"The Judge on the Witness Stand"

Attention-Sentence:

: The Judge on the Witness Stand

Jonah Series Week 6 (Final Sermon)

Jeffery Sparks | March 30 | St. Luke

Attention-Sentence:

Coach Barry Swittzer once said, “Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they’ve hit a triple.” That is, some people are born with privilege and blessing, but go through life thinking they earned it all themselves.

Link-Story: Macedonia

This was brought home to me, three years ago, when I traveled to the country of Macedonia. I was with a group of people from our Presbytery and we were there to build some important relationships and one of the most eye-opening things to me was talking with people on the street, the workers at the hostel where I stayed // people simply living their lives.

And if you’ve been on a mission trip, or traveled to a foreign country, you know that one of the most eye-opening experiences you have // is discovering what people think of you . . . that is, Americans.

Macedonia is a poor country; there is great corruption in government; low wages; few jobs when you find them; and a failing infrastructure; and while I was there, I witnessed marches for reform, the defacing of government property, and all of the signs that the country was economically sick and fundamentally broken.

The people I talked to had no desire to stay there—they wanted out.

Almost every single 20-something or 30-something person was working to get out of Macedonia. Their dream was to get out and go to // Germany. This struck me as odd, so I would ask, “Don’t Macedonians want to go to America?” I would usually get confused looks with that question, and one Macedonian young woman explained: “Go to America? No. That is like saying do you want to go to the moon! Macedonians cannot even think that is a possibility.” She paused a moment and said, “Besides, everyone in America is rich; Macedonians are all poor; I do not think we would be welcome.”

//pause//

I have thought about those words these past three years, especially as I have been studying Jonah chapter 4. In essence, this Macedonian young woman was saying, to be welcome in America, you would first need to be like an American.

Interestingly, as we will see in Chapter 4 of Jonah, this is the root of Jonah’s hatred against Nineveh, and his Anger at God.

Let’s Take a Look

To Jonah, to be blessed by God’s Grace, one first needs to be worthy of receiving God’s Grace. God, however, will show Jonah (and quite possibly us) how very much NOT like this HE is.

So let’s open our Bibles to Jonah, but start at the last verse of Chapter 3:10:

Jonah 3:10 ESV

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.

<slide>The BAD Anger of Jonah (v. 1)

Now, the Normal Response, certainly of a child of God, would be praise to God for His mercy!

ESV

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.

Now, the Normal Response, certainly of a child of God, would be praise to God for His mercy!

But Jonah’s Response was // . . . // opposite of that. Worse actually.

Jonah’s response to God’s Mercy was // twisted // and let’s look at just how abnormal Jonah’s response was.

ESV

Jonah 4:1 ESV

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.

So Jonah has heard that Nineveh repented; then he went east on Nineveh, into the hill country there, and waited for the forty days to come and go.

So Jonah has waited for the 40 days to come and go // and when God relented from destroying Nineveh, v.1 tells us Jonah was “displeased” and “very angry”

But v.1 tells us that Jonah was went up there already “displeased” and “very angry”. Unfortunately, these two words do not convey the sense the Hebrew language shows. Quite literally, from the Hebrew, here is how the original reader would have read 4:1:

HEBREW

But an evil thing this was to Jonah, a very evil action.

Jonah is not referring to the Ninevites and their repentance, but to God Himself in the act of showing mercy to Nineveh. This is what Jonah thought—shockingly—was an evil act by God.

As you can see, Jonah is messed up theologically, emotionally, and psychologically at this point; he has put himself in the judges seat and God in the witness stand, accusing God’s act of Mercy as . . . a very evil action!

And this warping of reality, as we will see, seems to be the root of Jonah’s fuming anger at God.

Not all anger is bad, of course; there is Good Anger, and Bad Anger.

Good anger is when we so resonate with God’s character that what God gets angry about is what we, too, get angry about. But when God relents, so do we—indeed we rejoice! Jonah is evidencing Bad Anger, a fury at God for not maintaining His anger, and this Bad Anger has taken root; sinking into Jonah and strangling his heart for God.

And what Jonah reveals is that his BAD ANGER has driven him away from God.

Though Jonah has called God’s Mercy an evil act, we need to remember that this is not possible.

But Jonah has just judged God’s mercy on Nineveh as very evil . . . but God is not the author of evil:

James 1:13 ESV

Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.

A Deeper Look at Jonah’s Anger

"God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone" ().

"God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone" ().

We need to look deeper at Jonah’s Anger—it will be vitally important that we understand what is at root here and how it develops. Our text will show us:

So why is Jonah so angry?

The Judgment from Jonah (v. 2-3).

First, look at how Jonah addresses God in v. 2: And he prayed to the Lord and said, “LISTEN UP, YAHWEH!” (that is what he actually says in Hebrew), “is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish;”

“is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish;”

Ah, at last the secret is revealed. Jonah ran in Chapter 1 because he feared not Nineveh, but that God might possibly Relent from His destruction of Nineveh!

This has Jonah furious at God now, (bad anger), and listen to Jonah’s justification for his bad anger:

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

Wait a second, Jonah recognizes these wonderful attributes of God, and He is correct:

God is Gracious,

God is Merciful,

God is Slow to Anger,

God’s Love that stands strong

God’s Love is going nowhere, and

God relent from disaster (to those who repent).

But How Could These Wonderful Attributes of God Cause Such Fuming Anger at God?

These are good things, aren’t they? So how can these good attributes of God cause Jonah to be so furious he says in v. 3:

Jonah 4:3 ESV

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Again, if God is so good, why is Jonah so angry?

Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for there is more joy left for me in dying than living.”

So if God is so good, why is Jonah so angry?

Is he angry at God’s grace? No! We can be sure of this because, in Chapter 2, Jonah prays for this very GRACE to be applied to him when he prayed to God in the Belly of the Fish?

So, if Jonah is not angry God’s Grace—then what part of God’s Grace (those wonderful attributes of God) is Jonah angry about?

Well, we are left with only one conclusion: Jonah is not accusing God of evil because of God’s Grace and Mercy, he is accusing God of evil because God showed Grace and Mercy to people who, according to Jonah, do not deserve it.

Here we are given another insight into how badly Jonah has departed from God; the very words Grace and Mercy (by definition) mean exactly that people don’t deserve it and can never hope to deserve it. This has been the history of Israel itself, but Jonah’s BAD ANGER has blinded him to this . . . and it is a tragic fall.

So here it is: we can conclude that the root issue for Jonah’s fuming anger and accusations against God is revealed in this: That, according to Jonah, God’s Grace should only be applied to those who are worthy to receive it. (Not realizing, of course, that this is what destroys Grace).

And yet, how common?

How many of you have experienced a church full of Jonah’s, churches that made you feel like you needed to get your act together before Jesus would have anything to do with you?

How many of you had Jonah-like parents that told you how much you don’t deserve their Grace and Mercy?

How many Facebook posts by Christians who, like Jonah, have put themselves into God’s chair and begin to judge sin with such vitriol and hatred that you almost want to “unfriend” them?

How often have w, ourselves, been “Jonahs” to others?

Jonah’s warped view of God’s Grace cannot be hidden from God--and he becomes unhinged;

To Jonah, GOD has given his precious drops of GRACE to people who have no business being offered Grace!

When Nineveh received God’s Mercy having done nothing to deserve it, Jonah simply broke. He broke mentally, theologically, spiritually, and even psychologically. For Jonah, it is better to die than be in a world where unworthy sinners receive God’s Mercy, than to live in such a world where it occurs.

In short, to Jonah, YHWH became his worst enemy.

To Jonah he could only see this Grace-Giving as an act of treachery by God.

That same “spirit” of Jonah was alive and well in Jesus’ day.

Luke 15:1–2 ESV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

John 15:25 ESV

But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

ESV

So Jesus had to deal with some Jonah’s! And so do we.

ESV

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

ESV

But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: ‘They hated me without a cause.’

So Jesus had to deal with some Jonah’s! And so do we.

You may have heard about Jesus from Christians who were a lot like Jonah; YOU DON”T DESERVE GOD’S GRACE, these Jonah’s would say to you, even indirectly.you may have had preachers make you feel like God couldn’t possibly want anything to do with you—well, preachers like that are Jonah’s too;you may have had Christian parents like Jonah, caught up in trying to be Good Enough for God and they were like Jonah too; and maybe, you feel ashamed or even disgusted at the past sin in your life and there is a Jonah inside your head saying you’ll never be good enough.

Well, whatever the JONAH you have experienced, like the Jonah in our text, they have departed from God.

But it is God who will get the last word on HIS OWN CHARACTER—let’s read on:

YHWH’S QUESTION/JONAH’S NO RESPONSE (v. 4-5)

At some point, Jonah becomes aware that the city of Nineveh has repented. Verses 1-3 describe Jonah’s fury at God—and finally, at some point, God intervenes with a question.

4. And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

Jonah 4:4 ESV

And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

NO ANSWER!

Jonah’s Bad Anger has turned him away from God . . . this path only leads to misery—a hell on earth, so to speak. As we see in V. 5

Jonah 4:5 ESV

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.

5. Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and emade a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

We all have reasons to hold grudges. People wrong us. Situations hurt us. Even God does not always do what we think He should do, so we get angry. BAD ANGRY. And BAD ANGRY always leads to us holding a grudge.

The one instance where Jesus is said to get angry is . Jesus was in the synagogue on the Sabbath about to heal a man's withered hand. The Pharisees were adamantly opposed. It says, "Jesus looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart."

We all have reasons to hold grudges. People wrong us. Situations hurt us. Even God does not always do what we think He should do, so we get angry. BAD ANGRY.

HOLDING A GRUDGE

We hold offenses against those who have wronged us, and often against God who we think should have done things differently. BAD ANGER = A GRUDGE:

a grudge is nothing less than a refusal to forgive.

So, since this tendency is in all of us and likely unavoidable, what does the Bible say about Holding Grudges?

God has such a strong concern about our grudges that He included a specific command about them when He gave the Law to the Israelites. 

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

It is interesting that God concluded this particular command with the words “I am the Lord.”

 says, “Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.” It is interesting that God concluded this particular command with the words “I am the Lord.” In doing so, God reminded us that He is the Lord, not us.

To hold a grudge is to set ourselves up as judge and jury—to determine that one person’s wrong should not be forgiven. (Timmons)

We often hold on to grudges because we feel we have the responsibility to see that justice is done or so that others know how badly they have treated us and hurt us.

But when we release the situation to God, along with the right to dictate the ending, we free the Lord to work as He sees fit without our anger getting in the way (, Peter, “How many times do I forgive someone who has offended me?”)

 says, "Let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of men does not work the righteousness of God."

In other words, we should be slow to anger because the anger which rises quickly is very likely to be mere human anger which will not accomplish God's righteousness. 

Therefore, putting away falsehood . . . Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

Watch, now, how God teaches this lesson to Jonah—and He must, because Jonah has given himself to BAD ANGER—GRUDGE—and as we have already seen in verse 1 with Jonah rebuking God’s Grace as an evil thing, Satan is at work destroying Jonah.

JONAH’S COMFORT

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.

GOD DESTROYS JONAH’S COMFORT

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 feast 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.”

YHWH’S QUESTION TO JONAH AGAIN—JONAH’S ANGRY REPLY (v.9)

9 But God said to Jonah, i“Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.”

: "Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil."

Jonah’s Bad Anger and the Goals of Satan (From John Piper’s Sermon)

Paul says here that your newness will show itself in the way you experience anger. Let’s look at this more deeply:

1. Satan’s watched for our BAD ANGER

According to our FUMING Anger is what Satan is watching for—it’s called a grudge. Jonah certainly has a grudge he’s holding against God. Piper, “If there is any way that Satan can assist you to hold a grudge, he will do it.

2. Satan helps us Exalt Ourselves over God.

Nothing helps in holding a grudge like thinking too highly of ourselves. The more exalted we are in our own eyes, the more justified we will feel in holding a grudge against the person who offended us.

3. Satan helps us to become God’s Judge.

If we hold a grudge, we act as though God were not a just judge. We act as though we are the moral guardians of the world and if we don't hold this wrong against this person, it's going to slip away into oblivion and a great injustice will go unrequited. But this is sheer unbelief. Vengeance belongs to God. He will repay. It is his business not ours. So again holding a grudge puts us in the place of God—just where Satan wants us

4. Satan uses bad anger To Make the Cross of Christ Look Weak and Foolish

Satan aims to make the cross of Christ look weak and foolish.

. "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us."

Paul says, forgive as God in Christ forgave you. When we hold a grudge, we cancel out the cross. We act as though God did a foolish thing on the cross, since he dropped his infinite grudge against us, but we are going to hold on to our little grudge against another. And when we hold a grudge, Satan gets to bring the cross of Christ into contempt

5. Satan uses Bad Anger to Bring Division to the Church

 says, "A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention."

Short tempers and long grudges breed strife and disunity in the church.

But look at what is at stake: 

 Jesus said that unity in the church is a great evidence to the world of his reality.

So if Satan can preserve and deepen grudges among God's people, he will have achieved a great goal—the hiding of Christ's reality from the world

6. Satan uses Bad Anger to Crush others into Depression and Uselessness

Satan aims to crush broken Christians until they are depressed into uselessness. Paul tells about an instance of church discipline at Corinth in which the offending party repented.

Paul counsels in , "So you should turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you reaffirm your love for him."

The burdens of life are so great at times that someone's grudge against us can be the straw that breaks the camel's back. You can destroy a person by holding a grudge against them—this is the very work of Satan.

7. Satan uses Bad Anger to Destroy us

Finally, by holding a grudge Satan will help you destroy yourself.

HOW TO BEAT BAD ANGER

What to do? How do you rid yourself of Bad Anger = Grudges? SPEAK TRUTH INTO THE LIE!

"from your heart," from your new nature, the purified spring, the good tree. The only way to get victory over anger is to put off the old nature corrupted by desires of deceit—Satan's deceit, and to put on the new nature, by acting according to the truth.

the truth that none of us is so exalted that we can justify holding a grudge,the truth that vengeance belongs to God, he will settle all accounts;the truth that the cross of Christ is the wisdom and power of God, not foolishness;the truth that the unity of the church is precious beyond words;and the truth that it is possible by holding a grudge to commit spiritual murder and suicide simultaneously

And that takes us right back to Jonah, and God’s final word to him . . . look to verse 10. This is the choice that God leaves for Jonah to make.

Did Jonah repent? Did Jonah change? We will never know . . . Jonah, the prophet, is never heard from again except in reference by Jesus to the Book of Jonah.

But that is part of the reason the Book of Jonah was for Israel, and why it is so important for the church—for you and me, because God leaves us, too, with the reality of the choice before us, as if God is saying, “I leave the choice to you”

So here are the two paths we can choose with our Anger has boiled against God’s Mercy for those we do not like, and do not think deserve Grace and Mercy.

YOU HAVE COMPASSION FOR A PLANT (v. 10)

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.

I HAVE COMPASSION FOR LOST PEOPLE (v. 11)

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?”

We end our sermon series just as God the Holy Spirit has ended the Book of Jonah—unresolved.

God lays a choice before us . . . You have compassion for a plant; but I have compassion for lost, sinful people.

God’s Character of Compassion, Grace, and Mercy have now been revealed as no where else in the Old Testament—and no where so profoundly aimed at Gentile nations until Christ Himself begins His ministry.

We are either join God in His compassion for lost sinners, or we don’t. It’s like God has said, “You know where my Character will take me,” are you coming, or are you not?

The choice is ours.

-JDS