Running Against God
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Jonah 4:1-11, Running Against God
Jonah 4:1-11, Running Against God
Intro:
We’ve been on quite a journey!
Chapter 1: Running From God
Chapter 2: Running Back to God
Chapter 3: Running with God
Chapter 4: Running Against God
It’s just 48 verses. It’s a relatively short book. Just like two pages. If they stick together, you would miss the whole thing!
Ultimately we have discovered that our story is a lot like Jonah’s story:
“I believe in you God, but I’m not willing to do what you are asking me to do.”
But through it all— we realize that:
Chapter 1: We can run from God, but we will never outrun God.
Chapter two: It’s never too late to pray.
God is a God of second chances.
Chapter three: God is at work in the lives of everyone we meet.
Here in chapter four— we come to the close of the book, but the ending is not quite resolved. We learn that Jonah, even after the apparent “success” of his trip, does not exactly agree with what God does.. and this leads to a very interesting conversation. One that I know I’ve had with God in my life— maybe you have also.
Let pray a moment before we dive into this:
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.
So everything is great, right? This sounds like a wonderful thing! This whole city turns and believes in the one true God!
But where is Jonah’s heart and mind? Chapter 4:
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.
1 Jonah was greatly displeased and became furious.
Jonah is offended by God’s grace.
Jonah is offended by God’s grace.
“I knew this was going to happen.”
2 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.
This is why I ran in the first place! It wasn’t that I was afraid of the Ninevites, I wasn’t even afraid of You God… I was afraid you were going to forgive them@! I knew this would happen.
I guess it’s an improvement that he is actually speaking to God about the whole situation. I know sometimes in my life, I don’t even think to speak with God when I’m angry.
Isn’t this incredible? Walnut Creek? Jonah has been saved from the storm, he’s been rescued from the belly of that whale. He’s gone on to preach that little 8 word message...
But this is why I think our story is so similar to Jonahs. We can relate, can’t we? We all want God’s grace in our lives— but are we offended when we see God extend his grace to someone that you really can’t believe they deserve it.
God rescues us, he forgives us! We call it Amazing Grace— something we could never earn. We are the beneficiary of God’s love and grace in our lives— Yeah, yeah, yeah— I get all that--- BUT for other people, we start to give God a little advice, or commentary on how he’s working in other people’s lives… We want to add something like a “footnote” on the word grace:
Grace
Like— I’ve done a couple bad things— but God is good to me—But come on God, “those” people? There are evil people in the world— like really bad people.
In fact, Jonah goes even one step further in his mind and heart:
3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
Basically he is saying “If you won’t kill them, then kill me”. I’m better off not here.
Like if this the way you’re going to operate, if this is what you’re going to do— just kill me.
Like in a huge storm— just throw me over board. I’m a dead man anyway.
Like in the belly of that huge fish— I’m a dead man Lord.
I just need to die. If this is what you’re going to do. I’m done. I’m so outside who you are, and what you are like— just let me go.
But God does speak back to him in this misery: God is there, at our best, and at our worst: But God doesn’t console his servant in his current state. God is a true friend--
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Beautiful question, right? It’s like God is not saying that the “anger” itself isn’t necessarily bad— but DO YOU HAVE A GOOD REASON TO BE ANGRY? That’s what we call a transformational question… The question itself leads Jonah to consider why he’s angry.
Ken Coleman, author of a book called “One Question” wrote a wonderful truth:
“Good questions inform, great questions transform.”- Ken Coleman
Don’t you just hate it when God does this to us? Jesus was so good at doing this while he was here on earth. We read in the Gospel stories of the ways he would cause people to think again, just by answering their questions, with another question...
But Jonah doesn’t answer him here— God has exposed Jonah:
Jonah is committed to his own comfort.
5 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.
PHOTO ARTWORK
Jonah goes out onto a hillside maybe— away from the city, and remember it’s HOT. Like this is in an area of the world we now know as Iraq. It’s like OVEN hot. One of the greatest quotes I remember from our dear brother Jim Bartholomew. He and I and several from Dayspring were on a short term mission trip to Mexico— in June. Like it was so hot, like over 100 degrees hot, we had to water down the little play areas we were going to use with the kids— otherwise we would burn their feet!
“But it’s a dry heat” They said… Jim retorts back quickly— “Dry heat? Yeah whatever, an OVEN is dry heat too.”
Jonah wants to get a look at what is actually going to happen to the city- Like maybe they are somehow going to mess this up and God is going to destroy them after all.
So God takes this chance to attempt to teach Jonah more about himself:
6 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.
Finally! In what appears to be the first time in this entire drama— Jonah seems like he’s happy. Sigh. A little shade for his shelter. hmmmmmm. Why is that? He’s finally comfortable. His needs are being met.
7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the plant so that it withered.
8 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.”
He’s so angry about the plant, about the city, He just wants to die.
But here is another example of a wonderful truth we can learn from Jonah’s story:
Jonah is consumed with his comfort, so God consumes his comfort.
Sometimes God will take away your comfort, so that you will be able to better hear His calling.
C.S. Lewis once said:
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”- C.S. Lewis
“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”- C.S. Lewis
What are you saying, that God doesn’t want us to be comfortable— or have conveniences?
No no— that’s not what I’m suggesting, but I think:
God is ok with your comfort, until it hinders your obedience to Him.
God wants to bless his children. But not at the expense of our relationship to him! If that blessing becomes blindness to God and his work in us and through us— God will intervene. When obedience to him is at stake— God has a problem with your comfort!
Jonah no longer even sees what God has done around him. He doesn’t see the work that has been accomplished in Nineveh.
He can’t even see how God wants to USE him with the people.
We too get so caught up with our own comfort— we lose sight of God’s plans too. There are so many examples. Too many to list right? But here’s what it comes down to:
What concerns me is often totally different than what concerns God.
I just want to challenge you today. An over commitment to comfort will cause you to miss about 85% of this world.
God calls Jonah out on this:
9 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.”
10 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.
11 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?”
That’s it.
Jonah, I know that your people and the Ninevites are enemies, you all haven’t agreed on everything. Should I, God, not be concerned with this great city?
That’s it. Turn the page— that’s all there is. The whole thing ends like that, with a question!
God wants us to be concerned with eternal things.
God says hey, Jonah, look, you and I are not on the same page. We are not together on this. My concerns and yours are not the same. As a person, do you resonate with that?
I’m in a general sense, really concerned about people. Sometimes, though, there is a little bit of Jonah in me. Maybe you can relate. Like there are times, when I’m trying to get through this life— and I’m like more concerned with how long the line is at the Walnut Creek Cheese checkout, than I am about the people in the line! Like— “Lord, come on. I’m just trying to get my milk and lunch meat— some bananas, man. Why does there need to be so many people here? I can get so caught up in things that really just don’t matter. Like pizza delivery, or a clean car, or the line to get my hair cut… When I haven’t even considered the eternal souls of the people who are working hard at their jobs to serve me at that moment.
We CANNOT let the temporary overshadow and crowd out the eternal.
And God may say to me:
“Hey, do you realize that the only thing
The only thing you can take to heaven is other people.
One thing that I’ve discovered about myself in the last couple months, here at Walnut Creek, is that love to imagine. I have an active imagination- I think that’s from God. That’s probably part of how he made me a pretty good teacher. I was thinking about this whole thing this week— Jonah, all that’s packed into these 48 verses. I imagined that when we all get to heaven. Jonah will probably be there. And if he were to take us to his Mansion, his heavenly home— we would just every so often see Jonah give some high fives, and hugs, and handshakes— just random people— every so often… We would be like “Jonah, who are all these people? They sure love you, and they think you’re pretty cool.... “Yeah— they’re Ninevites. They were from Nineveh.”
Who will YOU invite to heaven with you?
Who might give you the high five, or the hugs, saying— Thank-you for being faithful… Thank-you for sharing with me about our Lord Jesus, and his great sacrifice to save us.
Let’s pray: