WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.560 Welcome to the City Covenant Podcast. 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:11.599 We are a warm, welcoming church located in downtown Spokane, dedicated to practicing the way of Jesus in the heart of the city. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:15.599 Please join us as we dive into the Word of God together. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:39.759 Hey guys, welcome. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:41.920 Great to see everybody. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:45.359 Hey, we are starting out a new series. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:48.320 If I have not met you, I'm glad to meet you. 00:00:48.399 --> 00:00:49.280 My name is Asher. 00:00:49.439 --> 00:00:52.399 I'm the um the lead pastor here at City Covenant. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:53.759 Um, some of you guys are new. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:56.560 If you're new, we're especially pumped you're here. 00:00:56.799 --> 00:00:58.880 Um, hey, happy Father's Day. 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:00.960 That brings a lot of mixed feelings for a lot of people. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:07.920 Um, a couple years ago, um, we had this family, they've never been to church, like uh the whole family hadn't been to church before. 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:13.040 Um, and we advite if we invited these folks to church and it happened to be Father's Day, right? 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:24.879 And two of the kids, um, their dad was completely out of the picture, and I think like literally the two kids like wept through like 75 minutes of church of just feeling like, oh my gosh, I just really, really miss my dad, right? 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:34.239 And so we have, I think, um, and for me growing up, you know, I didn't grow up with a dad, and so that's that far end, right, of the Father's Day spectrum, and then the other folks are just really amped. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:37.519 And so anywhere you you fit in this, you know, it's Father's Day. 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:40.000 And you know it's funny, we're doing this series on prayer. 00:01:40.239 --> 00:01:45.200 One of our sermons we're gonna speak um on the Lord's Prayer and the Father. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:49.760 Really, it feels like a miss right now to me that we didn't do that one today, but it's too late. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:50.640 It's too late. 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:52.719 So we're looking at Jonah 1. 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:54.159 We're looking at Jonah 1 and 2. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:58.079 So you can turn your pew Bibles there, and it's in page 795. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:05.120 Um, it's in just so you know, if this is some knowledge you have or don't have, Jonah is one of what's called the minor prophets. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.680 Okay, there's the major prophets and the minor prophets. 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:13.120 Um, when Jonah is called um one of the minor prophets, just you know, it's not because he's less significant. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.199 The books are literally shorter and smaller. 00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:16.479 That's all minor means, right? 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.280 You've got the minor prophets that are shorter, the major prophets that are bigger. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:23.039 So you've got like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, major prophets, right? 00:02:23.199 --> 00:02:24.639 Minor prophets, smaller books. 00:02:24.719 --> 00:02:25.280 That's all it is. 00:02:25.439 --> 00:02:27.120 This is a really incredible story. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:38.400 So we're gonna be looking at these incredible stories like um Jonah throughout the summer and learn how to pray in the midst of a lot of different experiences. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:43.520 Um, next week, our our good friend Sylvia Dilworth is gonna be preaching in Ephesians 3, right? 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.319 And learning how to pray um through the midst of that. 00:02:46.479 --> 00:02:49.199 And so you're definitely gonna want to be here next week. 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:50.800 Um I'm actually gonna be out of town. 00:02:50.879 --> 00:02:52.719 I'm gonna be down in Phoenix, Arizona. 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:54.479 Some of you guys know about this, some of you guys don't. 00:02:54.639 --> 00:03:08.719 Um, so I'm getting in our denomination, our denomination, the Evangelical Covenant Church, um, which is a mouthful for me, having gone to speech therapy for a long time, but um, the evangelical covenant is real big on like formal ordination. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:14.159 I grew up in a as a Pentecostal, you know, as Pentecostals, people aren't interested in in ordination. 00:03:14.240 --> 00:03:18.080 We're just like, oh, I was ordained by the Holy Spirit when I was 11, right? 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:21.520 I experienced a call back then, I was ordained back then. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:24.080 And and then you've got like on the far other side, right? 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:28.879 You've got some churches that um, you know, ordination is a really, really long, drawn-out process. 00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:32.479 And um, and you got to move somewhere else to go to seminary and all that. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:34.000 The covenant is kind of in the middle. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:40.639 So just so you know, some of you guys are even wondering wait, hold on, this guy's been preaching this long is and isn't ordained, you know, has been serving communion. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:41.199 Did it work? 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:42.240 Did it count? 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.520 So here's what we do in the cov that I really, really like. 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:52.080 It's this middle area where we look because we have a lot of church plants and we have a it's we're really multi-ethnic. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:57.599 So we also have a lot of churches that come into the covenant that maybe their pastors have really limited education. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:06.319 And so what's amazing about the covenant is they say, hey, if your congregation understands you to be their pastor, in the covenant, we see you as their pastor. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:11.039 So when we came in, um, I don't think maybe I hadn't finished, I forget now actually. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:13.680 I don't remember if I had finished my master's in theology or not. 00:04:13.840 --> 00:04:16.079 Um, but I was close to it. 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:18.879 And anyway, so the Cov said, you know, here's what we can do. 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.639 We have something before you get a formal long-term ordination, and it's a license. 00:04:22.720 --> 00:04:25.680 And you can only, you know, do you can only be a pastor at this location. 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:29.360 So I've been licensed for the last like nine years through the covenant. 00:04:29.600 --> 00:04:38.879 And um anyway, so in the midst of you know, planting and then COVID and all that, it's taken a little while longer to get ordained, you know, than maybe the covenant would have liked. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:41.759 Um, so they said, you need to come down to Phoenix, we're gonna ordain you. 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:43.519 You know, so anyway, I'll be there next week. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:44.319 So I won't be here. 00:04:44.480 --> 00:04:51.279 So and um don't don't worry, I've got a registry on Amazon. 00:04:51.439 --> 00:04:52.720 You can look on there. 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:54.560 And so I'm just kidding. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:57.920 Wait for wait for October for Pastor Appreciation Month, okay? 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:01.680 Um, but gifts are always appreciated, and compliments, you know. 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:03.040 Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:05.120 Sorry, that was not about Jonah, that's just extra. 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.920 Um Jonah, we're gonna read for part of Jonah 1. 00:05:08.000 --> 00:05:10.240 It's Jonah 1, 1 through 6. 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:17.680 Then we'll read just verse 17, it's the whale part, and then 2, 1 through 9, or through 1 through 10, sorry. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:22.639 So if you'll read with me, we're gonna read and then we'll pray, and then we'll we're gonna look at this whole text. 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:27.680 This is what Jonah says The word of the Lord came to Jonah, the son of Amitai. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:33.839 Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. 00:05:34.000 --> 00:05:37.279 But Jonah ran away from the Lord, and he headed for Tarshish. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:41.360 He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. 00:05:41.519 --> 00:05:45.759 After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:52.480 Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. 00:05:52.639 --> 00:05:56.319 All the sailors were afraid, and each cried out to his own God. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.680 And they threw the cargo into the sea to lighten the ship. 00:05:59.759 --> 00:06:05.199 But Jonah had gone below deck, where he lay down and he fell into a deep sleep. 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.800 The captain went to him and said, How can you sleep? 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:11.279 Get up and call on your God. 00:06:11.600 --> 00:06:15.360 Maybe he will take notice of us so that we will not perish. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:19.600 And then verse 17, the Lord Oh, this is after Jonah's in the ocean. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:20.079 Sorry. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.920 And now the Lord provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.319 And Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and three nights. 00:06:28.560 --> 00:06:29.279 Verse 1. 00:06:29.519 --> 00:06:32.959 From inside the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:37.360 He said, In my distress, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:43.199 From deep in the realm of the dead, I called for help, and you listened to my cry. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:49.040 You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me. 00:06:49.199 --> 00:06:51.439 All your waves and breakers swept over me. 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:54.319 I said, Have I been banished from your sight? 00:06:54.480 --> 00:06:57.279 Yet I will look again toward your holy temple. 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:00.240 The engulfing waters threatened me. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:02.000 The deep surrounded me. 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:04.480 Seaweed was wrapped around my head. 00:07:04.800 --> 00:07:07.439 To the roots of the mountains I sank down. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:10.879 The earth beneath barred me in forever. 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.600 But you, Lord my God, you brought my life up from the pit. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:22.639 When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:27.920 Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God's love for them. 00:07:28.160 --> 00:07:32.240 But I, with shouts of grateful praise, I will sacrifice to you. 00:07:32.720 --> 00:07:34.959 What I have vowed, I will make good. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:38.879 I will say, salvation comes from the Lord. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:45.680 And the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.079 Friends, this is the word of the Lord. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:50.079 Let's pray. 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:53.600 Father in heaven, um, thank you for your prophet Jonah. 00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:02.240 This really broken person who, even though he had an incredible call on his life, didn't live into it through through a lot of his life. 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:03.920 Um, he ran the other way. 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:12.720 Lord, let this be an encouragement to us that have run a long ways away and help us to know that you're always calling us back. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:22.399 Lord, for those of us who maybe we think we're not like Jonah, Lord, help us today to even see those spots in our hearts that are Jonah-like. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:24.720 Lord, help us to be people of prayer. 00:08:24.959 --> 00:08:35.360 People that don't just leave you um on the recesses, on the margins of our lives, but Lord, allow you to come into the deep center of it so that you would change everything about us. 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.360 Lord, that you'd transform us and our lives would be renewed and restored. 00:08:41.679 --> 00:08:49.679 And God, ultimately, ultimately, in all of this, Lord, would you would you point us toward Jesus and help us to become more like him? 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:55.120 We pray this all in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:56.320 Amen. 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:58.000 Um, okay, guys. 00:08:58.080 --> 00:08:58.720 So let's do this. 00:08:58.879 --> 00:09:00.720 Let's look at a little bit of background, okay? 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:01.440 Let's look at background. 00:09:01.519 --> 00:09:05.759 So we're gonna look at kind of Jonah one for the background, just so you know what's happening in the story. 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:10.320 And then we're gonna see these three movements after we look at Jonah in the background. 00:09:10.399 --> 00:09:12.799 We're gonna see this pain that Jonah experiences, right? 00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:18.399 We're gonna look and see this moment of desperation and failure that he experiences and ultimately God's deliverance, right? 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:20.320 God's response to his prayer. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:21.200 So let's look. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:25.039 So God calls Nineveh, or excuse me, calls Jonah to Nineveh. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:29.360 God has put this incredible call on Jonah's life, right? 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:34.080 And and as Jonah has this incredible call on his life, God says, go to Nineveh. 00:09:34.320 --> 00:09:38.080 Now, some of you guys, you you wonder the geography, where is he at, right? 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:43.360 So Jonah's from this little inland town, just you know, this little inland town about 50 miles away. 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:45.840 Remember how he said he went to this port called Joppa? 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:53.600 So God says, go to Nineveh, and where Nineveh is, is about 600 miles inland from the coast of the Mediterranean, right? 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:56.320 So it's where like Mosul, Iraq is now. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:10:00.240 It's like right in between, I think it's halfway between like the Mediterranean and the Caspian Sea. 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:01.679 You gotta go a long, long ways. 00:10:01.840 --> 00:10:07.039 So Jonah, um, in very disobedient fashion, does the exact opposite, right? 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:10.080 And so some of you guys know this stuff, and but I'm gonna tell you anyway, okay? 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:11.360 Um, because not everyone knows. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:12.879 And so so here's what he does. 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:23.919 He could have walked from his house to Nineveh in about a month, but instead, he goes about 50 or 60 miles to this area that the Bible calls Japa, that now is called Jaffa, right? 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:28.480 It's where Tel Aviv is, and it's one of it was an ancient major Mediterranean port. 00:10:28.559 --> 00:10:30.799 He gets on a ship that goes to Tarshish. 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:34.639 We don't know exactly where Tarshish is, but we think it's probably in Spain. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:37.519 It's about it's really here's what the author is saying. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:41.039 He went as far as he could get from going to Nineveh. 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.200 He was really good at disobeying God. 00:10:43.360 --> 00:10:45.279 He was committed to it, right? 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:50.240 And so he got on a boat and tried to get literally almost to the Atlantic Ocean, right? 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:54.000 He's in the Mediterranean, tries to get a couple thousands and miles away. 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:56.399 And you look and say, well, why did he do that, right? 00:10:56.559 --> 00:10:57.519 What was happening? 00:10:57.679 --> 00:11:04.159 And we'll we'll talk because what's interesting is it um the Bible says Nineveh was a great city. 00:11:04.320 --> 00:11:07.600 So why does God want him to go to this great city? 00:11:07.679 --> 00:11:10.399 And why does Jonah not want to, right? 00:11:10.559 --> 00:11:14.799 For one, the let's talk about the great city and then we'll talk about why Jonah didn't want to. 00:11:14.960 --> 00:11:18.320 The reason it's called the Great City, you could have great cities for a lot of reasons, right? 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:20.639 You could look and say, oh, it's a beautiful city. 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:27.519 You know, let's say, like Edinburgh or um last year or a couple years ago, sorry, when I was on sabbatical, our family went to Sevilla. 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:29.679 They say it's the most beautiful city in Europe. 00:11:29.840 --> 00:11:31.519 Okay, it's also the hottest city in Europe. 00:11:31.600 --> 00:11:33.039 It's very, very hot in the summer. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:34.879 And you need to drink a lot of water. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:37.360 But you can go to these beautiful cities. 00:11:37.519 --> 00:11:39.120 Is that what made Nineveh great? 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:40.080 No, it wasn't that. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:41.919 It wasn't because it was beautiful, right? 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:46.720 You look and say, was it beautiful because it had, or was it great because it had um great universities? 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:48.080 That wasn't it for Nineveh. 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.720 It was ultimately Nineveh was considered great. 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:54.159 The word that's being used here for great is really, really big. 00:11:54.399 --> 00:12:02.000 It had 120,000 people in it, which in the ancient world is just this massive city that is important. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:02.799 Why? 00:12:03.039 --> 00:12:07.360 It's not even because it wasn't even just so important, just because it was the capital of Assyria. 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:15.679 It was really, really important because God sees it important as it is important because it's full of people that God adores. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:16.320 Right? 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:21.360 So Nineveh being so large, God has a heart for it, right? 00:12:21.600 --> 00:12:30.480 And and this is what we realize, guys, here at City Covenant is that God has this heart to care for the cities of the world, right? 00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:30.960 Why? 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:41.840 Because God wants the cities of the world to be oriented around him, that they might have a right relationship with him and know him and come to flourishing, right? 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:51.279 And that that everyone all across the globe would have this single-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ as King in every city, right? 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:56.159 And here's the thing, even for us here as Americans in 2026, right? 00:12:56.559 --> 00:13:01.200 Um, we're not concerned about whether those cities are our allies or not, right? 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:04.639 In God's economy, that's not God's big question mark. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:08.720 Nineveh was not an ally of Israel. 00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.000 In fact, it was as far opposite of an ally as possible. 00:13:12.159 --> 00:13:27.039 So what we see is if God's heart was for Nineveh, and God's heart was to see Nineveh repent and turn toward the Lord, then what we know in the same way as today, God's heart is for revival to break out in Moscow and in St. 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:29.120 Petersburg, Russia, right? 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:41.120 God's heart is for the great city of Tehran, that there would be an outpouring of and an experience of the good news of Jesus Christ because of its greatness. 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:41.759 Right? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:45.440 God's heart is that is for Caracas, Venezuela, right? 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.720 That there would be a renewal of the gospel, right? 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:53.440 And that they would turn toward the name of Jesus Christ, right? 00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.799 Because of the greatness of these cities, right? 00:13:56.960 --> 00:14:03.679 Not because they're necessarily our allies, but maybe at times for the exact because they're the exact opposite. 00:14:03.919 --> 00:14:04.240 Right? 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:13.519 Because what God is doing is God is doing in the world, is He's taking people in the gospel that are our natural enemies and making natural enemies friends. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:22.000 What's amazing about the gospel of Jesus Christ is God is not just in the habit of taking people that are like you and making you friends. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:22.399 Right? 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:26.399 That that wouldn't be, that wouldn't seem to take anything supernatural, would it? 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:26.879 Right? 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.440 You find people like you, you're gonna find some affinity. 00:14:29.600 --> 00:14:36.399 What's incredible about the gospel and what's supernatural is when God takes natural enemies and makes them friends. 00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:37.120 Right? 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:40.480 So that is what God is doing. 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:48.399 God is calling Jonah to go to Nineveh because Nineveh is a city of people who God adamantly adores. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:52.639 And you look and say, okay, but but why? 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:54.960 Why doesn't he why doesn't he do it? 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:56.399 Why why doesn't he go? 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:57.759 Was he scared or something? 00:14:58.000 --> 00:14:59.039 You know, was that why? 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.879 Well, here's the thing there's probably two reasons, and it's probably a combination of both. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:07.039 One is this that um he's probably scared. 00:15:07.279 --> 00:15:09.519 The Assyrians did horrible things to people. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:15.200 They were like highly skilled in torturing people and doing horrible things to them. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:21.440 They were known for when they took over countries and nations, right, and people groups of doing awful things to them. 00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:27.039 So that they would do things, for instance, they would cut off one arm, but not the right hand. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:32.720 They would leave the right hand of their victims so that so that in mockery they could shake that person's hand. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:33.360 Right? 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:35.360 That's what Ninevites did. 00:15:36.000 --> 00:15:40.000 They would they would stretch them out, pulling every limb in different directions. 00:15:40.159 --> 00:15:44.960 They would skin their captors and display it on their city walls. 00:15:45.279 --> 00:15:49.440 And these people, these were brutal, hideous what they did. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:54.559 So you look and say, was he just scared that if he went them, went there to Nineveh, they might do that to him? 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:55.919 That's that seems reasonable. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:57.200 I think that's part of it. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:05.840 Another part of it is there's this part that if you read the whole book, which is not very long, it's like four chapters, so you can get there right after church. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.039 What you'll find out is Jonah didn't want them to repent. 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:18.799 In fact, Jonah in the last chapter is upset with God because fast forward the Ninevites do repent. 00:16:18.879 --> 00:16:23.919 And he says, Oh, Lord, I this is exactly why I didn't want to come here. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:29.039 I knew that you are gracious and slow to anger, and you would bring them to yourself. 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:30.240 This is the worst thing. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:31.919 That's why I tried to go to Tarshish. 00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:42.639 So what we see is actually there's a certain element for him of like a nationalist pride where these people are so bad, they're not like him and being on the good team. 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:45.759 He doesn't want the folks on the bad team to join the good team. 00:16:45.919 --> 00:16:46.799 He doesn't want it. 00:16:47.120 --> 00:16:47.360 Right? 00:16:47.519 --> 00:16:48.960 So there's two things, right? 00:16:49.279 --> 00:16:53.840 He's fearful of his own life, and also he ultimately doesn't want them to repent. 00:16:53.919 --> 00:17:03.200 But he has this incredible calling on his life to do what God's called him to do, and what we see in the midst of it is he does the exact opposite. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:04.720 Right? 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:10.480 I mean, most of us would kill for the the clarity of purpose that Jonah had. 00:17:10.799 --> 00:17:11.119 Right? 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:20.720 I mean, as you walk through your days, as you walk through your life, if if you knew crystal clear, God, this is what you have for me today, most of us would look and say, praise the Lord. 00:17:20.880 --> 00:17:22.960 I I know my direction, I know what I'm gonna do. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:24.880 This requires virtually no trust. 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:27.039 I just do what he says to him for me to do. 00:17:27.359 --> 00:17:30.720 Jonah takes that and does the opposite with it, right? 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.039 And so uh he you know, he he ignores it. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:45.759 You know, and and then here he is, he's in deep rebellion, deep sin, and he's sleeping in the bottom of a boat, experiencing this deep peace. 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:54.000 I'll just tell you before we get in too far, some of us make this mistake that we say, well, you know, I prayed about it. 00:17:54.160 --> 00:18:03.359 You know, I I know it doesn't look like I'm doing what the Lord would have me to do, but I prayed about it, and I'm feeling incredible peace about what you know, my choice that I made. 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:09.920 So did Jonah! He's sleeping through a storm, like the ocean is assaulting him, right? 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:23.200 God, the literally the language is like God threw a javelin, like God threw a storm at him to get his attention, and he's just saying, I just I knew it was the right thing to do, but I just felt incredible peace about it. 00:18:23.519 --> 00:18:28.240 No, you've got to measure your choices in life based on what God has actually said, right? 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:29.359 Jonah doesn't do that. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:37.759 And so what happens is Jonah is sleeping through the middle of the storm, and I mean, this guy, he is running away from God. 00:18:37.839 --> 00:18:41.359 He thinks he can escape God, but you know, Jonah is foolish, right? 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:46.319 Jonah functions like this, like little toddler who's running away from his parents, right? 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:47.440 They're in a parking lot. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:50.480 This kid's running across the parking lot, trying to run away from his parents. 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:51.519 He never can. 00:18:51.680 --> 00:18:55.039 He's not fast enough, he's not big enough, he's not equipped, right? 00:18:55.279 --> 00:19:01.519 And so here comes God running after Jonah to wake him up. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:02.240 Right? 00:19:02.480 --> 00:19:10.000 And what's amazing is God actually uses these sailors, people that have nothing to do with Yahweh, to wake him up. 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:16.640 Sometimes, guys, God is going to use people that are not God's people in your life to speak truth. 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:17.920 Right? 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:26.880 Years ago, I had this good, good friend, some of you guys have heard about this guy before, um, wonderful Christian guy, was probably going down a tough road for a minute. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.720 He really liked this girl named Allison. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:30.720 And he had told me, we were at UW together. 00:19:30.799 --> 00:19:32.799 This guy talked about Allison all the time. 00:19:33.039 --> 00:19:39.279 You know, my buddy was such a serious believer, and Allison was so seriously not a believer, right? 00:19:39.440 --> 00:19:41.359 And at one point, you know what Allison did? 00:19:41.440 --> 00:19:45.599 Um, he just pursues and pursues and pursues Allison until one day. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:47.519 And she says, wait, hold on. 00:19:47.680 --> 00:19:48.720 Aren't you a Christian? 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:49.519 Yeah. 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:50.400 Hold on. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:52.640 I've read about people like you. 00:19:53.519 --> 00:19:55.359 You can't marry non-Christians. 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:56.079 Yeah. 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:00.559 Well, if you can't even marry non-Christians, you probably shouldn't be dating non-Christians. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:02.559 This is like this total pagan, right? 00:20:02.640 --> 00:20:06.000 She just looks and says, It doesn't make sense for us to date, right? 00:20:06.240 --> 00:20:11.279 You're not following your own Christian like ethics here, your own Christian guidance. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:13.680 I have no interest in Yahweh. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:14.559 You do. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:18.160 We don't we don't have any fit, you know, we don't fit together. 00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:22.880 It took this non-Christian girl to actually speak God's truth to him, right? 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:23.839 To wake him up. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:25.680 That's what happens sometimes in life. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:31.359 You you never know how you're gonna hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in your life at a particular moment. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:37.039 These sailors are in the midst of absolute terror, and what do they do? 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:39.039 Jonah's not spiritually sensitive. 00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:40.400 He doesn't think anything's wrong. 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:41.599 He's sleeping. 00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:45.279 These folks say, This is a mess. 00:20:46.240 --> 00:20:47.839 We've got to pray. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:49.759 We've got to pray. 00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:57.519 They pull this like MC hammer, we gotta pray to make it today moment, and they just say, There's no way we're gonna make it without God's help. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:20:59.839 Jonah's like, I don't know. 00:20:59.920 --> 00:21:00.559 I think we're alright. 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:01.759 We're gonna make it through the storm. 00:21:01.920 --> 00:21:05.599 And they say, No, we need to pray to the Lord. 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:06.400 Right? 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:09.839 He he thinks he's got it under control, right? 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:15.759 Here's the thing: there's these two stories, they're both twin stories in the Bible. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:17.680 Two guys in a boat. 00:21:18.079 --> 00:21:20.880 They're both sleeping through a storm on the boat. 00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:25.359 One of them understood their identity really well, one of them didn't. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:26.400 Right? 00:21:26.640 --> 00:21:30.799 Jonah is sleeping in the midst of a boat or in the midst of a storm. 00:21:31.119 --> 00:21:32.079 He wasn't fearful. 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:32.880 Guess what? 00:21:33.039 --> 00:21:40.559 Jesus is sleeping in the middle of a storm on a boat, also wasn't fearful for two totally different reasons. 00:21:40.799 --> 00:21:44.640 One of them really understood their identity, one of them didn't. 00:21:44.880 --> 00:21:48.240 One of them understood submission to the Lord, one of them didn't. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:48.799 Right? 00:21:49.039 --> 00:21:56.640 Jonah is sleeping on the boat because he doesn't actually understand his limits. 00:21:57.359 --> 00:21:57.839 Right? 00:21:58.079 --> 00:21:59.440 Jesus is sleeping. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:07.839 Through the storm in the middle of the boat, because he understands he has no limits because of his identity with the Father, right? 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:11.519 One of them woke up and was thrown into the sea. 00:22:11.680 --> 00:22:14.079 One of them woke up and calmed the sea. 00:22:14.400 --> 00:22:16.559 And do you see the twin of this story? 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:16.960 Right? 00:22:17.119 --> 00:22:21.680 This is why we always say here at City Covenant, as we read through the Old Testament, right? 00:22:21.759 --> 00:22:28.400 As we read through Scripture, we see that it's all pointing toward that big narrative arc of Jesus Christ. 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:31.599 Jesus Christ is the center of Scripture. 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:32.240 Right? 00:22:32.400 --> 00:22:34.000 Every story points toward him. 00:22:34.160 --> 00:22:35.039 That's what we see here. 00:22:35.200 --> 00:22:37.920 That Jesus is like the great Jonah, right? 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:39.680 He's a better Jonah. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:42.720 Jesus calms the storm. 00:22:43.599 --> 00:22:46.480 Jonah here is thrown into the storm. 00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:48.559 And what happens? 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:53.680 He he's he's in the water. 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:57.759 And then the thing happens that we all think Jonah's about, but it's not. 00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:59.440 So I'm just gonna tell you this now. 00:22:59.599 --> 00:23:01.519 I don't want you to get hung up on the fish. 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:03.119 It's not about the fish. 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:10.559 In fact, almost all commentators will tell you the fish is just like it's the setting of the story. 00:23:10.640 --> 00:23:11.680 That's all it is, right? 00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:13.359 It's not supposed to be what it's really about. 00:23:13.519 --> 00:23:22.000 In fact, the word here for fish, we don't know, it's fish, whale, whatever it is, you know, locked us monster, it's like floated down from Scotland, got him. 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:27.119 It's it's just uh some weird aquatic animal, right? 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:29.839 That's in Hebrew, it's not even the word for fish. 00:23:30.640 --> 00:23:31.759 But here's the thing. 00:23:32.000 --> 00:23:34.559 So what's funny is do you notice that it's written? 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:38.960 They don't seem to talk spectacularly about the fish. 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:45.759 It just happens to be like, oh yeah, Jonah was gonna die, and God saved him through this one particular vehicle of a fish. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:47.119 And then they all kind of move on. 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:53.680 And then it's like it's like on a pla in a play, it's just it's just the setting in which the play is done. 00:23:53.839 --> 00:23:55.279 And so that's what's happening here. 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:58.799 And so, so that we can see Jonah praying. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:04.720 And what happens is Jonah says in verse 3, God, you cast me into the deep. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:07.119 Here, he has finally reached his limit. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:09.839 He knows he was far from where God wanted him. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:13.039 He was really far, he is in deep suffering, deep pain. 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:16.000 He knows it's by himself because of what he's done. 00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:16.640 Right? 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:17.680 Here's the thing, guys. 00:24:17.839 --> 00:24:20.400 There's all types of ways of suffering. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:22.000 There's all types of reasons for it. 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:27.519 And in all of them, you have to be aware of this in our prayer that God still cares, that God still hears. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:41.680 I mean, in there's a part, I mean, what's amazing about Jonah's prayer is you would be tempted to think theologically, if you didn't have stories like Jonah, you would be tempted to think that when you are this far from God, you best not pray. 00:24:41.920 --> 00:24:43.599 Because God's not gonna hear you. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:44.480 Right? 00:24:44.799 --> 00:24:46.880 That I mean, that feels kind of reasonable, right? 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:56.160 If you just look at like religion in general and you say, if there is a God and I'm doing everything away from God possible, I, you know, there's no sense in praying. 00:24:56.240 --> 00:24:58.000 I know how far I am from God. 00:24:58.160 --> 00:24:59.279 Don't pray. 00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:01.039 Except Jonah. 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:05.839 Jonah shows us, like, oh, in the midst of that, God still hears. 00:25:06.319 --> 00:25:07.920 He's suffering, right? 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:09.119 Because of his own choices. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:11.359 Sometimes people suffer because of their choices. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:15.279 Sometimes people suffer because of the choices of others, right? 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:19.200 Some suffer in sickness because of a broken world, right? 00:25:19.440 --> 00:25:23.119 Some suffer, you know, just because it's it's snowing so much. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.079 And they they really thought spring was coming, so they didn't wear the right shoes. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:34.720 All right, people, we suffer for all types of different reasons, but what we have to know scripturally is that God is there and with us in the midst of it. 00:25:35.839 --> 00:25:36.160 Right? 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:39.279 I mean, for Jonah, we did we know it, right? 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.519 It's his poor choices for sure. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:43.119 Why was he in the deep? 00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.319