8.7.24

This week we are looking at spiritual transformation. How does it happen? And why does it seem to come in fits and starts - even for people who love and follow Jesus?

The central character of our story is a prime example. He’s a prophet of God. He’s popular and successful in his country. And yet, he was filled with self-righteousness and pride. The grace of God was a topic to preach on. He knew it well. But it had yet to deeply penetrate his own heart.

And so God exposes that heart by calling him to do the one thing he least wanted to do - go preach grace to his worst enemies. And it revealed that Jonah loved his favored position more than he loved God. It exposed the fact that grace for him was viewed as an automatic thing…simply because he was a Jew, one of God’s favored people. And so God had to reveal to his proud heart just how needy he really was - needy of the very same grace those pagans in Nineveh needed.

So, how do you know if this kind of spiritual transformation is happening in your life or not? Because it’s not as simple as “it is” or “it isn’t”. But it sinks in over time. It penetrates certain barriers in our hearts, while leaving others untouched for now. So how can you measure or gauge this work in your own heart?

The first sign of that work we see in Jonah’s heart is that his fears begin to fade. His heart moves from being repulsed at the thought of going to Nineveh, to going with shouts of thanksgiving. But it’s not a shallow response. In verse 9 he essentially says, “I still think I’m going to lose my life if I do this, but I will do it gladly because of your grace!” And whether he loses his life or not, the fear is now gone. Most of our idols produce deep fear in our hearts. Fear of losing them. Fear of exposure. Fear of not being competent enough to keep them up. But grace washes those fears away, as we see the costly, yet free gift that God offers us in Jesus.

The second sign of this work of spiritual transformation in Jonah’s heart is that he doesn’t get more religious, he actually leans more into grace. He begins to see that his heart is genuinely sinful and rebellious. He sees that he justly deserves God’s rejection. And yet, his heart is drawn to the temple, to the place of sacrifice. Rather than focusing on obeying better this time, his heart is drawn to the grace that is motivating his change of heart. When our obedience is motivated by hoping God will hear and answer us if we do the right thing this time, it’s not a genuine heart change. The new motivation has to be the grace of God that’s coming to an undeserving sinner like me.

All this points us to be watchful for areas of our lives that produce the most fear. And to be honest about places where we naturally bargain with God to give us what we really want, if only he will forgive us. Because these symptoms are revealing places where the gospel needs to penetrate more deeply.