God’s Abounding Love – Jonah 4:5 – 11.
Today we come to the final message on the book of Jonah. The last time we looked at the story Jonah was outside the city of Nineveh sitting in a makeshift shelter, sweltering from the heat and sulking. After first running away from God and refusing to proclaim His message, he finally gave in, went to Nineveh, preached the message and the whole city turned to God. But, instead of rejoicing at the conversion of the city, he was sulking.
Interestingly however, instead of punishing Jonah for his attitude, God comes to him and reasons with him. It was the Prophet Isaiah who penned these words, ‘Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord, and here we have the Lord coming to Jonah to reason with him.
But the book ends abruptly with a statement and a question. The question is not answered and we have no idea of what Jonah’s response was or what happened in his life following that confrontation. Jewish tradition has this to say about the end of the story, ‘in that hour Jonah fell on his face and said, “Govern your world according to the measure of mercy, as it is said, To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness.”
What are some of the lessons God would have us learn from this closing passage? I believe there are two main lessons. The first I call:
1. The Lesson of the Vine – v. 10.
The Lord said in essence,
“Jonah, you are concerned about material things but you are not concerned about people. Jonah, people matter to me.”
Jonah was more concerned about the vine that gave him shade than he was about the people who were saved in Nineveh.
Now there is nothing wrong with being concerned about material things. Things like money to pay the bills, food to eat, a house for shelter, medication to cure illnesses, transport to get from one place to another, are all important things. Some we have because we need them and some we have because we like them. They are important. But there must be balance in life. We are not just physical, material beings, we have a spiritual side as well. Sometimes, in fact, oftentimes, we spend so much time catering to the material that we forget or neglect the spiritual. Jesus asked his disciples this rhetorical question, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his souls?” (Matthew 16:26). Every day we come across people like that, people who are so occupied and preoccupied with accumulating material things and personal security that they forget to feed the soul and prepare it for life beyond the grave. Yet many of these people will tell you they believe they do have a soul which will live on in the next life.
The Lord also says to Jonah,
“Jonah, material things are gifts from me which you did not earn.”
God had caused a vine to grow up to provide shelter from the sun and the heat for Jonah, but Jonah thought this was something he earned, something he deserved. At last God was giving him his just reward. But he hadn’t earned it. God gave it freely to him and he did not receive it as a gift because he thought it was his due.
Now this may be hard for you to believe, but the gifts, the abilities and the knowledge you have are all gifts from God. You may say, but I worked hard for what I have, but none of that hard work would have accomplished anything without you having the gift in the first place.
Take for instance, the ability to make money. Where did that come from? Read Deuteronomy 8:17 – 18. It is a gift from God. Jesus once told His disciples, “Freely you have received, freely give,” (Matthew 10:8).
Here are three things you need to remember about gifts from God:
o Gifts have their source in the grace of God; you can’t earn them.
o Gifts are to be discovered, developed and dedicated to God, not hoarded and worshiped.
o Gifts are instruments to bring blessing to others, use them wisely.
So much then for the lessons from the Vine. Jonah also needed to learn:
2. The Lesson of Nineveh – v. 11.
The lesson of Nineveh was all about loving the lost. The Prophet was not pleased about God saving the people of the city of Nineveh, but God was pleased. Here was a group of people who would now be able to enter His kingdom. Jonah, on the other hand was more concerned about the vine when it dried up than about the people of Nineveh been saved from Hell.
Many years ago in a city where I lived, a woman went for a drive in a new car her husband had recently bought. Sometime after leaving home she called her husband. On the phone she told him, “I was in an accident.” He replied, “Is the car badly damaged?” “It’s a total write-off,” she said. “Well,” he said, “just call the insurance company and they’ll take care of everything. And call a taxi if you need a drive home.” “I can’t,” she said, “I am calling from the emergency room in the hospital.”
The story is not fictional. It happened and that marriage ended in divorce. Why? Because one man was more interested in material things than he was in people.
Nineveh had approximately 120,000 people. Ramara has 9,427. Brock county has 11,979. Mississauga has 700,00 and Toronto 2,400,000. Do they matter to God? Every last one does. The question is, ‘Do they matter to us?’
Jonah had his reasons why the people of Nineveh did not matter to him. Here they are:
Prejudices
- Jonah was prejudiced against the Ninevites for good reasons. They were wicked and they followed many wild pagan practices. They were especially wicked towards the Jews.
Priorities
–Jonah had other priorities. Perhaps he wanted to spend his time teaching the people of Israel the word of God and warning them about the coming destruction of the nation. Perhaps he just wanted to be a pastor to the little flock in Gath-Hepher. He had his priorities. What are yours? What comes first in your life, the plans you made for yourself or the plans God has for you? What if God should put on your heart the desire to spend next Saturday cleaning up the neighbour’s yard, but your desire is to spend the day boating on the lake, which would come first? Get your priorities right.
Principles
– One of the great principles of scripture is this, ‘God loves the world.’ He loves the world of people and He loves the material world, but people come first. If we claim to be children of God then we too must love the people around us and the people of the world.
Challenges:
How easy to be consumed with the trivial.
For many Christians life is just a game of Trivial Pursuit. Avoid this attitude at all times.
How easy to be guided by anger.
We sometimes become so angry over petty things like what songs we sing in church and what bread we use when we serve communion that we lose sight of our great calling, to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
How easy to neglect those around us because of wicked prejudices or wrong priorities.
Get these things right in your life.
