Previously in the story of Jonah... We watched how the word of the LORD came to Jonah, telling him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah said no, and set off in the opposite direction. A storm, and a sinking feeling, and swallowed by a great fish later, Jonah was back on dry land, rejoicing in God’s grace to him when he was under the sea.
And we watched in the last episode how the word of the LORD came to Jonah, telling him to go to Nineveh, and this time, Jonah obeyed. He preached his eight word epilogue, announcing that Nineveh’s days were numbered, and in that most unlikely way, revival broke out in the city. Everyone including the king donned sackcloth as a sign of mourning and repentance for their sin, and wondered if God would relent from his fierce anger.
And at the very end of chapter 3, we heard about the reprieve that Nineveh received: ‘When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.’ (3:10).
So, given all that has happened, how would you feel? And remember that Jonah is a prophet, someone sent to proclaim God’s word. And he’s seen people respond to God’s word, and trust in God. So how should he feel? Blessed? Rejoicing? Happy? Satisfied? All of the above?
It’s quite a shock then, to read the start of chapter 4: ‘But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.’ Well, those two options didn’t appear in our possible list of expected reactions. Rather than being delighted, he is displeased. Rather than being amazed, he is angry.
So what’s going on? Why does he feel this way? And what might God be teaching us through this reluctant and now angry prophet?
To help us to understand why Jonah feels this way (whether it’s right or not), let’s listen in to his prayer from verse 2 onwards: ‘O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee 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. Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ (2-3)
Jonah says he knew what was going to happen if he came to preach in Nineveh. While he was still at home, sitting in his comfy armchair, he said to himself what would happen. He knew that if he came to preach in Nineveh, then people would be saved, and turn away from their evil ways. And, perhaps surprising to us, that’s the reason why he was so quick to flee to Tarshish.
He didn’t want the revival to happen in Nineveh, he didn’t want the people of Nineveh to hear God’s word and turn to trust in God. And so he went quickly in the opposite direction. Can you believe that? It’s hard to take in, isn’t it?
Now, how could Jonah be so sure that the people of Nineveh would turn to God? How could he be sure of the revival he didn’t want to see happening? It’s because he knew God’s character - he knew what God was like.
Those words in verse 2 are words we find in various places in the Bible. We heard them in Psalm 145; they’re also in Exodus 34 (which we were thinking about this morning, as the glory of the LORD passed by Moses). And, while we’re used to praising God because of these characteristics, and we rejoice in his grace and compassion, his slowness to anger and his abounding love - it seems that these are almost seen in a negative light by Jonah.
He knows these things about God; he knows that God is always like this. He was glad to receive God’s grace and compassion himself when he was sinking under the sea; but he doesn’t want God to be gracious to anyone else. Especially not the Ninevites. And so he resisted bringing them the good news of God’s grace. In effect he was racist, even sectarian, as he tried to withhold God’s grace from his enemies.
And so, having been used by God to bring about revival in Nineveh; having seen God’s grace lavished on his enemies, he doesn’t want to see any more. Doesn’t want to live any more. Maybe can’t even face going back home and reporting on his mission trip. You did what? You saved a bunch of Assyrians?
But God invades his pity party with a piercing question: ‘Have you any right to be angry?’ (4) If we have received God’s grace, can we really withhold it from anybody else? if we have received God’s grace, can we draw lines around it to stop other people from also receiving it? Can we prevent God from being gracious to whoever he show his grace? Are there people you would be angry at if they received God’s grace? Or would you be angry at God if he was gracious to anyone?
It just might be that we are more like Jonah than we would like, or admit. And so God’s question comes to us as well: ‘Have you any right to be angry?’
There’s no answer to the question. Instead, Jonah takes up a grandstand view of the wrath he hopes will still fall. You know the way people position themselves for a fireworks display? Jonah sits down outside the city, ‘and waited to see what would happen to the city.’ (5)
All the way through the book, we’ve seen how God has sent or appointed or provided lots of different things. There just so happened to be a boat going where Jonah wanted to go. (1:3) He sent a great wind on the sea. (1:4) He provided a great fish to swallow Jonah. (1:17) Now, in quick succession, the Lord provides three more things for Jonah.
First of all, there’s the vine. It doesn’t need plant food, especially not the one called Miracle-Gro, but it is a miraculous growth - growing up over Jonah’s head to give him shade, to ease his discomfort. Jonah’s very happy about it.
But then, the next morning, God provided a worm. And the worm was very happy, chewing on the vine, so that it withered away. But Jonah was less happy. His shade had gone.
And that was emphasised by the next thing God provided - a scorching east wind, on top of the sun blazing down on Jonah’s head. He was faint, he wanted to die, for, as he says again: ‘It would be better for me to die than to live.’ (8)
And God responds with the same question again: ‘Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?’ (9) To which Jonah is on the war path - ‘I do, I am angry enough to die.’
Poor Jonah! Angry about what has happened in Nineveh, and angry about what has happened outside of Nineveh. Always angry! But the gracious God speaks to him with words of grace and challenge; trying to turn him around, so that he again will rejoice in God’s grace, and see things from God’s perspective.
‘You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.’ Jonah was all concerned about this plant. He hadn’t done anything to plant it, or make it grow. It had only lasted a day. And yet he was concerned about it, and angry over it. He was concerned about the vine, and yet he wasn’t concerned about the flesh and blood people of Nineveh, people made in God’s image, people God cared about.
And here’s how God finishes his speech (and indeed finishes the book): ‘But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?’ (11)
He’s challenging Jonah to see the city the way he sees it. Over a hundred and twenty thousand people, who don’t know whether they’re coming or going. They have no spiritual awareness. Shouldn’t God care for them as well?
And that’s where the book ends. The unanswered question is left the reader to answer. We’re left wondering what Jonah’s response was. It’s a bit like the end of the parable of the prodigal son, isn’t it? The younger brother has come home, the party is ongoing, and the older brother is outside, with the father appealing for him to come in and join the party. But we’re not told. The invitation is left without resolution.
What about us? What about you? Is God’s grace something wonderful for you? Or is God’s grace something scandalous to you?
Have we got Ninevites that we don’t want to be saved by God’s grace? Are there borders or limits on God’s grace? That’s the question that God asks Jonah, and is asking us tonight.
So let’s be still for a moment, as we consider that, in God’s presence, before we pray together.
Lord God, we thank you for your grace. We thank you that you have reached for us and saved us. Thank you that everyone who believes in you receives forgiveness of sins. Help us to see people as you see them; and to share your grace with everyone we meet; in Jesus’ name. Amen.
This sermon was preached in St Matthew's Church, Richhill on Sunday evening 23rd February 2020.
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