The reality is that there is not an individual living that has not made some bad choices - the wrong relationship, the wrong career, the wrong city - you name it. We each know what it feels like to "come short of the glory of God". We each know what it feels like to hear the voice of God command of us one thing and choose to do the complete opposite. We each know what it feels like to suffer the consequences of choosing not His will but our will. If this is where you are - you are not alone. The reality, however, is that we cannot park in the lot of our past poor choices. What we have to acknowledge is that even in the grasp of guilt and the environment of embarrassment; we are never in a place where God will not give us the opportunity to start over. So, though your present place may be the most undesirable and unwanted; it is an incredible place where God is going to show you mercy. God does that, you know? He provides mercy in some of the most unimaginable and incomprehensible ways: - a woman caught in the act of adultery - a King that is a murderer and an adulterer - a trickster like Jacob - on the backside of a desert to a murderer - a disciple that denied him and left him to die - and even in the belly of a great fish. So accept this invitation to journey through the chapters of a small book in the Old Testament - Jonah. Jonah is not some lonely creature afar offs in the ages somewhere, having an experience that is unique and incommunicable. The experience of Jonah is the experience of every believer. In this book, Pastor Breonus M. Mitchell Sr. empowers and encourages those who know the peril and pain of intentional disobedience to God. Join him on an expository journey through the small prophetic book of Jonah, as he encourages us to experience the mercy of God even in the most demeaning and difficult places. This place in your life is not for your demise. It is just a place in which God provides a detour

A Fish Called Mercy

By Breonus M. Mitchell, Sr.

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Breonus Mitchell
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4567-2824-3

Contents

Introduction...................................................................1Chapter 1 You've Been Given An Assignment......................................7Chapter 2 The Deception of Disobedience........................................17Chapter 3 God Will Not Take No For Your Answer.................................27Chapter 4 The Scenic Route.....................................................35Chapter 5 Life's Hard Decisions – Learning to Let Go.....................43Chapter 6 A Fish Called Mercy..................................................55Chapter 7 A Place to Pray......................................................65Chapter 8 Another Chance to Get it Right.......................................71Chapter 9 There - By Another Way...............................................79

Chapter One

You've Been Given An Assignment

"The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me."

Jonah 1:1-2

At the time I write this book my seven-year-old son has been so excited through the summer that this year he would enter the second grade. He has been asking me regularly and religiously throughout the summer – "what will I do in second grade?" School has begun and each night we go through the wrestle of restraining him from watching his favorite series of sitcoms and cartoons because he has homework. He has spelling words to learn and math problems to solve. Not withstanding, he has tae-kwon-doe practice and youth group. Every evening he is greeted with the same question – "do you have any homework assignments tonight?" Besides his customary resistance and refusal, he has learned the answer to his inquiry of second grade life. What will I do in second grade? Assignments.

As I write this feeble and fragile commentary on Jonah, I am completing studies. In this online world, each morning I log onto blackboard to retrieve each morning articles, outlines, and notes. Throughout the week there are posts to be made and chapters to be read. My seven-year-old recently asked me as we sat in an ice cream shop – "Dad what is college like?" I replied: "the same as second grade, just much more time consuming – assignments."

Assignments. They are inescapable and unavoidable. We cannot live in this world without some type of assignment. You may call it a responsibility or an appointment; whatever words you choose to define and describe it – it is what it is – an assignment. We have assignments. Take the trash out. Cut the grass. Stick to your diet. Take your medication. Drop the kids off. Study for the exam. We have assignments.

As a husband you have the assignment to be the provider and protector of your home. As a wife you have the assignment to be the nurturer and pillow of support. As a student you have the assignment to finish the program and get the degree. As an employee you have the assignment of carrying out your job description. As a pastor you have the assignment to visit the sick, bury the dead, dedicate the infant, marry the lovebirds, and teach and preach the word of God. We have assignments.

This seems to be the gist of the opening verses of the Jonah narrative. Jonah is given an assignment. It seems like a simple assignment. There is nothing at the surface of this assignment that is unusual. "The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." (Jonah 1:1-2) It is a simple assignment with basically three tasks. Jonah has been given a place to attend. He has been given a people to appeal. He has been given a problem to address. It is a simple assignment.

Jonah has been assigned a place to attend. He is to "Arise, go to Nineveh." Nineveh was located on the East Bank of the Tigris River. It was the last capital of the Assyrian Empire. It is first mentioned in the Bible in Gen 10:11-12. Nimrod, the son of Cush, the son of Ham, Noah's son, established it. There is a better understanding of the social and spiritual state of Nineveh in the Book of Nahum. That entire book is "an oracle concerning Nineveh." Case in point, this is Jonah's place to fulfill God's will. "Arise, go to Nineveh."

Nineveh is a rough place. In Isaiah 66:19 it is said to be "a city that has not heard my fame nor seen my glory" by God. An assignment to Nineveh is definitely not the ideal assignment. It is the rough side of town. It is the habitat of not just the least, the lost, and left out; but, the fast and furious. Recently, I watched a television series entitled Dirty Work. The theme of the show is that it highlights the most dirty and decrepit jobs to be found. Believe me. I would not dare to perform some of the task of these job descriptions. But, this captures the nature of the assignment given to Jonah.

Nineveh is not on the list of the best cities for labor or leisure. It is not Beverly Hills or Hollywood. It is not the big cities of Houston, Dallas, New York, Atlanta, or Los Angeles. It is the most unwelcomed and unwanted place to have been placed. It is the drug-infested neighborhood. It is the Old Testament Las Vegas. It makes the list for crime. The clubs are always open. The church is out of business. The jails are overcrowded. Nineveh.

Like Jonah, God calls us to some places that are not so popular, progressive and profitable. He sends us to mission fields that are devastated by famine and swarming with disease and death. He sends us to pastor congregations that are the seat of the anti-pastor. While your other colleagues are preaching to hundreds and living by well-to-do means; you, on the other hand, have been sentenced to a church where the faithful few are happy remaining exactly that and the possibility of a fulltime pastorate is completely out of the picture. He sends us to communities ran shacked by gang violence and sweltering with children who have been left to defend for themselves. He sends us to places of employment that offer a compensation that is humiliating considering the fact you studied four years.

However, this is God's place for you to attend. Let me encourage you by saying that you are not where you are by luck or chance. Where you are is exactly the place where God wants to use you to accomplish something great for the Kingdom. Now the reality is that nobody is anointed to work in every area of ministry or be an expert in every arena of life. But, God has a place notched out for you. In the words of my predecessors – "you may not be able to sing like the angels and you may not be able to preach like Paul." But God has a place that you have been assigned to make a difference. Jonah got Nineveh. What did you get?

Then again, God assigned Jonah to a particular people to appeal to. Jonah is to go into a foreign and adversarial country, Nineveh, the heart and capital of the Assyrian Empire and pronounce God's disgust and disgrace with their behavior. It would be like you and I going to North Korea, Tehran, Iran or Israel and pronounce judgment in the name of Jesus Christ. Jonah has been assigned to pronounce judgment and God's disappointment in the enemy's camp.

God has a sense of humor. He must. The fact that he assigns us to people that are not at our social level or exhibit our standard of Christian commitment says so.

God does not always appoint us to those that are members of our fraternity, sorority, civic club or the like. Why? I think one of the theological principles that God is confronting in the Jonah narrative is nationality. God is not just the God of the chosen. His message and mercy reaches beyond our boundaries and restrictions. The hardest lesson in ministry is to learn that God loves those we tend to dislike and disown.

Because of God's salvation, there are certain people in the church that we are specifically geared to meet; and geared to meet their specific needs. God's salvation behooves us not to dress alike, sound alike or act alike, but to serve in the church for the glory of God. God has a particular set of people that you've been saved to touch. God wants to use what you've been through to help someone else who's going through the same thing that you've already gotten out of. We have not been delivered out of a storm, gotten out of a struggle or been set free for us to look down on others. But to tell then that we've been through it and there is definitely a way out. And that God is able to make a way out of no way.

Here is the point. We must understand that ministry requires interacting with people. And, often, this means interacting with people we would rather less address. If your ministry assigned you to be the agent of blessing for those that have been responsible for your own bondage, what would be your response? We will discuss this in later chapters. However, this is the general picture of the people Jonah was assigned to. The reality is that God loves all and that means at times we are assigned to people that we would prefer not to associate with. I hear it all the time. Why this city? Why this church? Why this school? Why this group? However, if these are the people that God has assigned you to, God will give you His grace and His protection to sustain you.

Jonah has a place. Jonah has a people. And, Jonah has a problem to address. "The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying, "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me." (Jonah 1:1-2) Jonah has been assigned to address the wretched and wicked behavior of the Assyrians. I often hear individuals lash out about the ills of this world that they just cannot stand. The problem is that they wait for others to address the issue. Nothing is ever accomplished through the committee of complainers. Look, if it is itching you than you scratch it. However, leave the company of the complainers highlighting what needs to be done and what the church should be doing.

There is a problem that needs to be addressed and Jonah has been given that responsibility. Jonah is told to address a city that was the melting pot of immorality and injustice. We live in a time in which individuals want to "flow in the prophetic." Now, I am not going to offer some theological reflection on this subject because it is not the purpose of this book. However, let me do suggest what I consider to be a relevant and realistic challenge for the church. It is easy to minister to those that are within the four walls of the church. However, while we continue to be mesmerized by miracles and enthralled by the ecstatic; crime continues to climb, imprisonment has increased, single parenting is a standard, and unemployment is unbelievable. What I am suggesting is that your assignment should make an impact in society. Cultivating mega congregations that are filled with mini- minded congregants is the threat of our generation. We need to create congregations that are intentional about creating positive social change in our communities.

Denzel Washington's book, A Hand to Guide Me spotlights and showcases how the kindness of mentors has shaped the lives of famous role models. In their own words legendary personalities such as Muhammad Ali, President's Clinton and Carter, Antoine Fisher, Danny Glover and General Colin Powell tell how people stepped up to guide them. Seventy-Four stories in all, each one a revelation about how important any one of us can be to those around us. The material and motivation of this book in simple and sincere language expresses and epitomizes the context and commission of Jonah: an assignment has been given. God wants to use us to pull someone else out of what they're going through. God has an assignment for us to minister to those who have the same experiences as we had and to change their behavior and mentor them. This is the reason we have to live a life pleasing to God so that his light can reflect through us.

Why are you sitting? I mean are the excuses really acceptable? Why are you sitting? Is there not one ministry that God is drawing you to be a part? Now, perhaps it may not be the perfect ministry and may be under the leadership of those that seem to be in the business of destroying the ministry. However, that is not an excuse God accepts. Why are you sitting? Take the opportunity to write in some journal what God is calling you to do and then write your excuses for not participating. Why are you sitting?

You have been given an assignment. I am not sure what is that assignment. However, I know that God has a place for you to attend; a people for you to appeal; and a problem for you to address. It is a simple assignment. I am willing to take the gamble, that the knowledge of your assignment is the least of your problem. Well, at least that was the case for Jonah. He knew the assignment and knew it well. But, like I have said, that was the least of Jonah's problems. Keep reading. I think Jonah's problem is the problem shared by each of us.

Chapter Two

The Deception of Disobedience

"But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord."

Jonah 1:3

In the opening verse of the Jonah narrative he is told to "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it, for their wickedness had come up to God." And immediately the narrative takes a turn for the worse. Instead of yielding to the voice of Yahweh and walking in faith as Abraham, Jonah does the direct opposite. "But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." WOW! He does not flee the presence of the Assyrians. He flees the presence of the Lord.

Here often lies the struggle most believers have considering their faith and faithfulness. I want to submit that often the reason you and I struggle with completely making Christ a priority and center of our life is because we struggle with submitting completely to the assignment that God wants us to accomplish.

We love the Lord God with all of our soul, our hearts and our minds. Although we love him, we struggle everyday with submitting to what God wants us to do. There are days that we wake up on the wrong side of the bed. There are days where we don't feel like praying for others and then there are just days where we want to rest and take it easy. And, while the Apostle Paul would definitely argue your case for you, there is a difference between depletion and disobedience.

Jonah is not depleted. His energy is not exhausted. His situation is not some storm. Well, at least for now. Jonah is disobedient. "But Jonah rose up to f lee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord." In 1993, Harrison Ford stared in the box-office smash The Fugitive. It was an updated and modern version of popular 1960s TV series. Harrison Ford, playing Dr. Richard Kimble, is a surgeon wrongly accused of the murder of his wife. He escapes from a prison transport bus and embarks on a frenzied hunt for the real killer. A tireless and tenacious U.S. marshal, played by Tommy Lee Jones, pursues him. Dr. Richard Kimble is a fugitive.

The peril of every congregation is that each Sunday the sanctuary is at capacity will congregants that should best be described as "Fugitives of the Faith." They hide and masquerade behind the mask of incompetence, insensitivity, and isolation. They do not want to be bothered. They are of the persuasion that regular Sunday morning attendance and the giving of ten percent of their income has answered and accomplished the clarion call of God on their life. While children's ministries struggle to effect positive change in the lives of inner city kids because of the lack of volunteers and the ability of the local congregation to be more than the Sunday morning hot spot is challenged. They are fugitives of the faith that are abandoning and absconding fleeing and f lying from their assignment.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from A Fish Called Mercyby Breonus M. Mitchell, Sr. Copyright © 2011 by Breonus Mitchell. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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