Exposing the Truth
Jonah 4:5-9
* As we end this story or book, we discover that Jonah would have made a great 21st century church member in America. Jonah may have well been the original “It’s all about me” prophet. As I was reviewing this book and his life, I was thinking about Jonah in these terms. Consider this with me;
o He received a call from God
o He rejected God’s call
o He resisted God’s discipline
o He relented only when death was eminent.
o He reluctantly completed God’s call.
o He reacted negatively to God’s work of grace.
o He revealed his true heart, his true self.
* By the way, this revelation isn’t pretty. It shows Jonah to be the self-centered, selfish, and even prideful person which he truly is. It demonstrates to us that a person can answer God’s call and do so with the wrong attitude. Very few places in the Bible do we see such wickedness in one who serves God. What can be revealed to us by studying this part of Jonah’s life? Like all of God’s work, it could be something “life-changing.”
* (READ) A priest was being honored at his retirement dinner after 25 years in the parish. A leading local politician who was a member of the congregation was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner. He was delayed so the priest decided to say his own few words while they waited. “I got my first impression of the parish from the first confession I heard here. I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place. The very first person who entered my confessional told me he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost murdered the officer. He had stolen money from his parents, embezzled from his place of business, had an affair with his boss’s wife and taken illegal drugs. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people were not all like that and I had, indeed, come to a fine parish full good and loving people.”Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived full of apologies at being late. He immediately began to make the presentation and give his talk. “I’ll never forget the first day our parish priest arrived,” said the politician. “In fact, I had the honor of being the first one to go to him in confession.”
* Well, the truth was now exposed. Exposure can be good or bad. If you are exposed as the long lost heir of a now dead rich relative, then it is considered good. However, to have secrets, sin, selfishness, and the like exposed is quite painful. This is where we find Jonah tonight.
* Think about this; Jonah walked into a wicked town who has 120,000 residents and preached the message of repentance which was empowered by God and the city responded in mass! In verses 5-9 we discover how both Jonah and God interacted in the aftermath of the revival.
1) The Rebellion of Jonah – We are kidding ourselves if we think that, for one minute, Jonah WANTED to answer God’s call. When taken in the totality of the story, we know that Jonah is exhibiting some bad behavior. Let’s see;
a) His Stubbornness – The HCSB says that Jonah “left the city and sat down east of it.” The Hebrew word means he “moved away” from the city. Most translations say he “went out and sat down”, however I love how Gene Peterson says it, “He just left.” The Living Bible says he went out and “sat sulking”. For some reason, Jonah wanted these people to received divine punishment and wouldn’t be pleased with anything less. Who knows exactly why? Perhaps they lived on the wrong side of the track, they were different from Jonah, or maybe they were more affluent and Jonah was jealous.
b) His Selfishness. - When he sat down he got up and built him a shade to set in. (Had he been a Baptist he would have fabricated some kind of cushion for his seat because this is all about him.) In fact, we see Jonah’s selfishness in verse 2 when he almost sticks his fist in God’s face and says, “I told you so!” Now instead of staying where God put him, Jonah goes outside the city to moan, groan, and carry-on about God doing what Jonah didn’t think God should be doing. I have just begun reading a book entitled, “Essential Church.” Dr. Thom and Rev. Sam Rainer are speaking to the exodus from the church of our young people. Guess what, we are finding that young people don’t particularly leave their faith, just the church. And why? Because they haven’t made the connection between faith and their church. And why? Because they have not SEEN that connection in their elders or been truly discipled by the truths in God’s word. Why is this? Because they have seen us older people selfish instead of spiritual in our decision making. And now the price is being paid.
c) His Shallowness – Verse exposes probably more than we care to think about. God assigned a plant to grow up and give Jonah some relief and Jonah, like us, was thankful to the gift and not to the God. He focused on the created instead of the creator.
* It is a shallow, selfish and stubborn person who is grateful for the gift in life and forgets the giver of life. I can hear Jonah leaning back in the shade under the plant and saying, “Finally, nature is taking care of me. At least somebody cares.”
d) His Shamelessness – As Jonah was getting a beach type of sun burn while in the desert, HE STILL REFUSED to reach out to and recognize God. This is a lesson for all of us. God has just used Jonah in a huge way and in just a small amount of time, Jonah is estranged from the will and word of God and he is seemingly shameless about his fall. Instead of asking God for help, he begs to die! May I offer us this thought? He was so angry that he was shameless in what he said. When anger takes over, good sense departs! We’ll say things that are wrong, we will say things in the wrong way, and in our anger, we’ll simply be wrong. Guess what, in those moments of anger we exhibit no shame for what we say. Anger inebriates quicker than alcohol and has a longer hangover (if you have a conscious – which would be the Holy Spirit).
2) The Response of God – When Jonah reacted like he did, his true self was exposed. I suggest that God was in the mix, egging this process on to see if Jonah would see himself for what he really was. (He still does this today)
a) He Appointed a Plant – Even in the midst of Jonah’s rebellion, God was still extending grace like only God can. When we are our own worst enemy, many times God will send us an offer of relief to see if we will look to Him. God place a shade over the head of Jonah in an effort to remind Jonah of His grace and love to all. But Jonah was too shallow to understand, see, or acknowledge the Father.
b) He Appointed a Worm – On a personal note, this verse of scripture has always been a blessing to me because if God will call a worm, then there is hope for me. God said, “Okay Jonah, you not going to come to me when I offer grace? Try this.” The worm killed the plan. I wonder how many blessings in my life God has sent worms to kill because of my sorry attitude. It’s frightening to consider.
c) He Appointed a Wind – When Jonah continued his stubbornness, God turned up the heat. Did you know that God will do this every time? He doesn’t give up easily. He will expose the truth and discover our hearts because He so badly wants each of us to be fulfilled.
