The Book Of Jonah • Part 3 with Tony Jennings

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Weekly content that inspires all of us to follow Jesus.

Join us each week for a message from one of our fantastic communicators that provide practical ways to grow our faith, challenge ourselves, and to love others more.

And now, this week's message.

Okay, so this is probably the only time for the rest of our time together that I'll ask you to say something aloud or repeat after me, okay?

I'm not going to guarantee that though, because that may change.

But for now, I need you to repeat after me.

You ready?

Yeah, we're ready?

This is a conversation.

You can say, Yeah, yeah, we're ready.

All right.

I'm okay.

I'm pausing for dramatic effect here, creating a little tension.

You ready for this next word?

Okay.

Sorry.

Oh, if y'all could see your faces.

I know that was hard.

I know that was that was probably hard for some of us to say the words, I'm sorry.

But just think about it.

If someone were to ask you, hey, you should probably say the words, I'm sorry.

You may do it, but it may take a little bit of time to process how you really feel.

It may take some time for you to really actually say the words, I'm sorry.

And even if I were to ask you, hey, take her your phone, I'm not going to do that today, but take her your phone and text someone, I'm sorry.

You probably do it, but would you really mean it?

I mean, would you really mean it?

And here's what I think we all know to be true: is that our compliance changes our conduct.

We're really good at complying.

We're really good with our willingness to do something without truly surrendering.

We're really good at like saying, saying the right thing without becoming the right kind of person.

We're really good at performing the part.

We're really good at learning how to say the right words to show up performing as if we're the right kind of person.

We're really good at it.

We're really good at performing the part.

While at the same time protecting the heart that's underneath.

And this is what behavior modification is and what it does.

Behavior modification is changing what a person does without changing what a person loves.

Right?

And here's the thing, we we can we can force a change in behavior, but we can't force a change of heart.

And here's what I need you to know behavior modification, it can be useful.

It's how habits are really formed.

Essentially, right, you set a goal for yourself, something that you really want to accomplish, something that you really want to do.

So, what what do we do?

Well, we create this goal, we create some kind of accountability, and then there are consequences for not doing the thing that we set out to do.

And we do that over and over and over, rinse and repeats, until a habit is formed, until that habit becomes normal.

But here's what I think we all know to be true: that behavior modification has a ceiling.

Because behavior modification, it can change our conduct.

But it doesn't change our character.

It can make us stop yelling and screaming because you don't want consequences.

It can make you say in the middle of an argument, I'm sorry.

Not because you're actually sorry, but because you simply want the argument to end.

It can make you apologize over and over and over because you just want that feeling that you've been feeling, whatever, to kind of just go away.

It can make you come to church because someone expected of you.

They requested of you.

But here's the thing it cannot make you love God.

And it cannot make you love people.

It can get your feet moving in the right direction while your heart stays exactly where it is.

And that brings us right back to Jonah.

Because by the time we get to Jonah, Jonah 3, Jonah, he finally does the right thing.

The question is whether or not he has become the right kind of person.

So that's where we're going to pick up.

If you've you've just kind of jumped in with us, I'm going to give you a quick overview of what's been happening.

We picked up this story, this series of Jonah.

Um, Jonah's a prophet.

God gave Jonah a mission, he gave him command to go to Nineveh and speak and preach against the city of Nineveh.

And instead of going to the city, Jonah decides to buy one-wid ticket to the opposite direction on a boat.

He gets on this boat, he goes down to the lower deck, and he goes to sleep.

While he's sleeping, this violent storm happens.

God sends the storm to happen, and the sailors are trying to figure out what to do while Jonah is still asleep.

They go down to Jonah and say, Jonah, hey, why is who are you?

What is happening?

Why is this happening?

Who are you?

Jonah finally comes clean that God had given him something to do, and he decided to be disobedient.

So they try everything to calm the storm, to figure out how to make it to their destination.

And instead they end up reluctantly throwing Jonah overboard.

And instead of allowing Jonah to drown, God sends a big fish to swallow Jonah.

And Jonah basically spends about a few days, three days, and time out in this fish's belly.

And this is where we're going to pick up the rest of the story.

Here we go.

And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

And then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time.

Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.

You know what I absolutely love about this is that God is a giver of second chances and sometimes third chances.

Let's keep reading.

Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.

Now Nineveh was a very large city.

Took three days to go through it.

Jonah began by going a day's journey into the city, proclaiming 40 more days, and Nineveh will be overthrown.

Now I need you to keep in mind that the city of Nineveh was probably one of the most violent cities ever in the ancient world.

I mean, they wiped out, as I said in week one, they wiped out 10 of Israel's 12 tribes.

They were so violent, and to our standards, they were probably one of the most horrible, horrible people in humanity.

And God is asking Jonah to walk through this city, and it could probably have felt like Jonah was about to die.

He probably was so scared and it felt so dangerous for him.

But the Nineveh, they don't kill Jonah.

They do something differently instead.

Let's read it.

The Ninevites believed God.

A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on a sackcloth.

Now, this sackcloth here is just a sign of repentance, humility, mourning, and desperation before God.

And this is a side note for our message and our time and our conversation today that if you've ever felt so far from God's grace and so far from his mercy, you're not.

You're not far from his grace, you're not far from his mercy, you're not far from his unconditional love.

He loves you.

He loves you so, so, so much.

An example of this is the people of Nineveh.

By humanity's standards, they are the worst of the worst.

But God forgives them the moment they repent.

And when Jonas warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat down in the dust.

The most powerful leader in this city.

Makes the decision to repent.

Makes the decision to respond to God's grace and mercy.

Let's keep reading.

This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh.

By the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let people or animals or herds or flocks taste anything.

Do not let them eat or drink, but let people and animals be covered with sackcloth.

Let everyone call urgently on God.

Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.

Who knows?

God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.

How crazy is this?

That throughout this time, Jonah wanted to go in the opposite direction.

That he was willing to disobey God, that he would, he was so willing to disobey God that he would be willing to die.

Instead of going to the city of Nineveh.

Instead of being obedient to what God asked them to do, he was willing to kill himself.

And then God, God allowed them to live.

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.

And what we see from the Ninevites is way more than just basic behavior modification.

This is not a simple heart modification, but it is heart transformation.

And every single one of us, every follower of Jesus has the tendency that we will often look religious without being in a growing relationship with Jesus.

We like to look the part, we like to say the right things, we like to make sure that we're forming the behaviors, that we've found the Christian language to say the things that we need to say in order to appear to look as if we are followers of Jesus.

We found the rhythms, we found the disciplines, we found what is called spiritual formation, and we stick to that.

We say, hey, we wake up early in the morning and we read every single chapter of Mark before we start our day, and then we pray three times a day, and we try to make it seem as if we're truly followers of Jesus because we're following the religious ways.

But here's what I think all of us know to be true: that religion, it can produce compliance, our willingness to do something, but relationship, oh, relationship produces transformation.

And Jonah can quote this.

He can quote that, hey, God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love.

But yet, throughout this whole process, throughout this whole narrative, we see that Jonah, oh man, Jonah, he doesn't want his heart to change.

He doesn't want to express the same grace to the city of Nineveh.

And here's the thing about religion: religion can get Jonah to Nineveh, but he can't make Jonah, he can't make Jonah care about the people of Nineveh.

I think that's the same for you and I.

That religion can maybe get us to show up in places to volunteer?

But it can't make us actually care about the people we volunteer for.

And this is so abundantly evident in the heart of Jonah as he leaves the city of Nineveh.

Yes, Jonah performs the mission.

But his heart.

His heart isn't any different.

He walks out, out of the city, dejected.

And here's what he does.

Here's what he says.

Goes, here we go.

But to Jonah, this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.

It's quite astounding that Jonah would rather die than see his enemies forgiven.

And just a few days ago, God saved Jonah's Jonah's life.

Now Jonah is angry with God for saving the lives of others.

He prayed to the Lord.

Isn't this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home?

That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish.

I know.

I knew that you are gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, and God who relents from sin to calamity.

Now, Lord, take away my life.

For it is better for me to die than to live.

I think we can all say this together.

Jonah is so dramatic.

But this here, this is so revealing of Jonah's heart.

And our hearts as well.

I mean, just think about it.

God gives Jonah this command.

He tells this guy to go to this city.

Go preach what he told him to preach, say the things that he told him to say.

And he runs in the opposite direction, doesn't do it the first time.

God has to send this violent storm in order to get his attention, in order for him to confess that he is actually wrong.

That it's his fault.

Then he praises this prayer to God, and then God has this moment with this fish.

God saves him from drowning, vomits him out onto the land, saves his life.

Now Jonah's supposed to go to this city of Nineveh and actually save their lives.

And when God does it, he pouts.

He pouts and he gets angry with God.

He gets angry with God for being God.

Then it reads in verse 4.

But the Lord replied with this incredible question.

Is it right for you to be angry?

I love this question, and maybe you too, because it's such an introspective opportunity for Jonah.

Is it right for you to feel this way?

The chapter concludes with Jonah pouting on the side of this big old plant that God provided.

God then takes this big old plant, this tree away, and that's it.

But here's the thing: the story doesn't end with Jonah taking a bow for being obedient, for being the most religious person to ever walk the face of the earth.

No, it doesn't end there.

It doesn't even end with God taking a bow in this story.

It kind of ends with this question.

And this question is, is it right for you to be?

Jonah, is it right for you to be angry?

Is it right for you to be resentful?

Is it right for you to feel and be offended?

Is it right for you to be comfortable?

Is it right for you to be unforgiving?

Is it right for you to be frustrated?

Is it right for you to be sad?

Is it right for you?

Is it right for you to push people away?

Is it right for you to be angry?

But what I love about this question is that this question is not condemnation by God.

But rather it's an invitation.

And maybe God's question to you, maybe even God's question to me is the same.

Is it right for you to be?

Now, when we started this three-week journey together, I told you that there's meaning in this story, in every part of this narrative.

And more importantly than that, that this story, this narrative is a mirror to each and every one of us.

So this question, is it right for you to be?

It is an opportunity to name your blank.

For each and every one of us, it's an opportunity to name your blank.

Not just justify it, not say, well, the reason I'm angry is because, so kind of, yeah, it's right for me to be angry.

Oh, the reason I'm offended, well, if you knew I was offended, well, you would agree with me that it is, it's right for me to feel this way.

It's right for me to be indifferent.

If you knew what happened to me two years ago, if you knew what the person did to me 10 years ago, if you knew what someone said to me two days ago, you knew, you would know why it's right for me to feel this way.

Why it's right for me to be this way.

But I'm gonna challenge each and every one of you to name your blank.

So the question for you to ask is this one.

Is it right for me to be?

Is it right for me to be?

Now here's what I'm not saying.

I'm not saying that um that grace is a reason for you to excuse what someone has done to you.

They know what they did, it hurt you.

It hurt you deep.

Grace doesn't mean that you just let it go.

That's not what I'm saying.

And maybe um one of the wisest things you can do is set boundaries for that person or for that group of people.

I I totally understand that.

Maybe for you it's it's gaining and yearning for wisdom and wise counsel.

I I totally get it.

Maybe there needs to be a ton of distance and separation from them because the amount of pain and hurt and danger and damage that they did to you.

If we were to know part of that story, we would agree that yes, you should have so much separation.

We'd almost say that maybe you shouldn't even forgive them.

We'd almost agree to the point where we say, hey, well, yeah, it's kind of right for you to be.

Right?

So that's not what I'm saying, but here's what I'm saying.

I'm saying that I want you to get to a place where you fully surrender that emotion, that you fully surrender that behavior, that you fully surrender that thing, that you fully surrender your blank.

And then what I'd love for you to do, right after you you name your blank, and you've got to be honest with yourself, it's taking full inventory of your life to really go, okay, what blank?

What is my blank?

And then I'd love for you to ask God to reshape what you love.

Because the goal is not just behavior modification.

The goal is not to just say, well, fine, I'll stop being angry.

Fine, I'll act nicer.

Fine, I'll say the Christian thing that I'm supposed to say.

Y'all, God's mercy.

God's mercy is meant to do more than just save you, it's meant to change you from the inside out.

So I really want you to consider what your blank is.

And then ask God to reshape some of those things that you really, really love, the things that you have put in front of your relationship with Jesus.

And for many of you who are here today and you would say I'm not a follower of Jesus, I'd honestly want you to consider why not.

Is the blank or the thing that you love getting in the way of your relationship, informing your relationship with him?

And for those of you who are here who haven't necessarily taken the next step in your faith, why?

What's your blank?

Is your blank getting in the way of you experiencing his unconditional love for you and actually loving him more than you love the thing, more than you love the blank?

Because as you all know, for many of us, the habit that can be formed in us is the thing that we make a habit, the thing that we make a priority.

So now at a Certain stage, if you've been angry for so long, now anger is the thing that you love more than your relationship with Jesus.

Being offended is something you love more than your relationship with Jesus.

Being indifferent is something you love more than your relationship with Jesus.

Being comfortable is something you love more than your relationship with Jesus.

And when you accept this truth, when you accept this truth, it's more than just about being tolerant of other people.

But it's allowing Jesus to go into the places of your heart, the underneath things, the things that no one knows about, the anger, the resentment that you've been carrying for years, for years with the person that you may have known for your entire life.

It's going to Jesus and it's saying, here's my blank.

Now, here's what I know to be true, and maybe maybe you do too, is that in asking, he may make you more patient.

Now, I'm gonna pause here.

Um, for those who've been following Jesus for a long time, um, they'll tell you, uh, don't pray for patience.

I'll tell you that.

Um, so if you're new to faith and you're wondering, how do I pray?

And you start praying for patience, they might go, whoa, whoa, whoa, uh pray for something else because this put you in positions to be patient.

And as you all know, many of us have struggled with patience.

No, he may make you more compassionate.

He may make you more willing to forgive.

He may make you more concerned for people you once dismissed.

But above all this is that he may make you more like Jesus.

And y'all, that's the point.

This is the point.

A relationship with Jesus means I don't just ask, did I do the right thing?

Did I say the right thing?

Did I show up the right way?

Did I perform the best?

But rather, I want you to ask this: am I becoming more like him?

Do I love what he loves?

Do I grieve what he grieves?

Do I want mercy for me and for others?

Because as y'all know this to be true, religion can make you look like Jesus.

It may make you appear to look like Jesus because you've performed and you've said the right things that you have needed to say.

It can get you to comply.

But relationship asks this important question.

Um, is my heart being transformed from the inside out?

And this is where the book of Jonah leaves us.

Not necessarily with Jonah's answer.

That didn't happen, but with God's question.

Because this unresolved issue, y'all, that's the point.

The story ends before Jonah responds.

And now, you and I, we get to decide how we will respond.

Will we stay outside in the city, filled with anger?

We stay outside of our relationships, stay in those relationships filled with anger, filled with resentment, filled with unforgiveness?

Will we look around at a specific group of people and automatically feel and stay offended by them?

Will we keep confusing religious compliance with real transformation?

Will we keep loving the mercy that rescues us while resenting the mercy that reaches them?

Or, and this is important, will we let God reshape our hearts?

That's been the question behind this entire series.

Jonah shows us the most dangerous place of all.

It's not running from God, not drowning in the sea, not sitting in the belly of the fish, the most dangerous places where outward obedience exists without inward transformation by mercy.

Jonah made it to Nineveh.

But Nineveh never made it into Jonah's heart.

And that's the warning.

You can be around the things of God and still resist the heart of God.

You can know the Bible and still not love people.

You can pray as long and as hard as you've ever prayed and still stay bitter.

You can serve and still stay proud.

You can obey and still stay cold.

You can receive mercy and still refuse to become merciful.

That's the invitation today.

The invitation is not to merely behave better.

I mean, we all can do that.

Come on, we can all do that.

We can all put on our best clothes and our best smiling faces.

And behind that smile, be filled with so much anger and resentment.

Be filled with so much unforgiveness.

But the invitation today is to allow the mercy and grace of our Heavenly Father, of Jesus, to go deeper than we could ever imagine.

To go deeper in our pain.

To go deeper to the places that are filled with that resentment.

To go deeper to the places that y'all know they all been hiding, that we've been hiding, that no one knows about.

To go deeper than your religious language.

To go deeper than your public obedience, to go deeper than your managed behavior.

All the way down to the places where anger, bitterness, resentment, comfort, indifference, and unforgiveness have been sitting untouched.

So here's the question.

God leaves with Jonah.

The question God leaves with us.

Is it right for me to be?

And maybe today the answer for you is no.

No, it's not right for me to be anger.

No, no, it's not right for me to be unforgiving.

No, it's not right for me to be filled with this resentment and unforgiveness.

No, it's not right for me.

And for you that know it's the first step in surrendering today.

Because God's mercy is meant to do more than save you.

It's meant to change you from the inside out.

So my encouragement today, my challenge today, is to bring God your blank.

And I want to be honest that for many of us, the blank is also tied to an event.

It's tied to a story.

It's tied to something that no one knows you've been carrying for so long.

And you can't even say that thing to the person that's closest to you.

But y'all, I really want you to really bring him the anger.

Gosh, would you just bring him the bitterness, bring him the unforgiveness, bring him the indifference, bring him the resentment, bring it all to him.

Bring him the person you do not want to pray for.

The person, if it was only two seats left in here today, and you came in and you had to sit beside them, you wouldn't want to sit beside them.

And bring him the part of your heart that still doesn't look like Jesus.

And watch.

Y'all, I'm telling you this from experience.

This is not just someone standing here on this platform, but watch him change you.

I really mean this from my core.

Watch him change you from the inside out.

And you won't just try to look like a follower of Jesus, but you will truly, truly follow him.

I love to pray for us.

Let's pray.

God, you know all the things we're carrying.

You know the things that people that all of us have have been hiding.

You know all the things that we're worried about, all our concerns.

You know every single detail of our lives.

So I'm asking today that you would go into those broken places.

And that you would change us and heal us from the inside out.

God, not so that we can just pretend to be a follower of you, so that we can be a follower of you, that we can so that we can experience your love.

And that is the overflow that allows us to do the things that you would desire us to do.

God, and for the person that's here for the very first time, or the person that's here, considering this to be their last time, they're giving you one last shot.

Pray that they would experience your comfort today.

To know that they're not in this thing called life alone.

You're a good, good father.

We love you so much.

And it's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.