The Jonah Attitude
Scripture: Jonah 1-4
Introduction
I want to tell you a story I read in an email. There was this man who died and went to heaven. When he got there he was concerned about some of the things he saw. First it was as beautiful as he had imagined, but then, with great surprise, he saw several people that he knew while he was alive on earth. When he looked at them he noticed how quiet they were. Jesus noticing his surprise asked him about it. The man points out his next door neighbor who never talked to him and said he could not believe that man was in heaven. Next he pointed out the town drunk and the mean store owner, both of whom he could not believe made it into heaven. He went down the list of people in heaven that he was surprised to see. Finally as he rationalized why they were so quiet, he said that they were probably quiet because they recognized that they did not deserve to be there and they were happy and grateful for what they had received. Jesus looked at the man and explained to him that all of the people he saw were happy and talking just moments before. When the man asked why then was they quiet Jesus replied "Because they are surprised to see you here." The moral: we should be careful how we size up who is going to heaven and who is not. I share this story with you as a lead in to the second part of my message about the Jonah attitude. From last week remember that a person with a Jonah Attitude believes they can pick and choose those things of God that they do. They also believe that even though there is something they should do that is good they do not have to do it.
I. Jonah In The Belly Of The Fish
In chapter one, Jonah told the sailors that in order to save the boat they needed to throw him overboard. Although they initially resisted, they finally complied and threw him over. Once again, God in His goodness saved Jonah. God could have let Jonah drown for his rebellion, but God still wanted to save the people of Nineveh and He needed Jonah. So, to save those people, God saved Jonah. God prepared a large fish to swallow Jonah and keep him alive. Imagine what Jonah went through in the belly of that great fish for three days. You’d think after that experience that he would have been a changed man. Well, let’s see if that was the case. One thing I want to stress at this point in defense of Jonah is that his limited beliefs about God were part of his motivation. You see, during his time the Israelites believed that God was limited to the temple, that He was not really everywhere. Also they believed since they (the Jews) were the chosen people, God’s grace was limited to them. He had to go through a transformation in thinking in order to carry out his assignment.
In chapter two after spending three days and nights in the belly of the fish he cried out to God. In his prayer he recognized that God was not limited to a single location and that His grace is for more than just the Jews. In verse eight of chapter two he says "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs." At this point he is recognizing that God is the God for everyone, not just the Jews. When he comes to this realization, God had the great fish vomit Jonah out onto dry land. After He gets to the dry land, he goes to Nineveh to deliver the message. A person with a Jonah Attitude will know to call on God when they are in trouble. Although they may have caused the trouble, they still expect God to get them out. God is full of grace and will often lead us out of troubles, but that does not mean that there are not consequences that we will face. A person with a Jonah Attitude will sometimes come around and do what God is telling them to do, but they are not happy about it. When Jonah arrives in Nineveh, his attitude continues to show.
II. Jonah In Nineveh
Jonah goes through the city telling the people that they would be overthrown in forty days, they would be destroyed. Jonah does what God tells him to do but he is not happy about it. His attitude was more like a child that you ask to do something and they fuss about doing it only to do it with an attitude. Jonah told the people what God wanted them to know, but he did it with an attitude. A person with a Jonah Attitude will be able to get things done but they will gripe and complain about it to the point where you’d rather do it yourself just so you would not have to listen to them complain. When a person with a Jonah Attitude is asked to do anything that is an inconvenience to them you can expect them to complain; ask why they have to do it; seek alternatives means to get it done and finally, when all else has failed, do it with an attitude. We see this often with our children, especially if they think they have done more than their sibling. You’d expect it from a child, but when you see a grown person doing it there is something that is just not right with that. Again, most people would choose to do something themselves than ask someone with a Jonah attitude to do it. Finally, after they have completed the task they were asked to do, they look at you with the attitude that you should be grateful that they did it; grateful that they gave you some of their precious time and how you should feel guilty for even asking for it.
When the people of the city heard Jonah’s message, they repented and called for a fast. Every man and beast was covered in sackcloth and no one ate or drank anything during the fast. While this was going on, you know what Jonah did? You would expect that a prophet of God would have been excited that his or her message was received by the people. So many times a minister of God delivers a message only to have many ignore it or believe that it was a good message, but for someone else. Jonah’s message was received by everyone, including the King of Nineveh and instead of Jonah being happy, He became very angry. He became angry because God saved the people instead of destroying them. Look at Jonah chapter four verses one through three. "But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. And he prayed to the Lord and said, ’Please Lord, was not this what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshish for I knew that Thou art a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Therefore now O, Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life." Jonah, in his anger, confesses that he knew if he delivered the message that God would forgive them. He did not want God to forgive them he wanted God to destroy those wicked people. He was so angry that he was ready to die. It is hard for people with a Jonah Attitude to be forgiving. If they think you deserve what is coming to you, they wait to see it happen. If you do something against them, it will be a very long time before they ever consider forgiving you. As a matter of fact, they will get angry at their other friends if they forgive you after you have hurt them. Their anger will fester for long periods of time. Are you starting to see how detrimental this attitude is? Jonah was so angry that God decided not to destroy Nineveh that he actually wished that he would die. Maybe he did not want to be known as the person who God used to save those people, we do not know. All we know is that he did not want these people saved.
After Jonah witnessed their repentance, he left the city, made himself a shelter and sat under it so he could see what would happen to the city. Do you understand what he was doing? After he had told God how he felt about wanting the city destroyed, he fully expected God to do it. When he told God that he would rather die than live because the city of Nineveh was saved, he was actually giving God an ultimatum. He was telling God, "It is me or them and since I know you love me I am going to go out of the city and watch in satisfaction as you destroy them as you had said you would do." He could have been in the city comfortable with repentant people, but instead he chose to deal with the heat because he was sure the city would be destroyed. Remember when you got the chance to see one of your siblings or friend get in trouble and you knew a whipping was going to come? You’d sit there patiently waiting for it to happen, being glad that it was one of your siblings or friends getting the whipping and not you. This is what Jonah was doing when he went and sat outside of the city waiting for it to be destroyed. A person with a Jonah attitude will be happy that you are getting what is coming to you. Although they seem to sympathize with you, in their hearts they are glad it is you and not them and even be happy that you are in the situation that you are in. But God was not done with Jonah. Look at verses six through eight of chapter four. "So the Lord God appointed a plant and it grew up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant." God caused a plant to grow and provide shade to Jonah. Jonah was now very happy; he had shade and a front row seat to the destruction of Nineveh. "But God appointed a worm when dawn came the next day, and it attacked the plant and it withered. And it came about when the sun came up that God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying ’Death is better to me than life." Once again Jonah was ready to die.
Jonah was now very angry. The city of Nineveh was not destroyed as he had told them it would be; the plant that was providing him shade was now gone and he was hot. He was hot physically, emotionally and spiritually. God looked down on Jonah and began to teach him a lesson. Look at verses nine through eleven. "Then God said to Jonah, ’Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?’ And He said, ’I have good reason to be angry, even to death.’ Then the Lord said, ’You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work, and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. And should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more that 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"
When God asked Jonah if he had a reason to be angry Jonah’s reply was that he had a reason, even unto death. That is a lot of anger. God told Jonah that he had more compassion for a plant than he did for 120,000 people. I believe it was because the plant was providing something to Jonah (shade) and the people meant nothing to him. A person with a Jonah Attitude will treasure things that bring pleasure to them over people. Their clothes may mean more to them that you. Their other possessions will mean more to them than you because those possessions does something for them. A person with a Jonah Attitude is selfish; self-centered; unforgiving; mean and very dangerous to you. As I told you last week, a person with a Jonah Attitude will suck you dry and then move on to the next person. This book is about grace, how God’s grace is given to any who call on His Name. God said the people of Nineveh did not know the difference between their left or right hand – meaning that what they were doing they did not understand Him as Jonah did. This is also a story of human emotion, of someone who is saved but chooses to act as if they were not saved. You see, there is a little bit of Jonah in all of us. The difference is that some of us suppress that attitude in our decision to walk with Christ while others use their walk with Christ to further loose their attitude. There are many Christians in the world that uses Christianity as a weapon to get back at those who do not believe as they believe; to punish those who fall short of their expectations; and to continue their own self promotion in this world. Christianity is about grace, God’s grace given to us through His Son Jesus Christ. A person with a Jonah Attitude actively seeks to cancel out God’s grace. This person is very dangerous to you but especially to themselves.
I will close with these words from Paul. Paul tells us in Hebrews 12:1-2a to Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…." If your eyes are always on you and what you want and need, you cannot be looking at Jesus. A person with a Jonah Attitude will entangle you so therefore, set them aside. Let them be who they want to be, but let them be it without it impacting you and your faith walk. Do not lose sight of Christ for anyone, especially for someone with a Jonah Attitude who is actively suppressing your faith walk. May God Bless you.
