When Winning Feels Like Losing
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7 May 17
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We left off with Jonah having obeyed the Lord and delivered his message to the Ninevites – which really was, “Turn or burn.” The Ninevites responded to Jonah’s message and repented of their wickedness. And now as we enter chapter 4, we need to understand that there are three opposing forces working in this story: The good, the bad and the ugly. (theme song)
The Good of course is God. He’s always the good guy.
The Bad are the Ninevites. And lastly …
The Ugly would be Jonah.
Let’s talk about the Good -
Starting in chapter 3, verse 10 -
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.
This should remind us that even the most wicked of “those people” can turn to God for repentance and salvation. No one is beyond salvation.
This should also remind us that there a times when we do not know the spiritual condition of the human heart – especially of “those people.”
Here’s one of the great truths about our good God - God sees the heart. He sees and knows what we cannot. This is (Man looks at the appearance, God looks at the heart). God knows when true repentance and conversion takes place. We need to keep that in mind as we interact with people - God is doing stuff within the heart that we’re not always aware of.
I like what Matthew Henry says about this -
“God takes notice of every instance of the reformation of sinners, even those instances that fall not under the cognizance and observation of the world. He sees who turn from their evil way and who do not, and meets those with favour that meet him in a sincere conversion.”
What does this tell us? It tells us that is true.
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
, is true - that this good God is patient with “those people,” not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance – Doesn’t matter who “those people” are or what “those people” have done, God desires to meet “those people” with love and grace - which is what happened with the Ninevites - and when they repented, God revealed His goodness by doing what? He relented.
Doesn’t matter who “those people” are or what “those people” have done, God desires to meet “those people” with love and grace - which is what happened with the Ninevites - and when they repented, God revealed His goodness by doing what? He relented.
Now what does it mean that this omniscient sovereign God relented and what does that have to do with being good? You’ll see this in other places in Scripture, where God relented, so it would be good to understand what it means.
Some translations have the word repent. That’s not the best word because God never repents. Repentance has to do with a change of mind or direction because the first decision was the wrong decision. God is perfect and never makes a wrong decision and thus never needs to repent. Repentance is a human thing - Relenting is a God thing.
The Hebrew for relent is niḥam and refers to a decision to act otherwise and does not imply that the first decision was a mistake or wrong.
What does that mean? As we travel our path of life, at various moments along the way, God will intervene by giving us options: Door #1 or Door #2, and behind each door is a consequence. As a good God, He is asking, “Are you certain you want to keep going down the path you’re on? Are you sure you want to go that way? Hint hint.”
Door #1, which is to continue on the same path - (buzzer) bad choice – “I’m telling you, you don’t want to go that way.” But Door #2 - (ding ding) the best choice. If we choose Door #2, God relents of the forewarned destruction or consequences. So we see that God is good – giving opportunities for repentance.
If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.
God states that, “If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned.”
So we see that God is good and has immense love and patience and mercy for His creation - wanting all to come to repentance.
So we see that God is good and has immense love and patience and mercy for His creation - wanting all to come to repentance.
So what about The Bad - The Ninevites were bad because they were bad to the bone. They were bad because they were ignorant of God, ignorant of sin, and thus ignorant of their wickedness. Even God said in 4:11 that they don’t know their left from right - meaning they lacked the ability to live morally and ethically. They were bad because they were behaving according to their sin nature.
And that’s what people do - we behave according to our nature. Read
And so this good God desires for “those bad people” to repent. And repentance should lead to the salvation and sanctification process - of transforming our sinful nature into a holy nature.
So, we have the Good, the Bad, but what about the Ugly - Jonah. Why was Jonah ugly? Because his daddy was ugly - I don’t know. Not talking physical features here - talking about his attitude. In our house, when someone has a rotten attitude … Susan will say, “Quit being ugly!” Meaning, get rid of the stinky ugly attitude.
That’s Jonah - his ugly attitude stink, stank and stunk. Enquiring minds want to know, so let’s read about Jonah the Ugly.
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant. But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have 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?”
But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah had gone out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God provided a leafy plant and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the plant (don’t know what kind of plant…). But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered. When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah’s head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, “It would be better for me to die than to live.”
But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”
Why was Jonah so ugly - so hateful, so angry, furious? Here are a few possible reasons, and I’m going to go through them then summarize them with one key thought before we leave.
“It is,” he said. “And I’m so angry I wish I were dead.”
But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have 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?”
Why was Jonah so ugly - so hateful, so angry, furious? Here are a few possible reasons, and I’m going to go through them then summarize them with one key thought before we leave.
Politically - Israel was hoping Assyria would just go away. They feared, and rightfully so, that Assyria would soon conquer Israel, so they wanted God to eliminate the enemy.
The title of this sermon is When Winning Feels Like Losing. The Kingdom of God won when Nineveh repented, but Jonah felt like he had lost. He played a part in the survival of “those people.” No wonder why he wanted to die!
Ever think to yourself, “If God would just deal with those people - kind of get rid of them - then my life will be better. I would win if God dealt with those people, but to humble myself and love them and minister to them - that feels like losing.”
God will put us in places where we feel like losing so God can win.
Why was Jonah so ugly?
Personally - he’s thinking, “I can’t go back to Israel. If they find out what I did, that I helped ‘those people,’ the rest of Israel will hate me. They’ll probably kill me. I might as well just die right now.” He’s thinking, “My approval rating as prophet will plummet. This is losing - bigtime.”
Ever feel that way - what will others think of me if I reach out to so-and-so, if I forgive that person, if I invite “those people” to lunch. I know deep down inside this is winning in the kingdom of God, but man this feels like I’m the loser! If I forgive them and let them off the hook - this feels like I’m losing.
God will put us in places where we appear to be the losers so God can win.
Why was Jonah so ugly? Another reason had to do with his own spiritual condition.
Spiritually - I think Jonah was ugly because what God asked him to do revealed his own spiritual condition. It’s obvious Jonah knew about God, that God was compassionate and merciful, but he didn’t have a heart like God. I think Paul wrote about this in - you can do all kinds of miracles and have all kinds of knowledge but if you lack love, you’re nothing.
God will put us in places where we feel like we’re losing to reveal our hearts - to reveal if we’re Christ-like or not. Sometimes we have to lose in order for God to win.
We could come up with many reasons for why Jonah was ugly - why he felt like he was losing - but this last one, is the one that I really want us to take home. Jonah was ugly because he was self-centered. When we read about all the events - the storm, the fish, the plant, it is clear that Jonah was more concerned about his own comfort than the lives of the Ninevites. He was more concerned about self-preservation than the eternal destiny of “those people.”
I think we all struggle with that at times. Comfort and self-preservation can be idols. If I give “those people” mercy, they’re getting off the hook, they’re not getting what they deserve, they’re getting over on me, or I’ll appear weak, or other people will think differently of me, or I will have less … so on and so on.
So here’s the summary of the entire book of Jonah - as the Good, the Bad and the ugly continually go back and forth in our world - this is what I want us to take home:
Their soul is more important than my flesh.
That sounds very churchy - but think about it. Their soul is more important than our flesh - or what our flesh desires. And our flesh desires comfort, it desires food, it desires rest, it desires recognition, it desires ….
So where do we go from here?