Pastor Taylor Shippy - Jonah 4:1-11; Matthew 20: 1-16, Luke 15:25-32
Wanna know the real reason behind why Jonah skipped town and fled to Tarshish? It wasn't because he was scared of the Ninevites… It’s because he knew what would happen if he went. He knew exactly, beat-for-beat, play-for-play, what would happen if he introduced his God to those people… And if these people repented, he knew how his God would respond… He knew before he left that God would forgive and show mercy to his enemies… And Jonah didn’t want God to forgive them… Religious people love judgment. Cause it’s fair. It’s clean. Logical. Decisive. Judgment knows what to do and just does it. Mercy on the other hand is messing. It’s indecisive. Vulnerable. Weak. Sensitive. Self-aware. Frightening. But it is nearer to the heart of God… Maybe we’ve go to ‘turn a new leaf?'
