Hope for Anybody!

One of my favorite bands has a song that speaks clearly about the compassion of God. Here’s the chorus:

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He’ll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus

I bring this up, because, well, I think that every man and woman, boy and girl ought to have Third Day projects in their music library and on their regular play list. And because this song fits perfectly with what I’ve been preaching in Jonah for the past few weeks. You want to talk about a people who did not deserve God’s compassion, it was Ninevah. They were an evil, wicked and violent mess of humanity. And if you’ve seen the VeggieTales movie, you also know they went around slapping people with fishes.

Did God owe them even a chance to turn away from their sin and believe in Him? No! But He gave it to them because He is a compassionate God. Even for Ninevah there’s grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing. God warned them what would happen if they didn’t repent, and it wasn’t going to be pretty. Like Sodom and Gomorrah not pretty. But when they humbled themselves before God and turned from their wicked ways, the Lord showed that mercy triumphs over judgment.

Speaking of Jonah, did God owe His disobedient prophet a second chance? The one who defiantly shook his puny little finger in the face of Almighty God and said, “No, I will not go to Ninevah! Not gonna happen. I’m outta here.” Hardly. But He gave Jonah another chance to obey. By the way, aren’t you glad that your disobedience to God’s command doesn’t land you in the slimy belly of a great fish? Me, too.

Did the father in the parable of the prodigal son owe his rebellious child a great feast, a pair of new sandals for his feet, a ring for his finger or the best robe he could find for him? The one who took the cash and bolted for a far away land, then wasted it all on sex, drugs and rock n’ roll? No!

Did the woman in Luke 7, the one with a reputation as being (ahem) “a woman of the city,” deserve God’s compassion? Uh, no.

Did the much despised, tax-collecting thief Zaccheus deserve to have Jesus come under his roof and eat with him? Did he deserve Christ’s love and forgiveness?

Did Saul from Tarsus, the self-described “worst of sinners,” a violent persecutor of the church in any way deserve the compassion of the Lord?

I’m telling you – there’s hope for anybody! And let me assure you that there’s not a single person on the planet who is in the least bit deserving of God’s grace and forgiveness. None of us are worthy. There is no one righteous, not even one. Sorry to break it to you, but we all deserve death and hell because we’ve all sinned against a holy and righteous God.

But God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. He proved His love in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. And whoever humbles himself before the Lord in repentance and turns in faith to Jesus Christ will be saved. Saved from sin and its wages of death, and saved to abundant and eternal life in Christ.

Maybe nobody’s ever told you this before, so you might want to listen closely: There’s hope for you! Jesus saves! When you cry out to Jesus from wherever you are, you’ll find rest, love, grace, forgiveness, mercy and healing – and so much more!

Of course, if you’d have been listening to Third Day, you’d have known that already! Why not call upon the Lord of compassion right now right where you are?