People > Things

During the past six years, I’ve told y’all lots of incriminating and embarrassing stories about myself, even though there are some who’d say a pastor should maintain a certain decorum and dignity.

My argument is that I gave up my dignity a long time ago, and if my stories help you to understand God’s grace and mercy, then I’m happy to share them.

But today, I’m going to break new ground by talking about my driving.

I’ve been hesitant to share many driving stories, because I already have to deal with unfounded complaints from the ladies who are my regular passengers.

Truly, I don’t know how I ever avoided all those pedestrians before I had Annette in the passenger seat, stomping on her imaginary brake pedal because she’s terrified I might hit that person crossing the street 15 blocks ahead of us.

But there was a time in my life — when I was in my 20s — when her fears as a passenger might have been warranted.

Let’s just say, I got a few tickets. Enough to be required to go to driving school.

And I remember that first stint at driving school well. (And, yes, you’ve correctly inferred that I must’ve had to go to driving school again, because I clearly didn’t learn what I should have learned the first time.)

I was a student at Virginia Tech, and a Montgomery County ticket was the last straw for the judge who heard my case. He ordered me to attend driving school in Radford.

During one of the sessions, I remember the instructor talking about paying attention not just to what’s in front of you, but also to what’s in front of THAT.

The idea is to be aware of anything that might go wrong and to be ready to respond with evasive action.

The example he gave us has stuck with me ever since. If you’re driving down the highway and see someone coming toward you in your lane, he said, look for something soft to hit — like a cow.

Someone in the class — it wasn’t me — pointed out that a cow is pretty big and heavy and would likely cause significant property damage, or even injuries — not to mention how things would work out for the cow.

But the instructor rightly noted that a crash with a stationary cow is likely to be survivable, whereas a head-on crash with another car doing 60 mph is likely NOT to be survivable.

So, to this very day, I watch for cows when I’m driving. They don’t seem to mind, although they probably would mind very much if they knew what I was thinking.

The reason I tell you all this is that I want you thinking today about hierarchies. People are more important than cows. That was the lesson from my driving instructor. And, in a way, it’s the lesson from this week’s passage in the Book of Jonah.

This isn’t the last sermon you’ll hear on Jonah — you’ll get a bonus next week — but it’s the last one focused on the 12 spiritual growth indicators we find in this account from Jonah’s life.

And today’s spiritual growth indicator for followers of Jesus from the Book of Jonah is this: “A life that’s growing spiritually is concerned about people, not things.” [Mark Yarbrough, Jonah: Beyond the Tale of a Whale, (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2020), 169.]

Let’s take a look at the last couple of verses in this book, and then we’ll talk about the lessons they teach us.

Jonah 4:10–11 NASB95

10 Then the Lord said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. 11 “Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?”

Jonah, the reluctant prophet, has fought against God’s calling at every point in this story.

Even when he finally obeyed God and went to Nineveh to warn of God’s impending judgment for the violence and brutality that were endemic to that society, he did so grudgingly and half-heartedly.

When he arrived there, he preached the shortest evangelical message ever preached. And then, he hoofed it out of town, just as the Ninevites were repenting and experiencing God’s grace and mercy.

He found a hill overlooking the city, sat down and waited to see if God would do what Jonah thought He should do. He still wanted to see the Ninevites destroyed.

And you’ll recall from last week that God used a plant, a worm, and a hot wind to teach Jonah a lesson about compassion.

When God caused a plant to grow up overnight to provide Jonah with shade from the hot sun, Jonah rejoiced — the only time we see him rejoicing in this whole account.

But then, when God sent the worm to destroy the plant, Jonah grieved and said he wanted to die.

Four chapters and more than a month of Jonah’s life have passed, and he STILL has a lousy attitude about what God’s doing.

And I’m going to warn you now that we won’t find the kind of closure we want from this story in the Bible. Nowhere do we read that Jonah finally changed his tune, that he finally aligned his own values and priorities with the values and priorities of God.

But it’s likely that Jonah was the one who wrote this account. And it stands to reason that if he still held his wrong attitudes when he wrote about this incident in his life, he’d have made some effort to present himself in a more sympathetic light. Or maybe not have written it at all.

Indeed, I think Jonah DID come to understand how out of touch he was with God. And I think he desperately wanted his fellow citizens of Israel to realize it, too.

And to that end, the last two verses of this book are the key to the whole thing.

Remember how angry Jonah was because God relented from His judgment after the Ninevites repented? Remember how happy he was when God sent the plant to give him shade? Remember how angry he was (again) when God sent the worm to destroy the plant?

Now, we see God using that jumble of emotions to teach Jonah what should REALLY matter to him.

God had caused Jonah to experience both comfort and suffering there on the hillside, while the Ninevites rejoiced over God’s grace and mercy.

But Jonah’s attitude about the dead plant revealed that he was really only concerned about his own comfort. So, he mourned the loss of the plant.

He had no more compassion for the Ninevites than they’d had for Israel. He was no better than them.

But there was one way Jonah was different from the Ninevites, and that difference SHOULD have made Jonah more compassionate toward others: He knew the God of all compassion and grace.

And so, God reminds Jonah that there’s a hierarchy for compassion — and PEOPLE should be at the top of that hierarchy.

Nineveh and its suburbs had 120,000 people who were naive about God and ignorant regarding righteousness. That’s what God means when He uses the figure of speech about them not knowing the difference between their right and left hands.

Weren’t they more valuable than a plant? Should God not have had compassion for them, since what they faced apart from Him was eternal condemnation?

In fact, God had several reasons that He gave for His compassion and pity for the Ninevites. I love how the 17th-century minister, Matthew Henry, describes God’s reasons:

“‘The gourd [or plant] thou hadst pity on was but one; but the inhabitants of Nineveh, whom I have pity on, are numerous.’ … The gourd which Jonah was concerned for was none of his own; which he made not to grow; but the persons in Nineveh whom God had compassion on were all the work of his own hands; he made them, and his they were … The gourd which Jonah had pity on was of a sudden growth, and therefore of less value; … but Nineveh is an ancient city, of many ages standing and therefore cannot be so easily given up. … The gourd which Jonah had pity on perished in a night, it withered, and there was an end of it. But the precious souls in Nineveh that God had pity on are immortal.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Jon 4:11, quoting Henry.]

Take a look at the text. God’s telling Jonah that even the animals in Nineveh were more worthy of his compassion than the stupid plant was.

God’s compassion for the animals of Nineveh is a reminder that we, too, should feel compassion for animals.

But, even more important, if He’s compassionate toward the animals He created to be ruled over by mankind, then how much MORE compassion should we feel for those who’ve been made in the image of God?

Especially when we understand that they’re subject to God’s judgment and wrath if they don’t turn to Jesus in faith?

Jonah wasn’t yet ready to concede the point, but God had maneuvered him into a corner.

“Jonah has furiously argued for the worth of a one-day-old plant. He can have no good argument, then, against the worth of Nineveh, with all its people and animals.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Jon 4:11, quoting Stuart.]

It’s interesting to note that only two books of the Bible end with unanswered questions. Here, God asks Jonah a question about His pity and compassion over Nineveh.

And in the Book of Nahum, God concludes His prophecy of Assyria’s eventual judgment and destruction with a question about the nation’s wickedness and evil.

We don’t get to hear Jonah’s reply to God’s question. By omitting his reply in the writing of this account, Jonah makes the question universal in scope.

For the original audience, the unanswered question became a challenge to overhaul Israel’s wrong theology regarding missions.

God had chosen the people of Israel for a purpose. He’d created the nation for a purpose. That purpose was to glorify God.

And glorifying God meant, in part, sharing the message that His grace and mercy are available to all who will repent and turn to Him in faith.

As the Israelites stood at the base of Mt. Sinai after God had rescued them from their enslavement in Egypt, God gave Moses a message for them. We see it in Exodus, chapter 19.

Exodus 19:4–6 NASB95

4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. 5 ‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”

Look at what He calls them to be. A holy nation. In other words, a nation that’s set apart for service to God.

Part of that service, of course, would be to turn away from sin and TO the righteousness of God and to worship Him in all the ways He would direct them to do so.

But what we see in this passage is that the greatest calling for Israel, this holy nation, was to be a kingdom of priests.

Now, the purpose of the priests in Israel was to represent the people to God. In the sacrificial system, for example, the people would bring their sin and thanksgiving offerings to the priests, who would be the ones to make the actual sacrifice.

And once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the chief priest would enter the Holy of Holies, that place in the tabernacle where the presence of God dwelt within Israel.

There, the priest would represent the nation before God, sacrificing a goat for the sins of the nation.

And just as the priests of Israel were to have compassion for the people of Israel, demonstrating that compassion through their prayers and their sacrificial duties, the people of Israel were ALSO to have compassion for the lost in the pagan nations that surrounded them.

Sadly, Jonah was a perfect representative for Israel at the time. He perfectly reflected the arrogance and pride of his people, who were content to enjoy what they considered to be their special status as God’s chosen people.

They’d failed miserably in their calling to be a kingdom of priests. Indeed, the actual priests of Israel were also failing the people of Israel in the same way, as God would make clear through the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 34 of that book.

Listen to what God says to the priests, the shepherds of Israel, through his prophet, Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 34:1–6 NASB95

1 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock? 3 “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock. 4 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. 5 “They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. 6 “My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.” ’ ”

And so, following the example of their priests, the people of Israel had been unconcerned with the eternal future of their neighbors. In fact, Jonah’s hate-filled attitude toward the Ninevites was common in Israel at the time.

And this was at least part of the point of God’s sending Jonah to Nineveh. Certainly, He wanted the Ninevites to repent for their sins and turn to Him in faith. But He ALSO wanted Jonah and Israel to learn a lesson about sharing His values and priorities.

And it’s interesting that the Apostle Peter uses some of the same terminology from Exodus, chapter 19, in his first letter to the churches of Asia Minor.

Listen to what Peter says to these churches in chapter 2 of that letter:

1 Peter 2:9–12 NASB95

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Just as God had made a nation from a collection of Abraham’s descendants who were slaves in Egypt and then set them apart for His service, so He has made a holy nation of all those from all times and all places who have turned to Jesus in faith and repentance.

Just as Israel belongs to God, so does the church belong to God in Christ Jesus. Just as Israel was called out of the darkness of slavery in Egypt, so are we called out of the darkness of slavery to sin. Just as Israel received mercy from God, so do we who follow Jesus receive God’s mercy.

And just as Israel was called to be a nation of priests, so are we Christ-followers to be priests to the world, representing the people to God and drawing them to Jesus through our prayers and compassion for them.

As Jesus put it, we’re to be salt and light to the tasteless and dark world that lives apart from Him. We’re to be the city on a hill, whose light attracts the curious and downtrodden of the world to a relationship with Jesus that results in joy and LIFE.

Sometimes, the church does that well. When we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and house the homeless. When we send missionaries into our communities and around the world.

When we live lives of quiet, humble, righteousness in the knowledge that — but for the grace of God — we’d be just as desperately lost as our greatest enemies.

When we see every interaction — even with those who hate us and persecute us — as an opportunity to share the life-giving message of God’s grace and mercy.

Other times, as with the American church’s current tilt toward Christian Nationalism, we look just like ancient Israel, just like Jonah.

Pridefully focused on ourselves, on our own comfort, on our own peace. Arrogantly assuming that God has a special blessing for us and for our nation because of who we are or what we’ve done.

Carelessly ignoring or even mocking the suffering of others without a care in the world that they’re loved by God or that they’re headed for eternal destruction apart from Him.

Jonah couldn’t have been a Christian Nationalist. But he most certainly was a Hebrew Nationalist. Even so, God showed Jonah grace and compassion, despite the fact that Jonah’s attitudes dishonored God.

But He also allowed Jonah to suffer so he’d finally recognize God’s sovereignty over ALL the nations, so that Jonah would finally understand that it’s GOD who lifts up and tears down.

Don’t think that God won’t do the same to the church, even the church here in America.

When the stench of the idolatrous relationship many American Christians have with their national identity finally reaches heaven, I believe God will rebuke and chastise the church to bring us to repentance, just as He did with Jonah.

Folks, we ARE special to God. We who’ve followed Jesus in faith have been chosen by God to become part of His kingdom.

None of us deserves this blessing. What we all deserve for the sin of our rebellion against God is eternal damnation. We deserve to spend eternity with Satan, the ruler whom, in our sins, we chose over God.

But God is gracious, and He loves us, and He provided a way — through faith in His Son, Jesus — for us to be reconciled to Him.

Our salvation is entirely GOD’S work in us. So, what right do we have to be prideful? What reason could we have to be arrogant?

What makes us think we have the right to sit in judgment and condemnation against even our greatest enemies, like Jonah on the hill outside of Nineveh?

As one commentator puts it: “It is not only the unbelievers in the Ninevehs of today who need to repent; it is also we who are modern Jonahs. For no one begins to understand this profound and searching little book unless he discovers the Jonah in himself and then repentantly lays hold upon the boundless grace of God.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Jon 4:11, quoting Gaebelein.]

Jonah’s story reminds us that people are more important than things. People are more important than your bank balance. People are more important than your retirement plan. People are more important than your comfort. People are more important than your politics. People are more important than national pride.

“Look out at the world, [Jonah’s story tells us. Look] at God’s world. See it through God’s eyes. And let your new vision overcome your natural bitterness, your hardness of soul. Let the divine compassion flood your own hearts.” [Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Jon 4:11, quoting Allen.]

People are important to God. He values people, no matter how they vote, how much money they have, where they live, what they’ve done, or even how they’ve sinned against Him.

Let’s make people OUR top priority. Let’s see others with God’s eyes. And let’s show THEM the same compassion God has shown US.