Uprooting Anger: Cultivating a heart of Mercy

Introduction

Today, we're diving into the final chapter of one of the most fascinating books in the Bible – the book of Jonah.

Last week we walked through the text of Jonah 3 where we saw how God used Jonah to carry the message of His ,mercy to an entire city who where condemned to Die because of their great wickedness against Gods People - Jonahs family.

As Jonah Walked through this great city named Nineveh He cried out 8 simple words of Hope- “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed” and as a result of this proclamation the entire city of 120,000 people believed in God, repented of their wickedness and Cried out to God for Mercy.

And chapter 3 ended by simply saying

Jonah 3:10 (ESV)

10 When 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.

This had to be the most successful evangelistic campaign in history!

Jonah not even wanting to be there shared the simplest message he could have spoken and everyone believed and changed,

Now, you'd think Jonah would be thrilled, right?

Mission accomplished! God had used him to do the impossible, These evil people had confessed and changed their ways!

Time to celebrate!

If this was me I would have called back home and said Amy your not going to believe what just God did!

Every person in the city came out to our revival meetings and believed in God-

Yah you heard me right -the entire city is now following after God.

I cant believe I am here witnessing first hand one of the biggest revivals in all of human history!!!

But that's not what happened with Jonah.

Instead, we find Him angry – in fact He’s furious!– that God showed mercy to Nineveh when they deserved all of God’s wrath to be poured out upon them!

And this where our story picks up today.

But Before we judge Jonah too harshly, let's talk about anger for just A minute.

There are two types of Anger

Righteous Anger and Unrighteous Anger.

Righteous Anger is anger that aligns with God's heart,

that is directed at the sin and not the sinner.

It is anger over things that go against Gods law, And at things that mock His name.

Righteous anger is aimed at constructive action to address what is wrong and to uphold what is right. It is intended to build up not tear down.

Then there is Unrighteous Anger

This is the kind of anger that springs up from our pride, our selfishness, our desire for control.

a great definition of Unrighteous anger….

Unrighteous Anger is the strong emotional response we have when we feel that our expectations of justice have not been met.

and it usually comes out of our mouths with the words “That’s not Fair!”

It's Unrighteous anger that says, "Things aren't going my way, and I don't like it!"

Its this unrighteous anger births the words from our hearts “You hurt me, now your going to pay!”

Unlike Righteous anger that leads to constructive action , Unrighteous anger leads to destructive action-

Trans:

Jonah has come to the point in his story where the circumstances around his life have not met his expectations and he is mad at God-

Look with me at Jonah Chapter 4 verse one where it describes Jonah’s heart

Jonah 4:1 (ESV)

1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

Jonah was out right angry with God Because God relented from punishing Nineveh for their great wickedness.

He was mad because God did not do what He wanted done to those wicked People

and look how he responded to God’s mercy in verse 2

Jonah 4:2–4 (ESV)

2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

You dont have to dig too deep into this text to realize that Jonah is full of unrighteous anger .

And this anger towards the people of Nineveh has now clouded his view of Life with God!

Today as we look at this story of Jonah 4 I want us to see three things unrighteous anger does in our lives

Point # 1

1. When Unrighteous Anger Clouds Our View of Life with God

Have you ever been so angry at someone who has hurt you deeply that it begins to cloud your view of what it means to have life in Christ?

Jonah is so angry that he'd rather die than see God's mercy extended to Nineveh.

and Because of Jonahs selfish Anger He failed to see all of the goodness God had been pouring out into His own life!

He failed to see How far God had just ran to redeem him and restore Him back into life with God.

Think about all that is going on here in this text

First, we see in verse 2 that

Jonah had certain expectations about how God should act.

He says, "Isn't this what I said, Lord?"

In other words , Jonah in his anger says , "I knew You'd do this God and thats why I didn’t want to come here!”"

“I Ran down to Joppa to get away from you! because I didn’t want you to save these”

Jonah had convinced himself that “if he didn’t go then God would just give up! … Then God would have to deal with them the way that Jonah wanted them dealt with.”

How often do we do the same in our lives today?

We try to box God in- expecting Him to act according to our limited understanding and our personal preferences.

But here's the thing church: God doesn't conform to our expectations. He's not a genie in a bottle, granting our every wish.

He's the sovereign Lord of the universe, and His ways are higher than our ways -

and His plan is perfect even when it doesn't align with our own selfish desires.

When we have wrong view of God it always leads to disappointment in our lives

Secondly, in the second part of verse two we see that

Jonah seems to have a problem with God's character.

Listen to how Jonah describes God:

Jonah 4:2 (ESV)

2 …for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.

That sounds pretty good, right? As I think about that list and my life Im very grateful thats who God is,

But for Jonah, in this moment of deep Anger, these attributes of God are the problem!

You see, Jonah was fine with God being merciful to him and to Israel. He was fine and probably even grateful when God because of grace told the fish to puke him up on shore.

But to Nineveh? That was a step too far.

Jonah wanted God's justice for Nineveh, and God's mercy for himself.

Sound familiar church?

How often do we appreciate God's grace in our lives but resent it when it's extended to others – especially those we deem undeserving?

Especially those who need to pay for their sins against us so that they learn!

How often Have you cried out for Mercy and grace and forgivenss for those things in your life that you know God Hates?

And yet when you are sinned against You dont pray for that same mercy or grace or forgiveness but instead you pray for Justice!!!

How often do we pray “God I know your merciful but not this time, God I need your justice in their life and not your mercy in order to get through my hurt.”

Lastly, We see from Jonahs words at the end of verse two that

Jonah is angry with God's freedom to be God.

He's essentially saying, "God, You're not playing by the rules!"

“You are suppose to punish sin. You are suppose to be just in all things, and it is not just for you to let them off the hook!”

We sometimes fool ourselves into thinking we know better than God, that if we were in charge, we'd do things differently.

But brothers and sisters I say “thank God that He is God and we are not!

His freedom to act according to His perfect will and character is not a flaw – it's the very foundation of our hope!

Because of His anger Jonah lost sight of all that God’s Grace and mercy and forgiveness has brought into his own life.

Friends we should rejoice in the truth that God is just and all sin will be paid for , But we should also rejoice even more greatly that God in His perfection is merciful in all he does, That he is gracious in all he does, that he is loving in all he does,

Because it was in His perfect love for us that- His enemies- that He showed us mercy and Grace by forgiving our sins against him which freed us from eternal damnation in Hell and made us alive in Chris.t

Christian, Dont let Anger Cloud your vision of who you are in Christ- you are the greatest underserving recipient of Gods eternal love. Because it was through God Himself ( Jesus Christ) that the justice for your sin was paid in full! When he gave his life for yours on that cross!

Now, let's move on to verses 5-8:

Where we will see what it looks like…

2. When Unrighteous Anger Breeds a Double Standard

Jonah 4:5 ESV

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.

Here we see Jonah setting up a front-row seat, hoping to watch God's judgment fall on Nineveh.

It's like he's got his popcorn ready for the show! But God has other plans. He's about to teach Jonah – and us – a powerful lesson about mercy and double standards.

lets continue on.

Jonah 4:6–8 (ESV)

6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. 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.”

God provides a plant to shade Jonah, and Jonah is thrilled. But then God takes the plant away, and Jonah is right back to his death wish.

Do you see the irony here? Jonah is more concerned about a plant than an entire city full of people!

This little drama reveals the hypocrisy in Jonah's heart – and often in ours.

We're quick to desire comfort and blessing for ourselves, but slow to extend the same grace to others.

We rejoice when God shows us mercy but may secretly hope for judgment on those we dislike or disagree with.

And what God is doing here in this story is showing us how far our anger will take us away from Gods truth.

Think about it…

If i came up to you and said either you our this plant needs to die which would you chose?

We would chose ourselves right!

If i came up to you and said either your child our this plant needs to die which would you chose?

We would chose ourselves right!

If i came up to you and said either the person who has hurt you the most in this life our this plant needs to die which would you chose?

This is where Jonahs heart was ate! He cared more for the plants life than he died for those people in Nineveh!

God uses this object lesson to reveal Jonah's heart. And He often does the same with us.

Those moments of comfort followed by discomfort? Those times when things don't go our way?

Those times when God does something amazing for the very people who have hurt us most!

They're opportunities for God to show us what's really going on in our own hearts.

And notice Jonah's response – “ Just let me die so I dont have to deal with this any more.”

Jonah wants to run again- But you can't hide from God. You can't outrun Him or his plan for your life!

and what we see in this text is that God pursues Jonah in his anger, just as He pursued him in his disobedience.

Why? Because God cares more about the state of Jonah's heart than the success of his mission.

and this brings us to the final three veres of this story.

Jonah 4:9–11 (ESV)

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?”

Point #3

3. When Unrighteous Anger Blinds Us to Opportunities for Mercy

Here's where God drives His point home.

Look again at verse

Jonah 4:9 (ESV)

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.”

Do you see whats happening here?

God says to Jonah - Are you really saying that you love that dead plant more than all of these people whom I created in my own Image.

Jonah at this point is so consumed with His anger at God He snaps back “Yes even angry enough to Die”

Can you just hear the anger in these words!

But How often do we get to this point in our unrighteous anger with other people

How often do we say in our hearts and usually out of our mouths…

“Yes Im mad - Im mad enough to leave”

“yes Im mad - Im made enough to not care any more”

“yes Im made Im made enough to hurt you because you hurt me!”

Yes Im mad and because Im so mad at you I will hate everything you love!!!

You see Jonah is not really that different than many of us- When we let anger fester too long in our hearts it infects every part of our lives!!

And Now, in verse 10-11 God presents His case to Jonah.

Look at these verses again with me

Jonah 4:10–11 (ESV)

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?”

If Jonah felt this strongly about a plant, how much more should God care about the people of Nineveh – people He created, people made in His image?

People whom he loved enough to die for!!

God points out that there are more than 120,000 people in Nineveh who "cannot tell their right hand from their left."

God is saying that spiritually speaking -the people of Nineveh where as ignorant as immature little children.

They had no spiritual knowledge. they were completly lost in their sin.

What God is doing here is emphasizing their great need for mercy and grace in their lives.

And did you catch that last part? God even mentions the animals! He is telling Jonah Look -at least you should care that I saved all of the animals over this plant!

The contrast here is stark.

Jonah's perspective is narrow, focused on his own comfort and his ideas of justice.

and because of His anger He couldn't see these desperate people aa someone worthy of Gods Love and Mercy

God's perspective is vast, encompassing not just the people of Nineveh, but even the animals.

God sees the big picture that Jonah – and often we – miss when we're blinded by our anger and prejudices against other people.

God sent Jonah to share the message of Mercy that these people desperately needed to hear!

Jonah had the opportunity to be a huge part of God doing something miraculous in the lives of these evil People! But he missed it all because of His anger- He missed the opportunity to truly rejoice in what God had done.

Bring it Home

Church, this is where the book of Jonah ends.

It concludes not with a neat resolution, but with a question.

A question that hangs in the air, unanswered.

A question that echoes through the centuries to us today:

God in response to Jonahs Angry Heart simply says

"Should I not have more concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?"

This final verse is a powerful reminder of God's heart.

It reveals a God who cares deeply for all of mankind, even those we might consider unworthy..

It shows us a God who is patient not just with blatant sinners like the Ninevites, but also with reluctant, angry prophets like Jonah.

And here's the beautiful, challenging truth:

This same God cares for you even when you are rebellious,

He cares for your neighbor even in his spiritually immaturity

He cares for the person you struggle to love Even in their sinful actions against you

and He cares for the people in our city who still dont know His Son Jesus.

The question is: Do we share God's concern for the world?

Are we, like Jonah, more interested in our own comfort than in seeing others experience God's mercy in their lives?

Are we, like Jonah, harboring anger that blinds us to the opportunities to share God’s Mercy all around us?

Or will we allow God to expand our hearts, to help us see people the way He sees them?

Will we allow God to use us in Making and Equipping more Disciples in Clear lake and around the world

The book of Jonah doesn't tell us how Jonah responded to God's question.

But it does tell us how we should respond.

We should respond with humility, recognizing that we too were once lost, unable to tell our right hand from our left.

We should respond with gratitude for the mercy God has shown us.

And we should respond with a willingness to extend that same mercy to others especially those who have hurt us most.

So, church, as we leave here today, let's reflect on this question: Where is your Nineveh?

Who are the people in your life that you've written off as beyond God's mercy?

How might God be calling you to extend His love and grace to them today?

Remember, our God is "gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."

God is saying that spiritually speaking -the people of Nineveh where as ignorant as immature little children. They had no spiritual knowledge. they were completely lost in their sin.

May we reflect His character in our lives this week and always.

Let's pray.