“Hello, My Name Is Jonah”
The Book of Jonah
ÓRick Goettsche October 8, 2006
This morning we read a brief synopsis of the story of Jonah. Most of you are probably familiar with the story of Jonah to some extent. Jonah was swallowed by a whale (or a big fish, as scripture puts it), and then spit out three days later. Unfortunately, though this is the part of the story that we often remember, the whale really isn’t the star of this story, but just a supporting cast member. The major characters in this story are God, Jonah, and the town of Nineveh. There are basically three scenes to this story. The first scene shows God’s Command and Jonah’s Response.
Jonah was a prophet. Jonah’s job was to declare the messages that God gave him. Usually, these messages were directed at the Israelites, but in this story God told Jonah to go to Nineveh to proclaim his message. Jonah’s response is pretty much the opposite of what we might expect a prophet to do—he ran away from the Lord. He got on the first ship to Tarshish.
If you look at a map you’ll find that Nineveh is east of Israel. Tarshish, however, is west of Israel. Basically, God said to Jonah, “Go east young man.” And Jonah ran west. In chapter 1, we don’t really see why Jonah was running, but we see in chapter four that Jonah didn’t want to go because he was afraid that if he told the city to repent, as God was telling him to do, that they would repent and that God would spare them from his wrath. In other words, Jonah didn’t want to go because he wanted God to destroy Nineveh.
Why did Jonah want to see Nineveh destroyed? After all, that doesn’t seem like a very Godly attitude! Well, Nineveh was the capital of a country called Assyria. In Jonah’s time, Assyria was a major power, and Nineveh was the capital city. We know from history that when the Assyrians conquered a city, they would brutally kill all the men in the city and then take the women and children captive and rape them. Their reputation was so notorious that some cities, when they realized the Assyrian army was approaching, chose to kill themselves rather than being subjected to this evil regime.
The Assyrians might be readily compared to the Nazi regime or to Al-Qaeda in that they had no regard for human life, and sought to take over the world by any means necessary. Needless to say, these people were not good people. Add to this the fact that Assyria was making inroads to Israel, so it is quite possible that Jonah had seen firsthand the atrocities they were capable of. Jonah may have had family who had been killed or raped by the Assyrian army. Whether this is the case or not, it seems clear that Jonah wanted them wiped from the face of the earth. Jonah may have reasoned, why should they receive mercy? They haven’t extended mercy to anyone!
Now, before we completely stomp on Jonah, let’s stop for a second and look at ourselves. If you’re anything like me, you see some similarities with Jonah. We often find ourselves judging those around us, and deciding for ourselves who is worthy of the Gospel and who is not. Let me give some examples of why we might choose not to bring God’s message of love to certain individuals.
When we feel this way we are just like Jonah. And when we act this way, we limit the scope of the gospel message. Jesus tells us to go through all the earth teaching people about Him—he doesn’t limit the scope of the gospel to certain people. So, we know that Jonah’s got the wrong idea here—and he knows it too.
So in the second scene, we see Jonah at the ticket counter, buying a one-way ticket to Tarshish. When Jonah got on the boat, he knew perfectly well that he was disobeying God. We’re told that somehow during the course of his conversation with the sailors on the boat, he let them know that he was running away from God. So when a terrible storm came up, and they realized they were going to die if they didn’t do something, it dawned on them that God might be sending Jonah a message. They woke him up and asked him what they needed to do to get the sea to calm down and get out of there alive. Jonah admitted that he was the problem and told them to throw him overboard. Though the sailors initially resist, they finally gave in and threw Jonah overboard.
When Jonah’s thrown overboard, he immediately begins crying out to God. It’s interesting to see that when Jonah was about to die for his direct disobedience against God, he immediately called out to God for help! Though he was unwilling to extend mercy to others who are disobeying God, Jonah was dependent on that same mercy to save him. God spared Jonah’s life and when the great fish spit him out, God issued the same command to him again. This time Jonah, a little wiser, obeyed and headed to Nineveh.
Do you see that God dealt with Jonah much like a parent deals with a stubborn child? He does the same thing with us. Some of you are parents and some of you aren’t. Regardless of that I want you to imagine for a moment that you’re a parent of a small child.
You tell your child that they need to pick up their toys from the living room because people are tripping over them, and somebody could get hurt. This is a seemingly simple request, and however naïve it may be for you to think this, you expect that your child will readily comply with your request, and when you return to the room 15 minutes later, that the living room will be clean.
As difficult as it may be to imagine this, imagine that when you return to the room 15 minutes later, your child has not picked up his or her toys—in fact, you find that they have actually pulled more toys out into the living room! What is your response? One response might be to conclude that your child needs a little motivation to help him or her pick up the toys. There are a number of ways you can achieve this motivation, but one way might be to begin picking the toys up yourself and putting them in a place where people won’t trip over them, such as the trash can. In my experience as both a child and a parent, I’ve found it doesn’t take long for the child to realize that it was not a good idea to defy their parent, and they will quickly begin doing what you asked them to begin with.
This is very similar to the encounter between God and Jonah. When we disobey God, he will do what is necessary to help us get back on track. With Jonah, it took being swallowed by a big fish. The chances are slim that you’ll get swallowed by a big fish if you disobey God since we don’t live near a large body of water. However, God may use any number of means to motivate you. You may find that you keep running into closed doors only to find that the one door that’s open is the one God wanted you to go through in the first place. You may find any number of hardships in your life that are designed to get your attention so that you’ll get back on track. The more radical and stubborn your disobedience, the more radical the course correction that is needed. And the more radical the course correction that is needed, the more radical your motivation will have to be as well.
Now we pick up in the third scene, after God has motivated Jonah. Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed the message God gave to him, which was simply “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned.” I can’t imagine that Jonah was very energetic in his proclamation. I see him giving his proclamation much like a child says they’re sorry when their parent says they have to. You know what that looks like—a half-hearted, “sorry.”
God used even that meager effort. Amazingly, the Ninevites believed Jonah’s warning, and did a complete about-face. They repented, begging God to show them mercy. This attitude extended all the way up to the king of Nineveh, who issued a decree that everyone should stop everything else they were doing and fast and pray for God to forgive them and spare the city from the destruction Jonah had predicted.
While this was going on, Jonah was fuming. He didn’t want God to spare them—he wanted them destroyed. So Jonah walked out of the city by himself, probably muttering about how unfair it is that God gave them a chance to repent. He went and perched himself on a hill outside the city, close enough to have a good vantage point of the city being destroyed, but far enough away that he wouldn’t get hit by brimstone if it fell on the city.
Here, on Jonah’s little hill God gave him an object lesson—he caused a vine to grow up and provide shade for Jonah. Jonah was happy to have some shade to rest under. The next day, God provided a worm, which chewed through the vine, causing it to wither. Next, God provided a scorching wind and blazing sun, which served to remind Jonah that the vine was gone. Jonah got angry, claiming that God had no right to take away the vine that had been providing him shade. God confronted Jonah’s selfish attitude—Jonah was all upset about the vine and didn’t seem to care at all about the people of Nineveh.
We exhibit this same selfish attitude all the time—like when we get upset that our television breaks, but we don’t seem to care at all that our neighbor is going to Hell!
Jesus, before he left the earth, told the disciples to go to the ends of the earth sharing the gospel and teaching people about him. That command still applies today, but many times we decide that some people aren’t worthy of Jesus’ gift of life.
Earlier, we listed a number of reasons why we might not want to tell someone about Jesus—by the time we get to the end of the book of Jonah, we recognize that none of those reasons hold any water. First, we see that no matter how bad or how hardened to the gospel a person seems, God can change their heart. The Ninevites were a brutal and wretched people, but God still drew them to him. Phillips, Craig, and Dean, a Christian singing group, had a song whose chorus went like this. “There’s nobody too far gone, too far beyond his reach. He believes in lost causes, he believed in me.”
These words illustrate the point God was making to Jonah. First, nobody is too far from God—he can reach any person and pull them out of their sin. Second, we have experienced that first hand. God has saved us from ourselves. If we lived our lives according to our own desires, we would be in deep trouble. John Bradford, a 14th century reformer understood this concept—he is best remembered for a phrase he uttered when he saw a criminal being led to his execution: “There but for the grace of God go I.” He knew that if it weren’t for God’s intervention, he could be in the same position as that criminal.
Friends, we need to recognize that we’ve been spared from ourselves by God’s grace, and that grace, in its very nature is unmerited. We need to share the message of the gospel with others. There are numerous ways that we can carry Christ’s love to a world that desperately needs it. You don’t have to go to another country, you don’t have to stand on a street corner preaching the gospel, you don’t even have to hand out gospel tracts to people. These are all great things, and if you can do them, do them. But if you aren’t doing these things, start small.
o Sit next to someone different when you’re at a ball game
o Talk to people as you wait in line
o Actually talk to the people who wait on you at a business—make it a goal to find out something about that person’s life
o When you see someone who is upset, go and talk to them
o Look for those people who seem to be excluded—people sitting or standing off to the side of everyone else, and go strike up a conversation
o Offer to help someone who has more than they can carry, or someone who’s dropped an armful of stuff—this is easy when you’re at Wal-Mart
o We’re asking you to adopt businesses to show them Christ’s love through you—many of you have seen how a simple act of kindness can make a person’s week. Look for ways to notice what others do, and express appreciation.
§ Tell the checker who’s obviously having a rough day that he or she is doing a good job
§ Thank the salesperson for taking the time to explain something to you
§ Let your waitress know that you appreciate her cheerful disposition
o Even within the business blitz, carry Christ’s love to those who may not receive it if you don’t do it. I debated whether to include the one bar in town on our list of businesses to appreciate—I quickly realized that while we may not appreciate what the business does for our community, those who work in that business are equally as worthy of God’s love as you or I.
These are just some starting points for sharing the gospel. Look for ways to reach out to those we might normally exclude. We are much more like Jonah than we’d like to believe. Jonah’s story is included in scripture for exactly that reason—so that we can see a glimpse of ourselves. God’s given us a message to carry—the message that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. None of us is worthy of the gospel, which is exactly why we call it Good News. We’ve been commanded to carry this Good News to the ends of the earth.
Take a lesson from Jonah, and take God at his word. Bring the gospel to those who might not hear it otherwise. You don’t have to cross the ocean to do that; you can start by crossing the room.
ÓRick Goettsche October 8, 2006