Recap & Looking Ahead to 11.5.26
Last Thursday, we finished The Book of Jonah with Part 3:
Reluctant Obedience.
Jonah finally did what God asked him to do.
He went to Nineveh.
Its people listened and turned from their wicked ways.
God showed them mercy.
And Jonah was furious.
Therein lies the problem.
Jonah was perfectly comfortable receiving God’s mercy.
He had run from God, boarded a ship in the opposite direction, helped cause a maritime disaster, got thrown overboard, and spent three days inside a giant fish.
God gave him another chance.
Jonah gladly accepted.
Then God extended mercy to people Jonah didn’t believe deserved it.
Suddenly, mercy became considerably more complicated.
Mercy for Me. Justice for You.
That led us into one of the harder questions we wrestled with Thursday:
Why is it so much easier to receive grace, mercy, and compassion than to extend them to others?
We talked about how differently that can show up in life.
Sometimes it’s forgiveness after deep hurt, betrayal, or abandonment, where God’s call to forgive doesn’t erase the depth of the pain.
Other times, it’s the everyday frustration of parenting, relationships, or dealing with people who see the world very differently than we do.
And sometimes, it’s simply the “bless your heart” bunch.
Different circumstances. Same struggle.
Grace, mercy, and compassion get considerably harder when we believe we have a good reason not to offer them.
Especially when we’re convinced we’re right.
Jonah certainly was.
We also talked about forgiveness at its most extreme. Not forgetting, excusing, or removing appropriate consequences, but deciding what we do with the anger, hatred, and desire for vengeance left behind.
Will shared the story of a father coming face-to-face with the man who killed his children and other family members, and severely injured loved ones.
It’s difficult to watch without asking yourself what forgiveness means when the thing being forgiven feels unforgivable.
And Then… Nothing.
One of the most interesting things about Jonah is how it ends.
There is no tidy conclusion.
God asks Jonah a question.
And the book ends.
We don’t know whether Jonah’s heart ever changed.
Maybe that’s the point.
A neat ending would allow us to keep the story about Jonah.
He ran.
He resisted.
He was angry.
He struggled to extend mercy.
Instead, we’re left standing there with him.
No answer.
Just the question.
Perhaps that’s the point.
Forcing us to wrestle with the same uncomfortable questions.
Where am I resisting God?
Who am I struggling to forgive?
Where am I grateful for grace when it reaches me, but angry when it reaches someone else?
Jonah never tells us what Jonah did next.
Perhaps because the more important question is:
What will I do next?
Larry Discovers Corporate America
Four days into his new corporate job, Larry had already discovered meetings.
Welcome, Larry.
Soon you will discover that meetings have a remarkable ability to reproduce.
One meeting produces a follow-up meeting.
That produces a working session.
The working session requires a pre-meeting.
Eventually, someone will schedule a meeting to discuss why everyone has so many meetings.
Larry, if you want to get ahead, pay attention.
Arrive three minutes late carrying coffee.
Nod thoughtfully.
Write something down whenever an executive speaks.
Volunteer for nothing.
Then, at minute 53, say, “I want to be respectful of everyone’s time.”
You will be promoted.
Courageous Communication
Jason attempted to escape small group Thursday because he and Kim were soon leaving for their marriage retreat.
Kim denied the request.
Jason attended.
This marriage is working exactly as it should. Very healthy.
We asked Kim about the theme.
Will heard:
Outrageous Communication.
Will excitedly envisioned:
YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!
YOUR MOTHER IS THE PROBLEM!
FINE. LET’S TALK ABOUT THE THERMOSTAT.
Kim corrected him.
Courageous Communication.
Oh.
Very different retreat.
Courageous communication:
“I want to understand your perspective.”
Outrageous communication:
“I already understand your perspective. It’s wrong.”
Courageous communication:
“I think we should take a few minutes and then come back to this.”
Outrageous communication:
“Okay. But in the meantime, the group text voted 7–2 in my favor. Would’ve been 8–2 if Jason hadn’t removed himself from the discussion.”
Early reports from the Sosebee Family Press Secretary suggest courageous communication works. Jason has declined to comment.
It’s a Girl
At some point Thursday night, for reasons no one can reconstruct, Jenna decided the group needed to hear a story from one of her prenatal ultrasounds.
Will would like the record to reflect that he did not introduce this subject.
As the story was told:
Jenna is on the examination table.
Shirt raised.
Belly covered in ultrasound gel.
A medical professional moves the imaging wand around while Will and his mother stare intently at the screen.
There, moving on the screen, is a beautiful little baby.
The medical professional announces:
“It’s a girl!”
Jenna asks:
“How can you tell?”
The medical professional answers with a clinical reference to a particular part of female anatomy.
Silence.
Then Will’s mother wraps an arm around her grown son, looks lovingly at the screen, and repeats the anatomical observation with the enthusiasm of a grandmother seeing her granddaughter for the first time.
Will stared straight ahead.
There are moments between a mother and son that bring them closer together.
This was not one of them.
Nearly two decades later, Jenna apparently decided the scar had healed long enough.
What happens at the small group table stays at the table.
Unless Jenna is at the table.
This Thursday: Don’t Be Gross!
This Thursday, we move on from Jonah to perhaps the most compelling lesson title of our time together:
Don’t Be Gross.
It’s easy to attend church, enjoy the message, like the people, then go home.
But the church was never intended to be something we simply consume. We’re invited to participate in what God is doing through it.
Thursday we’ll talk about moving from passive consumer to engaged participant.
Watch Andy Stanley’s message below and think about this beforehand:
Think about friends from different parts of your life. What do you think each of them would say about you when you’re not around?
And maybe the harder question:
How similar would their answers be?
Sunday: Community Service
This Sunday, we’re trading the group table for a serving table.
We’ll join Meals by Grace to load meals into volunteer vehicles for delivery to local families in need. Those who would like to can also take a route and deliver meals themselves.
It’s a great opportunity for our group and our families to serve together.
A big thank you to Larry and Jean for finding the opportunity and heading this up.
When & Where
Sunday, November 8
Arrive at 12:45 p.m.
Meals by Grace
3540 Keith Bridge Rd.
Cumming, GA 30041
They’re located behind Hollywood Feed.