Jonah 4 (1)

Good morning Family. I also want to say Good morning to our Fairhaven Venue, Cafe Venue, and our Rockford rescue mission venue and to those of you listening online. We are so glad that you are joining us this morning. Today we are concluding our Jonah series and we are going to find that Jonah continues to have a heart problem and God is going to try to invite Jonah to partner with him to have a heart shift through a few invitations and Jonah is going to completely miss it.

I grew up as a huge sports fan. It’s what my family does and still do. One of the teams I like is the Detroit Pistons. And it was really fun. When I was in high school and the first few years of college, the pistons were really good! No they didn’t win 6 titles but they dominated the east for 6 years. When I was in college one night I got an incredible invitation. A friend of a friend, was given bulls tickets by a friend. These tickets might as well have been the equivalent of someone giving me $5000. He drove us there…we got to sit on the 15th row. I had been to one nba game like 5 years before this and we were sitting all the way at the top in the corner. You could hardly see them. But in these seats, you could see them clear as day! It came down to a last second shot.

Now this whole experience which is still so memorable to me, was all based on an invitation. An invitation that required someone to offer it, and for me to receive it. Because someone offered and I received it, I have an amazing memory! Here is what we are going to see today. Jonah is given an incredible invitation from the Lord. And Jonah, is going to keep resisting. But the Lord is going to keep inviting, keep coming after Jonah.

Let’s pick up the story at the end of Chapter 3.

​ NIVWhen 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. 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.

Jonah 3:10–4:2 NIV

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. 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.

Jonah is mad. Why? Because he doesn’t understand how a God can give mercy to his enemies the Ninevites. In fact it is so conflicting for him that he says, I wish I would have just stayed home. Jonah’as problem is that God doesn’t fit in his box that Jonah has for God. And what we are going to see is that God is trying to expand Jonah’s box. See Jonah thinks that he knows exactly how God operates and what he is going to do.Jonah believes that his people, Israel are the chosen ones and that God is going to destroy the others. But what we are beginning to see, is that God is inviting Jonah into his perspective, into his understanding of the world, to see that he is also inviting the Ninevites.

Jonah 4:3–4 NIV

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?”

He is so distraught by it that he says just take my life. It’s better that I don’t have to be a part of this. But then God says, is it right for you to be angry? Do you think this is okay? And I don’t get the sense that God is asking with a biting tone…It’s not “ARE YOU RIGHT TO BE ANGRY? I think what is happening here is that God is continuing to show Jonah the need to repair his heart. He is continuing to lovingly show Jonah where he really is. He is trying to bring about transformation to him by asking questions and dialogue …but notice what happens...

​ NIVJonah 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.

Jonah 4:5 NIV

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.

So Jonah notice....didn’t respond to God. He just ignored him. He picks up and it says he goes to the east of the city and sitting down, here is what he is doing. If you remember back in chapter 3 the prophecy was that Nineveh would be destroyed in 40 days if they didn’t repent.

And so for Jonah, what is happening here is that he is hoping that this is his Friday night movie that he is waiting to see not justice, but vengeance poured out on Nineveh. Like I’m just imagining that Jonah is sitting there going, man this is the sequel to Sodom & Gomorrah. This is going to be incredible. Do you think he will use burning sulphur again, last time he used a pillar of salt? What will he do for an encore? And so he is getting comfortable and it get’s better....

Jonah 4:6 NIV

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.

only time Jonah is happy. The only time he thinks of something other than himself. Think about that.God has sent him on a mission to bring revival and he has been living in opposition, he has been complaining, pulling this whole whoa is me routine but the second he gets a temporary little plant to distract him, he is pleased. He is the most successful missionary ever. Preached a 5 word sermon in Hebrew and everyone repented. and yet the only time he is happy is when there is a plant. Again, Jonah has a heart problem.

​ NIVBut 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.”

Jonah 4:7–9 NIV

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.”

So God has provided 3 things for Jonah. And I believe that these 3 things were invitations for Jonah to see that he needed his heart to be transformed. Think about this

The first two things God provided was a plant for him and a worm- He blesses him. Jonah was a runaway and rebellious and his attitude was the worst, but God still blessed him. Blessings are not given on the basis of our deserving them. They are always given on the basis of God's grace. Unmerited, undeserved favor. That is grace. But this is our problem. We don't actually think that is how it works. We say it. We say it's god's grace. But notice with me...when things go wrong, when the plant dies, Jonah lashes out! Why? Because he believes he deserves better! He is living into the idea that he is entitled. In all actuality, Jonah isn’t deserving of even the plant but he is outraged when feels shorted when he looses it.

If we are honest, don’t we do the same? Don’t we claim our blessings are God’s grace but then the second there is pain, frustration, or they are taken away, we feel violated! Why? Because philosophically we believe that grace is unmerited and undeserved favor. But at our core, we think we deserve it, we think we earned it. And how dare anything that we have earned be taken away from us.

The second thing God provided was a worm (vs 7) - Isn’t that interesting. He provided a worm to destroy the plant. He does this to show Jonah that his priorities in life are wrong.

Do you need to repent of that? Are there situations in your life right at this moment that are designed to show you that your heart, your priorities are off?

Interestingly, God provided the worm. Notice with me that God is at work even with a worm. Every bad thing in life isn’t from God, but God can work in everything…even the bad.

God provided a scorching east wind(8) I’ve been thinking about this account of Jonah being outside of the city and I’ve never thought of this before but I came across this question in my studying...Is the wind and plant withering a last call for Jonah to seek shelter in Nineveh? Why wouldn't he? The temperatures are regularly 120 degrees. Miserable! Everyone would go into a shelter in one of these dire scorching east winds. Jonah could have been in the city ministering to the people. Why isn’t he there continuing to offer the message of hope, about a God who loves them, why isn’t he teaching them the ways of God?

Jonah 4:9 NIV

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.”

This is profound. Here is what is happening. God has provided 3 things all with the hopes of showing Jonah the true depths of his heart. He is peeling back the layers. There is invitation here for Jonah to be transformed. God provided all 3 things. Which shows us something. God’s provision isn’t about convenience, it’s about transformation. But again, we see Jonah's heart, he isn't doubling down on his hatred for them, he is all in on his position. and so

Is it right for you? Jonah, is this legitimate? Jonah is being incredibly irrational. He claims he wants to die. He is not in his right mind. He is so distraught his thinking is…oh so you have grace on all those wretched people but you kill my plant! Forget this, I’d rather be dead! But God, ever the inviter, continues to work it out with Jonah.

Jonah 4:10–11 NIV

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?”

And that is it…that is how the story ends. There is no closure. There is no nice neat wrapped up story. It is abrupt and I think it is for a very specific reason which we will get too. But first I want to make just 2 observations about this chapter for us.

1. Inconvenience creates opportunity for transformation. Convenience encourages stagnation. Inconvenience should act as an agitator not make us agitated. Think of a wash machine. A wash machine has an agitator in it. it is designed when I throw my laundry in it to work with the water and the soap to remove dirt, stains, etc. It is an intentional process to restore my clothes to their right form. The same is true with situations in our life.

We have situations in our life that are acting as the agitator all the time: work, school, expectations, relationships, finances, opportunities, disappointments, frustrations, all of these things are opportunities for us to allow what is being agitated in my life to be restored. But we completely miss this. Why?

Because any time we are inconvenienced we feel like something is unjust and that we have been wronged and we fixate on the details of he said this, or they did that, and we completely miss the opportunity to be restored or we could say, to be transformed. These are opportunities to be invited into and to become aware of God’s presence. And I honestly think we have a harder time with this than most people who have gone before us, because everything in our world is convenient. And if it isn’t convenient, we don’t view it as a time to be transformed, but a time to get angry, complain, and tell others what trauma and unfairness we have experienced. Like dude, waiting 5 extra minutes for your Tall, non-fat, soy, latte with carmel on it, really isn’t trauma any ways. Like lets get some perspective, but also, it may be an opportunity for you.

Here is the deal friends. Circumstances that agitate us show us our heart, and our motives. Jonah is allowing this worm to agitate him rather than act as an agitator to what is actually happening in his heart. And God is trying to do surgery on Jonah’s heart. He is trying to remake him, give him a new lens, a new heart. He is trying to get Jonah to shift his views. To expand his box. Here is what he is doing, he is giving Jonah interruptions that are divine invitations. These aren’t coincidental, they are interruptions to invite Jonah into a divine invitation.

In what place is God trying to give you heart surgery? You see friends, God loves Jonah enough to interrupt him. And God loves us enough, he loves you enough, that he may just be using the circumstances of your life, the inconveniences to interrupt you. To grab your attention so he can transform your heart! Are you willing to say yes? Are you willing to be aware of the circumstances in your life and ask God to show you how he is at work and how he he is trying to transform you?

God is inviting Jonah to allow God to be his surgeon. he knows what is best for Jonah and how to perform the surgery but Jonah has to consent. He has to say yes to getting on the operating table. You see Jonah doesn’t want or isn’t even open to going there. He’d rather die than change. It feels too painful, too hard to allow God to open up his understanding, his view, his love. It means death to his ideas, his pride. Friends, allowing God to transform us…to perform surgery....it is hard.

It’s hard because it’s painful, it takes a long time, it doesn’t happen on our time table and we feel uncomfortable and out of control because we are…because we have to surrender our heart and the outcomes of our jobs, relationships and problems as we wait on him to work instead of making things happen ourselves. Trusting him more than we trust ourselves…But to do this, you have to be willing to identify what is actually happening in your heart and mind

Are you willing to say, God, I am angry right now, I’m bitter, offended, I’m hurt, i’m feeling unseen, i’m tired. Will you help me in this moment to see you. Will you help me to depend on you and not my money or my status, or people’s perspective? God will you produce the fruit of the spirit in me? I am not patient or kind right now. My heart is broke and I need you. God I want vengeance right now, but I need you to give me your heart for him, for her. Are you willing to look at your life’s interruptions as divine invitations into God’s heart, perspective, and opportunity to be transformed? If you aren’t, then you know what is going to happen? You are going to become stagnant. You will cease to grow, you will cease to be transformed into the image of Christ.

Now to answer the question how do Justice & Mercy coexist. How can they work together if they are opposite? How can God be fully just and fully merciful? The answer to that question is found in Jesus. You see at the cross is where all of the sins of the world are justly paid for. And at the cross, is where all of the mercy is given. The cross is what brings these competing characteristics to be a beautiful representation of who our God is.

2. God’s invitation to Jonah is inward focused not outward focused.

Notice with me, that the book ends with Jonah getting asked invitation questions. There isn’t a charge for Jonah to go out and do anything…in fact, God has already done all the work! The people of Nineveh have repented. What God is doing here is reveling to Jonah what his character and attitude are toward his entire creation.

racking my brain over how to end this series. And to be completely thorough and transparent, when we originally talked about this, we had this idea that we were going to end with this hard challenge. That we would end with a big question of....So do you care about all the people in your world. Now I think that that is a very important question, and one that we need to wrestle with.

And God is giving this revelation to Jonah, who then is recording it for God’s people.

But, after sitting with this text, seeking God, praying and writing what I wrote a few weeks ago, i just felt unsettled. I felt uneasy. And I couldn’t figure it out. So I’d pray, and I’d study and as I began to think about it more, the reason why I don’t think I was supposed to end that way, was because my perspective got off a little. You see, we have been saying it through out, but this story isn’t really about Jonah and his disobedience. It’s honestly a revelation about God’s character and attitude toward his creation. And God is giving this revelation to Jonah, who then is recording it for God’s people.

And so don’t miss this, what is happening here is not that God is giving a huge call to action…he does in other places…but what is happening, is God is offering invitations to Jonah and therefore to Israel and now to you and me to become like him, to expand our box, his invitation to Jonah and Isreal is to expand their knowledge of who God is, so that we can be like him. So we can have his heart and his eyes for people.

How do we do that? Through answering God’s question for Jonah. Do you care about these people like I do Jonah? Jonah do you care about the cows like I care about them? God is asking Jonah deep profound questions that aren’t surface level here but are gut punching…and Jonah isn’t responding. He won’t go there, he is just shutting it down. And so the question I want to ask you is, are you responding to God’s invitation to you? Like what is God trying to invite you into his perspective right now on?

Is it that person at work that just drives you nuts, and he wants you to have his heart, and his eyes for that person? Is God asking you to open yourself up to a new perspective? To grow in your compassion or love?

Maybe it is that you are looking for answers everywhere for why something terrible has happened in your life and he trying to show you that he hasn’t deserted you, but is right by your side. He wants you to depend on him and know him more intimately.

Is he inviting you to expand your box of who he is? Like maybe he is working on you in ways or revealing himself in ways that you never thought possible!

Maybe you are here today and you’ve never been to church or you’ve never believed in God and something is just tugging on your heart in a new way, your hearing things differently today, all these things you’ve heard, or that have been happening in your life are just clicking and you are going what is happening? There is invitation for you to receive Jesus as your savior and to repent and to walk in his ways.

Maybe God is inviting you in right now telling you, I see you, I’ve got you, you can trust me, you can know that I love you.

I am just praying right now that even as your sitting here that none of are even listening to me right now but that you are having a divine invitation from your heavenly Father where he is speaking to you, and bringing up what is ever happening in your life and you are encountering him in new ways. Are you open to hearing from him? Do you desire to know God’s heart more? I believe that God has that for us today friends. That he isn’t a distant far off God, he isn’t UN-involved. He is here, he dwells within his people. And as he is here, the invitation his to have his heart, to be filled by his love, to care about the entire world as he cares about it.

Recently my wife and I have been observing my son Teigen. I was going to show you a picture of him but I decided not to so that I could have plausible deniability if he is ever in the lobby running around or jumping off the chairs. Here is what we have noticed about Teigen though. He imitates me. He identifies with me. His identity is shaped by who I am. Here is how he does it, and honestly, it’s been a new thing, within the past 3-4 weeks. So whenever he does something he starts talking about how he does it like me.

I eat a lot like dad (not sure how I feel about that one)

I run fast like dad

I am strong like dad

I talk like dad

And so you see what is happening here. He is observing me, watching how I engage with the world, how I act, how I treat others, how I talk and he does the same exact thing and is able to identify I am like my dad when I do this…and…it is giving him identity.

Friends, do you realize how profound this is? He is living out exactly what Jonah wouldn’t. He is watching his father, talking with his father and he is then living into that reality. That is the invitation for us! We are invited to come to our father and live into his perspective, into his attitude toward all of life. And so as we live life and come to scripture and we see something that challenges us, or pushes us, or we say God you say this in your word…do you mean it? I see your response Jesus and mmm… is that your heart for me? Is that your heart for them? We come and we ask, we surrender, we open ourselves up, and we pursue, and as we do…as we do....he changes us at our core.

His grace is just as relentless for you and for me.

God’s relentless grace, is given to us and to the world through invitation. He invites us to change at the core and when we do he uses us to invite others into that change.

My question for you is, what invitation does God have for you today? What is it right now?

The worship team is going to come up and lead us in a song. We are going to sing about this idea that in order for us to be transformed we need God. We can’t do it on our own. But here is the challenge for you....The challenge for us is to sit in this moment and actually wrestle with God. Not to be worried about what is next, or what we have later today, but to ask him what are you inviting me into right now.

Maybe your invitation is confession,

Maybe it is to weep and mourn and to receive comfort.

Maybe its to rest in his love, and know that he sees you and he is at work in you.

To ask him those questions, those things that have angered or hurt you.

maybe it’s that he is inviting you to be bold and come to front and pray with people.

Maybe he is inviting you to lay down your politics, or partisans and to pick up his perspective how he sees the world. Not how your political party sees the world.

maybe he is asking you to go and find someone else in this room and pray over them.

Like I’m not trying to make this a weird moment, but maybe it’s that in worship you have just been holding back and he is inviting you to raise your hands and praise him, to get down on your knees, to lay prostrate and let go of what other people think of you and to embody what is happening in your heart and mind as you receive his invitation for you.

Maybe he is inviting you to go over and introduce yourself to someone or offer someone a hug, or to pray with someone. So here is what this song isn’t. This song isn’t a time to just check out and sing the words on the screen. This song, is a time for God to work in powerful and tangible ways in our life where he begins to show us the invitations he has for us and we then decide, are we going to say yes to him or will we stand on the sideline. What is God inviting you too.

Receiving his invitation is so much more than just a great memory of a basketball game. It brings life Transformation. Will you receive his invitation?

Teigen taking on my identity....we take on the identity of the father through the cross.

Jonah is the villain in this story, not Nineveh.

Jonah couldn’t reconcile how a God of Justice could give mercy to the Ninehvites. It is no doubt a huge obstacle as you read this story. And so God tries to show him look Jonah, I am just but I also am merciful and my grace is relentless for my creation.

True justice only comes from the injustice of the cross. In order for God to give mercy, justice had to be met. Jesus fulfilled the justice we deserved. In fact, Jesus was the only person who got what he didn’t deserve. There is both Beauty of the cross and the offensiveness of the cross. Here is what the cross does…It invites us to lay down our desire for our perceived Justice and trust that God is taking care of the justice. It also allows us to embrace mercy. Now here is the thing about embracing mercy. For ourselves embracing mercy is simple. However for others, giving mercy to others, is incredibly difficult. It’s hard because if I give you mercy, if you have violated me, if you have wronged me, if you have hurt me…and I give you mercy....how do I know that you won’t hurt me again? you see everything inside of me wants to protect myself, to make sure that you can’t hurt me. But it even goes further. Everything inside of me wants to lash out at you and make you pay. So the challenge for us is the example of Jesus life. To choose love for others and death to our own desires and self. The cross is where I receive my mercy and grace. It’s where you receive your mercy and grace. But the cross is the great equalizer. The cross reminds me that I am no better than anyone else, in fact, I’m probably worst than most. But my temptation, and your temptation and what Jonah did was to think that he was of more worth. That he had more value. That his people, the Israelites were more important than his enemies. We have all these little things that we do and say to feel superior about ourselvesI drive this car, I live in this neighborhood, I attended that schoolI went on this vacation, I know this person, I accomplished this featWe do it as Christians…oh they go to that church, oh they think this way theologically. When we say those things are we honestly doing them out of the concern for others or because we actually like being superior. We are a pretentious people! But the cross is also our example for treating others. You see the cross I would say is what continues the story of Jonah. Did you notice how abrupt the ending was. Like we have no idea what happens. We have no idea what Jonah did. Did he finally agree with God. Did he walk away? And what the cross does is it shows us what we should do. It invites us to every time we have an enemy, every time we think we are better than someone else, every time we have to interact with the people we hate, we start with the cross. We form ourselves to the cross with God’s grace and by his power. Perfect example is Corrie Ten Boom.Corrie was born in the Netherlands. In 1940 during the second world war, her families house became a resistance house. During the war, the Beje house became a refuge for Jews, students and intellectuals. The façade of the watch shop made the house an ideal front for these activities. A secret room, no larger than a small wardrobe closet, was built into Corrie's bedroom behind a false wall. The space could hold up to six people, all of whom had to stand quiet and still. A crude ventilation system was installed to provide air for the occupants. When security sweeps came through the neighborhood, a buzzer in the house would signal danger, allowing the refugees a little over a minute to seek sanctuary in the hiding place.Through these activities, it was estimated that 800 Jews' lives were saved. February 28, 1944, a Dutch informant told the Nazis of the ten Booms' activities and the Gestapo raided the home. She was in a concentration camp for how long??????????????The shame, vulnerability, and suffering were real. But that wasn’t her greatest feat. What came next is... Corrie’s example is extreme but it’s the perfect picture for us of the cross. She could have walked away, she could have held a grudge, she could have avoided, but she pressed in. She chose to let the justice that needed to paid for his sins, even though they affected her greatly, to die on the cross. She chose extend the mercy and grace she received from the cross to NAME.Here is what Corrie did, and it was incredibly brave…she decided that because God refuses to regard people as his enemies, she as a christ follower, cannot regard others as her enemies. It is a powerful example of the cross.The invitation for us is here. Allowing God to do surgery on our hearts is painful. We have to be open, honest, honestly, it takes a brave person to be willing to admit when they are being pretentious, religious, etc. But it is the first step in the process of sanctification. I don’t know about you, but I want to be like Corrie. I want to be able to offer that kind of grace and mercy.Maybe you are here today and you are going I have no idea how to give that kind of grace and mercy to others. Maybe you are here, and your first step is you need to receive grace and mercy. You are in a spot where you haven’t fully received it. The story of Jonah ends with God asking Jonah, shouldn’t I care more about these people than you do about a plant? It leaves us with this stinging, permeating question. Jonah, do you care more about a temporary plant than you do about those created in my image? How do I respond? Jonah is a caricature of people who wrestle with the relentless grace of God. And when that sinks in to your core...like I'm talking at a heart level....when you understand that God loves your enemy...Josh Pardee's enemy.... as much as he loves me....well it is much harder to hold people at arms length. It's impossible to think that I am the one who distributes grace on my standards. It forces me to pursue everyone. And I think what ticks Jonah off the most at the end of this story, I think it’s not that he has a problem with who god is, I think that the thing that Jonah is most upset about is that God keeps trying to get Jonah to understand. It’s not that God loves his enemy, it’s that God expects Jonah to love his enemy. I wonder who God may be calling us to love? Who is it in your life, that is incredibly hard to love and God is using that interruption as a divine invitation. Perhaps a divine invitation where he asks you to allow him to lovingly (like he did with Jonah) show you your heart where there is hatred, bitterness, superiority, shame, self-righteousness. Where he wants to transform you and invites you by his power, by looking at the cross, through his love to be forever changed. Will you say yes to God’s invitation today? Or will you walk away like Jonah? As the band comes up, would you be so bold, to open yourself up, and ask the Holy spirit to speak to you, to meet you, to guide you. To give you God’s heart, his perspective.

We were originally going to leave with a huge challenge. A final reading of this verse. And so to be honest, that is how I went about working on it. And everything just wasn’t adding up, I could seem to end with what I felt lead to talk about. And then I realized....it’s his grace, that gives us the invitation. The message I feel like God has for us today, is that it starts with us receiving the invitation. Jonah wouldn’t receive it for himself, so he couldn’t give it to others. I can’t guilt you into it, I just want to invite you into it. our story begin where Jonah’s ends.