The God of Second Chances

Would you, if God asked you to? 

This question is embedded within the book of Jonah: An “unfair” situation caused Jonah to run. It’s not fair. Why should these wicked people be saved? They don’t deserve it. They’re too evil. Jonah deemed these people unsaveable, and he acted as such. He resisted the mercy God wanted 

to extend to them because of the “injustice” of it. So he ran, and so do we. We run from situations God calls us to because it seems unfair. We, instead of sharing the Gospel with all the world, share it with those we deem capable of entering God’s world. Yet in doing so we miss the point of the book of Jonah: The worst of the worst can be saved. That’s the point that Jonah missed. But that is also the point that God reminded him of. 

Jonah chapter 1 ends with Jonah being in the belly of the great fish–not overcome by the sea, but overcome by God’s mercy. Chapter 2 opens with Jonah’s psalm, his prayer to God while in the belly of the fish. He did not know whether he would live or die–we have the advantage of the whole story, Jonah did not. But despite his uncertainty, despite the fear, he let his song rise to God. In the belly, Jonah sings–not when he is out, not after the fact, but while he is in it. Our song must rise in the midst of our darkest moments, in the bellies of darkness and uncertainty. If we have nothing else, sing the Words of Joy. Proclaim the Words of Love. Demand the Words of Justice. Say the Words of that which are all of these: Say the Words of God and let Him raise you back up. 

Because that is what Jonah did. 

After his prayer God spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out onto dry land. The thing that Jonah thought would be his tomb became the lifeboat of God’s mercy; God can use anything for His good. Chapter 2 ends with Jonah’s release, and chapter 3 begins with God’s redemption: “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you” (Jonah 3:2, ESV). The man who had fled from God became the bearer of His message. God extended to Jonah the same grace and chance that He wanted to extend to Nineveh: the chance to be redeemed. Nineveh was a great city–great in size, in military, and in evil. They were not great in love, in fear of the Lord. But Jonah went and proclaimed the message God gave, and the people of Nineveh, from the least to the greatest of them, repented. And so God relented. God did not change His mind; the people changed their hearts, and their hearts could change because Jonah proclaimed the message of God. We are charged with that same responsibility: Proclaim the message of God to people–the best of them and the worst of them. God will not turn away a sincere heart, yet no heart can become sincere if there is no one willing to bear His message. 

This is the point of Jonah. It is not a book about judgement, but of mercy. The salvation of others is not determined by how much faith we have in their ability to be saved, it is determined by God.

And so, we must ask ourselves: 

Would we share Jesus with every storeworker we interact with? Would we ask co-workers if they believe in Jesus? Would we approach the convicted with our testimony? 

Would we, if God asked us to?