Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Big Idea: Enlarge your heart for those God has a heart for
As a culture, we really hate to see good things happen to those we hate but love to see bad things happen to them.
Don’t we?
Look at what gets posted online: watch this liberal get crushed by this gun toting housewife.
See this conservative look like an idiot when she brings up health care.
Oh and we like and share the heck out of anything that makes the other side look bad.
And we hate it when something goes right for someone who sees the world differently.
The sad thing is the exact same thing happens among those who call themselves Christians.
If I am honest, I can start to root against others if I am not careful.
How about you?
Are you just a giant bundle of love and compassion for all people?
Or are there some blind spots in your heart for certain folks?
Well, the prophet Jonah had a massive blind spot when it came to love for his enemies.
But God loves Jonah and wants to change his heart, so let’s see what happens.
Jonah was a prophet that God called to go and preach a message of destruction to the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.
The Assyrians were notoriously bad people who had oppressed the people of God and Jonah despised them.
So, Jonah ran.
But he couldn’t outrun God.
God sent storms and a giant fish to convince Jonah to obey.
Jonah finally did obey and preached to the city.
Afterward, the entire city broke out in revival and the people repented of their evils ways and God spared them from the destruction.
Which brings us to our text today.Jonah was a prophet that God called to go and preach a message of destruction to the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.
The Assyrians were notoriously bad people who had oppressed the people of God and Jonah despised them.
So, Jonah ran.
But he couldn’t outrun God.
God sent storms and a giant fish to convince Jonah to obey.
Jonah finally did obey and preached to the city.
Afterward, the entire city broke out in revival and the people repented of their evils ways and God spared them from the destruction.
Which brings us to our text today.
Jonah was a prophet that God called to go and preach a message of destruction to the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.
The Assyrians were notoriously bad people who had oppressed the people of God and Jonah despised them.
So, Jonah ran.
But he couldn’t outrun God.
God sent storms and a giant fish to convince Jonah to obey.
Jonah finally did obey and preached to the city.
Afterward, the entire city broke out in revival and the people repented of their evils ways and God spared them from the destruction.
Which brings us to our text today.Jonah was a prophet that God called to go and preach a message of destruction to the city of Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire.
The Assyrians were notoriously bad people who had oppressed the people of God and Jonah despised them.
So, Jonah ran.
But he couldn’t outrun God.
God sent storms and a giant fish to convince Jonah to obey.
Jonah finally did obey and preached to the city.
Afterward, the entire city broke out in revival and the people repented of their evils ways and God spared them from the destruction.
Which brings us to our text today.
Jonah Pouts
Jonah’s anger
Jonah 4.1
Jonah is furious.
Literally the Hebrew says that the whole thing was “exceedingly evil to Jonah.”
What was evil to Jonah?
That God would show mercy to his enemies.
Let that sink in for a moment.
Jonah literally hated God’s mercy toward the Ninevites.
Why?
As a prophet of God, Jonah was aware of God’s plan to use the Assyrians to judge the people of Israel.
Jonah is mad, because he was just used by God to help save the people who would destroy his people.
It would be like if you were a time traveler who went back to the year 1890, and you saw a baby carriage rolling out of control towards a cliff.
You are able to stop it in time and return the baby to his mother, only to find out that the baby’s name is Adolf Hitler.
So you can kind of understand Jonah’s anger.
But wait, it gets worse.
The Reason Jonah Ran
Jonah 4.2
Jonah starts a shouting match with God.
Jonah reveals why he ran.
Jonah knew God’s character.
He is loving.
He is gracious.
He is merciful.
He loves to relent from disaster.
This is why God sent Jesus to save us.
It was the natural extension of his gracious character.
It’s who he is.
He loves to save people.
But listen to how messed up Jonah is.
Jonah knew God’s character, so he could read between the lines when God sent him to preach judgment to Nineveh.
The only reason God could possibly send a message of judgment would be because he wanted to warn the people.
Jonah wanted to be sure that they would not get that warning.
He wanted to be sure that God’s justice would fall on his enemies.
He ran because he did not want his enemies to experience the grace of God.
Oh but it gets even worse.
Jonah longs for death
Jonah is so upset with God for saving the Ninevites, that he would rather die than live in a world where his enemies experience God’s mercy.
Notice the irony here.
Jonah two chapters ago was crying out for God to save him from death by drowning.
Now he is saying he wished he was dead!
And God asks him, “Oh you got a right to be angry buddy?”
I picture God like a parent standing over his kid throwing a temper tantrum.
I was cooking eggs and threw a fit and made a mess, and Jessica asked me, “Do you feel better?”
That’s kind of what God is doing with Jonah.
Jonah watches
Jonah 4:
So Jonah storms off out of the city.
He’s literally having to step around and over people on their faces before God.
He goes out to the east and sets up camp.
What’s he doing?
He is waiting to see if God is still going to judge the city.
He’s holding out for God to send his wrath anyway!
Jonah sets up camp to see whether God will still send judgment on the city.
What is God going to do with this prophet?
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