Well, have you ever felt overwhelmed? Some of you are smiling. Have you ever felt like perhaps God did get a wrong address? I was, I would like to say a young father, I probably wasn't that young, we had four children. We were very, very busy. It seemed impossible for us to do all the things that we were supposed to do in a given week and pay the kind of attention that we wanted to each of our children. I think we had four children in three different schools. It was a Sunday night, and we had discovered that we didn't have the ingredients for lunches the next day.
Overwhelmed at the ShopRite
Some of you can relate to this story. I was conscripted to do the Sunday evening run to the ShopRite at the Olney One Plaza. I picked up the things for lunch, and I was just feeling overwhelmed at what God had called for me to do. There was a stoplight at the edge of that parking lot, and as I sat at the stop light just feeling like it's impossible to do what God had called me to do, I began thinking about what it would be like to be single. I will admit that, a horrible thought, had nothing to do with my affection for my dear wife, Luella, or for my love for my kids.
It had to do with my apprehension at the size of the task, no more than that thought came to my mind. I began to pray, "Lord, help me! Lord, help me! Lord, help me!"...a brief prayer. Maybe the way to a think about what we're going to look at this evening, if you want to turn there to Jonah 3, is by asking this question: "How do you measure your potential?" It's a human thing to do every day; somehow, some way, you measure your potential. You know that toddler that's holding on to his mommy's knee, and his knees are wiggling, and he's looking at his daddy's knee, five steps across the room?
He's measuring the potential he has to make it those five steps to his daddy. Or that teenager who's driving with clammy hands to his first job is measuring his potential to be successful at the work-a-day world, or that bride an hour-and-a-half before her wedding who has a bit of a nauseous stomach is measuring her potential to live in this long term, comprehensive relationship with another human being. How is it that you measure your potential? You see, the typical way of measuring potential is: I look at my track record; how have I done so far?
And I look at the size of the task, how big is the task? And then, I value rate whether I'm up for the task. Well, we want to look at a whole new way of thinking about your potential this evening illustrated by this wonderful turn in this amazing story that we've been looking at. Let me read again for you this brief passage (3): Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.' So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD.
Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, 'Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. I want to get you to look with me this evening at the size of the task, the size of the man, and the power of this patient God of grace. But before we do that, I want to look at that first verse with you.
"Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah," hear this, "the second time." Isn't it incredible that a sovereign, holy, righteous God would ever deign to speak to us more than once? And at the center of the heart of the Christian message is that it is phenomenally and joyfully a message of new beginnings and fresh starts. This is a God of forgiveness. This is a God of patience. This is a God of grace. He will come again and again and again and again, not because we deserve it, but because He's a God of magnificent love.
And if He weren't, there wouldn't be hope for any of us. I don't know where you are, but I know this for sure...you can turn. I don't know what mess you may be in. I don't know what difficulty you may be facing. I don't know what bad choices you may have made. I don't know how and why this week or today or this month or this year, you've run from God, but I would say this to you, "You can turn; there is hope of new beginnings and fresh starts." You do not have to listen to an enemy who says, "There is no hope; you're stuck; this is it."
You Can Turn to a Patient God
You can turn; you can turn; you can turn because this is a God of amazing patience and amazing grace! And you can say to Him, "I get it wrong so often; I make so many bad choices. I say, 'I love you,' and then I act out of more love for me than anything else. And I turn once again to you and I say, 'I don't have anything to offer; I rest in your grace; help me! Won't you turn and change my heart?'" That's the message of the gospel. That's the hope of the redemptive story; that's the epicenter of this little book that we're looking at...fresh starts and new beginnings because this is an amazing, amazingly patient God that we serve.
Now, you ought to look at the words of this text because I'm convinced that there is purpose in the writer to get you tuned into the grandeur, the bigness, the hugeness of Nineveh. What a task! "'Arise,' (verse two) 'go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.' So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth." It's not enough for the writer to say, "Nineveh was a great city."
He has to repeat himself, and say, "Nineveh was an exceedingly great city." I've mentioned this a little bit to this point, but I want to emphasize it this evening. This was, in its generation, in its time, a remarkable city, remarkable in its population, maybe somewhere between 120 to 150,000 people. In Nineveh's day, any city over 100,000 was a huge metropolis. It was a center of commerce; every writer says, "You could go to Nineveh, and you could literally buy the best goods from around the world."
It was Madison Avenue times 10, Walnut Street, with all of its new shops, had nothing on Nineveh. It was a political capital, the center of the Assyrian Empire and had all of that stuff of political power and all that that causes for a culture. It was because of that, it was a cultural center. And all the reports say, "It was a city of great evil, great oppression, great injustice, a place where people were obsessed with their pleasure, and there was no pleasure that was not pursued." This was an incredible city, and even to add to that description, we're told that Nineveh was a city of three days' breadth."
Now, there is a little confusion about the translation here, and I want to talk to you about it. It could mean that it was actually a city of three days' breadth; that means, if you walked, it would take you three days to cross Nineveh. And if the average person, I'm told, walks 17 miles in a day, maybe that's not your day of walking, but that's the average; that's 51 miles across. I would call that a pretty big city. Some translators say, "No! That's not really what it means." What it means is that Nineveh could only be taken in by a three-day visit.
Now, think about what that means. That means if you were going to see the main sights of Nineveh, if you were going to get a sense of what Nineveh was like, it would take you three days. Well, I would think that's a pretty big city as well. By all description, we're talking in size and in prominence, a great city. Now, how in the world are you going to evangelize Nineveh? You have to stand there and be overwhelmed at the task. No wonder Jonah ran. But that was God's call, "Jonah, you go to Nineveh".
By our normal way of measuring our potential, you would say, "No way!" If Jonah looks at his track record, well, that's not very encouraging. If he looks at the size of the city, well, there's not a whole lot of comfort there. Let's think about who this man is. This is a little-known, small town prophet from a foreign country going to a huge, urban metropolis. This is a man of a foreign culture. This is a man who was going to speak of a foreign God. This is a man who was going to speak a 'happy' message of judgment.
Little Jonah in a Big City
Now, you think, "There is no way! How is this ever going to happen?" And you can, in your mind, begin to imagine little Jonah, from Gath-hephrer, wandering into somewhere in this big city and just starting to talk. And if you stand there for a moment and think about this, you're overwhelmed with the futility of the task. What was God thinking? How would he ever be heard? What would ever cause people to listen? This high-powered, driven, economic, political, pressure center...like they're ever going to listen to this little, small-town preacher?
And maybe that's exactly what you think as you think about Philadelphia, as you think of Logan and Olney and Fishtown and Port Richmond and South Philly and Queen Village and Society Hill and Fairmount and Rittenhouse Square and Old City and Mt Airy and Chestnut Hill; and you think, "How in the world, there are so few of us? How in the world are we ever going to see the turning of Philadelphia? The task is too big; it's too great. How will they ever listen? Why will they ever listen? Why will we ever go?
It just seems futile." Or maybe you're a parent and you think, "How am I ever going to lead my children to Christ? How am I ever going to protect their souls? How are they ever going to turn? It is so hard; every day I get so tired; I get so exhausted; I get so irritated; I get so 'unparentally'," (Is that not a word?). I tell myself, "I'm going to do better, but I feel overwhelmed by the task; just when I think I'm used to this stage, they move to another one. Why, I want to get along in my marriage, yet we struggle, and we have struggles that seem to be with us so long.
And I want to be a light to my neighbors, but I seem so busy; I seem so overwhelmed by my own task, I can go weeks and forget I even live near anybody. I want good friendships, but I'm afraid to open myself up to people; I'm afraid of what will happen. I've been taken once; it's not going to happen to me again, or I wonder if I can be useful in the kingdom of God, and I think about myself, and I think I'm so spiritually immature, and I don't have the gifts that other people have. Well, how could God ever use me?
I think of my workplace. I feel like I'm a little flickering light in a very dark place, and I want to speak in the conversations, but I get afraid. And when I speak, I get tongue tied and afraid that people are going to ask me questions I'm not going to be able to answer. How am I ever going to witness for Christ?" Well, then I think about my own spiritual struggles, and there are things that I keep I know are wrong, and I keep saying, "I'm going to do better, and I fail again and again, and if I cannot grow in my own heart, how am I ever going to serve God?"
How do you measure your potential? Would you be like Jonah? Are you willing to go? Do you have hope? Do you have courage? Do you have vitality? Do you really believe that, through you, God can do things that He is intended to do? Or do you live your life on the sidelines? Oh, you haven't forsaken the faith, but you've boxed yourself in to a place of redemptive inactivity, and as you scan your days, they are probably driven more by avoidance and fear than they are by courage and hope. You're overwhelmed, and it's not as if, in a theological way, you doubt your doctrine.
What Is Paralyzing You?
It's not like you've ever contemplated leaving the Church of Jesus Christ, but you know in your heart of hearts there is something that's paralyzing you; there's something that's keeping you from moving forward with courage and with faith. I would say this to you: "Could it not be that you've made the wrong assessment, that your equation is inaccurate, that you've begun to believe that the equation is little, insignificant you and big, overwhelming task?" Well, that's where we need to see what happens next in this passage, verse four: Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey.
And he called out, 'Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!' If Nineveh is as big as this passage describes it to be, this little country prophet hikes his way not even to the center of the city. What an experience that must've been for Jonah, the sights, the sounds, he must've experienced as he walks through that huge city. And, what must've been in the heart of this man as, at one place, he stops, and he just begins preaching. Let the picture into your brain. And you would think, with the noise, with the busyness, with the dynamism of the city, will this man even be heard?
And then, with a drama that only Scripture can contain, you hit verse five. I love verse five of this passage. Well, I love the whole Bible, but you have a renewed love for passages as you hit them. I think in Jonah 3, verse five, we have one of the most understated, yet, glorious descriptions of the awesome power of God that's in the Old Testament. The statement is stunning for its understatement. Here's what it says, "And the people of Nineveh believed God." And the people of Nineveh believed God.
And the people of Nineveh believed God. I think it should read, "And the people of Nineveh believed God, God, God, God, God, God....." Think of this. This is the awesome power of God; people driven by their own kingdom don't believe God; people driven by pleasure don't believe God; people who love their sin don't believe God. You never believe God apart from the powerful action of God upon you; faith is the gift of God. You see, it wasn't Jonah, poor little country prophet against this huge task.
It's a God of grandeur and glory, so huge and so powerful, so great in His mercy that words cannot describe Him, and the little infinitesimal city of Nineveh. This is a God of glory! What's the principal of verse 5? Oh, brothers and sisters, if we got a hold of this, it would transform our lives. Here it is. Your calling is not to accomplish the task; your calling is to go; God will accomplish the task because you can't do the task; you can't turn a heart; you can't create belief; you can't make an immoral person moral; you can't make a rebellious child obey.
You can't make a stubborn husband be tender and loving; you can't make a friend not be disloyal. Those are the acts of God. Those are only done by God. Our job is not to accomplish the task; our job is to go. God will be faithful to His task. Praise him! And when you begin to realize that, you have a burden come off of your shoulders. Parents, your job is not to get your children to believe; only God can do that. Husbands, your job is not to make your wife holy; please don't try; you'll hurt her.
Women, your job is not to do everything you can to turn this man into something you would define as tender. Friend, your job is not to make your friends godly. Brothers and sisters, our job is not to turn Philadelphia. Praise God! That's not our job. But God says, "Won't you go? Won't you go?" Won't you go to Logan? Won't you go to Olney? Won't you go to Rittenhouse Square? Won't you go to your neighbor? Won't you go to Pennsylvania? Won't you go to the United States? Won't you go to the uttermost parts of the world?
Won't You Go?
Won't you go? Won't you go to your children? Won't you go to your husband and wife? Won't you go to your friends? Won't you believe that I am a God of glory and grace? I will never send you on a task without being there with you. Listen! Your Lord inhabits the work of His people. And so an amazing thing happens. The voice of this little, unknown, foreign country prophet is used by God to turn the city of Nineveh. What an amazing thing. And again, the words are quite specific here, "...from the greatest of them to the least of them."
This was a complete turn of the culture from the powerbrokers at the top of the politicalbusiness economy, to that poorest person in the street who had nothing but a sense that they were Ninevites that really weren't part of Nineveh. There was belief at every strata of the culture. Wouldn't you love to see that happen in our city? Do you believe that it can? And the passage is even more specific in that it gives us evidence of true belief. It says, "They called for a fast and put on sackcloth." What is fasting?
It's intentional selfdenial for the purpose of communion with God. What a picture of turning from the pleasures of this world to the pleasure that can only be found in God. What about sackcloth? Sackcloth was the clothing of mourning of grief what would be done at a death. And here it is...people who once found pleasure in their iniquity, people who would not only sin, but encourage others to do so, now are weeping, mourning, crying over their sin...what clear pictures of true repentance, what clear pictures of a real turning of the heart.
Are you overwhelmed? How do you measure your potential? How do you measure your potential? You see, it's not little you against an awesome task. It's a huge and glorious God who, when He sends you, goes with you. That God is your potential because He will do what you are unable to do. He doesn't call you to accomplish the task; He calls you to go. He, as you go, will accomplish the task. As I thought of this passage this evening, my mind immediately went to this familiar passage found in Isaiah 40, verse 27.
You may even want to turn there. I love how this passage speaks into the practical drama of life in a fallen world. I love how this passage reads our minds, verse 27 of Isaiah 40: Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God?' Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is an everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, (Praise Him!) and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. I would say this to you, "Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!" Accept God's call in your personal life, in your relationships, in your family, at your work, in your community, in the city. Don't carry on your shoulders the size of the task; that is carried by your Redeemer.
Go and watch what He is able to do to the weak hands and weak knees and weak hearts of people who yet need the very grace that they are proclaiming. Let's pray: Lord, what a beautiful, beautiful comfort this passage is to us. There are moments when we are tempted to think that You have called us to Nineveh. There are moments when it seems to be too big of a job to do. We thank you for this reminder of Your presence, Your patience, Your power, Your grace. Thank you that we do not have to shoulder the task, that that task has been shouldered by You, that that task ultimately is shouldered by the Lord Jesus Christ, who took it all on Himself, and we are free to do one thing...to obey, to receive Your call and go and believe that, when we go, Your presence and Your power goes with us. May we go! In Jesus name, Amen.
