Nobody Acts Like You Expect In This Story

In one paragraph

Pastor Mark opened the book of Jonah and walked through the whole thing, from the call and the flight to the fish to the revival in Nineveh and the argument Jonah picks with God at the end. The point was not the fish. The point was the attitude of a servant who knew exactly who God was and ran the other direction anyway, and then stayed angry even after God's mercy proved him right. Before getting...

Read together

1. Proverbs 22:6 quoted during baby dedication about training up a child
2. John 3:16 quoted from memory after the offering prayer
3. 2 Kings 14 cited as the other Old Testament mention of Jonah, going to Jeroboam
4. Jonah 1-4 read and expounded through as the full sermon text
5. Psalm 86 noted as sounding similar to Jonah's prayer from the fish about calling out in distress
6. Psalm 51 contrasted with Jonah's near-repentance prayer as an example of genuine confession
7. Psalm 139 contrasted with Jonah's prayer as an example of genuine confession
8. Acts 1 referenced as the last instance of casting lots in the church, replacing Judas
9. Acts 2 cited as when the Holy Spirit came, after which casting lots was no longer used
10. Matthew 12:39-40 referenced from the prior week, the sign of Jonah and the Son of Man in the heart of the earth three days and three nights

Talk about it

1. Pastor described Jonah's false prophecy to Jeroboam the second and said the book is really about Jonah's attitude, not just his actions. What is the difference between delivering the right message and having the right heart behind it, and where do you see that tension in your own life?
2. The sailors, the Ninevite people, and the evil king all responded to God in ways nobody expected, while Jonah, the prophet who knew God, resisted throughout. What does it say to you that the outsiders in this story responded more faithfully than the insider?
3. Pastor read Jonah's prayer from the belly of the fish and called it 'almost repentant' and 'begrudged,' saying Jonah never offered anything like the confession in Psalm 51. What do you think makes the difference between genuine repentance and just acknowledging that you got caught?
4. Jonah told God plainly, 'I knew you were gracious and merciful and slow to anger, and that is exactly why I ran.' He did not want God's mercy extended to the Ninevites. Have you ever found yourself hoping God would not be too merciful toward a person or group you struggle to love?
5. Pastor closed by asking us to put our own 'enemy group' in place of Nineveh and sit with the question God left Jonah with: should I not pity them? Who came to mind for you, and what would it look like to carry God's message toward that group in the way you live and engage with the people around you?