Jonah 3:10-4:11 - Grace By Definition Is Unfair (undeserved), Which Is Exactly What We Need!

Sermon Lesson: Jonah 3:10 – 4:11

Jonah is perplexed by the amazing grace of God.

10When God saw their actions, that they had turned from their evil way, God relented from the disaster which he said he would bring on them, and he did not carry it out.

1But to Jonah all this seemed very bad, and he became very angry. 2He prayed to the Lord, “Lord, wasn't this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. 3So now, Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

4But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city. He made a shelter for himself there and sat in the shade under it, waiting to see what would happen in the city.

6Then the Lord God provided a plant and made it grow up over Jonah to provide shade over his head, to relieve him from his discomfort. So Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, and it attacked the plant so that it withered. 8When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, so he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

Jonah said, “I do have a right to be angry—angry enough to die!”

10So the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. 11So should I not be concerned for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left—and also many animals?”

Prayer of the Day

Let us pray.

Lord God, you call us to work in your kingdom and promise to reward us according to your grace. Help us to rid our minds of worldly expectations and rejoice that you freely pour out the blessings of salvation to all people; through the merits of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Verse of the Day: Ephesians 2:8

Alleluia. For it is by grace you have be saved, through faith – and this not of yourselves, it is a gift of God. Alleluia.

Sermon Text:

“It’s not fair!” Have you heard those words? Have you said those words? Our fairness meter develops fairly early on in our lives here on this earth and we can be pretty quick to point out when we think equity has been destroyed, at least when it doesn’t favor us.  I’ve always said, in the face of that accusation, that we better be really careful when we demand “fairness,” however.  Last Sunday we looked at the fact that God has forgiven us and that forgiveness is to flow to others through us as well.  Today, Jonah is called on to do exactly that in our Old Testament lesson, but with an unexpected, dare we say, undeserving group of people (at least in Jonah’s eyes). As the prophet wrestles with it, we learn an important lesson about God’s grace.

Perhaps it’s best to back up a bit before we launch into our lesson today.  Ninevah, the capital of the nation of Assyria, has a reputation in Israel.  The Assyrian King Shalmaneser III had fought the bloody battle of Qarqar in 853 b.c. in Syria to put down a revolt against a number of Syrian kings.  Ahab, the king of Israel, had joined the fray in support of the Syrians and Assyria.  In his famous Black Obelisk, Shalmaneser is said to have claimed the lives of over 14,000 men from the allies and made blood flow in the wadis. Historians call it more of a draw that left both sides depleted and reeling from the fight.  Either way, Assyria was known for its brutality, at least in early history. They slaughtered their victims, piling corpses high to demonstrate their might, and were well known for the torture they often subjected conquered peoples to in an effort to subjugate by fear.

No wonder Jonah wanted nothing to do with the assignment God had given. When He had asked His prophet to call Nineveh to repentance, Jonah famously fled in the opposite direction, requiring God to redirect him through a fish which had swallowed him whole, saving him from death at sea and vomited him up on the coast to allow him to do the work God had given.  I will never forget the words spoken to the Sunday School classes when then MLC president, Pastor Zarling, had made a visit early in ministry.  There are two ways out of a fish!  God is gracious!! 

Jonah eventually obeyed God and went throughout Nineveh with his message of repentance.  God’s Word was of great success, and the entire city, we are told, repented, putting on sackcloth and sitting in ashes.  A miracle in and of itself.  It should be noted that this corner of the globe also became one of the first to convert to Christianity when the news of Jesus Christ reached them.   

That’s where the words of our lesson today begin. We might have expected Jonah to be over the moon that his preaching had produced such results.  I mean just imagine if tomorrow we walked around Madison calling for repentance and at the end of the day the governor would call for unilateral repentance in the hope of gaining the favor of God!  Man, we would make the WELS connection for sure!  But something else happens entirely.

God’s Word records, “1But to Jonah all this seemed very bad, and he became very angry. 2He prayed to the Lord, ‘Lord, wasn't this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. 3So now, Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ (Jonah 4:1-3)”

Ah, but before we pile the hate on Jonah, pause for just a moment.  Last week, we discussed the fact that the forgiven, forgive.  God even gave us the ministry plan in Matthew chapter 18, but we so often think of the little stuff there, right?  Okay, okay, God, I’ll try to be a bit more forgiving if someone cuts me off in traffic and maybe even if they get my order wrong at the drive-through, but the big baddies out there, well, they are lost causes.  So I’ll hate Russia, despise Iran, and throw up my hands when I consider the Middle East because they are all just lost, right. Truth be told, it is often smaller than all of that.  The person who was mean to me or who stood in my way when I was trying to accomplish something (good, bad, or indifferent), well, they can never be trusted again.  Their family, their kids, and those who like them are all suspect forever after.  Someone who wronged me in some way should really have to come crawling back in some humiliating show of humility, just to have me look at them with anything other than suspicion.  We make our enemies in life, and while we might not always be as dramatic as Jonah in our lesson today, let’s just say it's once again a blessing to see God react in love.

4But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”

5Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city. He made a shelter for himself there and sat in the shade under it, waiting to see what would happen in the city.

6Then the Lord God provided a plant and made it grow up over Jonah to provide shade over his head, to relieve him from his discomfort. So Jonah was very happy about the plant. 7But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, and it attacked the plant so that it withered. 8When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind. The sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, so he said, “It is better for me to die than to live.”

9But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?”

Jonah said, “I do have a right to be angry—angry enough to die!”

10So the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. 11So should I not be concerned for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than one hundred twenty thousand people who do not know the difference between their right hand and their left—and also many animals?”

Our God is always the perfect teacher. Of course, it helps when you have divine power to illustrate Your points.  Jonah stomps off and pouts, like a little baby … or a grown man. Drama queen! Right? We’ll forgo a discussion of teenage angst and the cries of “you never let me have any fun!” or “You just hate me!” that fly so easily from the mouth because it’s not just teenage angst but grown-up tantrums that erupt in such displays. Jonah’s makeshift shelter kinda reminds me of fig leaves in the Garden of Eden, but God does him one better and provides a plant to shelter him from the sun, even though Jonah’s waiting for destruction he knows full well will never come.

Then it’s time for the lesson. The next day a worm attacks the plant, and it withers away, leaving Jonah susceptible to the hot desert sun, and out come the dramatic words again. It’s then that God strikes.  Jonah, you care about this plant and are angry at its passing, but you want me to obliterate a city with 120 thousand (the words here seem to point to children within it, not simply people).  You want me to annihilate 120 kids and so many animals who have played no part in the grudge you hold against them. The stunning silence as the book ends has led more than one commentator to conclude that Jonah is also unable to answer this pointed lesson.  The reluctant prophet then repents … at least we hope.

Do you see the amazing truth here?  God cares!  He cares about the things He has created and placed on this earth of ours.  He is deeply concerned about the people who inhabit it.  Even more amazing is that He yearns to be with them, each one of them, for all eternity. Paul tells Timothy, “(God) wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4)”  That’s the good of the world and the bad. Yes, even the downright evil! God wants them all. And perhaps, just perhaps, if we wonder about whether Fido will be in heaven or not, if we are concerned about what we are going to do in heaven, we should think about who is going to be there too.  I dare say if I get mad because my car got dinged on the beltway then maybe the eternal welfare of humanity should get me just a little worked up.

Ah, but before we don the sackcloth and go searching for an ash pile to sit in. Remember, dear Christian, that this means you too.  Amazing grace! No? That God would come for a sinner like me.  That He would send His Son for a sinner like you … well, the truth is He came for an entire world of sinners, good, bad, and all the in-betweens.  No, it may not seem real fair, at least not for God but then that’s exactly why we call it “grace”.  For a world of undeserving sinners, Jesus died and rose again, providing forgiveness, new life, and salvation.  You and I, we have the privilege of telling them … even the worst of them.  Because, well, grace by definition may seem unfair (really undeserved), but that’s exactly what we needed … them too. Amen.