SPEAKER_00 0:10

Welcome to the Southside Church Podcast. Weekly content that inspires all of us to follow Jesus. Join us each week for a message from one of our fantastic communicators that provide practical ways to grow our faith, challenge ourselves, and to love others more. And now, this week's message.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I was here uh last month and I got to speak on Noah, and you know, people are like, I don't know, did Noah happen? And I was like, well, once I get through Noah, then that'll be okay because uh then I'll be on to something that people can grasp, and they're like, hey, next one, Jonah. And I was like, oh, that's also a stretch, but we we uh we can do it. But to kick it off, uh one just simply ask you this question. Have you ever found yourself in a moment in a situation where you just ask yourself, how in the world did I end up here? Maybe, maybe a time in history, maybe a location, but how in the world did end up here? For for me, it was sitting in a fertility clinic in the city of Atlanta uh many, many moons ago. My wife told me we were struggling to have a family, and my wife told me she said, Hey, I made an appointment for the fertility clinic, and so they're just gonna go kind of explain what they do and and all that kind of stuff. So I was like, Okay, yeah, we can go listen and hear and and all that stuff. So we go to this clinic, we sit across from the doctor, and he goes, So here's what we're gonna do, and uh I need you to fill out some forms first. I was like, uh, that's interesting, and maybe they need our contact information. And so he pulls out a little checklist and he said, Um, just a few legal disclaimers. And I was like, Whoa, this got this got serious fast. This is like talking about kids on the first date. And I was like, we really are talking about kids on the first date. And and so I was like, uh, okay. And he said, in light of uh of a divorce, who gets your embryos? And and at that point, I wanted to look at him and go, sir, I don't think he understood. I was massively outpunning my coverage. I'm not gonna do better a second time around. There's no divorce. She leaves, I'm gone too, right? And uh I'm like, I'm being and she's like, I left you, and I was like, I know, I'll left me too. We're over here together, we'll leave me together. Uh I was like, we're not good, that's not an option, but uh he he wasn't really down for that explanation, so I was like, Well, I guess I guess she gets the embryos in our divorce. And I didn't know what that looked like, but I knew she got the embryos. And they they were like, hey, in light of your husband's death, who gets the embryos? And she's like, Well, I'll take the embryos, and it's like, okay, that's great. And then they look at me and they go, sir, in light of your wife's death, who gets the embryos? And I said, uh, donate them. I didn't really prep for this moment in life because it's just being sprung on me. I said, we're gonna donate them. And she looks at me and she goes, You're gonna give away our kids? I said, Babe, I need you to think about this real logically for a quick second. If you die and I take our embryos with me, I have to meet a woman, fall in love with said woman, convince this woman that it's a good idea to spend her rest of her life with me. And then when she's like, I want to start a family, be like, I'm glad you brought that up. You see, my wife, my dead wife, she was great. And so I'm gonna need you to carry her babies to fruition to start our family. You in? And my wife goes, Well, will you at least keep them until I'm dead? I said, sure, why not? Uh I said, I'll keep them. And I just remember sitting in this room where I started off dreaming about how I could build a wife, and now my wife is dead, and I remarried, and I don't even know if she's crazy, the girl I remarried. And we're already having marital problems because I'm asking her to carry my wife's kids. Like, you how do you get in that moment? Now you you fast forward a decade and a half and four boys later, and it's funny. But there's moments, there's moments where it's not. Maybe it was a coping mechanism for a season of your life that's now just a full-blown addiction, and you don't you don't know how to handle it. And it's destroying you. Maybe your ideas have joined into a moment where now you're just splitting up assets like a business transaction. I'll take this, you take this, and we'll just call it good. It maybe it was a job that you started really young and you're like, ah, it's just for a season. And next thing you know, decades have passed and you can't see a way out, and you hate your job, and you're like, and you're trapped. Maybe you remember a faith of your childhood where you were on fire and you believed and trusted God to do great things, but now God just seems to be a faint part of your memory. And you're here because you're trying to rekindle something, but it's just not working. And you look around the room and you're like, everyone else seems to get this thing with God, but I'm not. How did I get here? And usually, if you're asking the question, how did I get here? the real question you're asking is, what do I do now? Like, where do I even go from here? Like, what's the next right step if there is one? And believe it or not, the story of Jonah is an exact blueprint for that moment. Now it's super hard to believe because the story of Jonah plays like a Disney movie, right? There's a man, he goes in the water, fish eats him, scene from Pinocchio, three days, spits him up, and he goes on with his life. It plays like a Disney movie. But here's the thing I want you to catch is I think Jonah may be the most unrelatable, relatable story in the history of the world. Like, there's so much of it where you're like, that's so unrelated. I'm not gonna get swallowed by a fish. But when you break down the story of Jonah, you're like, that's my story. I've been there. I know that emotion. I know that struggle, I know that battle. It's the most unrelatable, relatable story. And it actually gives you a perfect blueprint of what do you do in those moments when you look around and you go, how did I get here? And what do I even do next? Now, for those of you who aren't weren't here last week, or maybe you don't know the story really well, uh I'm gonna recap it real for real quick for you. So Jonah is a prophet, meaning he's a mouthpiece of God, meaning him and God got a good relationship, and God says, I need you to tell the people what I'm thinking, what I feel, what I'm kind of planning for them. And so the way God talked to people was through people like Jonah. And God saw this group of people called the Ninevehites, and he said, Hey, Jonah, I need you to go tell these people that are not doing what I want them to do, to start doing what I want them to do and let them know I love them. And if you remember anything from uh the story of last week, Jonah was here and he said, God said, Hey, go to Nineveh, which is up this way. And Jonah's like, uh, I don't know, because I'm gonna go to as far as the world or as far as land will take me, then I'm gonna hop a boat. Now, Jonah didn't have a destination. Uh, the Bible tells us that he just hopped a boat to Tarshus. He wasn't going, hey, give me the first boat. But here's what we do know: he was trying to get out of wherever he was. He did not want to go to Nineveh. And he had good reason. The Ninevehes were terrible people. They were the type of people that when they conquered a land, they did horrific things. Fillet people, boiled people, they tortured people, and not only people, but other Israelites. And so not only were these Ninevehites terrible people, they were terrible to Jonah's people. And so Jonah had no desire to go to Nineveh, and here's why. There was not a win that Jonah could fathom. Number one, if he goes to Nineveh, what keeps him from getting the same fate that so many other Israelites had? But here's the other thing, here's the other side of the coin. What if God forgives them? What if God gives them grace? Because I know God, I know what God's character is like, and what if God does the unfathomable and pours out forgiveness and love on the Ninevehes, and they don't have to face consequences that I think they should face here on this earth. And Jonah was it, a lose-lose. So he hops this boat and he's like, hey, where's the boat going? They're like, We're going to Tarshus. He goes down the hall, goes to sleep, storm. God's Bible says, God sent a great storm. And these people are panicking. And they're doing everything in their power to control the boat in the storm, but it's breaking apart at the seams. They're throwing stuff overboard. They're trying to do, and so the Bible says they started crying out to all their own gods, meaning like they're like, hey, whatever you have hope in, you just start crying out to them. And then they go down and find Jonah. They're like, hey, I don't, you, I don't know how you're sleeping, but they're the world's breaking apart over here. And so you need to cry out to your God. And Jonah goes, uh, well, here's the thing, guys. Um, the storm, my bad. Um I don't I don't know. Let me tell you how this is gonna go. Um, it's kind of my fault. They're like, What? I don't think you understand. He's like, Yeah, my God's the real guy. Like, y'all, y'all are just playing around with things over there, but my guy's the real dude. He controls the wind and the wave, and uh, I don't know if you know this, but you're getting beat up pretty bad by the wind and the waves, right? And so Jonah's like, hey, um, you can try to row back, it's not gonna work. Throw me over. So Jonah gets thrown over the side of the boat, hits the water, and the water goes calm. And that's where we stopped. And so, let's pick it up in Jonah part two. It says, This, now the Lord arranged for a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was inside the fish for three days and three nights. Now, here's the part we've all been waiting for. Like, if you've ever been around, if you're anything like me, you I nerd out about this stuff, and you're sitting there going, tell me about the fish. What do we what do we know about this? Here's the part about the fish. The fish is such a small bit player in this story. The fish is really inconsequential to a large degree of how it all worked. Uh we only know four things about the fish. God made it, it swallowed Jonah, stayed there for three days, vomited Jonah. That's really all we know about the great fish. Now, uh, because I know people want to know this stuff, I did a little digging because before I go on, because you may get stuck here, because I get stuck here, I was like, okay, what can we know about the fish? Uh, did God specifically create it or was it a fish that already exists? I uh we don't know that. The Bible doesn't say. In fact, the Hebrew for fish is dag. It's the Hebrew word for fish. But in Jonah, the Hebrew word, which is what the scriptures were originally written in, is dag gadal, which just means large fish, large creature. And in the Mediterranean, um, there's a great population of whale sharks and humpback whales. Both hold the size of being able to hold a human. And so then the question is, well, is that even possible? Ironically enough, on June 11th, 2021, there was a commercial diver off the coast of Massachusetts called named Michael Packard. Michael Packard was swimming amongst uh some whales and some fish. Next thing you know, Michael Packard was swallowed by a humpback whale. Hole. Spent 30 to 40 seconds in the belly of a humpback whale until the humpback whale surfaced, spit him up, only had a dislocated shoulder. And so, is it possible? Yeah. Three days? I don't know. But don't get stuck here. For the story of Jonah to really pan out, it was a miracle. I'm not gonna hide that. But I'm also gonna throw this on you. Your entire faith is built on the fact that a man died and walked out of his own grave three days later. A man three days in a fish isn't really a hard stretch from that right there. All right? So let's not get hung up on the fish, because the fish, like I said, is just a bit player in the story. So once you get past the fish, Jonah's story becomes very quickly, at least my story, and possibly your story. Bible says this, then Jonah prayed to the Lord, his God, from inside the fish. Then that moment, that instant, think about what Jonah's been through. God goes, this is what I want you to do with your life. He goes, Nah, I'm good. Gets caught in a storm. Tells people, he explains God. My God is the one who controls the wind and the wave. He doesn't talk to God, he just talks about God. Gets thrown overboard, sinks into the ocean, gets swallowed by a fish. Then, Jonah Priest, you ever been there? You ever been in that moment where you're kind of sitting there and your life spiraling, spiraling, spiraling, and you're like, well, God's a big guy, God's in control, God can do whatever he wants, but you never asked God about it anything. I've been there. I think everybody has the craziest place they prayed moment. At least a moment in time that they remember they threw up a Hail Mary to God. Some people, it's the edge of a bed, of an empty, quiet house that wasn't quiet hours earlier. That was their fifth moment. Some sitting at a kitchen table looking at bills that don't stop coming and you don't know how to get out of it. Some, I've heard this story a lot, in a shower, where you crank the heat up so hot, hoping to wash the shame off of you, as you repeat over and over and over, God, what have I done? Some jail, some rehab. I promise you, everybody has a fish place. Everybody has a place where they're like, that location, that broke me. That was my then moment. That's when I said, Okay, God, I'm paying attention. Uh the prayer continues on. He 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. 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 the wild and stormy waves. Then I said, Oh Lord, you have driven me from your presence. Yet I will look once more toward your holy temple. Here's what Jonah's saying. He goes, God, I was as good as dead. God, I ran too far, I sinned too much, I overextended your grace. I I messed up, I know it, but I don't have anywhere else to look. It was as good as over for me. But in a last-itch effort, one more time, I'm gonna toss up a prayer and hope God you hear me. One last moment. Yesterday I got back from leading a trip of uh dads and kids, whitewater rafting, and I'll come in, and my wife's watching a documentary, and about the point of the documentary is like there's this big event that happened that was a tragedy, and and I'll never forget, especially as I was preparing to speak today, this this woman goes, I'm not a religious person, but at that moment I prayed to God. There's something in us that when we get to the end of ourselves, we're just like, Okay, I don't know if you exist, but God, if you do, will you help me? The prayer continues. I sank beneath the waves, and the waters closed over me. Seaweed wrapped itself around my head. I sank down to the very roots of the mountains. I was imprisoned in the earth, whose gates lock shut forever. But you, oh Lord, snatched me. Whoops, sorry, I went too far. I went too far. That's on me. That is on me. Breaking down the prayer. Jonah repeats himself. He basically says the same thing. I was as good as dead, ran too far, sinned too much. It's the same prayer. It's the same words. Have you ever repeated how bad it is because you don't know what to say next? You just recap for God, like, God, do you know how bad it is? Do you know how scared I am? Do you know how out of control I am? Do you know how bad life is going? You're overwhelmed, so you don't have the words. But then in this moment, Jonah shifts his attention. He went from how bad it is, and I already gave you a sneak preview, so act surprised when I go to the next next verse, okay? Already accidentally went too far, so just stay with me. He shifts his perspective. He takes a different angle. He says, But you, the Lord my God, snatched me from the jaws of death as my life was slipping away. I remember the Lord. And my earnest prayer went out to you, and you're holy temple. Jonah basically is going, God, there was no reason to listen. And yet you did. God, I've earned no time in your presence, and yet you granted it. And here's the ironic thing. Jonah wasn't praying like a punished man. He was praying like a saved man, a rescued man. Here's the part you gotta catch because I've missed it for so many years. The fish wasn't a punishment. It wasn't timeout. It was a lifeline. It was a second chance, it was an opportunity for redemption. The fish was a gift. The edge of the bed moment, a gift, the shower moment is a gift. The sitting at your kitchen table is a gift. The rehab, the jail, it's a gift. Because it means God's not done yet. It means the story's still being written. It means you still have a second chance. It means redemption's right around the corner if you want it. The fish wasn't a punishment. It was a gift. I think the reason I've really messed up the story of Jonah over the years is confirmation bias. When you view God as a cop waiting to catch you, sitting at the corner, hiding to go, aha, I gotcha. The fish is a punishment. But when you look at it through the lens of God's character, the story of redemption, the story of grace, the fish is merely a place for Jonah to turn his life around. And how you see God ultimately determines how you see the fish. Or that moment in time that you wondered how you got there. Because God never changes his goodness. And so did God cause a storm? Yes, he did. But was God in the depths to rescue his child? Yes, he was. Dave Ramsey, a national radio host, who basically has one of the largest radio programs in America. Um has this great statement. It's so brilliant. But he gives people financial advice after he had millions, went bankrupt, and rebuilt wealth. He says, Man, I met God on the way up. I met God when I was getting rich. I met God when the getting was good. I met God when money was coming in and life was easy. But I got to know him on the way down. I met him, we introduced, we connected, I knew he was important on the way up. I understood how good he was on the way down. Meaning, the fish is a gift. That's where you see God's goodness. And I don't know where you are, and I don't know where this message hits. But the fact that there is breath in your lungs and a beat in your heart, God isn't done. God is still writing a story, and it may not end like you wanted, it may not have all the pieces you thought, it may not look exactly like you would have dreamed or planned, but God isn't done yet. And then the most important piece of this Verse. The most important part of this prayer. Overwhelmed. Thank you, God, for rescuing me. The most important piece, do not miss this. Because this is where the game changes. Jonah says this see, those who worship false gods, turn their backs on Allah God's mercies. Meaning, if you are connected to putting your hope into something, whether it's your wealth, your identity, your career, your family, your whatever, those who worship those false gods, you turn your back on God's mercies because they will not deliver redemption. But, but, and this is huge, I will offer sacrifices to you with my songs of praise. And I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone. Here is the peace you have to know if you're in a how did I get there moment. Jonah's posture changes from, I'm not running anymore. I'm all in. Whatever it is you want, God, you got it. Whatever it is you're asking, okay. I am going to say yes to your next step. And here's the part you're wanting to know if you're asking, how did I get here? Then the Lord ordered the fish to spit Jonah out on the beach. The moment the fish, the moment the time and the fish stopped is the moment Jonah surrendered to the will of God. And if you hear me say nothing else, this is the part of Jonah's prayer that you've got to catch. God isn't looking for your sorries. He's after your submission. God's not looking for your, I'm so sorry, God. I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry. He is looking for your submission to what he has for you because he is that good of a God. Sometimes in church, I growing up as a Christian, I mess this up all the time. I would apologize all the time. I'd sit there with my little communion cup, God, I'm so sorry I did, and I'd list it all off. I'd list my sins. I'm so sorry, God. I'm so, I'm so, so sorry. But sorry never gave God control. But submission opens your hands to what's next. Sorry is simply wishing the outcome was different. Submission means changing the steps to make the next chapter different. God is not looking for your sorries. He wants your submission. And one of the reasons that I think sometimes Christians in the local church can be so unattractive is because we just walk around saying, My bad, God, my bad, I know what you wanted, but my bad, I didn't do that right. That's on me. That's on me, God. I'll take the, I'll take it. But we keep churning and burning and going as far forward without ever submitting. And man, we're great at offering sorries. I'm great at offering sorries. But submission, who that's a different thing. I love the recovery program, the 12 steps, AA. Um, I know people that have been in it and love those people dearly. There's always something that I heard over and over again. You know, if you ever listen to someone in the 12 steps tell their stories, they're like, I hit rock bottom. Had to hit it rock bottom. Just wait till you hit rock bottom. And it's almost permission to just spiral. Here's the thing that always bothered me about rock bottom. You can always go lower. Like, rock bottom really is death. We have a false bottom. You know, where the pain of change outpaces the pain of staying the same. That's a false bottom. But the people that hit rock bottom will never tell you they heard rock bottom because you're standing by their casket. I was listening to this guy that I love to listen to talk, and he was kind of talking about 12 steps. He goes, here's the thing, man. I hear people talking all the time about rock bottom, rock bottom, rock bottom. He goes, You don't have to do rock bottom, just get off on the third floor. I was like, that's brilliant. So you can keep saying you're sorry and keep spiraling. You should just get off on the third floor and submit. And so the question I have for you. If you're in this moment, the how did I get here moment, are you just waiting for rock bottom? And what is it? What does it look like? How does it pan out? Or do you just want to get off on the third floor? Because here's the part I want you to catch. Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time. That's a good God. It's a God of redemption. He said, I didn't quit on you. Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh and deliver the message I have given you. This time, Jonah obeyed. Not because he was in timeout, but because he submitted the Lord's command and he went to Nineveh. If you want out of a how did I get there moment, stop offering God your sorries. And stop opening yourself to submission. There is one piece that I think you have to address when it comes to the grace of God. I think we misunderstand God's grace a large, large degree, and it really throws us off for submission. Most of us, me, let me start from me. When I say I am covered by the grace of God, and I say I'm sorry and I'm all in, God, I just expect God to put the pieces of the puzzle back as if nothing ever happened. But here's what you got to understand about grace. Grace is not erasing the past. It is giving you opportunity and his presence as you build the next chapter in your future. You don't walk out of sin unscathed. You don't get to turn back the clock and do it differently. But you can rebuild and be shocked at where God has you on a new path. There's something that's interesting. People, people of theologians argue about this, and it's a topic. The question is, is there any remnants of Jonah being in a fish? Some theological experts believe that Jonah's skin and hair was bleached because he spent three days in the acidic belly of a fish. And so his appearance was changed. Obviously, if you spend three days in a fish, you smell horrifically. And there's a faintness or there's an awareness of where you have been. That's why God wants you to submit the first time. But because God is good, the second time, the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time, man, you'll be stinking like fish by the sixth time, but you still got a shot. And so here's the question. What do you need to submit? What's that thing in your head that just popped in your head that you're like, nah, I don't want to do that? Can I share with you mine? Uh I left the I left Southside. This is a long, it's 23, it's a long story. If you want to hear it, I'll buy you coffee. But uh I was on staff at the church, felt God leading me to something else, and I got lost. Like I didn't get lost, like I train wrecked my life. I just didn't know what to do with myself. You know, for years I'd had this identity. And I just started watching a lot of TV. Like hours and hours of TV. I would just, every night it was just hours just laying in bed just because I couldn't sleep, and I was just, and and I just couldn't do it. And I was just and I could just feel my life just purpose and meaning and direction just sliding away because I kept just leaning into comfort, leaning into comfort, leaning into comfort. It's been my story for two and a half years. So I get uncomfortable, I'd be like, oh, just tune out. Here's the office again. Office is a great show, by the way. If you're gonna escape the world, choose the office. Don't suggest it, but just that if I did suggest that, that that would be my suggestion. Here's the office again. Here's this documentary again, here's this movie again. And it just it wasn't about what I was watching, it was just about I didn't have to think about life. That it was hard, that I was uncomfortable, that I would need to stretch. Over the two and a half years, it was stop watching TV. Nah, dude, that's kind of I'm not really, I'm not doing anything wrong. You know, TV's not bad. Stop, stop, stop, stop. A couple months ago, sitting there wallowing, struggling internally. All right, God, I'm done saying I'm sorry for wasting another set of hours that I could have invested in something beneficial to my family, my and it's been a game changer. Has it been hard? Yeah. Because my wife goes to bed stupid early. And they're like, well, what do you want to do now? But man, it has been worth it. Sometimes we listen to this and we're like, what sin do you gotta get rid of? What thing it's like may not be that. So let me rephrase that. What are you leaning on a little too heavy? What are you using as a crutch? What are you investing way too much time in that you know I got better time and more focus I'd like to have? What is it? You could wait till rock bottom or you just get off on the third floor. Because God's not looking for your sorries, he's looking for your submission. And so, walking away from here, what is God asking you to submit? Here's one of the best parts of Jonah when the fish came and got him. Jonah wasn't on the bottom floor, and God was like, oh shoot, I gotta get him. God caught him as he sank. And you can choose to get the whale to spit you out or to stop sinking in the ocean. But you're gonna have to stop saying, I'm sorry, and start submitting. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you for who you are, your goodness, your kindness, your God, you are so patient. God, you're so patient. And I'm so grateful for that. Father, I don't know what it is that you're asking someone in this room to submit. We all have something. I know it. It may not be over the top, it may not make for a great story if we do submit it. But there's something getting in the way. Maybe it's our ego, maybe it's control over calendar, maybe it's, I don't know what it is. Maybe it is some sin. But God, would you give us clarity of what we need to submit? And then will you give us the courage to do so? Love you so much. In your son's name we pray. Amen.