More Lessons for Jonah

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More Lessons for Jonah

Jonah 3:10-4:11

Every person can understand God’s compassion by learning the lessons Jonah learned. 

Introduction: 

     I had a cousin who got married recently to a man she had been living with for at least 15 years.  Rather than having a small ceremony with just friends and family, she did the whole things.  She had a church wedding with a large reception to follow.  The real kicker for me was that she had registered for gifts.  She had lived with this man for 15 years they had a child together, and they even had a house.  I wanted to know why I should be buying stuff to furnish a house they have lived in for so long. 

     I am letting you in on some of my prejudice.  I felt that my cousin was open to receiving gifts that she and her husband did not deserve.  That was my opinion.  As we look again at Jonah today, he had a similar opinion about the people of Nineveh.  God wanted to warn them of the coming destruction, and when they repented God forgave them.  Jonah did not think they were deserving of that forgiveness.  He was wrong in his assumption.  God taught Jonah some lessons about who is deserving of what, and rather than leaving that with Jonah, God showed that it is really a matter that concerns him. 

     In the last part of Jonah 3 we read how Jonah had delivered God’s message to the people of Nineveh, and after they heard that message they repented.  They turned from their sin with a commitment to begin a new life. 

Lesson I.  Repentance leads to forgiveness

A. When I was in South Africa, a fine, handsome Dutchman came into my service, and God laid His hand on him and convicted him of sin.  The next morning he went to the beautiful home of another Dutchman and said to him, "Do you recognize that old watch?"

"Why, yes," answered the other. "Those are my initials; that is my watch. I lost it eight years ago. How did you get it, and how long have you had it?"

"I stole it," was the reply.

"What made you bring it back now?"

"I was converted last night," was the answer, "and I have brought it back first thing this morning. If you had been up, I would have brought it last night." 

Gipsy Smith, The Bible Friend.

B. Repentance is a change of heart.  You and I cannot see when someone repents.  We don’t notice a change in their appearance, and we might or might not notice a change in their actions.  The change in actions would come about only as a result of repentance.  So repentance would still take place in a person’s life without anyone else noticing.  It can be described as being so sorry for sin that you are willing to make changes in your actions.  Much like the man in this illustration.  He was so overcome that he had to return the watch he had stolen many years earlier.  His heart was changed, and he acted on that change. 

C. In Acts when Paul goes to the people around Greece he sees their idol to an unknown God.  His message to those people is that “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.” (Ac 17:30 NIVUS)  When they did not know any better they could get away with that sin of idolatry, but when they became aware of their sin, they had to repent.  They needed to have that change in their life that caused them to make a change in their actions.  Without repentance there will be no real change, and without repentance there will be no forgiveness of sins. 

D. In this account with Jonah he goes to Nineveh after trying to run from God and he delivers the message that God is going to destroy Nineveh.  In chapter 3 people demonstrate the fruit of repentance.  They declared a fast and they put on sackcloth.  These are both actions that demonstrate a change that had taken place in their life.  We read in 3:10 that God saw what was happening and he had compassion on them and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.  God knew they had repented of their sin and he forgave them.  In chapter 4 Jonah is upset with God because of his forgiveness.  He says to God in v. 2, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 

E. The people of Nineveh repented of their sin and God forgave them.  The sad thing is that Jonah was so full of prejudice against these people that he did not want them to repent and he did not want them to be forgiven.  As Christians we need to look inside for people we might try to withhold God’s forgiveness from.  Perhaps we know a group of people we don’t think are deserving of God’s forgiveness.  If that is the case perhaps we need to repent.  God’s forgiveness is not something that you and I can dole out.  It is something that God does even if we disagree. 

Lesson II.  God is the source of all

A. God gives Jonah a great parable for this lesson.  As Jonah is sitting outside of the city, presumably waiting for fire to fall from the sky or some other catastrophe to befall the city.  As he is sitting in the heat God causes a vine to grow up and create some shade for Jonah.  You can imagine how nice it is on a hot day to have a little shade to protect you from the sun.  Jonah really enjoys the shade provided by God.  The very next day the vine dies and the shade is gone.  Jonah is mad that the people of Nineveh repented.  He is mad that he had to go to Nineveh.  Now his shade is gone and this makes him even madder.  Then God speaks.  "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"  When Jonah speaks he makes it clear that he is angry and that he has every right to be angry.  God quickly puts him in his place.  "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.” 

B. Jonah did not plant this vine, nor did he do anything to keep it growing.  All he did was enjoy the benefits of the vine.  God is the one who caused the vine to grow, and God is the one who allowed the vine to die.  He had control of the vine from the beginning.  Even if Jonah had done anything to care for the vine it would not be his to claim.  He benefited from God’s blessing.  He failed to realize that God had given that to him. 

C. One lesson that can be very hard for Christians to grasp is that we are stewards of the things we have.  A steward does not possess things; rather he or she is responsible for taking care of that thing.  The English definition of steward is an official who has been appointed by a monarch to represent him or her in another country.  So when they speak they speak as the king.  When they make decisions they make decisions as the king.  While they are doing this they are not the king.  They represent the king.  Christians are stewards of Jesus Christ.  We represent Christ and we take care of the stuff he has entrusted to us.  All of our stuff whether we are a Christian or not, comes from God. 

D. When you think of your stuff do you think of my house?  My car?  My clothes?  My shoes?  My money?  Or are you able to think of all of these things as things God has entrusted to you?  When we really realize that our things are not really our things we take a different view of how we handle them.  Some people might hang onto their things more loosely.  Some people might be more generous with their things.  Hopefully everyone is more careful in the way they handle God’s stuff. 

Lesson III.  God loves people

A. God gave Jonah this parable with the vine for the purpose of teaching him how important people are to him.  Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh.  It seems that his reluctance was tied up in his prejudice.  He did not want to go to Nineveh.  We might assume that since they were not people of Israel or people of Judah they were people Jonah did not want to associate with.  They were also people he did not believe were deserving of God’s forgiveness.  They were probably people who worshipped idols. 

B. Rowland Bingham was a missionary in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.  He felt that God had called him to a place where few white men had gone before.  He was headed for the interior of Africa.  Most believed that the natives inside of Africa were cannibals and if they found a white man they would kill him and eat him.  The people in that part of the world were completely and totally without God.  They were also a people who were accused to killing man who had tried to communicate the message of Jesus Christ.  Many of the men who had initially joined him died or were driven out.  Many died of disease.  Bingham could not imagine a world where people did not know about Jesus Christ.  Consequently he pressed on to accomplish his goal of taking the gospel message to an unreached group.  He was a man that knew that God loves all people and he wanted to share that love.  As a result of his work the love of Christ was sent to many of the countries of inner Africa. 

C. Jonah seemed to want to avoid people who were separated from God, while Bingham wanted to reach out to those people so they could know the love of God.  Bingham knew and Jonah learned that God loves people.  He loves them enough to send Jesus Christ to die on a cross so all could be forgiven of their sin.  We will never find anyone in the world who had this extent of love. 

D. In our minds we tend to develop categories.  We have people that God does love, people that God could love and people he does not care about.  I believe that this passage and other passages in the Bible teach us that God loves all people.  He desires that all people would know him and accept Him.  Our categories don’t work.  God can take the worst sinner and turn them into the greatest saint.  He did with Paul.  He can do the same with the people we have around us as well. 

Conclusion: 

     Through this passage we see God’s love and mercy communicated to the people of Nineveh.  Jonah did not think they deserved this love, but God did.  God won!  The people of Nineveh were warned of God’s punishment, but they repented before it reached them, and they were forgiven. 

     Christians you need to remember that God forgave you of sin before you came to him.  He did not weigh it first to see if it was too much for you to be forgiven, he gave it to you.  As the hands and feet of our Lord I would challenge you to extend that love and forgiveness to the people around you, even to the people you don’t think deserve it. 

     Maybe you are here today with sin that you need to be freed from.  If you would like forgiveness and God is leading you that way, ask him to forgive you. 

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