WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.799 Well, in the month of July, we have been in a four-week series looking at the book and 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:07.820 the story of Jonah. 00:00:08.519 --> 00:00:15.519 Jonah is this short but wonderful story of this minor prophet in the Old Testament, and 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:20.379 it's a story about a man and a prophet who runs away from God. 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:27.620 He runs away from God in direct disobedience to his word, but nonetheless, God runs after 00:00:27.620 --> 00:00:27.960 him. 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:35.539 And he ends up having a deep encounter with God's power and his mercy and his grace by 00:00:35.539 --> 00:00:40.380 being rescued at the bottom of the sea in the belly of a great fish. 00:00:40.579 --> 00:00:43.560 And that's what we've looked at the first two weeks. 00:00:44.140 --> 00:00:52.040 And this powerful experience of God's mercy and grace takes Jonah on both an inward journey 00:00:52.040 --> 00:00:53.960 and an outward journey. 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:56.760 Last week, we looked at chapter two. 00:00:56.759 --> 00:01:02.820 We looked at Jonah's prayer in the belly of the great fish, and we looked at Jonah's deep 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:05.620 inward journey of spiritual transformation. 00:01:06.259 --> 00:01:11.280 And in the second half of the story in chapters three and four is where we see Jonah's outward 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:11.700 journey. 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:18.099 And we can talk about Jonah's outward journey like this, that it's the process of how God's 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:26.619 grace changes Jonah's perspective toward the people of Nineveh, toward people who would typically 00:01:26.619 --> 00:01:33.439 be his ethnic and political and national enemies and Israel's enemies as well. 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:40.579 And this, in many ways, is the outward journey that all of us who claim to be followers of Jesus 00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:41.939 have to go on. 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:43.879 It's the outward journey of loving our neighbors. 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:48.859 It's the outward journey of even learning how to love even our enemies. 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:54.799 And so we're going to look at part one today of Jonah's outward journey in chapter three, 00:01:54.859 --> 00:01:56.159 and we're going to look at this in three parts. 00:01:57.319 --> 00:02:02.019 We're going to look at Nineveh's repentance, Jonah's anger, and God's mercy. 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:06.759 Nineveh's repentance, Jonah's anger, and God's mercy. 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:10.300 And do we have any elementary schoolers here this morning? 00:02:10.379 --> 00:02:11.620 Raise your hand if you're in elementary school. 00:02:12.180 --> 00:02:12.960 All right, great. 00:02:13.520 --> 00:02:18.159 You should have received maybe some pieces of paper and some colored pencils on the way in. 00:02:18.240 --> 00:02:22.020 If not, there's some in the back for you if you'd like to go pick those up. 00:02:22.360 --> 00:02:25.900 And on the third page, there should be a space for you to draw a picture. 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:30.740 And so if you'd like to draw a picture in the middle of a sermon, I'm going to give you a picture 00:02:30.740 --> 00:02:31.219 to draw. 00:02:31.319 --> 00:02:31.879 And here it is. 00:02:31.900 --> 00:02:32.200 Are you ready? 00:02:32.199 --> 00:02:36.839 I want you to draw a picture of a bad guy. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:42.479 And this could be a picture of a villain from a superhero story that you know, or some other 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.839 character from some other story that you know. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:46.959 But here's the twist. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.659 I want you to draw a picture of a bad guy. 00:02:50.659 --> 00:02:55.180 And I want you to draw a picture of Jesus changing the bad guy's heart. 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:56.479 All right? 00:02:56.620 --> 00:02:57.300 Can you do that for me? 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.840 And again, if you draw it, I want you to show it to me after the service, okay? 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:02.519 Hope to see lots of good pictures. 00:03:03.620 --> 00:03:06.400 So first of all, we're going to look at Nineveh's repentance. 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:13.060 In verses one through three, we see that the Lord commissions Jonah a second time to go to 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:19.900 Nineveh, and he uses almost virtually the same language that he does in chapter one, verse one. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.219 Almost as if to say, all right, take two, same assignment. 00:03:23.500 --> 00:03:23.900 Let's do this. 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:24.520 Let's try this again. 00:03:26.039 --> 00:03:30.640 Verses one through three, arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:31.599 message that I tell you. 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:36.319 And this time, Jonah obeys and heads straight for Nineveh. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:42.120 And verse four says that once he arrives, he begins preaching the message that the Lord 00:03:42.120 --> 00:03:42.900 had given him. 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:44.480 And what is that message? 00:03:45.200 --> 00:03:46.200 We see it in verse four. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:51.039 He says, yet 40 days, and Nineveh will be overthrown. 00:03:53.180 --> 00:03:56.439 Maybe not the most fun sermon you've ever heard in your life. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:03:59.939 This is a message of impending divine judgment. 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:05.140 And I think this is a hard message for us to hear in our culture. 00:04:05.140 --> 00:04:10.200 We don't enjoy thinking about messages of divine judgment very much in our culture. 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:14.839 We prefer a God of love to a God of justice and wrath. 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:23.360 But it's important to see here that God's justice here, his judgment here, isn't arbitrary. 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:30.819 We know from chapter one, and also we know from the prophet Nahum, and we also know from 00:04:30.819 --> 00:04:36.159 history that Nineveh was a violent and cruel city where lots of evil things were done, where 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:37.960 lots of injustice happens. 00:04:38.180 --> 00:04:43.220 And so God, being God, has a right to judge them and to bring them justice for their evil 00:04:43.220 --> 00:04:44.480 and wickedness. 00:04:45.020 --> 00:04:51.400 And also, this message of God's justice is also meant to eventually, hopefully, lead Nineveh 00:04:51.400 --> 00:04:52.220 towards flourishing. 00:04:52.940 --> 00:04:56.660 God is a God of justice, but he's also a God of mercy. 00:04:56.660 --> 00:05:03.060 And that's why he sends Jonah, because he wants to give Nineveh an opportunity to repent. 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:05.660 He wants to give them an opportunity to change. 00:05:06.760 --> 00:05:08.020 So how do they respond? 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:15.400 Well, we can think about this in two ways, that Nineveh's response is they respond faster 00:05:15.400 --> 00:05:20.560 than Jonah does to God's word, and they respond deeper than Jonah does to God's word. 00:05:20.860 --> 00:05:25.640 They respond faster to Jonah, faster than Jonah does to his word. 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:33.379 As we saw in chapters one and two, God's word comes to Jonah, and Jonah is pretty slow to 00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:36.259 respond to God's word, as we see in chapters one and two. 00:05:36.539 --> 00:05:42.519 But God's word comes to Nineveh in chapter three, verse four, and they respond in the very 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:43.620 next verse, in verse five. 00:05:44.240 --> 00:05:50.219 And the people of Nineveh believed God, and they called for a fast and put on sackcloth 00:05:50.219 --> 00:05:53.039 from the greatest of them to the least of them. 00:05:53.040 --> 00:05:58.760 They respond more immediately, and they respond more deeply than Jonah did. 00:05:58.840 --> 00:06:04.040 Their whole society was transformed by this response to the word of God. 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:08.740 In verses six through nine, we see that the king of Nineveh responds in repentance and 00:06:08.740 --> 00:06:15.620 that he leads the entire city to turn from their evil and injustice, to fast and to pray 00:06:15.620 --> 00:06:18.600 and to put on sackcloth and ashes. 00:06:19.240 --> 00:06:25.920 These were ancient ways of practicing self-denial to demonstrate the sincerity of your repentance. 00:06:27.100 --> 00:06:34.079 And Nineveh's repentance is exemplary in many ways in the entire breadth of the story of the 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:34.560 Old Testament. 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:41.120 There's only a couple times in the Old Testament story where Israel as a nation demonstrated this 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.439 kind of societal transformation and corporate repentance. 00:06:45.519 --> 00:06:51.899 And this is actually the point that Jesus is making in Matthew chapter 12 to the religious 00:06:51.899 --> 00:06:53.000 people of his own day. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:59.420 And he's saying the people of Nineveh have responded more faithfully to God's word than you're responding 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:02.939 right now because they repented at Jonah's preaching. 00:07:02.939 --> 00:07:08.639 And somebody who ranks above Jonah is here and that's me. 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:14.060 And the people of Jonah are more faithfully responding to God's word than you are. 00:07:15.819 --> 00:07:23.339 And so if you want to know how God was really and wholeheartedly to him, all you have to do 00:07:23.339 --> 00:07:24.819 is look at verse 10. 00:07:24.899 --> 00:07:30.620 In verse 10, God says, when God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God 00:07:30.620 --> 00:07:33.680 relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them. 00:07:33.939 --> 00:07:36.319 And he did not do it. 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:38.280 He has mercy. 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:39.879 He relents. 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:42.300 He has compassion. 00:07:42.819 --> 00:07:53.939 And this is what God does for all people who repent sincerely and wholeheartedly before 00:07:53.939 --> 00:07:54.280 him. 00:07:54.279 --> 00:08:03.679 Regardless of what you've done, regardless of who you've been, regardless of how far you've 00:08:03.679 --> 00:08:11.239 run, regardless of how deeply you've sinned, regardless of how ashamed you are, God is a 00:08:11.239 --> 00:08:13.579 God of mercy and forgiveness. 00:08:13.579 --> 00:08:22.000 And this is great news if you are a sinner, if you are someone who is in need of mercy. 00:08:23.579 --> 00:08:31.959 But if you think that God's mercy and his forgiveness and his love are something that you earn in some 00:08:31.959 --> 00:08:34.720 way, then this is a scandal. 00:08:35.819 --> 00:08:36.980 This is a scandal. 00:08:37.740 --> 00:08:40.000 And this is what happens to Jonah. 00:08:40.079 --> 00:08:41.159 How does Jordan respond? 00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:43.100 Not well. 00:08:43.839 --> 00:08:45.199 He doesn't respond well. 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:47.299 So that's the second thing we're going to look at is Jonah's anger. 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:49.299 Chapter four, verses one through three. 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:52.240 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:08:53.339 And he was angry. 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:58.819 And he prayed to the Lord and said, oh, Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my 00:08:58.819 --> 00:08:59.139 country? 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:02.519 That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish. 00:09:02.620 --> 00:09:09.399 For I knew that you are a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and 00:09:09.399 --> 00:09:10.559 relenting from disaster. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:17.120 And here is specifically why we see from Jonah himself why he runs from God in chapter one. 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:28.639 Because he could not imagine the possibility that people, like the people of Nineveh, his national and ethnic and 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:37.639 political and cultural enemies could receive the same kind of mercy, the same kind of compassion from God that he had. 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:42.580 God's mercy to his enemies is an absolute scandal to Jonah. 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:44.939 And it makes him incredibly outraged. 00:09:44.940 --> 00:09:49.880 And we see two parts of Jonah's anger here in chapter four. 00:09:50.220 --> 00:09:53.280 We see the irony of Jonah's anger and we see the depth of his anger. 00:09:54.300 --> 00:09:58.480 The irony of Jonah's anger is not difficult to see. 00:09:58.600 --> 00:09:58.840 Is it? 00:09:58.940 --> 00:10:01.180 Especially if we've read chapters one and two. 00:10:01.720 --> 00:10:07.080 He's angry that God has shown mercy to a disobedient people. 00:10:07.080 --> 00:10:15.580 Directly after God has shown mercy to him for being disobedient to him and running away from him. 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:21.440 He says, I knew that you were a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:29.720 And this is a direct reference for ways that God had revealed himself in Exodus and other places throughout the Old Testament. 00:10:29.960 --> 00:10:34.100 This is, these are specific ways that God had revealed himself in a personal way. 00:10:34.100 --> 00:10:37.860 And Jonah says, I knew this is what you were really like. 00:10:38.480 --> 00:10:40.060 I knew this is what you were like. 00:10:41.480 --> 00:10:53.139 And the perspective that we have as readers of this story is that we are able to see something clearly that Jonah couldn't see, that he was blind to, which is, yeah. 00:10:55.259 --> 00:10:56.340 Duh, Jonah. 00:10:56.740 --> 00:10:57.340 Like, hello? 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:02.879 Like, it's because God is like this that he saved you from the bottom of the sea. 00:11:02.879 --> 00:11:04.379 Not too long ago. 00:11:04.439 --> 00:11:06.039 Remember this whole thing? 00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:07.720 Remember the storm? 00:11:08.320 --> 00:11:08.960 Remember the boat? 00:11:09.019 --> 00:11:10.059 Remember how you were on the boat? 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:10.980 Everyone was about to drown. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:14.860 You realized that you were the reason for the storm and everyone's life was at stake. 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:17.419 And so you plunged yourself in the bottom of the sea. 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:24.019 And as you were headed down to the depths of the sea and seaweed was wrapped around your head and you were moments away from death, 00:11:25.200 --> 00:11:28.899 that God rescued you, which some large marine creature, 00:11:28.899 --> 00:11:31.679 and you were in his belly for three days. 00:11:31.779 --> 00:11:33.620 Do you remember this, Jonah? 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.899 Do you remember that God showed you mercy? 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:45.720 How can you be angry at God for showing mercy to Nineveh when he has also shown you miraculous mercy? 00:11:45.720 --> 00:11:51.420 So we see the irony of Jonah's anger, but we also see the depth of Jonah's anger. 00:11:51.639 --> 00:11:56.980 Jonah is so angry that God is merciful to Nineveh that he would rather die. 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.279 And he asked the Lord in verse three to take his life. 00:12:01.240 --> 00:12:04.060 Old Testament scholar Douglas Stewart puts it this way. 00:12:05.019 --> 00:12:05.379 He says, 00:12:05.379 --> 00:12:24.600 And that's because even though Jonah had a miraculous experience of God's mercy and salvation, 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:29.419 that there were still parts of his heart that remain unchanged by it. 00:12:29.419 --> 00:12:37.679 And that is true for all of us who've experienced God's mercy and grace and salvation. 00:12:37.879 --> 00:12:43.979 Maybe perhaps we've experienced powerful, maybe even miraculous or supernatural encounters with God. 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:53.659 And yet, there is still both an inward journey and an outward journey that we all have to go on in the Christian life 00:12:53.659 --> 00:13:00.139 because there are still parts of our hearts that remain unchanged by his grace and by his mercy. 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:04.000 Because like Jonah, all of us still have idols. 00:13:05.340 --> 00:13:07.480 We still have functional saviors in our hearts. 00:13:07.580 --> 00:13:09.960 And that's part of what we looked at last week in chapter two. 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:15.379 Jonah had turned a good thing into an ultimate thing. 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.960 He had turned love for his tribe into... 00:13:21.680 --> 00:13:24.500 Jonah's love for his tribe had become greater than his love for God. 00:13:25.100 --> 00:13:29.759 He had turned his love for his nation and his culture and his country 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:34.820 into an idol of tribalism and nationalism. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:39.759 And this is why as we talk about idols and things like functional saviors, 00:13:39.960 --> 00:13:45.980 we're not just talking about our personal relationship with God and what's going on internally. 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.800 Our idols and our functional saviors also have implications for our relationships with our neighbors. 00:13:51.800 --> 00:13:54.560 Because ultimately, like what we see here with Jonah, 00:13:55.980 --> 00:13:59.920 a pattern of worshiping idols and functional saviors in our lives 00:13:59.920 --> 00:14:03.600 will ultimately lead us to dehumanize our neighbors. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.360 And they will ultimately dehumanize us. 00:14:09.680 --> 00:14:14.320 And so a question that I think Jonah 3 forces us to ask this morning is, 00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:20.740 where is there a hint of tribalism in your own heart? 00:14:20.740 --> 00:14:26.820 Who for you are those people? 00:14:28.340 --> 00:14:32.519 Who are people that if they flourished and succeeded, 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:38.700 you would grow angry and bitter and outraged 00:14:38.700 --> 00:14:40.639 and perhaps not even want to live? 00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:43.399 Maybe it's an individual. 00:14:45.299 --> 00:14:48.019 Maybe it's a kid who bullies other kids at school. 00:14:49.439 --> 00:14:50.840 Maybe it's a group of people. 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:54.220 Maybe it's people in red America. 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:57.059 Maybe it's people in blue America. 00:14:58.059 --> 00:14:58.919 Maybe it's liberals. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:14:59.960 Maybe it's conservatives. 00:15:00.939 --> 00:15:02.419 Maybe it's those kinds of Christians. 00:15:02.419 --> 00:15:05.339 Maybe it's that kind of church. 00:15:06.059 --> 00:15:09.319 Maybe like Jonah, it is a people of different culture, 00:15:09.479 --> 00:15:12.039 people of a different race or ethnicity or nationality. 00:15:13.139 --> 00:15:15.559 Maybe it's people who talk about race too much. 00:15:16.839 --> 00:15:18.699 Maybe it's people who don't talk about race enough. 00:15:20.019 --> 00:15:22.419 Maybe it's people who watch Fox News. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:24.159 Maybe it's people who watch MSNBC. 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:27.240 Maybe it's people who listen to mainstream media. 00:15:27.959 --> 00:15:29.959 Maybe it's people who don't listen to mainstream media. 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.840 Maybe it's all of those people 00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:36.100 who got on to Ticketmaster 00:15:36.100 --> 00:15:37.900 and bought all the Taylor Swift tickets 00:15:37.900 --> 00:15:38.980 before they sold out 00:15:38.980 --> 00:15:41.720 and therefore you couldn't get the ticket 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:43.420 to this Taylor Swift concert. 00:15:44.660 --> 00:15:45.879 Whoever it is, 00:15:46.580 --> 00:15:49.080 all of us have those people 00:15:49.080 --> 00:15:52.220 that if they were to flourish, 00:15:52.740 --> 00:15:53.920 if they were to succeed, 00:15:54.300 --> 00:15:56.240 maybe even if they were to repent 00:15:56.240 --> 00:15:58.259 and enter into a relationship with God, 00:15:58.259 --> 00:16:01.939 it would cause us to be outraged. 00:16:02.019 --> 00:16:03.080 It would cause us to be angry. 00:16:03.939 --> 00:16:05.460 And that's because to some degree, 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:11.580 even those of us who follow Jesus, 00:16:11.720 --> 00:16:12.220 to some degree, 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:15.080 all of us have tribalistic hearts like Jonah. 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:16.819 And learning to uproot our idols, 00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:20.279 especially the idols of tribalism, 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.039 learning to uproot those functional saviors 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:25.199 is part of the outward journey 00:16:25.199 --> 00:16:27.980 that every Christian has to go on. 00:16:28.419 --> 00:16:29.500 It's the outward journey 00:16:29.500 --> 00:16:31.899 of learning how to love our neighbors 00:16:31.899 --> 00:16:34.860 and especially learning how to love our enemies. 00:16:36.779 --> 00:16:37.959 How do we do that? 00:16:38.839 --> 00:16:40.120 How do we do that in, 00:16:41.079 --> 00:16:42.839 especially even in an incredibly divided 00:16:42.839 --> 00:16:46.299 and politically polarized current cultural moment? 00:16:46.299 --> 00:16:50.479 How do we begin the journey of loving those people? 00:16:51.539 --> 00:16:53.359 How do we overcome our own tribalism? 00:16:53.459 --> 00:16:56.079 How do we dethrone the idol of tribalism 00:16:56.079 --> 00:16:56.899 in our own hearts? 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:00.799 We have to see God's mercy. 00:17:01.419 --> 00:17:02.819 We have to see God's mercy. 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:04.440 And that's the final thing that we see. 00:17:05.919 --> 00:17:08.379 Two ways that God's mercy 00:17:08.379 --> 00:17:10.200 should have changed Jonah 00:17:10.200 --> 00:17:12.180 and how they can change us. 00:17:12.619 --> 00:17:13.980 Two ways that God's mercy 00:17:13.980 --> 00:17:14.779 should have changed Jonah 00:17:14.779 --> 00:17:16.019 and how they can change us. 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:16.639 First of all, 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:19.960 God's mercy helps us to see 00:17:19.960 --> 00:17:24.579 the image of God in those people. 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:27.400 It helps us to see the image of God in those people. 00:17:27.480 --> 00:17:28.779 The image of God is this rich 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:30.579 foundational theological principle 00:17:30.579 --> 00:17:33.359 that we are all glorious ruins. 00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:37.859 If you were to go to any part of the world 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:40.339 like Europe or some other place 00:17:40.339 --> 00:17:43.879 where there's ruins of old ancient castles, 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:47.480 you often see something that is run down 00:17:47.480 --> 00:17:49.960 and broken and falling apart 00:17:49.960 --> 00:17:51.560 and not what it used to be. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:53.700 And yet, 00:17:54.340 --> 00:17:55.540 there is often 00:17:55.540 --> 00:17:59.080 an irreducible glory and beauty 00:17:59.080 --> 00:18:00.220 that has still remained, 00:18:00.300 --> 00:18:01.020 that's still there. 00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:04.819 And Christian theology holds both of these things together, 00:18:04.819 --> 00:18:07.639 that human beings are fallen and broken 00:18:07.639 --> 00:18:08.900 and ruined by sin, 00:18:09.220 --> 00:18:09.579 yes, 00:18:10.180 --> 00:18:12.759 but also still gloriously and beautifully 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.180 created in God's image. 00:18:15.759 --> 00:18:18.700 As the moon reflects the light of the sun, 00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:22.220 every human being reflects the light of God's nature, 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:23.180 his goodness, 00:18:23.559 --> 00:18:24.160 his beauty, 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:26.100 and every person has dignity 00:18:26.100 --> 00:18:28.620 and value and worth inherently. 00:18:30.120 --> 00:18:32.380 And this was something that Jonah failed to see. 00:18:33.720 --> 00:18:36.080 That though Nineveh was a city full of grievous injustice, 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.460 that in Nineveh were men and women and children, 00:18:40.880 --> 00:18:42.720 all made in God's image. 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:45.019 And that is why God was moved 00:18:45.019 --> 00:18:47.320 to show them mercy and compassion. 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:49.539 And it's why they had the capacity 00:18:49.539 --> 00:18:51.159 to repent. 00:18:51.939 --> 00:18:53.379 And it's why they had the capacity 00:18:53.379 --> 00:18:56.639 to receive mercy from God through repentance. 00:18:57.619 --> 00:19:00.500 One time at a public forum event 00:19:00.500 --> 00:19:02.339 somewhere downtown in DC, 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:03.720 I heard Russell Moore, 00:19:03.879 --> 00:19:06.299 who's the editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:08.460 say something profound about the image of God 00:19:08.460 --> 00:19:09.480 that I've never forgotten. 00:19:10.159 --> 00:19:11.019 And Russell Moore said, 00:19:11.179 --> 00:19:13.700 one of the best things that we have to offer the world 00:19:13.700 --> 00:19:16.000 is our demonology. 00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:18.420 Which sounds kind of funny, 00:19:18.500 --> 00:19:20.579 but it's the reality that we actually believe 00:19:20.579 --> 00:19:23.680 in real things such as angels and demons. 00:19:24.420 --> 00:19:26.559 And a lot of people think that's irrational 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:30.000 and crazy and weird and unscientific, 00:19:31.079 --> 00:19:33.980 but it's practically something that our world needs. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:38.859 That because we believe demons are real, 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.480 because we believe that Satan's real, 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:44.140 we should never demonize other people. 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:46.700 People made in God's image. 00:19:46.740 --> 00:19:49.200 No matter how much we might disagree with somebody, 00:19:49.300 --> 00:19:51.340 no matter how much we might be tempted 00:19:51.340 --> 00:19:53.759 to despise somebody or even hate them, 00:19:54.160 --> 00:19:56.540 we should never treat them as less than human, 00:19:57.180 --> 00:20:00.460 because they're still made in God's image. 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:04.500 And even people guilty of the most heinous sins, 00:20:05.680 --> 00:20:08.360 the Hitlers and the Stalins of the world, 00:20:08.359 --> 00:20:12.679 still have the imprint of the irreducible glory 00:20:12.679 --> 00:20:14.559 of God's image. 00:20:14.659 --> 00:20:16.339 And therefore, they have the opportunity 00:20:16.339 --> 00:20:19.139 to repent from their sin and to receive God's mercy. 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:22.779 Now, this doesn't mean that we downplay or ignore 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:26.219 somebody's grievous acts of sin or injustice. 00:20:26.379 --> 00:20:27.079 Of course not. 00:20:27.639 --> 00:20:29.839 But it also doesn't mean that we ignore 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:32.779 the glory of the image of God in them. 00:20:32.779 --> 00:20:35.879 The image of God means that all people, 00:20:36.240 --> 00:20:38.379 even those people, 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:41.759 are capable of receiving God's mercy 00:20:41.759 --> 00:20:44.079 through repentance and having the same relationship 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:45.579 with God that we do. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:49.079 And if we really think about it, 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:52.720 this is a scandal to some degree to all of us. 00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:55.099 Because if we think hard enough, 00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:56.680 there are some people 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:00.160 that we would never wanna see flourish, 00:21:00.160 --> 00:21:03.420 that we would never wanna see experience God's mercy. 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:05.080 But this is what Jonah, 00:21:05.640 --> 00:21:06.540 the story of Jonah, 00:21:06.600 --> 00:21:07.680 and this is what scripture teaches. 00:21:08.259 --> 00:21:09.920 So the mercy of God helps us to see 00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:11.279 the image of God in those people. 00:21:11.580 --> 00:21:14.660 And secondly, the mercy of God helps us to remember 00:21:14.660 --> 00:21:16.480 that we are those people. 00:21:17.660 --> 00:21:18.720 That we are those people. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:21.600 In chapter four, verse four, 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:23.380 God asks Jonah a question 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:25.440 that he asks all of us. 00:21:25.500 --> 00:21:26.180 And he says, 00:21:27.040 --> 00:21:29.680 do you have a right to be angry? 00:21:30.840 --> 00:21:32.600 Do you have a right to be angry 00:21:32.600 --> 00:21:35.460 when those people flourish? 00:21:37.080 --> 00:21:38.700 And it's a rhetorical question 00:21:38.700 --> 00:21:40.140 because the answer is obvious 00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:42.080 and the answer is no. 00:21:43.019 --> 00:21:44.700 We don't have a right to be angry 00:21:44.700 --> 00:21:46.380 because in relationship to God, 00:21:46.600 --> 00:21:48.240 we are those people. 00:21:49.120 --> 00:21:50.500 We're the unrighteous ones. 00:21:50.600 --> 00:21:51.500 We're the unjust ones. 00:21:51.600 --> 00:21:54.160 We're the people who don't see things the right way. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:58.060 We're the people with the wrong opinions, 00:21:58.060 --> 00:21:59.600 who read the wrong news articles, 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:00.799 who use the wrong words, 00:22:00.879 --> 00:22:02.679 who post the wrong things on social media. 00:22:03.579 --> 00:22:05.859 We're what's wrong with our city. 00:22:06.779 --> 00:22:08.159 We're what's wrong with our country. 00:22:08.299 --> 00:22:09.319 We're what's wrong with our world. 00:22:10.219 --> 00:22:12.339 We are wholly undeserving of mercy. 00:22:12.519 --> 00:22:15.299 And yet, in Jesus Christ, 00:22:16.119 --> 00:22:18.980 God has showed us mercy. 00:22:20.059 --> 00:22:22.240 Jesus, someone who not only loved his enemies, 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:24.240 but died for them. 00:22:25.059 --> 00:22:26.220 In Romans chapter five, 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:27.440 the apostle Paul says, 00:22:28.059 --> 00:22:30.200 very rarely in the most extreme cases 00:22:30.200 --> 00:22:32.339 would somebody consider dying 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:35.620 for a moral, good, righteous person. 00:22:36.920 --> 00:22:40.099 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this, 00:22:40.200 --> 00:22:42.980 that while we were still sinners, 00:22:44.140 --> 00:22:46.059 that while we were still God's enemies, 00:22:46.519 --> 00:22:48.980 Christ died for us. 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:50.120 He showed us mercy. 00:22:50.259 --> 00:22:50.960 And not only that, 00:22:51.019 --> 00:22:51.640 but in Jesus, 00:22:52.180 --> 00:22:55.640 God is remaking humanity into a new family 00:22:55.640 --> 00:22:57.099 of people from every tribe 00:22:57.099 --> 00:22:59.539 and people and tongue and nation. 00:23:00.700 --> 00:23:03.700 And political persuasion 00:23:03.700 --> 00:23:04.620 and skin color 00:23:04.620 --> 00:23:05.299 and age group 00:23:05.299 --> 00:23:05.779 and gender 00:23:05.779 --> 00:23:07.400 and socioeconomic level 00:23:07.400 --> 00:23:08.440 where the image of God 00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:10.000 is being restored 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:11.000 and renewed 00:23:11.000 --> 00:23:12.000 and beautified. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:14.000 where even though 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:15.519 we may have nothing in common, 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:18.859 in another sense, 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:19.940 we have everything in common 00:23:19.940 --> 00:23:22.039 because we're all those people. 00:23:22.579 --> 00:23:25.460 We're all undeserving of God's mercy. 00:23:25.599 --> 00:23:26.480 And yet, in Jesus, 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:29.900 God has showed us mercy. 00:23:30.140 --> 00:23:32.319 C.S. Lewis says, 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:33.839 to be a Christian 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.779 is to forgive the inexcusable 00:23:37.779 --> 00:23:41.680 because God has forgiven 00:23:41.680 --> 00:23:43.700 the inexcusable in you. 00:23:44.299 --> 00:23:46.059 The gospel at its heart 00:23:46.059 --> 00:23:47.059 is a scandal. 00:23:47.899 --> 00:23:49.480 It's a scandal of God's mercy, 00:23:49.700 --> 00:23:50.759 but it's the only thing 00:23:50.759 --> 00:23:51.619 that has the power 00:23:51.619 --> 00:23:52.759 to overcome 00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:54.920 the tribalism in our hearts 00:23:54.920 --> 00:23:55.859 at the deepest level. 00:23:57.379 --> 00:23:58.920 The pastor of the church 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:00.160 that I attended in St. Louis, 00:24:00.279 --> 00:24:00.859 Greg Johnson, 00:24:01.099 --> 00:24:02.980 loved to tell the story 00:24:02.980 --> 00:24:04.160 of Wade Watts 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:05.359 and Johnny Lee Clary. 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:06.660 And this is the way 00:24:06.660 --> 00:24:07.639 that he tells the story. 00:24:08.639 --> 00:24:09.799 Reverend Wade Watts 00:24:09.799 --> 00:24:11.839 and Johnny Lee Clary 00:24:11.839 --> 00:24:13.660 first met at a debate 00:24:13.660 --> 00:24:15.559 at a radio talk show 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:17.700 in Oklahoma City in 1979 00:24:17.700 --> 00:24:20.440 when Reverend Watts, 00:24:20.700 --> 00:24:22.420 a local pastor, 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:23.819 was the state leader 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:24.359 in Oklahoma 00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:26.099 of the NAACP. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:28.099 And Johnny Lee Clary 00:24:28.099 --> 00:24:29.240 was the grand dragon 00:24:29.240 --> 00:24:32.480 of the Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan. 00:24:33.379 --> 00:24:34.119 And so you can imagine 00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:35.319 how the debate 00:24:35.319 --> 00:24:36.539 on that radio talk show went. 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:37.700 When Clary arrived, 00:24:38.700 --> 00:24:39.619 Reverend Watts 00:24:39.619 --> 00:24:40.599 reached out his hand 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:41.740 and he shook his hand 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:42.099 and he said, 00:24:42.180 --> 00:24:42.660 hey, Johnny, 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:43.680 great to meet you. 00:24:44.660 --> 00:24:46.160 But Clary pulled back 00:24:46.160 --> 00:24:47.299 his hand in disgust 00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:48.259 and looked at his hand. 00:24:49.139 --> 00:24:50.000 And Reverend Watts 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:50.359 looked at him 00:24:50.359 --> 00:24:50.779 and he said, 00:24:50.960 --> 00:24:52.139 don't worry, Johnny. 00:24:52.639 --> 00:24:53.619 It doesn't rub off. 00:24:55.220 --> 00:24:56.019 Following the debate, 00:24:56.180 --> 00:24:57.139 Watts started to get 00:24:57.139 --> 00:24:58.359 anonymous phone calls 00:24:58.359 --> 00:24:58.980 at his home. 00:24:59.059 --> 00:25:00.139 There'd be threats, 00:25:00.259 --> 00:25:01.460 there'd be racist comments made, 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:02.139 there'd be curses 00:25:02.139 --> 00:25:02.740 and warnings, 00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:04.059 even death threats, 00:25:04.059 --> 00:25:06.159 and they would all be disguised 00:25:06.159 --> 00:25:07.099 in this mysterious, 00:25:07.379 --> 00:25:08.200 anonymous voice. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:10.059 But every time 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:11.039 that Reverend Watts 00:25:11.039 --> 00:25:11.919 would get one of these calls, 00:25:12.720 --> 00:25:13.440 he would say, 00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:14.819 well, hey, Johnny, 00:25:15.579 --> 00:25:16.659 so great to hear from you. 00:25:17.179 --> 00:25:17.960 It's so kind of you 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:18.659 to be thinking of me. 00:25:18.759 --> 00:25:19.720 God bless you, son. 00:25:20.619 --> 00:25:21.879 Jesus loves you, Johnny. 00:25:23.079 --> 00:25:24.819 And then came the cross burning 00:25:24.819 --> 00:25:26.299 across the street 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:27.000 from his house. 00:25:28.019 --> 00:25:28.639 There were men 00:25:28.639 --> 00:25:29.700 in sheets and hoods 00:25:29.700 --> 00:25:30.700 who were facing 00:25:30.700 --> 00:25:31.580 their home outside 00:25:31.580 --> 00:25:32.759 and his sons and daughters 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:33.980 were looking out 00:25:33.980 --> 00:25:34.759 of their bedroom windows 00:25:34.759 --> 00:25:35.279 in fear. 00:25:36.580 --> 00:25:37.759 But out of the front door 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:38.620 strolled the Reverend 00:25:38.620 --> 00:25:39.220 Wade Watts 00:25:39.220 --> 00:25:40.700 with a smile on his face. 00:25:41.759 --> 00:25:42.799 Boys, what are you all 00:25:42.799 --> 00:25:43.740 dressed up for tonight? 00:25:43.860 --> 00:25:44.539 Halloween isn't 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:45.539 for another four months. 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:46.420 If I'd have known 00:25:46.420 --> 00:25:46.920 you were gonna build 00:25:46.920 --> 00:25:47.720 a fire like that, 00:25:47.779 --> 00:25:48.680 I'd have brought some hot dogs 00:25:48.680 --> 00:25:49.299 and marshmallows. 00:25:50.600 --> 00:25:51.279 And as always, 00:25:51.380 --> 00:25:51.700 he said, 00:25:51.779 --> 00:25:52.539 God bless you, Johnny. 00:25:53.460 --> 00:25:54.900 Jesus loves you, Johnny. 00:25:55.819 --> 00:25:56.319 One day, 00:25:56.400 --> 00:25:56.860 Reverend Watts 00:25:56.860 --> 00:25:57.980 was eating at a diner 00:25:57.980 --> 00:25:59.819 and Johnny 00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:00.519 and several other 00:26:00.519 --> 00:26:01.319 Klansmen walked 00:26:01.319 --> 00:26:02.039 into the restaurant 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:03.079 to intimidate him. 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:04.680 And as they came in, 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.779 it was so quiet 00:26:05.779 --> 00:26:07.059 that you could hear 00:26:07.059 --> 00:26:09.360 every eye 00:26:09.360 --> 00:26:10.160 and every head 00:26:10.160 --> 00:26:11.400 turn and face 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:13.740 Johnny and the men 00:26:13.740 --> 00:26:14.579 as they surrounded 00:26:14.579 --> 00:26:16.059 Reverend Watts' table. 00:26:17.220 --> 00:26:17.860 And Johnny said 00:26:17.860 --> 00:26:18.559 to Reverend Watts, 00:26:19.099 --> 00:26:20.360 your kind 00:26:20.360 --> 00:26:21.140 ain't welcome here. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:22.099 And if you knew 00:26:22.099 --> 00:26:23.019 what was best for you, 00:26:23.660 --> 00:26:24.680 you'd leave this place 00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:25.720 and you'd get out of here. 00:26:26.680 --> 00:26:27.599 It was a threat. 00:26:27.599 --> 00:26:28.639 And as Johnny looked down 00:26:28.639 --> 00:26:29.259 at Reverend Watts' 00:26:29.480 --> 00:26:30.579 plate, 00:26:30.779 --> 00:26:31.559 he had just received 00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:32.579 the chicken that he ordered 00:26:32.579 --> 00:26:34.259 and Johnny threatened him 00:26:34.259 --> 00:26:34.500 and said, 00:26:34.579 --> 00:26:35.199 whatever you do 00:26:35.199 --> 00:26:35.859 to that chicken, 00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:37.639 we're gonna do to you. 00:26:39.039 --> 00:26:40.119 And Reverend Watts 00:26:40.119 --> 00:26:41.299 picked up the chicken 00:26:41.299 --> 00:26:42.000 with his hand 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:43.539 and he held it up 00:26:43.539 --> 00:26:45.179 and he kissed it. 00:26:46.759 --> 00:26:47.599 And even 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:49.439 the other Klansmen 00:26:49.439 --> 00:26:50.000 around him 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:50.619 couldn't help 00:26:50.619 --> 00:26:51.679 but laugh. 00:26:52.980 --> 00:26:53.839 During another one 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:55.059 of Johnny's phone calls, 00:26:55.139 --> 00:26:55.559 Reverend Watts 00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:56.480 started praying 00:26:56.480 --> 00:26:56.940 for Johnny 00:26:56.940 --> 00:26:57.619 on the phone 00:26:57.619 --> 00:26:58.379 right then and there. 00:26:58.980 --> 00:26:59.679 And he prayed 00:26:59.679 --> 00:27:00.220 that God would 00:27:00.220 --> 00:27:00.980 forgive his sin 00:27:00.980 --> 00:27:01.419 and that he would 00:27:01.419 --> 00:27:02.440 see the love of Jesus, 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:03.019 that he would 00:27:03.019 --> 00:27:04.000 experience conversion, 00:27:04.119 --> 00:27:04.659 that he would turn 00:27:04.659 --> 00:27:05.799 from the path of hate 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:07.220 to experience 00:27:07.220 --> 00:27:07.980 the love of God 00:27:07.980 --> 00:27:09.059 for sinners like us. 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:10.679 After that, 00:27:10.740 --> 00:27:11.579 there was another fire 00:27:11.579 --> 00:27:12.279 at the church, 00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:13.919 more harassment, 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:14.679 more threats, 00:27:14.839 --> 00:27:15.639 more phone calls. 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:17.740 And then 00:27:17.740 --> 00:27:18.919 there was nothing. 00:27:19.919 --> 00:27:21.000 There was silence 00:27:21.000 --> 00:27:22.799 for 10 years. 00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:26.160 A decade passed 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:26.740 before Reverend 00:27:26.740 --> 00:27:27.200 Wade Watts 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:28.039 got another phone call 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:28.960 from Johnny Lee Clary 00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:29.819 and on the other end 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:31.000 a voice said, 00:27:31.079 --> 00:27:31.559 Reverend Wade, 00:27:31.640 --> 00:27:32.339 do you remember me? 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:34.259 Well, hello Johnny, 00:27:34.319 --> 00:27:35.180 what brings you to call 00:27:35.180 --> 00:27:36.440 an old friend like me? 00:27:37.200 --> 00:27:37.920 And Johnny explained 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:38.880 that his life was 00:27:38.880 --> 00:27:39.759 a wreck, 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:40.400 that his girlfriend 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:41.180 had rejected him, 00:27:41.259 --> 00:27:41.799 that the FBI 00:27:41.799 --> 00:27:43.059 was investigating him, 00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:44.279 but that he had started 00:27:44.279 --> 00:27:45.380 attending church recently. 00:27:46.299 --> 00:27:47.160 And he explained 00:27:47.160 --> 00:27:47.680 that God 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:48.900 had convicted him 00:27:48.900 --> 00:27:49.480 of his sin 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:50.500 and that he had 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:51.080 just become 00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:51.880 a Christian 00:27:51.880 --> 00:27:52.740 and he was calling 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:54.240 to ask Reverend Wade 00:27:54.240 --> 00:27:56.140 to please forgive him 00:27:56.140 --> 00:27:57.600 for all the things 00:27:57.600 --> 00:27:58.120 that he had done 00:27:58.120 --> 00:27:58.580 to him 00:27:58.580 --> 00:27:59.680 and to his church 00:27:59.680 --> 00:28:00.800 and to his family. 00:28:01.940 --> 00:28:02.780 And as Reverend Watts 00:28:02.780 --> 00:28:03.680 listened to his confession, 00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:05.320 he told Johnny 00:28:05.320 --> 00:28:06.940 that he had forgiven him 00:28:06.940 --> 00:28:08.100 many years ago, 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:09.640 but that this confession 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:10.460 now opened up 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:11.000 the space 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:11.519 for something 00:28:11.519 --> 00:28:12.440 way more 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:13.280 than forgiveness. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:13.680 He said, 00:28:13.740 --> 00:28:13.960 Johnny, 00:28:14.040 --> 00:28:15.300 you have a story to tell 00:28:15.300 --> 00:28:16.600 and you're gonna tell it 00:28:16.600 --> 00:28:17.320 at my church 00:28:17.320 --> 00:28:18.420 this Sunday morning. 00:28:19.380 --> 00:28:20.460 And Johnny hesitated 00:28:20.460 --> 00:28:20.940 and he said, 00:28:21.160 --> 00:28:22.380 I don't know if I can go. 00:28:22.440 --> 00:28:22.759 These people 00:28:22.759 --> 00:28:23.420 are gonna hate me. 00:28:24.540 --> 00:28:24.840 He said, 00:28:24.900 --> 00:28:25.280 these people 00:28:25.280 --> 00:28:25.840 might be tempted 00:28:25.840 --> 00:28:26.259 to hate you, 00:28:26.320 --> 00:28:27.340 but they're not going to 00:28:27.340 --> 00:28:28.940 because they love Jesus 00:28:28.940 --> 00:28:30.500 and they're gonna treat you 00:28:30.500 --> 00:28:31.300 with that same love. 00:28:32.000 --> 00:28:32.720 A few people 00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:33.620 didn't come to church 00:28:33.620 --> 00:28:34.120 that Sunday 00:28:34.120 --> 00:28:34.940 because they were afraid 00:28:34.940 --> 00:28:36.120 that a former leader 00:28:36.120 --> 00:28:37.259 of the KKK was there 00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:38.280 and that was understandable, 00:28:38.500 --> 00:28:38.840 of course. 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:40.480 But most of them came 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:41.920 and as Johnny got up, 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:42.720 he began to share 00:28:42.720 --> 00:28:43.480 what God had done 00:28:43.480 --> 00:28:44.040 in his life. 00:28:44.860 --> 00:28:45.500 And as he began 00:28:45.500 --> 00:28:45.960 to confess 00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:46.880 all that he had done 00:28:46.880 --> 00:28:47.519 to Reverend Wade 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:48.320 and to his church 00:28:48.319 --> 00:28:49.559 and to his family, 00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:51.539 he began to weep 00:28:51.539 --> 00:28:52.539 uncontrollably. 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:54.019 And as Johnny 00:28:54.019 --> 00:28:55.119 was stumbling over his words 00:28:55.119 --> 00:28:55.720 and had tears 00:28:55.720 --> 00:28:56.740 streaming down his face, 00:28:57.480 --> 00:28:58.019 Reverend Watts 00:28:58.019 --> 00:28:59.799 walked up to the stage 00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:01.759 and put his arm around him. 00:29:02.339 --> 00:29:03.480 And Johnny put his arm 00:29:03.480 --> 00:29:05.179 around Reverend Watts, 00:29:05.799 --> 00:29:06.619 a black pastor, 00:29:07.159 --> 00:29:08.480 a leader of the NAACP, 00:29:08.539 --> 00:29:09.379 and a former leader 00:29:09.379 --> 00:29:10.500 of the KKK 00:29:10.500 --> 00:29:12.359 embracing one another 00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:13.299 in worship 00:29:13.299 --> 00:29:14.440 because the power 00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:15.419 of the gospel. 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:16.899 And I think we might 00:29:16.899 --> 00:29:18.299 have a picture up here 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:19.119 of the two of them 00:29:19.119 --> 00:29:20.399 many years later. 00:29:21.659 --> 00:29:22.759 They began a friendship 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:24.599 that lasted many years. 00:29:25.180 --> 00:29:25.799 But that morning, 00:29:25.879 --> 00:29:26.819 Johnny continued to share 00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:27.399 about how God 00:29:27.399 --> 00:29:28.259 could forgive 00:29:28.259 --> 00:29:30.220 even really evil people 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:30.680 like him. 00:29:31.319 --> 00:29:32.339 He'd asked Jesus' blood 00:29:32.339 --> 00:29:33.299 to wash away his sins. 00:29:33.359 --> 00:29:33.839 He'd asked God 00:29:33.839 --> 00:29:35.240 to give him a new heart. 00:29:36.299 --> 00:29:36.879 And at the end 00:29:36.879 --> 00:29:37.339 of the service, 00:29:37.460 --> 00:29:37.879 Reverend Watts' 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:39.119 own teenage daughter, 00:29:39.240 --> 00:29:39.460 Tia, 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:40.180 came forward 00:29:40.180 --> 00:29:41.539 and confessed Jesus 00:29:41.539 --> 00:29:42.240 as her savior 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:43.640 and said that she 00:29:43.640 --> 00:29:44.600 wanted to be baptized. 00:29:45.860 --> 00:29:46.600 Because she said 00:29:46.600 --> 00:29:47.400 her whole life 00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:48.640 she couldn't believe 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:49.019 in Jesus. 00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:49.660 She couldn't believe 00:29:49.660 --> 00:29:50.019 in God. 00:29:50.080 --> 00:29:51.000 She couldn't follow him. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:53.220 Because her whole life 00:29:53.220 --> 00:29:54.279 she watched what 00:29:54.279 --> 00:29:55.100 her father went through 00:29:55.100 --> 00:29:55.720 and she watched him 00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:56.380 be harassed 00:29:56.380 --> 00:29:57.100 and humiliated 00:29:57.100 --> 00:29:57.660 and abused. 00:29:58.120 --> 00:29:58.620 She had seen 00:29:58.620 --> 00:29:59.360 a burning cross 00:29:59.360 --> 00:30:00.200 outside her bedroom 00:30:00.200 --> 00:30:00.820 as a little girl. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:01.740 She had seen 00:30:01.740 --> 00:30:02.640 so much injustice. 00:30:02.799 --> 00:30:03.240 She had seen 00:30:03.240 --> 00:30:04.420 so much evil and abuse. 00:30:05.060 --> 00:30:06.180 And if God was real, 00:30:06.500 --> 00:30:07.539 where was he in that? 00:30:09.019 --> 00:30:09.880 How could God 00:30:09.880 --> 00:30:10.620 care about us 00:30:10.620 --> 00:30:11.120 in the face 00:30:11.120 --> 00:30:11.900 of so much evil 00:30:11.900 --> 00:30:12.660 and abuse? 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:14.880 And then she listened 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:15.460 as the man 00:30:15.460 --> 00:30:16.060 who committed 00:30:16.060 --> 00:30:17.080 all of that evil 00:30:17.080 --> 00:30:20.080 confessed every last bit 00:30:20.080 --> 00:30:20.320 of it 00:30:20.320 --> 00:30:21.700 and asked for forgiveness. 00:30:22.620 --> 00:30:23.540 And Tia saw 00:30:23.540 --> 00:30:24.520 that the power 00:30:24.520 --> 00:30:25.540 of the gospel 00:30:25.540 --> 00:30:26.480 was real, 00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:28.240 that Jesus was real, 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:29.660 that grace was real, 00:30:29.740 --> 00:30:30.640 that mercy was real, 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:32.340 that Jesus restores, 00:30:32.760 --> 00:30:33.740 that Jesus heals 00:30:33.740 --> 00:30:34.600 and that he's building 00:30:34.600 --> 00:30:35.600 a new family 00:30:35.600 --> 00:30:36.400 from every tribe 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:37.080 and tongue 00:30:37.080 --> 00:30:37.880 and people 00:30:37.880 --> 00:30:38.700 and nation. 00:30:38.700 --> 00:30:40.160 Tia saw 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:40.700 that Jesus 00:30:40.700 --> 00:30:42.420 reveals the God 00:30:42.420 --> 00:30:43.160 who is gracious 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:43.940 and merciful 00:30:43.940 --> 00:30:44.840 and slow to anger 00:30:44.840 --> 00:30:45.720 and abounding 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:47.400 in steadfast love. 00:30:48.740 --> 00:30:49.420 Years later, 00:30:49.559 --> 00:30:50.480 Johnny Lee Clary 00:30:50.480 --> 00:30:51.420 would later be ordained 00:30:51.420 --> 00:30:52.080 as a pastor, 00:30:52.340 --> 00:30:53.580 as the only white pastor 00:30:53.580 --> 00:30:54.340 in Reverend Watts' 00:30:54.600 --> 00:30:55.860 black denomination, 00:30:56.259 --> 00:30:57.120 the Church of God 00:30:57.120 --> 00:30:58.100 in Christ. 00:30:59.080 --> 00:31:00.039 All because 00:31:00.039 --> 00:31:02.480 somebody had loved 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:03.660 his enemies 00:31:03.660 --> 00:31:05.220 in the midst 00:31:05.220 --> 00:31:06.060 of great evil 00:31:06.060 --> 00:31:07.860 because he followed 00:31:07.860 --> 00:31:08.600 Jesus, 00:31:08.779 --> 00:31:09.740 the one who had 00:31:09.740 --> 00:31:10.720 mercy on us 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:11.920 even when we were 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:12.820 his enemies 00:31:12.820 --> 00:31:14.580 and who brought us 00:31:14.580 --> 00:31:15.300 into his family 00:31:15.300 --> 00:31:16.900 and who made us 00:31:16.900 --> 00:31:18.680 sons and daughters. 00:31:19.180 --> 00:31:19.820 Let's pray. 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:23.220 Our God and Father, 00:31:24.120 --> 00:31:24.900 thank you 00:31:24.900 --> 00:31:25.720 that even though 00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:27.620 we are those people 00:31:27.620 --> 00:31:28.460 who are undeserving 00:31:28.460 --> 00:31:29.259 of your mercy, 00:31:29.680 --> 00:31:31.000 that you have shown us 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:32.460 mercy in the gospel. 00:31:33.140 --> 00:31:33.980 Would you transform 00:31:33.980 --> 00:31:34.599 our hearts 00:31:34.599 --> 00:31:35.839 to love our neighbors 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:37.220 and even our enemies 00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:38.059 this way? 00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:39.299 Amen.