this time.

What does he do?

Chapter 2, verse 1.

From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.

For how many of you is that your first response?

Right?

You're running late for this important business meeting, you're rushing, and you can't seem to find your keys anywhere.

What's that response?

Or you have these important decisions to make by a deadline and it's coming up, it's causing you anxiety, but what is that response?

Jonah's showing us here that no matter the circumstance, pray.

No matter how big or how little it is, pray because there's a power when you do that.

When you do that, you're calling on a God that can move mountains, on the God of impossible.

Right?

And that same God, he doesn't want you going through this life alone.

He doesn't want you figuring this thing out on your own.

That same God, he wants to help you, He wants you to rely on Him in every situation.

And just because God, or just because the fish didn't spit him out right away, it doesn't mean God was ignoring his prayer.

Right?

And just because God doesn't heal you or help you right now, doesn't mean he doesn't hear you right now.

It's faith.

Faith is what builds when you learn how to trust in God's timing, when you learn how to trust in God's plan instead of your own.

And it's not easy.

I don't I don't say that it's easy.

I've struggled with this.

You probably struggled with this.

And you know that doubt is gonna come.

Right?

I'm pretty sure the Israelites doubted for 400 years while they were slaves in Egypt.

But that didn't stop them from praying, that didn't stop them from calling on God, from believing in a God that after all these years, he still has the power to move in their lives right now.

They didn't lose faith.

And I'm here to remind you that our God is faithful and he is consistent in the same God who hears your cries, heard their cries, and the same God that delivered them out of Egypt is the same God that can deliver you out of your mess and out of your pain, out of your misery and your suffering.

It's the same God that can do wonders in your life once you call on him, once you reach out to him and you believe that he truly can.

So, Jonah, he goes ahead and prays.

But before we read this, I want to point one thing out is that not one time in this whole chapter, in this whole prayer, does Jonah ask God to remove him from the fish.

And not one time is he angry at God or blaming him for being in this situation.

In fact, as I was reading this, I noticed Jonah finally learning how to surrender his control to God.

Theologian Martin Luther says it best when he says, pray and let God worry.

Right?

Maybe the reason God's not answering your prayer right now is because you're still holding on to something.

You prayed, but you're still trying to figure it out on your own.

Pray and let God worry.

You prayed, but that was just words, it wasn't enough.

Pray and let God worry.

See, you did your part, you did what he asked of you.

Now let God do what only God can do.

Let the miracle worker work some miracles, let the chain breaker break some chains.

That's not your job, that's his.

Let him do that for you, let him worry.

Now, through Jonah's prayer, we're going to see a transformation on the inside of him.

And how his heart of repentance leads to his salvation and his freedom.

So, continuing in verse 2, he said, In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.

From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry.

Now, what is this distress and what is this realm of the dead that he's talking about here?

See, Jonah understands that the fish was never the threat, but it was the waters that surrounded him, because these waters symbolize something.

These waters symbolize the divine judgment of the Lord.

Right?

And it's not the first time we've seen it.

Flip back to Genesis 7, we see God uses what?

He uses water to flood the earth as judgment on the people's wickedness.

Exodus 14, God uses water to close the Red Sea on the Egyptian army as judgment for holding them captive.

Even at the end of your Bible, Revelation 21, it talks about there being no more sea in the new heaven and new earth.

Sea being meant referred to as judgment.

So as he's reflecting, as he's praying, he knows that God is with him.

He knows that God is protecting him.

He knows that God just pulled him out of judgment and gave him another chance.

And I believe it's here that he learns what it means to really pray and let God worry.

Because if he's gonna go to Nineveh after this, he's gonna have to cast all those fears that he had earlier on God.

He's gonna have to go there not on his own strength, but on the Lord's strength.

So God, in this fish, he's preparing him, he's working on him for what he's going to face later.

The same way God allows things to happen in your life right now that you may not understand, in order to fulfill the calling that he has given you later, in order to help someone that he sees later, right?

You may not understand why this hard times come upon you right now, but God sees that in a few years someone's gonna be suffering that same thing, but they don't know Jesus.

Right?

And he's gonna use you and what you've learned to be that light to them.

He's gonna help you help them.

Because that's our God.

He doesn't make you suffer just to laugh at you, just to see you suffer in pain.

He always has a purpose, a meaning for it.

So Jonah carries on saying, You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me.

All your waves and breakers swept over me.

Now, unfortunately, I know this feeling a little too well.

You see, I was uh around seven years old, and I was at the beach, and like any other kid, I loved the water.

I loved to be in it, it was always a fun time.

I had this little blue boogie board, my sister had this red one, and we would always be like competing in the water, it was just an awesome time.

But you see, me being uh young and dumb at the time, I decided to go in alone, not knowing of the current that was there that day.

And so as I was in as I was in there, I was having a good time, but I got pulled in deeper and deeper until my feet eventually couldn't touch the ground, and I started to feel the waters come over me and I was beginning to drown.

Now, thankfully, there just happened to be this like massive dude who was watching this all happen.

He just walked over there, pulled me out like the current wasn't even there, and he pulled me onto the onto the land.

And as I was sitting on the sand reflecting, I realized that I was scared.

And I was angry that that had just happened to me.

Alright, so now looking at Jonah, he says, You hurled me into the seas.

Right?

He's he's praying, he's talking to God.

He said, God, you hurled me into the sea.

But don't get it twisted, he's not blaming God here.

In fact, he's acknowledging God's sovereignty and how once again God is still in control of every situation.

Yeah, he hurled him into the depths, but he also took him out.

He was protecting him, and God, and he's not scared or angry like I was, but he's grateful that the Lord showed up for him time after time.

So it's not, God, why this and and why that, and why do you have to bring me through this?

It's God, thank you for this, and thank you for that.

Thank you for bringing me through this hard time so I can learn how to rely on you, to trust in you more.

Verses four and five.

I said I have been banished from your sight, yet I will look again towards your holy temple.

The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me, seaweed was wrapped around my head.

I believe it's in this moment where Jonah experiences true repentance.

Right?

He sees, he first acknowledges, he sees, he recognizes that what he has done has separated him from God.

Right?

His sin had a consequence that was separation from God, right?

He says, you know.

Like, Lord, I know I've done wrong.

Lord, I know I have been banished from your sight.

Yet, look at that next word.

Yet I will look again towards your holy temple.

There's so much hope in that one sentence alone.

That's Jonah saying, Yeah, I know I've failed.

I know I've done wrong.

I know I've fallen.

But your word says the righteous man also falls, but he gets back up again and again.

And that's what I'm gonna do.

I'm gonna keep chasing after you.

I'm gonna keep coming after you because I love you.

You are my one desire.

You are my everything.

That's Jonah's heart right here.

He's crying out to God.

And that is true repentance.

A complete turnaround, a complete renewal of your heart and mind.

He's no longer running from God, he's running to him.

Right?

And he knows the God he's running to.

Because Jonah knows the scripture.

Right?

If you look at the chart behind me, we see Jonah's prayer in chapter 2 compared to the Psalms that he was referencing or that he was reciting or that he once read in his Bible and kept in his heart for a time like this, because that's how you read the Bible.

I mean, just look at it.

Jonah 2, 2.

Deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help.

And then Psalm 16, 10, you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead.

It is recited.

He knows the scriptures.

Right?

As when I was a kid, I never understood the purpose of memorizing scripture.

But this year I had the privilege to serve at our Iwana kids' ministry.

And one of my roles is I would help the kids practice.

I would hear them recite these memorized verses that they had, and my boys did awesome.

I see one of them right there.

We did awesome, we killed it this year.

But obviously that question always came up of why do we have to do this?

Right?

What's the purpose of doing this if it's already in the Bible?

And I would say that one day you're gonna face a problem or a situation, and instead of being overcome, instead of being overwhelmed by it, you're gonna use this scripture to fight it and to be comforted through that time because there's no weapon more powerful than the word of God.

There's no words in this world you can say to me that are more comforting than the words that my Lord says to me.

Right?

And this isn't just for kids, it's not something that ends once you step out of Sunday school.

Right?

It's for everyone in this room because when the walls start closing in, when the bills start piling up, when anxiety starts creeping in again, when you don't know what steps to take next in life, we can remember him.

Remember what he says.

Remember that whoever dwells in the shadow whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

If you say the Lord is my refuge and make the Most High your dwelling, then no harm will overtake you.

We can remember these things.

Proverbs 18:10.

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is a strong tower.

The righteous run to it and are safe.

Those aren't just words you read and forget.

It's not just a book that sits there on your bookshelf collecting dust.

That book is alive.

That book is active and it's here to comfort you.

It is here to help you in your times of need.

It's here to answer the questions when you don't know the answer.

Right, Jonah, he didn't know his next step.

He didn't know what was to come.

But he knew the God of the Bible.

Right?

He knew that if God can bring three Hebrew boys out of a fire, or if God can take this little shepherd boy to defeat this giant with a little pebble, then that same God can take him out of this fish right now.

He believed that.

And the question he asked you today is do you believe that?

Do you believe that God can still work like that in your life?

Because this isn't some fairy tale we we say to make it sound cool and fun.

What this really is is God being able to still do this in our lives today.

He's still able to pull you out of the pit that you're in today with a little faith and a little trust in Him.

Just look what he says next.

Look at this next verse.

To the roots of the mountains I sank down.

The earth beneath barred me in forever.

But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit.

Jonah, he's been brought both physically and spiritually to this low and dark place.

And in his mind, he thinks it's forever because that just seems fit.

That seems like the right consequence, right?

It's his fault he's in this place in the first place.

He's just getting what he deserves, right?

But but you, Lord my God.

Through your mercy and your grace alone have you pulled me out of this pit.

See, we don't deserve this.

We couldn't earn this.

Jonah didn't do anything special in that fish to earn God's grace.

He gave it to him.

He gives it to us.

All the times we've sinned, all the times we've gone against God, and what does he do?

He still looks down on us in love.

With grace, not seeing us for who we were or what we've done or all of our sins that we've committed, but seeing us for who we are and who he's made us to be.

Right?

And I don't think you'll be able to see this until you stop fighting.

Once you stop running from God and boldly step into what he has called you, what he has prepared for you.

So coming to these final verses today, I want us to examine Jonah's heart posture as he closes out this prayer.

This journey, it's been painful, uncomfortable, exhausting, all of the above.

But through it all, he is thankful that the Lord has been there with him.

Right, verse 7 says, When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord.

My prayers rose to you, to your holy temple.

When it seemed over for Jonah, what did he do?

He remembered.

Right now, now don't forget, throughout this whole book we've seen Jonah getting lower and lower, right?

Chapter 1, he went down to Joppa, in which he boarded a ship below deck, and when the storm came, he was thrown down into the waters, and now we are at the climax.

We're at the lowest point he can possibly get.

See, Jonah is down in the depths of the sea.

There is no lower he can go.

He has quite literally hit rock bottom.

But the thing about hitting rock bottom is that now there's only one way to look, and that is up.

See, if you know me, you know that basketball was a huge part of my life.

I was on varsity all throughout high school, just going to college camps, talking to college coaches, nonstop practicing traveling for tournaments out of state.

But about a year ago, through prayer and scripture, God revealed to me that basketball wasn't my purpose.

Yeah, I had this gift, yeah, I had this talent for it, but God was calling me somewhere else.

God was calling me into ministry.

And you see, at the time I was confused.

I didn't get it.

I didn't I didn't know what that meant.

I didn't know anything about ministry, I didn't know the next steps that it would take.

I thought there were, God, there's other people for me, right?

I was I was this new Christian at the time.

I didn't know much about God.

I thought there's other people for this job.

Also, I didn't want to do that.

Like I didn't think that's what I wanted to do.

I had plans.

I had a plan to play in college, I had a passion for it.

I had a dream to like every kid one day play in the NBA.

So what did I do?

I just ignored it.

I pushed it to the side.

I was like, you know, maybe maybe I'm hearing things today, and I just moved on.

I went about my day.

But fast forward to the fall of my senior year, and we have these preseason games.

Right, and I've just been playing some of the best basketball ever.

Not to boast or anything, but I'm averaging like double-digit points, getting all these rebounds, steals, assists, I'm doing it all.

I'm looking like the best player on the court.

But then God came in and closed that door for me.

Alright, see, one game I went up for a layup and this kid took my legs out and I landed all weird, and when I came down, I tore my PCL and my meniscus, and now I was at rock bottom.

Right, I was missing the best and my most important year recruiting-wise for basketball.

I was missing everything that I've been working for up until this moment.

It was just gone like that.

Right?

I had this passion, I had this dream, I was working for this, and just like that, it's gone.

But the thing is, when everyone asked me how I was doing, when they said, Yo, Oliver, how are you dealing with this?

This must be rough.

I told them that I felt amazing, right?

And I wasn't lying to them, I wasn't trying to hide the pain.

I truly felt amazing because it was in this moment that the Lord made it clear to me that my mission and my calling, my purpose wasn't found on a basketball court, but it was found in him in ministry.

And see, he had to take everything away in order for me to finally realize that I had just had to go all in to this and trusting him, trusting that he'll lead me to a good place.

And through angry and confused prayers at first, God was just showing me what it meant to pray and let him worry.

Pray and let him lead me.

It was it was physically and emotionally painful, yeah.

But even at rock bottom, I was able to rejoice in what the Lord has been doing and what he is still doing.

Right, he closed this door for me, but he opened another one.

And when I stepped through that one, he opened another one and another one, which eventually led to today.

See, I never thought when he first called me there that I would be up here on this stage talking to you guys.

Right, but I'm living proof that if you just trust God and go where he wants you, even if you don't think that's for you, even if you have better plans, that he can still use you in ways that you couldn't even imagine.

He still has better plans for you.

And see, some of you here today might be at rock bottom.

You might be wondering when God's gonna show up in your life, like he has in your friends' lives and in other people's lives.

And you're gonna wonder when that God's gonna start doing things for you.

But I want to remind you that even if God doesn't pull you out of the pit, out of the mess, out of the struggle that you're in right now, it only means that he's coming in there with you.

It only means that he's walking through it with you.

Right?

He doesn't leave you there.

And I don't think you're gonna be able to see that until you surrender that worry, surrender that control, whatever it is eating at you, surrender it, lay it at his feet.

It's when Jonah does this that we start to see him coming up again.

Right?

He was down, down, down, as low as he can go, and now scripture says we see his life being brought up from the pit.

His prayers rising to God, he's being restored again.

He then says in verses eight and nine, those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them.

But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you.

What I have vowed, I will make good, I will say, salvation comes from the Lord.

Now keep in mind here, we're still in the Old Testament, and after someone committed a sin, they would have to bring this clean animal and slaughter it as a sacrifice, as an offering to God for the forgiveness of their sins.

Alright, but Jonah being in this situation, being in this fish, he doesn't have sheep or goats running around, he doesn't have this opportunity.

So, what does he do?

He sacrifices himself and his words and his heart.

See this whole chapter, Jonah has been the sacrifice for what he's done.

Instead of complaining, instead of blaming God, he sent praises of gratitude to him.

He rejoiced through the pain.

David says in Psalm 51, 17, My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit.

It wasn't just about the animals back then.

See, all along it's been about you being able to come to God in this time of guilt, in this low moment, in this time of shame and coming to God.

Yeah, they had the animals too, but God saw them coming to him as the offering, as a sacrifice.

And that's what he asks of us today.

That's what he wants of us today, because Jesus already paid the price on the cross.

He already made the sacrifice that washes you clean of every sin.

And there's nothing you can do to repay him for that.

But that's okay.

Because he just wants your heart and your love and your affection and your adoration.

He wants you in your lowest moments to throw up your hands and praise him again and again because that's all we have to offer, the King of glory and the creator of the universe.

And he doesn't leave us there.

That's not where the story ends.

In return, we receive this salvation, right?

And you can keep searching and what the world has to offer.

But true salvation isn't found at the bottom of a bottle.

It's not found in your finances, it's not found in anything that brings instant gratification or satisfaction or pleasure.

What does Jonah say?

He says, salvation comes from the Lord.

There's no commas after that, there's no ifs or buts.

That's how he ends his prayer.

Salvation comes from the Lord and nothing else.

And this is salvation that gives you peace, salvation that brings freedom, salvation that says, yeah, I know things aren't perfect right now, but I trust that I am safe in the hands of the one who is perfect and always will be.

And as we come to the table later, I encourage you to come with that heart posture, with that attitude, with that mindset of, Lord, I know things aren't perfect.

I know they're not the way I want them to be right now.

But Lord, I take this bread that is your body that you broke for me, that was pierced for me in this cup that is your blood that was poured out for me, and I remember what you did for me.

I remember the love you had for me, how you got up on that cross, how you suffered through the beating and the mocking and the getting spit on, how you suffered through all that, how you looked down, how you looked through time, and you said, You are worth dying for.

That was your reason for being up there.

And I remember that.

I remember how your goodness and faithfulness has always been running after me, how you have been with me all this time.

That's the mindset to have.

That's what God has done for you.

And even if you doubt that right now, even if you're here today and you don't think that's God, you don't you've been praying, but you don't think that's what he can really do.

I want you to be honest with him.

Let him know your heart, let him know how you really feel.

And when you talk to him, let him also show you who he really is and what he can really do.

Because he can do great things.

And I can testify to this personally.

As I mentioned before, I came to this church around sixth grade.

And at the time I wasn't saved, you know.

I didn't, I never wanted to be here.

And my mom, she's up here.

She can testify to this too.

Uh, you know, she would have to drag me out of the house to get here.

I would I remember I would lock myself in the bathroom, pretend that I'm brushing my teeth, getting all pretty for church.

But she knew all along what I was doing in there.

I was stalling.

I didn't want to be here.

But you see, when she got me here, she put me in Mr.

Malillo's sixth grade class, and he's not here right now, but I already told him sorry first service for what I'm about to say.

But you see, she brought me to his class, and obviously I wasn't paying attention to a word he said.

Right?

I wasn't I wasn't watching or paying attention to what he was writing on the whiteboard.

I didn't even know the song.

Right?

He sings the same song.

Everybody knows the song.

He sings the same song at the end of every class.

And the only word I knew was the last word.

It was go, because I would already be halfway out the door when he when I was saying it.

But you see, another big part of his class are these tests that he gives, and everyone knows the winner, the highest grade, gets 20 bucks, and I was I was ready for that.

And you see, as I as I'm here with the microphone today, I thought it would be nice to get something off my chest that's been weighing me down.

You know, it was it was 2020, COVID was here, and uh he gave us a take-home test.

And you see, uh, there's no way around this.

I I cheated on that thing so hard.

Every question I put into Google and I just wrote it down and I won.

I got the 20 bucks, and I'm sorry.

But you see, that's just who I was.

Right?

I didn't care about learning about God, I didn't care about being here, I didn't care about God.

I told myself that's who I don't need God.

Right?

I was comfortable living in my sin.

I was comfortable living the way I was.

That's what felt good, that's what felt right to me.

Until about two years ago.

See, I was on a retreat with the youth group here, and you know, my intentions were obviously to go there, hang out with my friends, have a good time, play games, uh, prank people at night.

Free food was always good.

But you see, one of the nights the agenda was to listen to a sermon, do a little worship, and then have like a game or like a karaoke night after, which I was so ready for.

But you see, the Lord, he came in and interrupted those plans.

See, the worship starts, and all of a sudden I found myself on my knees with tears pouring out of my eyes.

And I was this tough kid back then, I never showed my emotion, but the Lord just wrecked me in that moment.

And as I was here, as I was in this position for the Lord, I was I was praying this prayer, and I kept repeating these words to God of Lord, I surrender.

God, take my life, take what you want, and have your way with me.

I surrender.

This was the first time I've truly like prayed to God by myself, and I was doing what he told me to do in Matthew 11, 28, when he says, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

See, all my guilt and shame and pain and all that sin inside of me.

I laid it in his hands.

He took it.

And for the first time I felt this freedom, I felt this weight lifted off my shoulders.

See, for the first time I felt this indescribable love and joy and peace wash over me.

I felt rest.

I had rest.

And from that night on, everything changed.

See, I started to actually read my Bible now and I started to see who God really was.

I saw this God who was doing amazing things in the Old Testament, and he was always with his people.

And I read Matthew, I picked up Matthew, that was the first book I read, and he was convicting me, he was telling me to cut some things out of my life.

He was just showing me what it meant to really walk with him, to really pick up my cross daily and follow him.

And so he took this knuckle-head kid who didn't want any part of him, he didn't want any part of church, he didn't want any part of this, and he transformed him to the one here standing before you today, telling you of the salvation that he can give you, of how he can change your life just like he did me.

Because he offers that gift to everyone.

You just have to accept it, you just have to reach out, you just have to call on him.

And now we come to verse 10, and the worship team can start coming out.

But it says, And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry lands.

So Jonah, he's finally free.

But what comes next, right?

You receive this salvation, you encounter, you accept Jesus for the first time, but what comes next, right?

You're on fire, but what are those next steps?

It's this one simple word obedience.

Obedience, not just saying, Yeah, God, I love you and I'll follow you to the ends of the earth.

It's actually doing so, actually going where he wants to, actually doing what he commands, right?

James tells us to be doers of the word and not hearers only.

See, when Jonah got spit out, he didn't take a vacation, he didn't take a break, he didn't say, God, you know, three days in there, I didn't even have food.

You want to go hit a diner real quick?

But he got up.

He got up, smelling like fish, and he went to Nineveh.

He went to the place where he's been running from this whole time.

Why?

Because he wasn't walking alone now.

He was walking in the Lord's strength, he was walking with God there, leading him.

So I ask you, where has the Lord been calling you that you've been saying no to?

Where or who is your Nineveh?

What have you been running from that God is telling you to take a step of faith into?

And what will you do now?

Right?

Will you continue running in fear through every storm that comes your way, trying to man your way through it?

Or will you be obedient to the Lord, surrendering, submitting to him, letting him lead you down his path and his plans for you?

I think that's just amazing that he offers that.

And I could just imagine a church where the people faithfully step into the calling or the mission that God has given them.

Imagine a church that uses their abilities, their gifts, their talents from the Lord to advance the kingdom of heaven, to spread the gospel, to be Jesus for other people who don't know him.

In the great words of Pastor Dave, let's be that church.

Would you pray with me now?

God, we we thank you.

We thank you for being here with us right now.

We thank you for always being here with us, God.

We thank you for what you did for us on that cross.

Lord, we didn't deserve it.

We didn't earn it.

That should have been us up there, but Lord, you took that sacrifice.

And God, I just pray that now we can faithfully step into where you're calling us, where you want us to be.

I pray that we can live for you every day.

And God, I pray for the people in the room who may not believe in that fully yet.

The people who are suffering through these hard times, Lord, I pray that you remind them of your goodness, God, of how you're there for them.

How you are a good father to them.

You're always gonna be there.

And God, I thank you for everything you're doing in this church with these people, God.

Just pray that you continue to move in our hearts, continue to work through us, continue to be God, be great.

I pray that we can just walk down our paths, trusting you, not looking back, not not worrying about what's to come, but believing that you can take us places we have never even imagined.

I pray this all in the mighty name of Jesus.

Amen.