Epiphany 3B 2024

Text: 5And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it. (Jonah 3:5, 10)

The story of Jonah means different things to different people. For some, it’s proof that the Bible is just a bunch of stories and myths. For others, it is evidence that God’s way is always the best way. But both are wrong. It is, in fact, reliable history, as is the rest of scripture. But it’s not a lesson in obedience. From beginning to end it’s about grace. And the irony of this lesson in grace is that, while gentiles get it, while pagans get it, God’s grace seems to be wasted on His own prophet.

God’s grace is seemingly wasted on Jonah. He had, personally, seen and received a great deal of grace—even just in this story alone.

In response to his outright rebellion, God sent a storm. In that storm God graciously in brought an end to Jonah’s disobedience. Most of all, Jonah received grace as his life was spared. We are so used to the story that we almost take for granted that he would be swallowed by the whale and survive. When the sailors threw him overboard, they expected he would drown. In fact, even after Jonah came clean and admitted he was the one responsible, still they tried to push their way through the storm. When he told them that the answer was to throw him overboard, they kept trying to push their way through. They did everything they could not to (essentially) carry out this divine death sentence. And Jonah must certainly have expected to die when he was thrown overboard. Instead, his life was graciously spared. One of the touching moments of the book of Jonah is his song of praise from inside the whale, thanking God for sparing him.

If that weren’t enough, Jonah received a very gracious second chance to obey God’s call. As the book of Jonah comes to a close after our text, Jonah receives one final lesson in grace. As he watched and waited for the destruction of Nineveh, God caused a plant to grow and give him shade.

But it was, seemingly, wasted. His heart remained hard. When that shade plant died and withered, he was angry with God.

Earlier, after the whale spit him up on the shore, even though what he deserved was death and what he got was life, he then proceeded to proclaim only God’s wrath and judgment to the people of Nineveh. “40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” That was the sum total of his message.

The greatest example of his hardened heart is also the primary reason he ran the opposite direction in the first place: he knew that God would actually forgive the people of Nineveh if they repented. You see, after our text, Jonah went and found a place overlooking the city of Nineveh—at a safe distance—and sat and waited. He waited for the 40 days to be over and for God to punish those wicked people—and make no mistake, they were evil—he waited and he was disappointed. Our text says: “10When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.” What are the very next words? Jonah was furious. He called out to God and said, “Isn’t this exactly what I said would happen when I was still back home? This is why I headed to Tarshish; because I knew that if they repented you would actually have mercy on them. You would actually forgive these people.” (Jonah 4:1-2, my own paraphrase)

Jonah had received so much grace. He had been forgiven for his blatant disobedience. His life had literally been spared. And then he showed that all of that grace was wasted on him by his refusal to show grace to others. That was the lesson of the plant God gave him for shade and then took away. He was the one who chose to sit there watching for the destruction of Nineveh. While he sat there, God graciously gave him that plant for shade. Then God allowed it to die. And Jonah complained, as if he had a right to that plant. As if God owed him something. By the way he reveled in the destruction of others, he showed that God’s grace had been wasted on him.

Thankfully it was not wasted on the ship’s crew or on the people of Nineveh. That’s the irony of the book of Jonah, isn’t it? These gentile sailors recognize God’s grace. The pagan citizens of Nineveh turn to God, calling upon Him for grace and mercy. In fact, the repentance of the people of Nineveh becomes “the Sign of Jonah.”

“A wicked and adulterous generation demands a sign,” Jesus says in Luke 11, “but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. …[32] The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.“ (Luke 11:32 ESV)

Again, while God’s people self-righteously mocked this teacher, this Rabbi, who insisted on eating with tax collectors and sinners, those same tax collectors and sinners, Samaritans and Gentiles and former pagans were receiving God’s grace and entering the Kingdom of God ahead of them.

Don’t allow God’s grace to be wasted on you. Accept the sign of Jonah! The message is clear today: Repent! We’ve already considered Jonah’s message to Nineveh, but that’s the point of Paul’s words to the Corinthians, as well: “the appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, 30and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, 31and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.” But if you don’t heed either Jonah or Paul, at least hear Jesus’ words: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

This is not a quaint message of ‘yesteryear’. This is not a message for “those unbelievers out there.” This is the message Jonah himself needed to hear. This is the message Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth. This is the message Jesus preaches to God’s people, from the lowest to highest. It didn’t matter if it was the crowds or the religious experts and teachers who asked for a sign, He gave both groups the same sign: the sign of Jonah. This sign is for you.

Are we, ourselves, any more gracious toward “sinners” than Jonah was? Make no mistake, we are fighting serious battles against serious enemies, fighting to maintain the truth of God’s word. But even if we were to win the battle tomorrow in the sense of passing legislation to protect the sanctity of life, to recognize only natural marriage, we would be far from done with the fight. In fact, the real battle is not political. It’s spiritual. It’s calling people to repentance—so that we can share with them the message of God’s amazing grace that is for them.

Perhaps the first step in fighting these battles must be to return to the practice of private confession and absolution. Confessing our sins to the pastor and receiving absolution for those very sins. How can we call others to repent when we have stopped repenting?

On occasion I have the unhappy task of approaching people who are living in some form of open sin. More and more my approach has centered on one simple question: “Do you desire forgiveness for this sin?” It’s a simple question, but it’s very revealing. Often it’s hard for us to even use that ‘s’ word about something that we’ve done. It’s hard to acknowledge that my choice, my words, my actions, my inactions, are sin. That they need to be forgiven. Is it any wonder that the church of our day is seen as judgmental? Even hateful?

The people of Nineveh repented in sackcloth and ashes when the one who had been three days and three nights in the belly of the whale came and called them to repentance. Repent and believe in the One who was three days and three nights in the tomb!

Repent and believe! In a few weeks we’ll begin the season of Lent; that 40 day period of repentance, of fasting, of sackcloth and ashes (figuratively, if not literally). Very much like the 40 days the people of Nineveh had. Except in one important respect. For them it must have been a very long 40 days because they only heard part of the story from Jonah. All they heard from him was that God’s wrath and judgment were coming. Period. They repented, but they were left hoping. Hoping that maybe, somehow, this God of Jonah would be merciful. Hoping that, perhaps, they might be able to humble themselves enough to show their sincerity and to persuade Him to relent. It must have been a very anxious 40 days.

But not for you. Yes, absolutely, set aside the 40 days of Lent for repentance. Real repentance. Real self-examination. Real ashes. But you don’t repent with some vague hope. You repent in the full knowledge that God’s wrath is coming in 40 days. And at the end of that 40 days His wrath will be poured out—not on you or me, but on His own Son, on the only righteous man to ever live. The One who purchased the grace that you and I enjoy at the price of His very life. Repent and believe! Know and trust that you are guilty. And that you are declared innocent for the sake of Jesus Christ.

One of my favorite quotes is: “The one who has been forgiven much loves much.” On one level it’s a foolish statement. Who hasn’t been forgiven? But every one of us, at various times, has been Jonah. Self-righteously acting as if God owed us something for the money we’ve given or the time we’ve volunteered or the good works we’ve done. That saying may sound foolish, but it’s right on. The one who understands how much he has been forgiven—how can he be anything but gracious and loving to others? How can he be anything other than the antithesis of Jonah and his story?

When it’s all over, what will your story show? Hopefully it will show something better than Jonah’s. You were in a very similar place. I certainly hope that none of you have ever been swallowed by a whale, but while you were still enemies of God, He came and chased you down. He chased you down and commanded that you should be cast into the water of baptism. And there, in that water, you died. Your sinful nature was drowned. Now, your baptism didn’t take three days but, in that water, you were united with Christ in His death. You were joined to His 3-day rest in the tomb so that, as He stepped out victorious on Easter Sunday, He carried you with Him. The sign of Jonah points to the greater reality of what He did for you in this water. The act of deliverance God provided as Jonah was cast into the water that day really was amazing. But it’s nothing compared to the far greater act of deliverance He performed for you in this water.

The story of Jonah means different things to different people. But, for you, it should be a warning not to let God’s grace go to waste.