Mad at God - Week 4 - The CORE - Pastor Mike Novotny
Mad at God
Week 4 - The CORE
Pastor Mike Novotny
Good morning everyone. Happy Sunday, welcome back to week number four of four of our sermon series called Mad at God. I just want to reiterate. What Pastor Michael said, it is a huge step for lots of people to step through the doors of a church for the first time. Let's people have had bad Church experiences, weird Church experiences. Sometimes church people can be weird in and of themselves, so it's really freaky to walk through the door. I don't have a ton of guests are here for the first time so CORE family. Would you join me in thanking our guests for the courage? It took to be here today? Yes, I think of thank you. We know that God has something big for you and that's why he brought you here this morning.
So let me kick-off of a big question in your life. Have you ever been mad at God?
You ever gone through something or been stuck in something that was really difficult to praise God and lift your hands to God and be excited about God. And trust, God, and follow God. Because you're kind of confused by God and maybe disappointed in God or to be honest. Mad at God. I have a friend who's a professional Christian counselor and I asked him what makes a person get mad at God if God is love. If he's our heavenly father, if he loves us so much like what would cause a person to turn on God maybe to walk away from the church clothes, their Bible stop praying. Give up on their faith or the very least get frustrated with their father in Heaven. And my friend gave me this really brilliant dancer. He summarized it all down to a single word. Expectations.
It's not what happens to us in life. It's what we expected God, to give to us in our life, right? If we expected this and then God just did this. That Gap is what makes a person mad at God. When, if you are God, you would do this and this and this. But God, for some reason, does that? And that, and that you don't get it, like why would he allow its? Why would he do it? Why would he change it? Why? When he fix it, I'm sure if you've experienced that but that makes tons of people mad at God.
I was thinking about my friend's answer, and expectations. And it dawned on me that there really three big areas in life, where your expectations might be very different than what God chooses to do. If you taking notes at home or right here in your program, I love you to grab a pen and write these down. I think some people get mad at God. This is maybe the most obvious answer because of pain.
When you go through something painful in life when your kid, someone's verbally abusive to you or your parent's marriage, doesn't make it or you get bullied in school or someone gets cancer and they’re way too young or there's a car accident and some tragedy when you thought your marriage was going to pull through and then it just didn't. When we go through something really hard especially when that something really hard lasts a really long time. God doesn't. Just make sense. But why if he's so loving? And if he's so good, if he cares about me, specifically, why would he give me a life like this? If you've been through pain, especially chronic pain. I wonder if you've struggled praising and loving God, not affect your story. I so wish I had like an hour or six to talk to you about that today. I'm not going to cover that in today's message, but if that's your situation right now, I'd love for you to jump online and find a sermon series that our church did on the Book of Job. Where we tackle that question, why? God would let this happen. Seriously. God, you're going to let another thing happen. Find that sermon series, and he's going to help you with the emotions you feel towards heaven. Answer number 2, some people get mad at God not because of pain, but because of sin.
You know what God says in this book is, right or wrong is sin, or is not is sometimes not what you'd expect. Right? It's a standard that sometimes feels so unreachable and so difficult. That just exhausts you and it frustrates you and you get mad at God. Why would, why would he want you to live like this when it is so difficult to live like that.
A ton of people have their sexuality, to be honest. They read the stuff. The Bible says is really narrow specific Road, and they try to change and they pray about it. But those desires don't go away and they say God, why would you, why would you let this exists within me, and then call me to a different kind of standard? It's frustrating. It's exhausting and the people, get up, and give up because they're mad at God. I'm not sure if you ever struggled with the standards of the Bible, with what's in and what's not. I wish I had time to talk about that today. So if that's your situation, quick run to YouTube after church today, look up a sermon called Jesus is worth it and I'm going to tackle that question head on Those are worthy things to talk about but I don't talk about pain. I don't want to talk about Sin today because today I'm going to focus on one specific reason that lots and lots of people throughout Biblical history and even today, get really mad at God.
Some people. I wonder if you're one of those people get mad at God because of Grace.
God's love.
His willingness to be compassionate and gracious slow to anger abounding in love the gift of the cross. The Forgiveness of sins, the free ticket in Jesus' name to heaven. When some people think about that, they get super mad.
Some of you look confused right now. So what do I what? Okay, if I get cancer, there's a tragedy that's logical to me that you get mad at God. But why would someone get mad at God for sending his son? Why would no Pastor Grace is amazing to me Grace, doesn't anger me. It's the reason I'm drawn to the Bible and to Christianity doesn't push me away from it. It's like the one thing that I can count on the firm thought. Why would, why would I possibly get frustrated with God because of Grace? And I'll give you a simple answer, lots of people get mad at God, not because of his grace for you.
But because of his grace, for those people,
The way that God is willing to treat and pursue and seek and forgive and save those people.
Let the people that you find very difficult to love the people who have not loved you. Well, maybe the people in your life that have hurt you scarred, you wounded, you betrayed you When you understand the love that God has for those people.
That is a serious test of faith. Imagine it this way. Imagine the person that's hurt you. The most in your life walked into church today.
Maybe is that Dad who conceived you and then he bailed on you. Or the mother who just constantly critical and just wore you down and eroded your self-worth. Maybe it was your ex who, you know, said all the right things because they had an ulterior motive or made a promise at the altar, which they broke and just left with a broken heart. Might be a girl who bullied you. In school said, Terrible Things mocked you for your weight or the way you talk to the way you laughed and all the girls jumped on her side. You couldn't wait to get out of school.
I guess you're thinking about that person. I just left your test chest, tightens up a bit. Imagine if they walked into the church today and they didn't see you but somehow they sat Right in front of you.
And I start talking about Grace.
And I'm looking right at them. I don't even know who they are, but I'm looking at them and I say, God loves you, he loves the world, which means he loves you and they start to nod.
And I start to say big Grace, Grace things, like Jesus didn't just die for certain people are certain sins. He died for all people and all their sins. Like the worst thing you've ever done. Jesus, bled and died. For, if you trust in Jesus, when God looks at you he's not angry or disappointed. He likes you his face is shining when he thinks of you like he's smiling when he looks towards you and this person starts to wipe away tears. And you're watching like God, give that person a free ticket to heaven.
How do you feel about that?
I mean, you're uncomfortable being in their presence, for a one hour church service, and you start thinking, imagine all of eternity with that person as my neighbor
And you think about what they said in the words, come back and the Damage they did, and it just doesn't feel right, right? You would expect God. To. Time for the way that they punished. You hurt them for the way that they hurt you. Sometimes Grace is offensive, it's a stumbling block. The Bible says, sometimes it's foolish doesn't seem right to the sense of justice that exist within us.
Today, I want to talk to you about that.
I want to talk to you about that because it is the primary theme for the end of the Book of Jonah, a man who is wrestling with the gracious heart of God. And because throughout Biblical history, especially in the days of Jesus, this was the primary thing that religious people struggled with and I've noticed that even till today, this is the primary thing that divides Humanity. That we think there is a dividing line between the limits of the grace of God. How much he should love the kind of people he should forgive. This is a Timeless human struggle. And today, I want to help you try to solve it. As we wrap up our study, the Book of Jonah. Now, I'm not sure if you're just jumping in today, for the first time, we've been reading. The Old Testament book of Jonah, just four chapters long. It takes about eight minutes to read from start to finish. It's about this guy who lived about 2,700 2,800 years ago, God called him to preach a message of love and forgiveness to some really, really bad Wicked people. He dragged his feet. There's a big fish that's involved in this story fish. Swallows Jonah, which sounds crazy. I try to answer that online. You can find that spits, John out, Joanna preaches. And we saw in chapter 3 that these Wicked Bad terrible people and change of heart. They felt sorry for their sins. They repented and God relented.
Ringing like the fire and brimstone and judgment from Heaven. God forgave them and save them in the moment. That's where chapter 3 ended. And as we start reading chapter 4, this is why Jonah is very, very, very mad at God
Look what happens?
But the Jonah this God's grace, towards the people of Nineveh. This seemed very wrong and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, he isn't this, what I said, Lord, when I was still at home, that's why I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you're a gracious and compassionate, God, slow to anger. And abounding in love a God, who relents from sending calamity, Now Lord, take away my life. It is better for me to die than to live. But the Lord replied. Is it right for you to be angry?
Oh, John was super angry. He's apparently so ticked. He once got to kill him. This is how the world works. If this is, how you're going to run the show? God, I'm done. I want to be dead. I'm angry enough to die. And did you catch the reason why?
Jonah says, because I told you so God. I told you, so. When I was back home. But before the fish, like I told you, when you told me, I just knew it that you're a gracious and compassionate, God who slow to anger, and I knew that if I went, if they would repent that, you would relent, that's why I rejected the calling that you sent God, like, I don't want it, I told you,
And you know how why Jonah felt that way? How he knew what God was about to do.
Because ever since he was a little Jonah going to Israeli preschool, he had heard service after service and Sabbath after Sabbath and chapel after Chapel, A singular definition of what God was like. God was gracious and compassionate slow to anger, and abounding in love.
Did he longtime church, people know that that description of God is the most famous and frequent and repeated description of God's character in the entire Old Testament. Way back in the days of Moses, who might know the story from Exodus 34. God like passed by Moses, kind of hit him with a rock. So he could survive and God declared what he was like and he said the Lord, the Lord, the gracious and compassionate, God slow to anger abounding in love There's like the short bio description on God's Facebook page, right? And so Old Testament people, they would just repeat this what is our God? Like he's gracious. He's compassionate slow to anger and abounding in love is gracious. He's compassionate slow to anger, he's abounding in love. Jonah had heard that so many times. He just knew that God would be gracious and compassionate slow to anger and abound in love to those people. When you're growing up, did your mom or dad ever have their stock phrase that they would repeat a billion times too? My mom whenever I go out to a party with my friends, she grabbed me by the shoulders and says Michael no drinking, no smoking, no sex, no drugs, No drinking, no smoking a second and she'd say it so many times that I find myself like saying it to my kids and my dad, my dad has said like 1.3 billion times to me in my life son. You don't know how good you've got it. I think every dad says you don't know you as I say that to my kids now like you know, was just repeated so many times and ended up in my heart and it comes out of my mouth. And apparently, that's what happens with Jonah. He had heard so many times about God's abounding love. I was just coming out of him.
It's only used to love that part of God. When that Grace and compassion, slowness to anger abounding love was for him.
What made him super mad was when God decided to be the same God towards those people.
Maybe if one of my friends can help me with the lights, this little bit like this,
Let's imagine that these lights are behind me are the spectrum of goodness. Let's imagine that we could line up all seven point seven billion people that are live right now from the worst. Like most moral monsters that you read about in the news, to the best, most inspiring examples that you have ever seen. Hitler's way down here. Serial killers are way down here monsters, who like children in their basements are way down here. Mother Teresa's way over here, like your friend who just seems like such a saint, is way over here and then all of us. Well, seven point seven billion of us are lined up in the Middle based on how good we are and the quality of decisions that we make. Now, here are two big questions. Number one. Which of those people have a chance at making it to heaven.
Question number two. Which of those people are in danger, perhaps of ending up in hell.
Not most people have a pretty similar answer to that question. It's actually answer that most religions will give you in their different ways. It was either these people. Are lost so bad obviously they're not going to make it into heaven and that these people are good, they're practically sayings of course, God's going to accept them in. They take their last breath and see his face. And then in the middle, Well you know you tried your best and you try to be a decent person and you try to learn from your mistakes and you hope you know throughout life you kind of inch your way towards this end and wherever God decides to judge you on the right side that makes it to heaven and doesn't get condemned to hell.
But y'all know, That Jesus had different answers to those questions.
Jesus. Jesus actually said that every single person alive no matter what they've done, no matter how messy or broken. Their story has a chance to make it to heaven.
And he said that every single person alive, no matter how good they might seem to me and you is not so good that they are not in danger of going to hell.
You believe that?
This is why Jesus like clashed with so many people 2,000 years ago. Jesus was so loving, he was so compassionate. He served people. You would think that everyone would love him but they did not. And here's why because Jesus would go to church people on kind of this side of the scale, you know, people who were faithful to their marriages and generous with their money and always remember to pray and never skip the church service and he would say to them unless you repent of your sins because you have them too, you're not going to make it to my God.
These people said what? Like you think we're in danger of hell? Have you met my neighbor? Have you met my cousin? Have you seen those people? I'm one of the good ones. I'm not like them. And Jesus said, but you might be better than some, but you're not as good as God. You need to be cleansed, you need to be forgiven. You need to be saved from the things that you've done.
Then Jesus, in the next breath would go to these people. The train wrecks, the tax collectors, the prostitutes people caught in Acts of infidelity, and they humble themselves and cry for mercy and he would forgive them and he would save them and he would say that they were in heaven, imagine some like church guy in a big hat, going to hell, and some prostitute with needle marks in her arms standing by Jesus side, making it to heaven. What?
That was the teaching of Jesus.
And it's a teaching that Jonah struggled with. God. Why would you love those people? How can you say that? I need to repent? How could you give them a chance? Don't you know what? They've done to their neighbor.
But the Bible insist that what gets you right with God and this is still true today. What gets you to heaven is not your spiritual. Credit score is on how many days you've been sober. It's not the perfect little family that you have. It's whether or not you have repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus to be 100% of your Having a fat to you, no matter how messy the story has been or still is you're good with God. Doesn't matter where you are in the line of humanity. God can zip people up from any spots and bring them with him in glory. That's what happened in the Book of Jonah.
Let me give you the best test case to see if you believe this. I think the best test case for understanding the grace of God, he is the story of a man. You might have heard of Jeffrey Dahmer.
I was alive. I think was in Middle School when the horrific news that just shocked my home state came out that this man had kidnapped and drugged, and murdered and worse. He was a monster on that end of the scale without a single doubt, but did, you know? That before the murderer was murdered in prison. He was ministered to by a Christian.
There's a pastor who later wrote a book about the story that said he went in and he heard with his own ears, the sincere repentance of Jeffrey Dahmer and the trust that he had in Jesus. So the question is, do you think when you die that you're going to see Jesus and Jeffrey.
For some people. It doesn't sit right, does it? I went on Amazon and I found a book that that Pastor wrote and I scroll down to the reviews to see what people would say, and many of them reflected. These words, one man said, quote, God is no idiot.
And God didn't make us to be idiots either. I do not believe that one can do what Jeffrey Dahmer did, and then expect to sit at the right hand of God.
In other words, there's some things you can't do and make it to Heaven. There is a line somewhere that God has to draw. And I have a hunch that this man thinks he's on the right side of the line and Jeffrey's on the wrong side of it. I know exactly where it is, how good you have to be, but I kind of think I'm on this side, and those people are the bad ones. We don't have a chance. No matter what they say, what they feel, how much they trust in Jesus. There's got to be a line that divides our people from those people.
Friends, the biggest struggle that Jonah had the biggest struggle that the first century Jewish leaders had and maybe the biggest struggle that we still have today is actually believing that God's grace. Is for everyone.
And not just certain ones.
That's why Jonah needed to be taught a lesson.
And that's why God was about to give him one.
Precisely.
Jonah, had gone out and sat at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in the shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. So John is really really hoping deep down that he gets to witness Sodom the sequel right? God's gonna nuke the people of Nineveh, he sets up his little chair, gets out, his little drink just outside of the fire and brimstone zone and he can't wait to see what happens. But here's what happens. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plants and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head and to ease his discomfort. And Jonah was very happy about the plant, it's like a Miracle Grow, right? It's fine. Just start supernaturally growing the leaf spreads out, and Jonah gets his little personal spot of shade from the hot Middle Eastern Sun. He’s so happy But then, he falls asleep.
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But at dawn, the next day, God provided a worm. Hungry little caterpillar. It's true, the plants so that it withered When the sun rose got provided a scorching East Wind and the sun, blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die again and said again it would be better for me to die than to live
But God said, to Jonah again is it right for you to be angry about the plant? It is he said and I'm so angry. I wish I were dead.
So God is such a good father or he makes his kids so happy gives him the toy. He takes it away. God who's in control of plants and worms, and wind. He makes Jonas so happy with the plant, and then it chooses little holes. And it Withers and the sun makes Jonas sweat. He wakes up like a Phoenix summer, right? Just boils him and he's so mad. He's so physically uncomfortably just wants to die. He wants to be done. There's something you should know about Jonah. In chapter 4. Jonah is infatuated with himself. Words like I me my I'm so angry. This is how I feel like Jonah is so focused on himself. He's super happy when things go well with him and he's super angry, when they're not. God knew that Jonah was so self-centered, he could never love the people of Nineveh.
And that's why God ends the Book of Jonah with a quote,
Check out my Bible. So, here's where I just read to you. Here's the next section where God speaks at the end of God's quote. There's a question mark and end of quote And then the book is done.
So we're going to be left with a cliffhanger question. We're not going to hear what Jonah did next or how he answered the book is intended to make us. Think I wonder what Jonah thought about that. And the book is intended to make you think. What do you think about it, too?
Here's how the Book of Jonah ants. But the Lord said, You've been concerned about this plans, though. You did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh? In there are more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left and also many animals. Question mark. Quote.
And a book.
You see what God is doing?
Jonah, you are so emotional about a plant, you barely gave it a name until it was gone. One day, you didn't do anything, you put your sole concern about that little thing. And if you're so concerned about that little thing, should I is God be concerned about a big thing like the city of Nineveh?
But you're so concerned by the gracious way that I treat you just one guy.
So, should I be concerned about 120,000 people? I should love the last line of the book God is more concerned about Nineveh's pets than Jonah is concerned about Nineveh’s souls.
Jonas infatuated with himself but God is not selfish. She's selfless. And he wants Jonah to think about the difference.
And I think this is the Cliffhanger question. God wants you and me to think about.
You need to think about. If God cares about your smallest want,
Shouldn't God care about their greatest need?
That's what he's saying to Jonah, right? If God cares about your smallest ones, shouldn't God care. About their greatest need.
Question. How many of you pray when you're sick or not feeling well? I've been to and you should because God cares. When you don't feel well, I'm Nev ever prayed about your finances, getting a job a promotion. Paying off debt. The car not breaking down. Yep. Me too. And you should because God cares about your dollars and your sense, how many of you have ever been watching a sports game? And it's comes down to the last field goal and you like you get super religious right in that moment because you have you bet 20 bucks there buddy on the game. Yeah yeah. So I prayed over more soccer penalty kicks in my life than you would believe. And you don't, you can because God cares even about that. He cares about JV basketball games. He cares about the weather, he cares about safe travels to your grandma's house. God cares about your cramps, your headaches, or backaches every situation that you can imagine. God cares about prom dates and math grades. There's nothing so small that you can Ask God about that. He rolls his eyes.
His love is so profound. He doesn't delegate a single prayer to some intern angel. Your heavenly father, gives his full attention to your smallest. Want God, listens to your first world prayers.
He never rolls his eyes at you. His heart is so big, he's so gracious and compassionate. So slow to anger and slow abounding in love that everything in your life matters to him, it might not matter to your neighbor. The person you're dating might not want to hear about it, God does that's how loving he is.
And therefore, the argument from the Lesser to the greater goes, if God cares about your free throw, Like your playing time. Or your credit score. Or your prom date.
Should he care about that person's eternity?
Trust me. God takes seriously the people who hurt you? Abuse gossip slander of people breaking their vows these things matter more to God than to any of us. He's holy and good.
But shouldn't God still keep trying to reach those people to change their hearts. To make them see the seriousness of what they did to give him a chance to make it to heaven.
Here it is. So tempting, it always has been To draw some line and put ourselves on the right side of it. And just think that we're the people that God should love and those people shouldn't. But the Book of Jonah leaves this question, should I care? God says about the people that you don't care about.
If you want me to be the kind of God whose so abounding in love that you can talk to me about anything, don't I by Nature? Then have to care about your neighbor. Whoever that neighbor is.
Today, I don't answer that question for you. But I do want you to think about that question.
Do you want God to save your enemy?
Would you be happy if any and every person walked into church and worshipped? Not everyone. Feels that way about Grace.
For some, it's a stumbling block to the true Christian faith. What you?
Well, I know about me. I'm not sure if I've ever told you my spiritual store. When I was a kid, I was super Church kid. And I was in maybe late Middle School, Pastor Ken, my church has fired me up about the faith was the like high school kid, that were a wwjd bracelet for his senior pictures, right? I was reading the Bible, even when my mom went go to church, I would go to church by myself. I'm super passionate about following God. That was I'm not super proud of this but I used to think like I'm gonna drive the speed limit, every End of my life and I would actually drive on the interstate in the in the left lane and lock it in on. So no one else could drive too fast. I was going to save the world from their sin. I mean, I was devout. I took all of my rap CDs. I remember one time to the garage and smash them because they were bad words. I was super passionate about that and I thought, I thought for a while that when it came to the Ten Commandments I was keeping nine of them. It was just that thing about not looking at girls. Lustfully, those get me tons of trouble. But I would remember the Sabbath day, I wasn't worshiping other gods. I was given money off of the grass that I kind of passionate about my faith. I thought it was one of the good ones compared to some of the bad ones. But you know, his life went along. I kind of changed my opinion about that.
Some of you know that I struggled with something that went from like a bad habit and Ascend to an addiction, that didn't go away quickly.
And after a month and then a year and then a bunch of years, I could feel my own like moral self.
Moving into new categories, to the point where I wondered if there was a line and maybe I crossed it maybe just can't say sorry to God for the 700th time for the same thing.
I'm so grateful. I'm so grateful. That Jesus did draw a line.
He just stretched out his arms to the extremes and he would say, no matter what your story, no matter how this week has gone. If you've never been to church in, this is your first time, you'll have to work your way back into some category so that God will love you. Like he brought you here today because he loves you and you're still in the midst of it and you're still struggling with this and that you want to be a better person. What the message is that God is so compassionate and he's so gracious and he's so slow to anger and he's So, abounding in love that instead of drawing a line, he freely gives his love. And he says, come to me all of you come to me, turn away from temporary things because no one will love you. Like I love you. It's why I sent my son to die, not for some. But for all
And this while of personal of the Book of Jonah. It speaks to people like me. Like so many of you will have that time in life, when you're not mad at God, you're mad at yourself, you think you lost your chance? And you come and you open the book and you read about God, who has not changed gracious, compassionate slow to anger and abounding in love.
So I said it, when we started, let me say it again. Don't get distracted by the fish. The Book of Jonah is about a God who loves even those people, even you people even me as a person it's about a God who reaches down to Rock Bottom in response to our prayers. Even when it's our fault, even when we mess it up. It's what a God. Who's so good. He relents when we repent. And we only repent because of the word that this good God sent. It's about a God who is so gracious, so compassionate, so slow to anger. And so, abounding in love so you can forget the fish Focus on God because that is what the Book of Jonah is all about.
