The Missionary’s Love

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant[b] and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort.[c] So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

In 1942, when he was twenty-one years old, Oskar Groening was posted to Auschwitz. He almost immediately witnessed a transport arriving at “the ramp” — the platform where the Jews disembarked. “I was standing at the ramp,” he says, “and my task was to be part of the group supervising the luggage from an incoming transport.” He watched while SS doctors first separated men from women and children, and then selected who was fit to work and who should be gassed immediately. “Sick people were lifted on to lorries,” says Groening. “Red Cross lorries — they always tried to create the impression that people had nothing to fear.”

He estimates that between 80 and 90 percent of those on the first transport he witnessed in September 1942 were selected to be gassed at once.

“This process [of selection] proceeded in a relatively orderly fashion but when it was over it was just like a fairground. There was a load of rubbish, and next to this rubbish were ill people, unable to walk, perhaps a child that had lost its mother, or perhaps during searching the train somebody had hidden — and these people were simply killed. And the kind of way in which these people were treated brought me doubt and outrage.”

Groening, according to his story, was so filled by “doubt and outrage” that he went to his superior officer and told him: “It’s impossible, I can’t work here any more. If it is necessary to exterminate the Jews, then at least it should be done within a certain framework.” His superior officer calmly listened to Groening’s complaints, reminded him of the SS oath of allegiance he had sworn and said that he should “forget” any idea of leaving Auschwitz. But he also offered hope — of a kind. He told Groening that the “excesses” he saw that night were an “exception,” and that he himself agreed that members of the SS should not participate in such “sadistic” events. Documents confirm that Groening subsequently put in for a transfer to the front, which was refused. So he carried on working at Auschwitz.

This story Brings to mind a question to me.

How could the German soldiers do this? These horrible acts! Murdering Thousands!

I believe you will find it started, for most, with being taught the evils of the Jews, the necessity of killing them, and maybe even fear for their life and family. But basically brainwashing.

One of the major components to getting mass amounts of people to be complicit with such acts is to dehumanize a people group. Hitler focused on turning the Jewish people into something less then human, almost animal. And after being taught this for so long people accepted that line of thought. Its said that the German Guards could kill thousands of Jews but cry at a dead butterfly. This isn’t the only example of dehumanizing in the world.

Look at Slavery. You see people had to dehumanize slaves in order to live with such an atrocity. They decided these people where not people, instead the bought and sold them like cars.

Or look at Abortion. If you look you will see society has begun to use more scientific terms for the baby. Like fetus. Group of cells. Not human life till it leaves the woman. Even though it could survive outside the womb as early as 22 weeks.

Watch this Clip from a movie called Juno. It show how making the child a person can really effect others beliefs. See how she humanized the child and it effected Juno. That’s because society has dehumanized the unborn children for so long

We should treat every baby like it is a baby, but its easier to dehumanize the child, slave, Jew and do what help us, makes us feel better, profits us, or works with our desires

This is what Jonah has done. He has Dehumanized the Ninevites. Now unlike Jews, Slaves, and Unborn babies the ninevites have really set themselves with their horrible acts. Its made it easy to hate them. And when we hate something, its easier to kill it. And when its easier to kill something its easier to dehumanize it.

Matthew 5

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother[c] will be liable to judgment; whoever insults[d] his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell[e] of fire.

1. We have to Humanize the People around us

Well Bro Rich. I don’t dehumanize people. And many of you might think that, but I want you to consider. Many people facebook and tweet horrible things about the homeless. How do we look at them? Like people? Lazy bums? blight to the city?

How do we feel about terrorist? Government and personal are different. We might fight terrorist as a nation but as a person, do I love them or do I wish they would all die? Remember if they die they will go to hell.

How do we feel in Walmart. Is that people who could die and go to hell. Or just a crowd. Dehumanizing isn’t always hateful.

2. We have to love them more then plants and animals

Jonah was more upset over a plant then the people.

God trys to appeal to Jonah with the cattle. If I struck down all the people then the cattle would die too.

3. We have to Love the like Christ

Romans 5:8 English Standard Version (ESV)

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.