This morning we come to our final message on Jonah, Lessons from a Man Who Ran. During our series on this very small and profoundly powerful book, we have discovered that we are all like Jonah in that we have all tried in some way to run from God. Jonah ran from God at the beginning of the story. He then ran to God when he understood God’s plan for him. He ran for God by obeying God and today we are going to see something really hard but true and that is Jonah trying to run God.

Along the way we have learned some very important lessons from the life of Jonah. Our first lesson was that the only place we go when we run from God is a dead end. Next, we discovered that God is always waiting for us to run to him when we give up running from him. In our last message the lesson was that God expects people near to him to run for him to people far from him. Now today the lesson is that when we try to control the grace God offers to others, we are trying to run God.

I need you to understand that this chapter has been one that personally has caused deep conviction within me. The reason is that it creates a mirror in which I see myself, our church and most Christians and it’s not a pretty reflection. The truth is that this last chapter in Jonah is one that I knew was coming when I started reading the book back in August. It’s not just that I knew that chapter four would follow chapter three but it’s what this chapter says about Jonah and about you and me that is so troublesome. In fact, if you are someone who is not a Christian, this message will confirm something to you that you have always thought about Christians and that is that we are hypocrites. It will confirm that we are guilty of saying one thing and doing another and that is what hypocrites do. So for believers today I can only say to you to hold on because we are in for a bumpy ride.

Let’s set up the story for a moment for those who may need a reference point. In Jonah chapter 1 God told Jonah to go to a city called Nineveh and tell them that he was going to judge them because of their horrible wickedness. We know that Jonah ran from God and was swallowed by the fish. After Jonah is in the fish he changes his mind and desires to obey God in chapter two and go to the city of Nineveh and proclaim God’s message, which is what he does in chapter three. After Jonah proclaims his message the entire city of Nineveh, including its king, repent and change their ways. When God sees their response to this warning of judgment, Jonah 3:10 says, "…he had mercy on them and didn’t carry out the destruction he had threatened." The NASV says, "…then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared He would bring upon them and He did not do it."

At this point we could think that Jonah would be thrilled. Here he is God’s prophet who has seen an entire city believe God’s message and change their evil ways. Who could ask for anything greater? Yet we read in Jonah 4:1, "This change of plans upset Jonah and he became very angry." Any clear thinking person would want to say, "Excuse me? Isn’t this what you are supposed to be happy about? Aren’t you someone who represents God? You preached, people change and God’s not going to destroy them, what’s not to like?" The words in Hebrew in verse one actually mean that Jonah saw the change or repentance of the Ninevites as a "great disaster" and his response was that he was literally "burning with anger."

Why was he so upset? Well, he goes on to say in verse 2, " So he complained to the Lord about it: "Didn't I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people." (Jonah 4:2) This tells us the deep, true, reason that Jonah ran from God at the start. It wasn’t so much that he was afraid of the Ninevites but that he had walked with God long enough to know that God would have mercy on them if they changed. He knew the greatness of God’s character well enough to know that God would forgive them if they asked him and he could not imagine it being applied to people like them. It was beyond his concept of what God should do. He was basically saying, "God, you need to forgive only the people I think you should forgive. God, you can forgive some people but not all people."

What Jonah knows and tells us about God is so amazing. Look again at Jonah’s description of God. "I knew that you were a gracious and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. I knew how easily you could cancel your plans for destroying these people." Each of these words in Hebrew speaks powerfully about God’s character and nature but they all together define for us what Jesus called God’s kind of love, his "agape" love, his unconditional love. It’s the word that Jesus used when he said, "God so loved the world…" (John 3:16) It is the love of God that does not consider for one second the value or worth of an individual but loves them without condition.

Jonah knew this and his response was, "I’d rather die than watch you forgive these people! They don’t deserve your forgiveness!" God’s response in verse 4 is the most significant in the entire book: "Is it right for you to be angry about this?" God is asking him what good his anger was accomplishing. God speaks here for only the third time in the book with one penetrating question. It’s as though God is asking Jonah, "Are you trying to tell me who deserves grace and who doesn’t? Jonah, are you trying to run me?"

We all need to be very honest and admit that when it comes to God’s grace we really think God’s grace is only for those who deserve it. Somehow we think that only someone who gets their life together before they become a Christian is a person worthy of becoming a Christian. Be honest with yourself, how many of you actually spoke to people who, by their appearance, were not "our kind of people" at the Fall Festival Wednesday night? Did you make a judgment based on outward appearance whether they belonged or not? If we do that with something as simple as a Halloween party where getting candy is the only purpose, what do we do when it comes to sharing God’s unconditional love? It’s not that we don’t understand God’s unconditional love; it’s just that we think God’s grace is only for those who deserve it. When we understand God’s grace, we are tempted to control it, dispensing it to only those we think deserve it. I’ve got news for all of us: God’s grace is so unlimited, so boundless, so great, so immeasurable that no human alive has ever been deserving and that includes you and that includes me. We are trying to run God when we think God’s grace is only for those who deserve it.

God asks Jonah a question in verse 4 but Jonah walks away without any response. What he does do, though, is go out of the city and build himself a shelter of some sort and waited to see if God would blast them. He figures, "How long can this last? They’ve got forty days and maybe they will blow it and God will do what I’ve wanted all along: Make them pay!" (v. 5) Jonah will not give it up! He knows God is forgiving and he knows he is also just, so he is waiting to see which side will win: mercy or justice.

God wants to teach Jonah a lesson so he arranges for a plant to grow up over Jonah to provide some shade for him. When it does, Jonah is so very happy that he’s got a nice box seat for the coming destruction. It couldn’t get any better, right? Then God sends a grub worm to eat through the stalk and causes the plant to die. After that he directs a sirocco, a scorching east wind, to blow on Jonah. Jonah goes from being very happy about the plant to being enraged about the plant dying and the wind blowing on him. His response is, "Just kill me, Lord. I am so miserable." But God asks him, "Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?" Jonah still won’t give it up and says, "Yes! I’m angry enough to die."

God had poured out blessing after blessing for Jonah. When Jonah ran, God used a storm and a fish, not to pay Jonah back but to bring him back into relationship with him. Jonah had nothing to do with that and didn’t deserve it. When he gets to Nineveh they don’t kill him but, instead, obey him and do what God has said. God again was the source of Jonah’s protection. Now while Jonah is mad at God, God provides at least a brief shade for Jonah that, again, he had nothing to do with. God has blessed Jonah far more than he ever deserved. Jonah’s problem was he was fine with God blessing him; he just didn’t want God blessing people he didn’t think were worth it.

There is something, though, that we all need to be reminded of when we talk about grace. It’s this: grace, God’s unconditional love, is given to us to save us or prevent us from getting what we deserve. We deserve God’s justice and justice is waiting for everyone who rejects God’s grace. The city if Nineveh would be destroyed a few years after Jonah preached there. They ultimately would pay for their crimes against humanity and against God. God’s grace doesn’t make God’s justice null and void. Again, remember John 3:16 says that God’s love given to us through Jesus saves us from perishing. God was blessing the city of Nineveh with grace, hoping to prevent their eventual destruction. Jonah didn’t want any blessing for them only for himself.

Do you know what this tells us that we do? It tells us that we are guilty of trying to run God when we accept God’s blessings for ourselves but deny them to others. Deep down we believe that what we have is because God likes us because we’re so special and because we’ve worked hard for it, therefore, it’s mine to do with as I want. The key way that this is reflected is in our giving to God’s kingdom through the church. We live in our nice houses, drive our nice cars, wear our nice clothes, send our kids to nice schools and then give God a tip every once in a while. We forget that the blessings we have received are to be shared with others. When we refuse to share those blessings, we are denying someone else the chance to be blessed as well. Every time you receive God’s blessing and refuse to share God’s blessing you are denying blessings to someone else. And that, my friend, is trying to run God!

God’s question to Jonah in verse 9 is really a setup for his confrontation with Jonah in verses 10-11. He asks him if it was right for him to be upset over the plant dying. Jonah tells him that he had every right because in his mind his own comfort was more important than anything else. Now hear again God’s comment, "Then the Lord said, ‘You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. And a plant is only, at best, short lived.’ "(v. 10) "Jonah, you are so bent out of shape over one plant but you had nothing to do with it. It’s temporary, Jonah! It’s not going to live forever!" Then God says, " But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city?" (v. 11) God ends his discussion with a question that isn’t answered but is obvious.

Two times in this section God uses the words "feel sorry." The word is translated "concerned" and "compassion" (NIV and NASV). The Hebrew word is the word compassion but it literally meant "having tears in one’s eyes." Jonah has tears in his eyes over a plant. God has tears in his eyes over people who are in spiritual darkness. God describes these 120,000 people in the city who can’t tell their right hand from their left. They are people who essentially don’t know right from wrong. They are capable but ignorant. They are responsible for their wrong but God has tears in his eyes over their fate. His question to Jonah is, "What’s your concern, plants or people?" His affirmation is, "People are always my ultimate concern." Jonah’s demand was that his concerns were more important than God’s. But God’s were more important than his.

This is where it gets hard and tough. We need to admit that we demand that our concerns are more important than God’s. What brings a tear to God’s eyes? The thought of people rejecting his grace and perishing in hell forever. What are we concerned about? Anything other than that. We say, "Oh, no, no, no, I do care about that." I know you do and I know I do. Yet our concern is very general. We generally care that people are saved, that missions are important and that the gospel is preached. What happens, though, is that there is always something temporary that slides up between our owning God’s concern for people and our concern for what is temporary. The hard question for each of us is: "What is it that has come between your concerns and God’s concerns?" When we demand that our concerns are more important than God’s, we are trying to run God.

Andy Stanley says that a mark of spiritual maturity is when our concerns match up with God’s concerns. If that is true and I believe it is, then how close are you to matching your concerns with God’s? We are all so guilty about getting emotional about what is temporary and totally unemotional about what is eternal. We all allow what is a secondary concern to God to become a primary concern for us. In turn, what is a primary concern for God becomes a secondary concern for us. So what is the temporary concern that you have allowed to come between you and God’s eternal concern?

For most of us, it is our stuff. We would rather have more stuff than have more people in heaven. For others, it is our reputation. We would rather keep our reputation for being a nice person than risk losing it by talking about Jesus. For others, it is our schedule. We would rather make sure things are on our plan than change our plan to help someone know God’s plan. It could be your comfort zone of friends. We would rather keep all our friends that are safe than risk a relationship with someone who is not safe. So the question is: What’s come between you and God's concern? Another question is, "How much time are you going to waste on what won’t last?"

Are you trying to run God? Do you think his grace is only for those who deserve it? Do you accept his blessings but deny them to others? Do you demand that your concerns are more important than God’s? If so, then you are trying to run God. Jonah ends with a question about what really matters to God: "What brings a tear to our eyes—people, who are eternal, or things that are temporary?" That question is for you to answer. For me, for me, I’m doing all I know to match my concerns with God’s. What about you?

Sunday, November 4, 2007

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org