What Type of Repentance?

I have been doing a Monday morning post on the message from Sunday morning, but this morning is on the evening message from Jonah.

There are things I like about Jonah (what's not to like about a guy being swallowed by a great fish because of his refusal to obey God?) and there are things I don't like about Jonah (like how the book ends on a question and Jonah does not respond to show he finally understood what God was up to), but there are things I love about Jonah, too! I love that I can see myself in its pages. There are days I can see myself in the picture of a man running from God - a man who resists putting into practice what God has revealed. There are days I can see myself in the "woe is me" attitude when Jonah tells the sailors to throw him overboard. There are days I can see myself in the tired and tender repentance as Jonah sat in the belly of the fish. There have even been days when I see myself in the brooding Jonah from chapter 4. (shudders)

But yesterday we were in chapter 3. And, as the rest of the book, we see Jonah being compared in his responses. Jonah and the sailors in ch.1, Jonah and the Ninevites in ch. 3, Jonah and God in ch. 4. And once again, Jonah shows up less than favorable. Another reason to like Jonah. Jonah is real. In ch. 3 we see the results of Jonah's repentance in ch. 2. The first thing we see is the Word of the Lord coming a second time to Jonah. Why? God told Jonah what to do, Jonah repented "I will pay that that I have vowed. . ." and God cause the fish to vomit Jonah out on dry land. Jonah didn't need God to tell him what to do, he knew it already. But Jonah's repentance was a works based repentance. A repentance of action. And a works based repentance needs reminders. It needs rules - lots of rules. It entails a very legal response to what has been asked. Jonah went, according to the Word of the Lord, and Jonah preached, and Jonah hoped with all of his might that the people of Ninevah would ignore his preaching. Jonah hoped that despite hearing the message God had given him, that God would still have to destroy Ninevah. But he DID what God wanted him to do.

We can all have that response at times. "I'll do it, but I'm not happy about it!" But do you know where this type of repentance leads? It leads to bitterness, . . . every time! Look at Jonah chapter 4 - "It is better for me to die than to live." Bitterness. Why? Because God is a God of mercy. Yeah, that always makes me upset, too. God's mercy frustrated those who have a works based repentance. When we have that mindset, we see ourselves as worthy of God's mercy, and others (who aren't like us - you know, they don't dress as nice as us, go to church 3 or 4 times a week, they don't follow the very good rules we follow in our lives) are undeserving. (*side note* this is definitely not a post about rules being bad - self-imposed rules followed out of a love for God and a desire to please him and grow are wonderful things!) And it leads to bitterness. Just ask Jonah, or the Pharisees, or the prodigal son's brother, . . .you get the idea.

Then we have the response of the Ninevites. A true, heartfelt repentance. The King hears and responds - and not just with a decree for his followers to obey, but with a getting down in the ashes and sack cloth and a humility that is amazing for a pagan king. The king isn't following a list of rules, he doesn't say "Every male needs to be circumcised!" He just desires the people to humbly come before God, and put away the violence and turn from their wickedness. Did he read Micah 6:8? Do justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God? No, he just responded out of love and from the heart. And despite not following a set of rules, he ended up where the law would have guided him to be if he had read it! Rather than a desire to exalt self, the king desired to exalt God! And instead of bitterness, this repentance brings hope "who knows if God might turn. . ."

And God does turn - the third repentance in chapter 3 of Jonah. God repented of the evil He said he would do. This is the mercy of repentance - and it occurs every time a lost sinner turns to God in repentance. God turns from the punishment He declared "For the wages of sin is death," and through the blood of Christ replaces it with "but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Repentance that leads to repentance? Yes, please!

Want to read the story for yourself? Here it is: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jonah%203&version=KJV

You can find the message that this post summarizes right HERE!