Opening Illustration: There’s been a lot of conversation at TCSH lately about pursuing holiness and being int the presence of God. And this is the right conversation we need to have! Our religion is worthless without a heart after God. This week, as I was thinking about pursuing God, it dawned on me that pursuing God is probably a scary thing for many people. On my most recent trip to the beach, I took the kids to go “crabbing.” I’m not sure if this is an universal thing or just a southern thing. But “crabbing” is where you run out on the beach at night with a net and flashlight trying to catch sand crabs. For kids, in particular, its quite terrifying because these crabs are fast and they have pinchers that are perfect for pinching toes. For most people, the idea of pursuing God is probably like that. They are terrified of what may happen when they get close to God.

The reality is that pursuing God is more like when I play tag with my kids. If I run up to them, tag them, and say, “You’re it!” – you can see joy inside of them. The jump up, the smile, the screams of joy that follow as they chase me are priceless. I understand it’s not a perfect analogy, but we are better served to understand that we have a God that loves to tap us on the shoulder and say, “Let’s spend some time together.” And as a child of God, we turn right around and start running after God with joy. Quote: “When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us, for it is written that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth. The sweet language of experience is “Thou God seest me.” When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.” – A.W. Tozer. 

Today, as we pick with the story about the prophet Jonah, we are going to see that Jonah reaches a place in his life where his eyes meets the eyes of Jesus. We are going to find out what that moment does to Jonah’s rebellion against God. For us, we are going to discover this truth: God pursues your heart so you can pursue Him. Let’s open up our Bibles to Jonah 2. This is one of the small books in the Old Testament, towards the end of the Old Testament. As you turn there, I’ll remind you that we are in our second week in the study of the book of Jonah in the current Sermon Series: Jonah: The Relentless Love of God. Read Jonah 2. Pray. 

Where did we leave Jonah last week? Jonah was running away from God. Took a cruise and God sent a storm to break apart the ship. I didn’t have time to address this last week, but I want to mention something briefly. There is a difference between the storms from the world and the storms that God sends. When a child of God rebels, God will do what it takes to bring that child back into His presence. These are storms of discipline and restoration. Sometimes, the world just throws some storms at you because of sin and evil in the world. You may be thinking, “How do I know what storm I’m in?” God will let you know. God doesn’t discipline silently. And If you are unsure, ask Him. He’ll let you know. So, Jonah is in a God-sent storm designed to break his rebellion. What happened to Jonah at the end of chapter 1? Jonah was tossed overboard by the sailors, as Jonah requested. The storm stopped, the sailors believed, and Jonah was gulped up by a great fish. I asked the question last week, “Why didn’t Jonah fall to his knees in repentance and ask the sailors to turn around?” Why did Jonah choose the option to be thrown overboard? Jonah’s heart was still rebelling. Jonah was ready to die instead of obeying God. In this moment of crisis, Jonah cried out to God. And God heard him. That’s where we start today: God hears the distressed cries of His children.

1) God hears the distressed cries of His children. (vs. 1-2) Where do find Jonah in verse 1? ¹Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from inside the fish. Jonah is inside a big fish. A lot of people come to Jonah’s story and this is where they get stuck. All they can think about is this whale or great fish. This is not the main emphasis of the book of Jonah. The great fish is only mentioned in 3 verses. But let’s answer the question most people ask: Was Jonah literally inside a fish for three days? The answer is yes! Our God is a God of miracles. If Jesus can rise from the dead, then God can have a great fish swallow Jonah for a few days. If God wanted Jonah to ride around on massive seahorse for 3 days, I would believe it! Illustration: Back in 2000, a man snuck into the landing gear of 747 that was traveling from French Polynesia to Los Angeles[1]  At 38,000 feet the temperature is negative fifty degrees. The flight took almost 8 hours. When the plane landed, they discovered the man. His body temperature was 79 degrees, which anything under 85 is typically fatal. And he was alive – and he made a full recovery. Don’t tell me that God can’t have a man survive three days in a great fish!

Now, with that out of the way, let’s get back to Jonah. Verse 1 starts with “then”. What did verse 17 say in chapter 1? Jonah was inside the fish for the three days and three nights. There is some debate over the timing, but the way I read it, Jonah was in the fish for 3 days and THEN he prayed. I would hope that after 3 minutes I’m shouting out my prayers! What took Jonah so long to pray? Jonah was facing a major dilemma in his heart. Jonah knew that one of two things would happen if he went to Nineveh: 1) Get rejected and killed - They are a cruel people;  2) Be accepted and the Ninevites would be saved. If you’re like me, you’re thinking, “Why is option two a problem for Jonah?” We’re slowly seeing Jonah’s heart unfold throughout this story. We’ll see it on full display in chapter 4. Jonah’s racial hatred for the Ninevites was so strong he didn’t want God to save them. So, it took 3 days for Jonah to pray and we see where Jonah’s heart is at this point. We see Jonah’s prayer starting in verse 2: ² He said, “I cried out to the Lord in my great trouble, and he answered me. I called to you from the land of the dead and Lord, you heard me!  What do you notice about the tense of the prayer? It’s past tense. Jonah is praying from inside the great fish and declaring that God has already heard his distressed cries. Jonah’s moment of crises wasn’t inside the fish, it was when he went overboard. Jonah was sinking to his death – and that’s when he called out. I would venture to say it was at the bottom of the sea that Jonah was the farthest he had ever been away from God. But what does Jonah say about God? God still heard him. You’re never too far away from God that He can’t hear your shouts. In spite of Jonah’ guilt – in spite of God’s discipline – in spite of impossible circumstances – in spite of the fading time – God heard Jonah’s cries. It’s the same for you. It doesn’t matter how far you’ve gone – how bad the circumstance are – how little time is left – God will hear the cries of a distressed and repentant heart.

The only thing you can’t do -- is stop crying out to God. We don’t know how many times Jonah was calling to God before that fish arrived, but we do know that it was as his life was slipping away. You don’t know God’s timing, but you know His promise. God will answer the cries of the rebellious heart at exactly the right moment. When God answers, He is also going to provide a path forward. That’s what Jonah prayers for next and that’s what we see next: No matter how deep you are, there’s a path to the presence of God. 

2) No matter how deep you are, there’s a path to the presence of God. (vs. 3-6a) As Jonah is praying to God about what happened as he sank down into the sea, we get a more dire picture of the situation. Look at verse 3: ³ You threw me into the ocean depths, and I sank down to the heart of the sea. The mighty waters engulfed me; I was buried beneath your wild and stormy waves.  Skip down to verse 5 and 6: ⁵ “I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. ^6a I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. In verse 7, Jonah’s describes his life as “slipping away”. Jonah was about to die.

But did you catch what Jonah said in verse 3? Who threw Jonah into the ocean? If you recall from last week, it was the sailors at Jonah’s request. But what did Jonah say in verse 3? Jonah says that it was God who threw him into the ocean. Is Jonah delirious at this point in his prayer? Was the smell of the rotting fish starting to get to him? Was the sores on his skin created by the fish’s stomach acids driving him insane? The opposite is true – for the first time in awhile – Jonah has a clear understanding of what God is doing. While God did not physically throw Jonah into the ocean, it was God’s plan for Jonah to go overboard. God used the willful desires of the sailors for His purpose.

Why was this God’s plan? God was pursuing Jonah in a way that would get Jonah’s attention. And it worked! Look at what Jonah prayed in verse 4: ⁴ Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’ What terrified Jonah as he was sinking to the bottom of the ocean, as life was slipping away from him, was not his circumstances – it was the realization that he was no longer in the presence of God. For those who have never been in the presence of God, you might be thinking “What’s the big deal about that? If Jonah was about to die, why would he be so concerned about not being in the presence of God?”  Illustration: The Great Spring Hill Power Outage of 2024. Last week, our power went off in our house. I’m sure social media deemed it “The Great Spring Hill Power Outage of 2024”. It went out twice in one day – the second time happening around midnight. As my kids, one by one, trickled into our bedroom, half asleep, they start asking these questions: “Dad, why is it so dark?” Being the good dad that I am, I say, “Because the lights are off.” I then ask them to turn on the light switch…“Dad, when will the power come back on?” And my favorite one: “Dad, do our toilets still work?” My response: “Yes, just make sure the toilet power cord is still plugged into the electrical outlet.” What’s interesting is that when the power goes out at night, it wakes us up. When everything shuts down, that’s when we wake up. When you experience power, you notice the moment it’s gone.

When you live in the presence of God, you want to do everything you can to stay in the presence of God. Why? There is nothing like the presence of God. What sent Jonah into a panic was the realization that he was out of relationship with the source of life. It was at that moment, sinking to the depths, that he wanted God. Once you’re in the presence of God, you never want to be out of the presence of God. And do you know what’s so amazing? What did the second half of verse 4 say? ⁴ Then I said, ‘O Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy Temple.’  Jonah knew there was a path to the presence of God, even from the depths of the sea. Jonah knew it was started with himself – to stop looking inwardly and start looking outwardly. Can I read that quote from Tozer again? Quote: “When we lift our inward eyes to gaze upon God we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us, for it is written that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout all the earth. The sweet language of experience is “Thou God seest me.” When the eyes of the soul looking out meet the eyes of God looking in, heaven has begun right here on this earth.” – A.W. Tozer.

Claw and fight your way back into the presence of God. Bow down in prayer, ask for forgiveness, and then gaze on Jesus. Jonah may have seaweed wrapped around his head, but all he can see now is the crown on Jesus’ head! It was the crown of thorns that led to the crown of glory that enables us to be in the presence of God. It was that truth that led Jonah to this final realization: There’s nothing better than God’s grace. 

3) There’s nothing better than God’s grace. (vs. 6b-10) As a reminder, Jonah is sitting inside a great fish as he’s praying. With that perspective, I find verses 6 and 7 powerful: ^6b But you, O Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death! ⁷ As my life was slipping away, I remembered the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you in your holy Temple. Jonah’s been inside a fish for three days and he’s praying, “God, thank you for saving my life!” “God, thank you for hearing me. Thank you for bringing me back to you.” Jonah is praying all this while the dead fish and stomach acid are splashing up against him. Jonah realized what true deliverance is. Jonah was delivered from his sins and back into the presence of God. It’s better to be with God in the belly of a great fish than running on land without God. Jonah comes back to the grace of God and says, “There is nothing better than this.”

Now, we reach what could possibly be the most pivotal verse in all of Jonah. Verse 8 is right in the middle of this book. 24 verses before it and 23 verses after it. What does verse 8 say? ⁸ Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God’s mercies. Who is Jonah talking about in this verse? What comes to my mind first are those sailors who prayed to their gods for salvation. And then I think about the Ninevites. God is working out all these things for the Ninevites so that they can turn away from their false gods. Both the sailors and Ninevites needs God’s mercy and grace. No doubt verse 8 applies to those two groups.

But who is verse 8 about? It’s Jonah. You may be thinking, “Jonah didn’t worship false gods. How can this verse be about him? Why would Jonah say this about himself?” Jonah wasn’t worshipping a little tiki man, but he was worshipping another idol. Quote: “An idol is anything more important to you than God. Anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God. Anything you seek to give you what only God can give. Anything that is so central and essential to your life, that should lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.” – Tim Keller. Something happened in Jonah’s heart that replaced God. Whatever that was – it brought him to the depths of the sea. There was something in Jonah’s heart that he valued and loved more than God. But in those seas, Jonah realized there’s nothing better than God’s grace.

Jonah finishes his prayer by proclaiming the truth he didn’t want to proclaim at first: ⁹ But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.” Jonah tells God he is going to fulfill his calling to preach God’s salvation to the Ninevites. We must do the same. If we truly believe that there’s nothing better than God’s grace, then we’ve got to tell a world that’s dying and decaying. Illustration: Sunflowers in Japan. I read an article this week about the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami that damaged a nuclear power plant. Nuclear radiation leaked out into the surrounding areas, include the soil and plant life. Shortly after the contamination, something odd began to happen. Thousands and thousands of sunflowers began growing. It was discovered that monks began planting the sunflowers because they are known to remove the toxins from the soil. They planted about 200,000 sunflowers and distributed many more seeds. It’s estimated that over 8 million flowers originated from these monks. One, small beautiful plant can restore the soil. But millions can make life come back. If we truly believe there’s nothing better than God’s grace, we have to let the world know that “salvation comes from the Lord alone.” Next month, I’m going to spend 30 days planting myself in the soil of Spring Hill. I want you to join me. I’ll tell you how at the end of the service. I’m ready to tell the distressed and dejected how to find the Good Shepherd.

How does chapter 2 end? ¹⁰ Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out onto the beach. What an end to Jonah’s time in the fish. God doesn’t open up the mouth of the fish and let Jonah swim out. God has that fish spit him out! We’ll find out why next week. Why doesn’t the story of Jonah end with chapter 2? Jonah repented right? He’s out of the great fish, right? The reason there is still two more chapters is because Jonah’s heart still needs work. Jonah is no longer in rebellion. But Jonah’s heart isn’t where it’s supposed to be. Jonah is standing on the dry land surrendered to God’s will, but with bitterness in his heart. Jonah’s going to go to Nineveh, but he isn’t happy about it. Jonah has moved from rebellion to dutiful obedience. But God wants more of Jonah’s heart. God’s not going to stop pursuing Jonah.

I hope you see that in your life. God won’t stop pursuing you. He’s ready to tap you on the shoulder, “Hey, I’m here!” The question you need to ask yourself is “Am I going to turn around and run after Him?” I want everyone to lock eyes with our Heavenly Father and have that moment of heaven on earth. It starts with you knowing Jesus and coming into His presence for the first time.

GOSPEL PRESENTATION

And for everyone else, let’s not stop gazing on our God. Let’s live in the light so much, that when the littlest of darkness creeps in, we want nothing to do with it. Let’s pursue the God that pursued us. Let’s all live out lives truly believing there is nothing better than God’s grace. Let’s all live out lives for One who pulled us out that pit – who rescued us from that grave. Let’s make sure that nobody else gets our glory and praise. Let’s pray.

[1] Taken from https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/man-overboard/

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