God of ANOTHER chance!

We do not serve a God of second chances, we serve a God of another chance. No matter how many times we run away from Him, God is always willing to take us back!

The past two weeks at church, we have been talking about the story of Jonah. This week I had the privilege of teaching the second half of the story. Before we get there, we need to recap the beginning of the story.

In the first chapter, God tells Jonah to go preach in Nineveh:

Jonah 1:1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: ² “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”

Jonah deliberately disobeys God and runs away:

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.

Jonah was the only prophet to ever run away from the Lord’s instructions. Because of his disobedience, the Lord sends a violent storm that threatens the lives of the men aboard the ship. In order to calm the storm, Jonah is thrown overboard and swallowed by a whale (large fish).  While inside the whale’s belly, Jonah repents and is spit back out on land. This is where our story ended.

Takeaway from last week message: even when we are disobedient, God is still merciful and gives us a second chance.

*Jonah 2:8-10- “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.’” And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah acknowledges that He was wrong: When we run away from God- which usually means running towards vain idols or running towards our own plan- we deny His Love.

Jonah Ch. 3

Jonah has now returned home, God has saved him, and given him another chance. This is the “Mountain top” part of the story- “Church camp High”

As we transition to this part of the story, it is not clear how much time has actually passed? It is probably safe to assume that a decent amount of time has passed. So Jonah’s gratefulness (the “mountain top” high) has slowly started to fad, and things are back to normal. So basically we are back to where we started, right where God found Jonah in chapter 1- TAKE TWO.

Jonah 3:1- “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 gave you.”

The Lord has instructed Jonah to do the very thing He ran away from back in Chapter one- Jonah finds himself back in the very same position as he was before… but how does his response change?

*Jonah 3:3 (ASV) So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord.

*Jonah 3:3 (NIV) Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh.

This time Jonah does what the Lord has asked him to do. (Smart move) Although Jonah follows instructions the second time, there is no indication that he likes it any more than he did in chapter one. His heart/attitude: has not really changed.

Do you ever do things out of duty or guilt? When we do something out of obligation, without a joyful and obedient heart, are we truly obeying? I’m sure many of us have said: “Ok Lord, you can make me do this, but you cannot make me want to do this.”  

I had us look at two different texts for above to point out the variation in the text. The word “obey” is not found in both versions because in the Hebrew it does not translate to say “Jonah Obeyed.” The Hebrew word for obey = SHAMA- to hear, to listen to, and to obey. Shama is the type of obedience God wants from us. He does not want us to simply follow orders. He wants our obedience to be relational obedience. We are supposed to hear the Lord through seeking him and spending time in His word.

In Exodus 5- Moses goes to Pharaoh and tells him that the Lord has requested Pharaoh free the Israelites. Pharaoh’s response in verse 2 is:  

"Who is the LORD that I should obey (that I should shama him) him and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD and I will not let Israel go."

This example shows that true obedience involves a relationship with the Lord. Pharaoh asks why he should obey someone that he does not know. That he does not have a relationship with.  Going back to Jonah, we see that he has followed the Lord’s instruction, but he does not really have an obedient heart. There is a difference between obedience and compliance:

*Define Obedience vs. Compliance

When I looked up the definition for Compliance, Wikepedia also provided a sentence to show how the word was used in context:  “The Suspect was compliant when arrested.”

The suspect probably followed orders because the cop had a gun and he didn’t want to get shot. He didn’t obey because he had a relationship with the cop.

True Obedience to the Lord is not a game of Simon says- God isn’t interested in playing a game with our life. He does not tell us “Go to church, Go to the single life social, give back 10% of your income, love your neighbor… do this do that… oh not that- Jesus didn’t say!” He doesn’t want us to respond like robots. No, He wants us to respond out of love and desire to please Him.

            To illustrate- Has a Parent or friend ever asked you for a favor? Like drive them to the airport- This is not something you are jumping up and down to do, but you do it because you love them. This may not be the best illustration because we might do this out of obligation,…. that obligation being we don’t want them to think we are rude… or we are expecting them to return the favor… but you get the idea. Most of us are happy to help the people we love! 

*2 Cor. 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

So a few questions for us to ponder today:

1.) Do many of us look like Jonah on the outside? You do the “right” things because you believe they are required…  Or…. Do you truly long for a relationship with Christ?

Jonah missed out on the joy God wanted him to have because he was only concerned about checking the box. I think there are some of us who just “arose and went” to church because it was “the right thing to do.” Have you gotten into that routine? Or are you truly seeking the Lord? Take a moment and dwell on this question. Really think about your motives for doing “right” or “Christian/church” things.

This is important to think about because if we have any ulterior motives, eventually we will be let down, disappointed, or simply become burnt out. The story of Jonah reveals that you cannot do the right thing on the outside, but have a rotten heart on the inside.

*Matthew 23: 27-28 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

If we play Simon Says in our walk with God, then we are just like the Pharisees. On the outside we may look beautiful- all put together- but on the inside we are rotting away.

The good news is that God knows many of us are in this predicament: 

*Ezekiel 36:26-27 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

God wants to make you a new person- Not just change your activities!

I might not be the best teacher, I am sure there are others that could give a much better lesson, but I truly believe this was/is the exact lesson God wanted to teach me this week. I do not think it is a coincidence that I was given this passage- because if anyone is like Jonah, it would be me! Many of you know my story and I have shared it in church before, but God has laid it on my heart to share again & I believe He is reminding me of what he has done in my life to get me to where I am today.

After I graduated, I moved back to Houston and worked here for a little over a year. During that time my brother joined the army and moved away, my boyfriend and I broke up, I was really bored at my job, and I ended up looking for things to fill these disappointments in my life. I became really active at Second Baptist through single life, but I was searching for acceptance not searching for the Lord. After a year or so of all that I just became really bitter and wanted a change in my life. SO I up and quit everything and left.

While I was gone, the Lord really took hold of my heart and taught me that I cannot run from my problems- just like Jonah could not run. During that year, I realized I had been running my whole life. I confessed my selfishness and asked God to take control.

Not too long after that, I was given an opportunity to move back to Houston. I was really happy where I was in NY and I cannot really explain why I felt moving back was the right decision, but I chose to return. So in a sense, God literally swallowed me and spit me back right here: to the same church, the same job, and even the same house until a few weeks ago. I was/I am in the same place that God put Jonah.

So when I returned I was excited to serve God and get involved. I was asked to teach and I thought:” I am going to do it right this time.” But If I am honest, my “Mountain top high,” has started to fade- this week especially. I had an internal battle with God- “I really did not want to prepare to teach this lesson.” I caught myself asking- “Lord, I am doing all the right things, yet I am still not 100% satisfied, Why can’t you be enough… what else am I searching for and why have you not provided that?”

I was so frustrated as I began preparing this message and then this of all things was the topic- second chances and true obedience.

I know God was/ is saying: “Laura- Yes that is good, I am glad you are serving me but you need to examine your heart and discover your true motives- why are you being obedient?”

And the truth is:

“I am Jonah. I want to serve God… as long as it is convenient.

I desire to do his will… until it is a tad uncomfortable.

I want to hear his word… as long as its message is one I am suppose to pass on to someone else.

I don’t want my plans to be interrupted.

Oh yes, I am Jonah and I suspect that in one way or another, you are too!”

So today, I want you to ask yourself: Do you obey God out of obligation- or because you Love Him?

Thinking about all this… I think it is safe to assume that we have all been like Jonah, or maybe we are currently. So how do we snap out of it? How can we change our attitude? God tell us to first Love Him, because when we love Him, then we will love who and what He loves. He doesn’t want us to be a “to do list” Christian. Obedience should not suck you dry!

Maybe you want so badly to be motivated by the Lord, but you just aren’t. You find yourself in church each Sunday, you tithe, you serve…. but you do these things somewhat grudgingly- you often force yourself to do them.

Well here is the wonderful thing about God: The Lord knows that there will never be a day when we serve Him with 100% pure motives- we are human and therefore we all have sinful desires.  No matter how hard we try, we cannot remove every impure intention.  But through Jesus Christ, we can offer our mixed obedience to the Lord, and Christ makes them pure! - This is good news for us with mixed motives!  

Now we reach the part of the lesson when I got stuck…. So we all have mixed motives, maybe we have been asking the Lord to encourage us and strengthen our walk. But we can’t seem to get out of our routine- we still want something more or we are not fully satisfied… We have voiced this all to Him and now what… That is where I struggle too. And I think the answer is Simply Stop. Stop trying so hard…

Stop and search your hearts, listen to Him.  Ask yourself, am I still playing Simon says with God? I think we need to take a moment today and just ask the Lord, to make Himself real in our lives.

Maybe if we stop worrying about ourselves and just focus on Him… then He will be able change our attitude!