I recently preached a series on Jonah and realized something about myself and much of the preaching that I have heard in my last 10-15 years.  When we have preached the gospel (and by that I mean the story of Jesus), we have chosen to show only the charming Jesus.  I think there are many reasons for this and I'm not saying that seeing the charming Jesus is all that bad.  However, after growing up hearing a gospel that basically said, "Get RIGHT or get LEFT(behind that is)" I wanted to make sure that when people read their Bible, attend church, enter Bible studies, hear sermons, know that Jesus is FOR them, not against them.  

As I said in a sermon recently, we have swung the pendulum the other direction and become unwilling to show the challenge that Jesus gives his followers.  In this particular context I was preaching on Jonah, where Jonah defies God and runs and is quickly in a Perfect Storm and by the end of Chapter 1 is swallowed by a Big Fish.  Here's the deal Jonah's repentance is an extraordinary story of grace and mercy as much as it is a story of challenge to Jonah.  What we see as a challenge or the "negative" side to religion is not seen the same way to God.  If one of my children runs after their ball going into the street and I stop them at the last minute, they may be upset that their ball got run over, but I am relieved it wasn't them.  The same is true of God and us and at a much deeper level.

We have to preach a gracious and merciful God who is the definition of unconditional love.  And we need to preach that we should be people who live like that is true.  We live that way through our actions, our thoughts, our words, and our love.  I'm not saying we create a factory that creates perfect people.  What we are doing is living God's dream for us in the midst of this broken world that surrounds us.

God is the hero.  We are one in need of a savior.  We are saved and therefore live a life of devotion to God and love.  We love Him and Love the people He loves.  We live for God and live the love that He has.  This is the balance.  Grace and Reverence.  Mercy and REsponsibility.  Freedom and choice.

Two Sundays ago I finished a four-week sermon series on the book of Jonah.  This has been quite a journey for me as I have studied and absorbed the little we get in the Bible about Jonah.  It is a remarkable book that can give us so many ideas to think about.  I chose at the beginning for this series to take on a focus about God's mission.  There is no doubt that God has a mission for Jonah to go to Ninevah.  There is also no doubt that Jonah cares nothing for the terrorists of Ninevah.  And yet through a mighty storm, a big fish, a vomitous experience, a prophetic call, a prophetic proclamation, a repentant gentile land, and a vine that is there one day and gone the next, we see more than just Jonah...we see God.  We ultimately see the heart that God has for his people, including Jonah.  God never gives up on Jonah and never relents his grace for Ninevah.  Does God care more about Jonah?  Obviously Jonah cares more about himself than Ninevah.  Was this just a playtime for God to take Jonah on a personal journey?  Jonah definitely went on an extreme journey.  However, it seems that Jonah ends up in the very same place he began and God cares just as much for Jonah as he does for Ninevah.  The key verse of the entire book lies in Jonah 4:11, "And should i not have concern for the great city of Ninevah, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left--and also many animals?"  God has deep compassion on Jews and gentiles.  We tend to spend most of our time in the New Testament and if we aren't careful, we think the gentile movement begins with Paul.  Nope.  It begins with God and a reluctant, yet successful prophet, Jonah.

One cannot miss the ideas of repentance, salvation, and compassion.  God has great compassion for all people.  And while we have once regarded repentance as a bad word, we realize in Jonah, that repentance is reconciliation with God and through this reconciliation, Jonah is able to reconcile an entire city to God.

If nothing else I realize through this story that I must embrace my story of repentance and realize that repentance not only turns me from sin, but turns me to God and thus gives me a message for others who are seeking something deeper in this life than the world can offer.  They are seeking repentance, reconciliation with God.  If I can share how God has done this for me, then they can see that God can do this for them as well.  This is good news and our salvation continues.  I am Jonah.  I am Ninevah.  I am God's story of repentance.  And YOU are too!