Unaligned With God's Heart
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Jonah 4:1-6
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
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?”
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.
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.
Jonah is out of step with God and yet God is going to reveal how gracious he truly is. We can see ourselves in this story.
We Want Judgment for Others
We Want Judgment for Others
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry.
God was pleased to show mercy and spare Nineveh.
Jonah was displeased by what pleased God.
The word displeased literally means in the original language “to consider something a grave evil”
Jonah literally felt negative emotions regarding what God did because he considered it to be wrong.
This means that God thought it was righteous and good.
Jonah wasn’t just displeased, he was “exceedingly” displeased.
Jonah essentially had deep deep convictions regarding the right/wrong nature about what had just happened in Nineveh.
This shows us that Jonah’s heart and desires are not lined up with God’s heart and desires.
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.
Jonah reveals that he is well aware of God’s character.
He says that this was his motive for running away from God and the assignment to preach to Nineveh
Jonah literally took advantage of God’s gracious and compassionate character when he was about to drown in the ocean.
But when it came time for Nineveh to receive these blessings from God, Jonah did whatever he could to stop it from happening.
Jonah is being extremely self-centered.
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah 1. The Prophet’s Displeasure (4:1–3)
The word “I” or “my” occurs no fewer than nine times in the original. Not only does this prayer show an extreme selfishness, but it also indicates Jonah’s shortsightedness.
3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Jonah’s deep deep anger, hatred, and displeasure over God sparing Nineveh literally makes him believe that it would be better to die than to live in a world were Nineveh exists and God will continue showing kindness and grace to people like them.
What a tragic way to live and feel. This is not what God wants for Jonah or us...
4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Listen to the fatherly way God says this:
God doesn’t say, “Get over yourself Jonah!” or “What’s your deal, dude!”
God continues exhibiting the very character towards Jonah that Jonah was exceedingly displeased about God showing to Nineveh.
You might think this is super rare among Christians… But its not...
If it wasn’t an issue for us, then Jesus would have never said this,
44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
God’s delights in loving people who don’t deserve it: EVERYONE.
Have you ever done or said something like this?
“I hope they burn in hell!”
Flipped someone off in traffic
Felt extreme bitterness and anger at someone who wronged you
Rejoiced at the idea of your political opponent reaping what you think they’ve sown
I’ve seen people on facebook say “those people caught covid because they didn’t take it seriously! I’m glad they got it!”
The only time it is appropriate for us to desire God’s judgement to be poured out is when it is when we desire and delight in his justice. And when wee desire and delight in his justice, we must desire it and delight in it because we believe it brings Him glory.
The difference:
Jonah wanted God to judge Nineveh harshly because he hated the Ninevites. Not because he was concerned for God’s name being dishonored or because he wanted God to be shown as glorious.
In this instance, God showed how glorious he is by sparing Nineveh. He didn’t need to judge them in this moment.
When we are unaligned with God’s heart...
We want Judgement for others.
We Want Grace for Ourselves
We Want Grace for Ourselves
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.
Jonah went to the “east” - Usually an Old Testament indicator that someone is not walking with God.
Jonah then begins to create a comfortable environment for Himself.
Remember what Nineveh is doing at this exact moment.
Jonah 3:5
5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.
While the people of Nineveh are intentionally humbling themselves by making themselves intensely uncomfortable… Jonah is doing the exact opposite.
Jonah essentially has only one thing on his mind… that one thing is… JONAH.
But guess who else has Jonah on His mind: GOD
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 goes out of His way to comfort Jonah, who does not deserve to be comforted.
Again, God is allowing Jonah to benefit from His goodness.
Jonah 4:2
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.
Exodus 34:6
6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Joel 2:13
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.
Look how Jonah responds to God’s goodness and kindness:
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.
What does it say Jonah is exceedingly glad because of?
Jonah is not exceedingly glad because God is showing grace and kindness to him.
He is exceedingly glad because of the PLANT.
In this moment, Jonah is loving the plant because it is a temporal and seeable thing that is benefiting him and comforting him.
He doesn’t even acknowledge that it is God who gave it to him.
This is also something we do all the time.
We become numb and apathetic to God’s amazing kindness and grace towards us.
We crave and crave to be the center of our lives. The center of our attention. And the center of God’s attention.
We may have moments where we model and rightly express God’s grace to others, but a lot of the time, we get unaligned with God’s heart.
But God’s heart never changes. He is always gracious and kind.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
We might get unaligned with God’s heart. But that will never change God. He will always be this:
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.
So, you and I might fail at exhibiting these character traits every day. But look how far God has gone to cover this...
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Discussion Questions
Have you ever been so angry with someone you were hoping they would “get what’s coming to them”?
Why do we tend to want people to get what we think they deserve?
Why should our desire for justice be about God’s glory and not our own vengeance?
Do you struggle with being glad about things God gives you instead of being glad that God loves you?
What are some examples of God showing you kindness and grace when you haven’t deserved it?