Message
Jonah 4:1-4
A Grace Extinguisher And A Merciful God
Let’s get a summary of Jonah’s evangelism crusade to Nineveh.
Jonah proclaimed, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
The Ninevites believed God.
The king proclaimed, “ Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence.”
When God saw what they did he relented.
In the great city of Nineveh there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people.
By any measure that is a successful crusade. The whole city responded.
If I had the chance to preach to 120,000 people and ten of those came to faith, I would be rejoicing. We all would. So what Jonah does next is … feels … unfathomable.
1 But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 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. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
4 But the Lord replied, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
Jonah 4:1-4
It is wrong for God to relent from showing punishment.
Jonah is a prophet who is very familiar with the relenting of God – just read through the book of Exodus and Numbers. God relented constantly even through the people proved themselves to be “a stiff-necked people” who were never grateful for what God was doing.
And where was Jonah not that long ago. If God didn’t relent Jonah would be dead in the bottom of the sea!
It is wrong for God to be consistent to His character.
Even when I was at home in Gath Hepher I knew this would happen. I knew that I would go into Nineveh and preach and then people would repent and then you would forgive.
I knew it
You are a God who slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. It is wrong for you to be like that.
“Slow to anger and abounding in love.”
You will find this phrase 7 times in Scripture … on every other occasion it is used in the context of hope and renewal. Here it is seen as a curse. Jonah angrily derides these wonderful attributes of God.
You have acted so wrongly I just want to die.
I have had enough … enough of your graciousness and compassion.
I want nothing to do with this whole situation. I certainly don’t want to go back to Israel and let everyone know what I have done.
Let’s just end it now.
Jonah would have to be the most thankless successful evangelist … ever.
Walking through the door of his home in Gath Hepher, “Honey, I home.”
“How did the trip go dear?”
“Well, I had a bit of a detour, but when I got there 120,000 people repented in less than three days.”
“That sounds amazing.”
“Not really, it was my worst crusade ever.”
Who thinks like that?
Well, actually, there are a group of people who think like that.
I’m going to call them “grace-extinguishers”.
There is a grace-extinguisher in the parable of the forgiving father.
The younger son takes his inheritance and blows it all.
The father keeps waiting and, when the son returns, runs to him and then treats him with the best.
The grace-extinguisher is the older son.
“All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!”
Luke 15:29-30
There is no joy about the return of the lost brother.
Or a thankfulness of a restored family.
All he has is a feeling of being unappreciated.
Showing compassion just seems wrong. All the brother wants to do is extinguish the effects of grace.
The is another “grace-extinguisher” in the parable of the workers in the vineyard.
These were the workers that were able to get work at 6:00am, at the beginning of the day. All day they have been watching as more and more workers come
… at 9:00am
… at 12:00pm
… at 3:00pm
… and a group at 5:00pm.
Basically the last group hired pack up some tools and hose out the sheds. But when it gets to the pay-time everyone gets the same amount of pay … one denarii for one day’s work … as was agreed buy all.
When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
Matthew 20:11-12
There is no recognition that all the workers can go home and feed their family.
There is no thankfulness that the landowner has provided a huge opportunity.
All they see is that they have somehow been cheated.
Showing compassion is wrong. These workers just want to extinguish the effects of grace.
Grace-extinguishers.
They are the people who say . I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity
Then when God does exactly what we know He will do.
Because He says that is who he is. And He says that is how He will act.
When God acts like this they try to extinguish God’s grace by saying to God, “You are wrong”.
When this happens God turns to those who try and extinguish His grace and He says, “Is it right for you to be angry?”
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
But I went to the shop and all the toilet paper was gone. And there was that woman … that woman … and she had 3 packets and she kept them all. I saw that family they all came in the same car and the five of them each brought the antiseptic wipes and the bottle of antiseptic hand wash. They were only supposed to have one … one … they are so selfish. Everyone is so selfish.
My child … stop and listen.
I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’
Your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:25-34
You knew that I am a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Why are you angry?
Don’t let your anger and frustration extinguish the grace and compassion that I have shown you.
Yes Lord, but what am I going to do? There are so many people who are sick and every day I wake up and 100’s more have died. The health care system in Australia is already overwhelmed … at takes a year for a public patient to get their appendix out. The people I know and love get sick easily. The whole world has just been turned upside down God and I am afraid.
My child … stop and listen
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18
You knew that I am a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Why are you afraid?
Don’t let your fear and worry extinguish the grace and compassion that I have shown you.
That is true Lord. But it is so easy for other people. They have great big faith. They just seem to be able to be at so much more peace than me. I’m trying Lord, I am really trying … but Lord I am not like others.
I do come to you in prayer and seek peace. I am looking at your work and reading it regularly. I want my faith to grow.
It is all a bit overwhelming God and I am having doubts.
My child … listen … stop and listen again.
If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.
Luke 17:6
You knew that I am a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
Why do you doubt?
Don’t let your doubts and comparisons extinguish the grace and compassion that I have shown you.
Yes Lord … but
Is that what we have today?
Ant event, or situation, or emotion, or struggle, or incidence, or meeting, or responsibility, or feeling, or relationship, or frustration, or fear …
Whatever it is.
We look at this and we say Lord I know …
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.
And I have experienced that grace and compassion.
The people I love have experienced that grace and compassion.
But just in this moment it is a bit harder to see. Just at the moment we may be extinguishing the grace and compassion God has shown us.
Maybe God is asking us “Do you have a right …?”
Do you have a right to be angry?
Do you have a right to be afraid?
Do you have a right to be full of doubt?
And maybe you do feel that you have a right. Jonah thought he had the right.
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. (Jonah 4:5).
That is the very definition of a fool’s errand.
Sitting outside of the city waiting for God not to be slow to anger and abounding in love.
Expecting God to act how Jonah wanted God to act.
Next week we will see what happens … but what a place to be.
Everyone in the city is celebrating – the joy of the Lord is their strength – celebrating forgiveness and the wonder of knowing a God who relents.
They are celebrating the God
The gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, who relents from sending calamity God
That this God came to them in the middle of their evil and violence, and discord, and fear and comparison and doubt and all they have been. This this God came to them!
What a celebration. A transformation.
Jonah should have been there, in the city.
Instead he is outside the city extinguishing the grace and compassion of God becoming more and more angry.
Yet even then we see just how merciful God is. Because we don’t see God saying, “You have no right to be angry!” Instead God tries to get Jonah to come to his senses by asking a question, “Do you have a right to be angry?”
Do you have the right to extinguish God’s grace?
Sometimes it may feel that we do.
And when we do our merciful God still doesn’t give up on us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35; 38-39
Nothing not even our grace extinguishing attitude that leaves us sitting outside the city.
Prayer
