Finally, at the end of the book we see Jonah’s real heart in the matter. God meets him in the desert and strips away all of his anger to reveal the real reason why Jonah is upset about Nineveh being spared. Jonah couldn’t accept that the wicked people of Nineveh could be on the same level before God as a religious man like himself. Jonah couldn’t bear to admit that, just like Nineveh, he didn’t deserve God’s grace either. He couldn’t live in God’s free grace. Can we? Can we honestly ask ourselves how God could ever extend grace to even us?

Last week’s text ended with Jonah exclaiming that salvation belongs to the Lord. We thought that he had repented and was able to move on to be the hero of the story that a man who has a book of the Bible named after him; not so much. Jonah grudgingly goes to Nineveh to preach and the entire city repents! Jonah barely exerted himself and God brings all of Nineveh to Himself. So why was Jonah there? God clearly did all the legwork for him, so was going to Nineveh more about the Ninevites repentance, or Jonah’s? Was God so adamant about Jonah going to Nineveh because only Jonah could save the city or because it was only in Nineveh that Jonah would see his sin truly and fully and be able to repent of it truly and fully?

Easter is all about resurrection, Jesus’ resurrection. It takes us from our lowest lows and raises us up with Christ to the throne of God. But what do we do with that resurrection practically, though? Very little of the Bible is useful simply as head knowledge, it has to be applied. But how do we apply the resurrection? Jonah had a resurrection experience, but the odds are poor that we’ll get eaten by fish in 2012. So how do live in the power of the resurrection? It’s like running into a minefield. . .

Many talk about this part of Jonah’s story as God’s wrath upon those who stray from His way, but what if there’s more to the story? If the point of the story is God’s wrath on the heathen, why do the sailors worship God? Why is Jonah still alive? Rather, we see God relentlessly pursuing Jonah out of His love and grace. God sends an unprecedented storm and a massive fish to Jonah, all so that Jonah will go up to fix his eyes again on God. This isn’t a vengeful god on a warpath, this is a Shepherd seeking after the lost sheep of His flock.

Just as we saw last week that a church can only be biblical if its members are biblical, so with zeal. If a church is full of lukewarm Christians, the church itself will be lukewarm. What makes a Christian lukewarm? The passionate pursuit of one’s own interests. Do you want Christ or do you want people to think you’re a good person? Do you want to rest in God being glorified or do you want to rest in comfortable prosperity? Do you run from your sin-guilt or do you run to Christ in real repentance?

Every church tries to say that it’s biblical, but what does that even mean? Is the Bible true? Is it Truth? Can we trust what we have as Scripture? The Bible makes a lot of claims about itself and about what that means for our lives. The Bible is more than just another helpful resource or handbook, it must be the lens through which we see and assess absolutely everything. Can we handle something demands that kind of authority?

What is our vision? What do we fight and strive for? Where do we see ourselves going? Throughout Scripture, time and time again, we see people seeking after and wrestling for God’s glory, and it leaves them transformed. It is God’s glory that creates worlds with a word and can destroy just as quickly. It’s a glory that Jacob wrestled God for and that Isaiah was burned by an angel for. It’s a glory for which we need not fear and are bid to come toward because of the veil removed by Christ. It’s why we’re here.

Most of us (the vast majority of which discovered that the world can’t provide everyone with their dream job) think that work itself is a curse of the Fall and desire nothing but retirement from age 22 onward. This isn’t God’s plan. We were made to work. We were made to have dominion over creation. So how do we work to God’s glory? How do we serve our companies as we serve our God? Do we treat those two things—our companies and our God—as identical? How can we bring the sanctity of our new identities in the Gospel to bear in the secular workplace in a way that both glorifies God and serves our co-workers well?

Marriage is so much more than having a lifelong roommate, but many people just don’t get it. So many look at marriage as a way to simply add an extra means of pleasure to their usual lifestyle. On top of all of that, our culture has loaded so much baggage onto this passage of Scripture that we miss the real meat of what Paul is trying to say about the mystery of marriage. Marriage is deeper. Marriage relates to us a cosmic union, so much more than two friends moving in together. So how do we get to a deeper understanding of marriage? What is the point—the purpose—of marriage? What rhythms can we practice to strengthen marriage when all that we really bring to it is our own pride?

Pornography seems to be one of those really big elephants in the room. So many people are addicted to it, both inside and outside the church, but no one really ever wants to talk about it. We try to dismiss it as not really hurting anyone or “just one of those sins I’ll be stuck with until I die”, but Scripture disagrees. It flies in the face of the nature of the reality of God, supporting every lie that Satan has ever wanted us to believe. But why is that? Why is pornography so bad? Why is it that it is so pervasive in the church? What can we do to fight against it other than just telling ourselves to “do better”?