[00:00:01] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching from God's words you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to Him. If you're ever in the Madison, Alabama area, we'd love for you to worship with us on Sundays at 8:30 or 10:30am if you have any other questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison Church, find
[email protected] Be sure to also check out our Bible study podcast, Madison Church of Christ Bible Studies. Thanks again for stopping by.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: You know, as we. As I walk into the auditorium every week, I see new faces and people that. It makes me excited to see all the new faces. But I had one this morning that dropped in on me that I wasn't expecting, and it was my beautiful mother. She walked in the doors this morning and of course, you know, I always stop and think when she shows up, do I have a story about her that I could tell? And I feel like you guys probably know her better than maybe she knows her, but I am so excited to have her with me today. Mom, I'll try not to embarrass you. Too bad. I don't think I have any stories about her in particular. Maybe some that she would connect with a little bit. I was trying to think of as we talk about this story of Jonah, and I was just thinking about how we like stories to kind of fall out. And if you think about it, we watch stories and we love to see the opening of it where we're kind of introduced to certain characters and their personalities. And then as the story goes, there's usually some kind of challenge or some kind of obstacle that they have to overcome and they work through these things together. And maybe love doesn't happen to begin with, but then it comes back together. And at the end, we love to see that happily ever after or that scripted the end, at the end. And we like those stories that are all just kind of packaged up so beautifully. But what's happened over the years is we've actually grown away from that and more into the idea of the cliffhanger. You know what I'm talking about? Those shows or those movies that end with something that kind of catch you at the very end. It's like one of those things where you're looking at each other going, whoa, what in the world? Well, that happened actually for the not maybe the first time, but in the most powerful way in the early 1980s. And some of you weren't alive then. That's okay. Just follow along here for just a second. But there was a series of shows called Dallas, and I know they had a remake not too many years ago, but there was a series called Dallas, and it was about this family called the Ewing's, okay? And the Ewing's were big ranchers, okay? They had a big cattle ranch called South Fork. And one of the things that they had on their ranch was an oil rig. And they had lots of oil and wealth. And so, you know, the family itself did things mostly the right way. But they had a son. His name was J.R. john Ross, if you remember. And J.R. was a little underhanded. The wealth had gone to his head. He was a little greedy, and so he was a little underhanding in his workings with other people. And he probably did some things that were criminal and definitely did some things that were immoral. And he was trying to keep maybe all of his family at bay as he had his own system of wealth and maybe didn't want to give those things over power had really kind of gone to his head. J.R. was a person, I hate to say it this way, but that we love to hate, if you know what I mean. He was that guy that you. He was just the villain. He was the one that you just wanted to get it. You know, you wanted somebody to get ahold of him, okay? And this series of Dallas was only supposed to last about three or four years, but what happened is its popularity got so great that they started realizing what they had planned for this was not going to work. Well, at the end of those. That third series or fourth season, whichever it was, at the end of that series, someone came in and shot J.R. okay? Now, if you're not alive, you don't remember this, okay? But for those who were alive, that was a big deal because JR Got it. And all you saw was a hand and a gun. You didn't know who it was that shot J.R. well, what happened is that's how it ended. And everybody's going, what in the world? And so for, like, several months, they had this. Came this campaign, who shot J.R. it was like a big marketing thing, and it wasn't going to come back around for eight solid months. So for eight months, people pondered this idea of who it was that shot Junior. They had these buttons that were made up that people purchased and put on their clothes. Who shot Junior? Some guy wanted to make a little bit of money, came up with a shirt that Said, I shot Junior. And everybody started buying that. I mean, it was a crazy thing. And once, you know, for eight months, they pushed this. There was even a title on the Time magazine, who Done It. You know, it was a big deal. Okay, go back to the 80s. Everything was a big deal. All right, it was a big deal.
And then for eight months, they pushed this. Do you know that the viewership for the first episode that came back around to answer the question who shot JR was over 300 million viewers over 57 countries.
We found out that we liked the cliffhanger. We liked that ability to have to look for something else. Well, other shows have taken us to a whole new level. Right. 24 was one of those that did it every single episode. And if you know this show, there's 24 episodes in every season, and every single one of them ended on a cliffhanger. So that's awful. If you're watching, you're like, oh, like a life and death situation. And you won't find out until next week what actually happens. Well, let me tell you, if you binge watch these kind of shows, it's tough because you can't not watch the next one. And you end up going hours and hours, right? Some cliffhangers like that are great. They're enticing. They make you excited. They're. They bait you out there so you can come back and you want more.
But then there are some that don't quite fit that bill. Give you an example, if you ever liked the movies, National Treasure, right? First National Treasure, unbelievable movie. They came around with a second one, Book of Secrets. You remember this, right? It was great. Ben Gates is, you know, he's a treasure hunter. And at the very end, he gets off because he helps the President do something. And the President had him look at the Book of secrets at page 47. Do you remember this?
He said, did you look at it? And Ben said, yes, sir, I did. He said, well, he said, it's life altering.
And I'm still mad about it because we still don't know what's on page 47. It drives me insane.
We're still waiting for that one to come back around, right? Some cliffhangers don't really bring you to where you need to be. Well, I hate to say it, but that's kind of where we are with the Book of Jonah.
You know, the first three chapters are kind of exciting and they're interesting and they're sort of unique. I mean, if you're visiting with us for the first time or haven't heard this story. I'll give you kind of a brief synopsis. A man of God, a prophet of God. Jonah has been called by God to go to Nineveh. Now, Nineveh were not the people that he would normally prophesy to.
They were the enemies of God. And they were horrible people. They were enemies in every sense of the word. And so Jonah is asked to go to their big, huge city, Nineveh, the Assyrians. And he doesn't want to do that, so he goes five times the distance in the opposite direction, or at least tries to. He's on a boat in the middle of the ocean. God, frustrated with him, sends a storm. In order to save the people on the boat, Jonah is thrown overboard to calm the seas. When he's thrown into the waters, a great fish swallows him. And it's in that moment that Jonah, Jonah realizes he had a mission from God and he repents, I guess we'll say at least had a change of heart and said, okay, I will do the vow that I said I would do. God spits him out on dry land right where he left and still had to go travel to Nineveh. He goes to Nineveh and half heartedly he preaches this sermon. And it's something like, hey, if you guys don't change, God's going to overthrow you. You know? And he's. I can just imagine him walking through the city, maybe not because he didn't like these people, but because he just really didn't want to do the job anyway. So he's going through and he says all these things, and what happens is. And what we find out over and over again is that God's message is way more important than the messenger. And that message begins to impact the people. And Jonah leaves the city, okay? But what's happening back at the city is not only do all the people repent, but also the king himself gets off the throne, puts on sackcloth and ashes, and they all turn to God. And you would think that this would be such a wonderful thing, okay? God is looking down on these people. These people can no longer. If they all repent, that means they're no longer the enemies of God, they're no longer our enemies. And so you would think that that would be a good thing. But when God saw Nineveh, how they turned him, he relented of the disaster that he was going to do, and he did not do it, meaning he spared them. And again, as we look at that, you would think that that would be like the Greatest revival moment in the history of whatever short, simple message. God's word is powerful. It brings everybody to their knees. They repent, they come back to God. We all celebrate. Maybe even if we're cautiously optimistic about those people, we at least appreciate that someone who is out there, maybe doing terrible things, is turning to the God that we serve, Right? You would find yourself maybe thinking that. But that's not at all the response that we get from Jonah. So if you go to Jonah, chapter four, where we are today, here's what it says. It displeased Jonah exceedingly. And he was angry. And the word for anger in this text is to be hot. Literally, he is fuming inside. He is so angry that this happened. And you have to stop for just a moment and ask yourself, what was it that would make him so mad? Because again, these people repenting meant that they would no longer be the enemies. They would no longer be the people that we had to fear. Their repentance and their coming to God would maybe bring these people into unity with the Israelites.
There seems to be a point, and I think if we stop and look at this lesson, and really if we look at the whole book of Jonah, we're going to discover that it's not just about Jonah.
It's really a message about you and I.
And so in the same way that Jonah had problem with people he didn't care too much about, is it possible that we have problems with the scope of God's grace whenever it involves? And it's merciful to someone that we don't care a whole lot about?
I think in this case, Jonah is. As we talk about this, Jonah is really each one of us.
And sometimes we want justice for people. Sometimes we want people to go through it. We want them to have that tough time. We don't want them to find acceptance. We don't want them to get right. We think they get what they deserve, right? So what does Jonah do? He complains to the Lord. And right here he confesses why he actually didn't go to Nineveh and why he headed for Tarshish. Here's his confession. He said, didn't I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish. Why? Because I knew that you're a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. Pause for just a second. All of that is beautiful, right?
But then he says, you are eager to turn back from destroying people. Think about this. He's Looking at, he's quoting something that we know about God that said of him in Exodus chapter 34, something that would have been very familiar to him. These elements, these characteristics of who God is. He's merciful, he's gracious, he's slow to anger, he's abounding in steadfast love. But I want you to notice something. In Exodus chapter 34, there's another element of that, and it's the idea of abounding in truth. And what I want you to understand is here Jonah leaves that part out, the truth aspect. In fact, it's almost like in some way or another that he is actually challenging God. Like, you didn't do what you said you were going to do. In fact, he says you are eager to turn back from destroying people. So Jonah has the audacity to look at God and leave out something about him. What's interesting about that is Jonah is the son of amittai. That word amittai, at its root, has the idea of truth. So Jonah is the son of truth. He's the messenger of God. He's the one that's supposed to go and prophesy and send out, be the beacon of God's message. And yet he himself is the one pulling back on that truth because it actually helped these people.
And so he's challenging God here. So Jonah doesn't run out of fear of the Ninevites? No, he runs because he's afraid that God's going to love them anyway and that they're going to be gracefully blessed and forgiven of their mistakes.
Jonah's problem was that he could not see past the disdain he had for his enemies.
And again, if we're trying to take this message and really kind of pull it into you, and I have to ask the question, are we guilty of this?
Are we guilty of wanting something not good for the people that are enemies of us?
Do we seek vengeance for them? Do we pray that God will harm them? Do we hope they never get it right? That they feel the fires, so to speak, that are coming for them? I think that's Jonah's problem. And it could be that you and I have that same problem.
I want all of us for just maybe 10 seconds, ask yourself the question, who are those people to you?
Who is it that you would just as well. They go through the struggles, they have a tough time. They get what they deserve. Who are those people in your life?
What are those people made up of? Is it someone that's done you wrong or done something wrong to someone that you love?
Is it someone who looks different than you, has a different skin color? Is it a person who doesn't hold the same line of morality that you do? Is it a person that maybe got that promotion that you were seeking out on the job? Is it that person that you feel like they're just always criticizing and always you just want that person to fail? Is it a person who has adopted a whole different way of lifestyle? They're rebellious, they go out and just party and they have a crazy time? Is it that person that has more money than you? Or is it that person that you think is beneath you, doesn't have enough money? What is it? For just a moment, stop and think. What is that? That I find myself wanting them to struggle and to never receive mercy.
If we think about that long enough, we gotta put ourselves back in this story.
Cause it's not just about Jonah.
It's about you and I.
It's about reminding us of how God feels about this very attitude that existed in Jonah's heart.
That attitude says this. Just kill me now, Lord. I'd rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen. In other words, if you're not gonna take them out, just take me too. I don't even want to know a world where those people are spared their suffering.
How many of us find ourselves in that way? Are we guilty of having this kind of attitude that says God's will has got to fall in line with mine?
And that life is not really worth living unless I can have it the way I want it? And certainly we pray to God. And we ask for the things that we want in our life. We ask for the things that are best for us. And he wants us to pray with all of our heart to him and ask those things. He tells us to do those things. But sometimes the reality is the answer is not what we want it to be. And my question to all of us is, can we fall in line with his will? Or does he have to negotiate things on our terms? We may not say that we do that, but sometimes focus on our attitude. We feel like we have a right to be angry, a right to be upset with God when things don't go exactly like we want. So the Lord looks at him and asks a very powerful question. And maybe it's one for you and I today too. Is. Is it right for you to be angry about this?
I mean, honestly, just for a second, Jonah, these evil people. And we say we want evil people to turn. The whole idea of the message of God is To get people to come back to him and do what's right. That's the whole purpose of this. You go out reluctantly, however, and you go out and you share the message. And that message actually penetrates the heart. They all change. They all are ready to come to me. They're doing the right things. We should be excited about this. Is it right, honestly, for you to be upset with this change of events?
We're not in control of what happens in life, for sure, but we are in control of how we respond to those things.
And so it's just a reminder for us to think about that we can't control things, but we certainly have the ability to take what's happening in that moment and respond in ways that we know Christians should respond.
Well, what Jonah did instead is he went out of the city, got up on the east side of the city and sat up on a hill, and he's looking down upon them, and he builds a shelter because it's hot out there. And he's standing there just waiting, like he's just hoping and praying that that repentance is seen as false. It's no good. They weren't sincere in their hearts. And I just. I want to see, you know, the raining down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, the fire and brimstone. I want to see the smoke pillaring up out of. Out of this city. And he's waiting to see what might happen in this city. And in the process, God sends him this unbelievable object lesson, Says the Lord arranged. And notice that word arranged.
The Lord God arranged for a leafy plant to grow there.
And soon it spread its broad leaves over Jonah's head, shading him from the sun. This eased his discomfort, and Jonah was very grateful for the plant. Notice, maybe highlighted in your Bible, this is the first time we get any kind of positivity out of Jonah. For the first time, Jonah has found happiness. For the first time, he is grateful for things. For the first time, he is experiencing a change in events. Like all this happened. And I'm imagining in his heart this is a signal that things are about to get better. Okay. All of a sudden, I had this great shade in behind me, and everything is going great. Well, what was this plant? This plant? Most experts believe that it was the castor oil plant. The kikayon is the word that is used in Hebrew. It's a derivative of an Egyptian term that is used for this particular plant. And when you hear castor oil again, I know that I'm older, okay? We didn't Use castor oil in my time, but some of my parents and grandparents, they used castor oil, and some of you were already ahead of me. This was something that was nasty, right? But it was meant to be something that would ease your discomfort. Is that a good way to put it?
I remember one person here at church telling me one time that when they were a child, if it was going to rain for a couple of days, their mom would make every one of them take a tablespoon of casserole because they knew that I would be staying close to the house with all that going on. It was a cleanser of your system, okay? It has an acid that goes through and, well, cleans you out. Okay? That's the only other way I can say it. All right? So when you think about this, that's the one it's talking about. This is that stuff. Okay? And back in time, they used to use this regularly to help, you know, keep kids clean inside. Okay? And so that. That was one of the things. So it's not a pun here, but it is kind of punny to me that this eased his discomfort. And Jonah was very grateful for the plant, obviously talking about the leaves and the shading that took place there in giving him the comfort that he needed.
Okay? And we may take that moment of mercy and like Jonah, think, hey, things are going well in my life. Things are finally turning the corner. And we may take that as a sense of God's approval for what we're doing. Maybe it's God's mercy finally turning the corner. Finally I get my opportunity. And yet that may not always be the case, because look at Jonah's story. It says God also arranged. There's that word again. Arranged. A worm. The next morning at dawn, the worm ate through the stem of the plant so that it withered away. So just like that, in one day, that plant arrived, provided what it needed for what he needed to spare him from the elements, and then instantly, that was taken away. Well, we know what worms do, right? Last year, we had a barrage of army worms showing up, and all of us were looking at our yard, and it's like it went from green to brown in just, like, minutes, right? We see the impact that a worm can have on a plant. Well, this particular worm that was used is very specific. In the Hebrew, it's this crimson or scarlet worm. And there's much to be gleaned from this. There's a lot of analogies of Jesus that are found inside this worm. There's different things that it's does. It's a really great spiritual application for us. And we won't deal with that necessarily in this moment, but research that sometime and look at how it is a representation of what Christ does. In this particular case, though, this worm was a signal to Jonah that God's in charge, that he's the one who brings the provision, the comfort and the care, and he is the one that takes away. And so Jonah's allegiance has to be turned. And that is really what God is trying to say. But look what else happens. Not only does God provide the shade, take the shade away with the worm, but then it says he sent a scorching east wind to blow on Jonah. Sun beat down on his head until he grew faint and wished to die. Death is certainly better than this, is what he exclaimed.
What I want you to understand is if you, and I'm sure John, who has been there, can express to you what this is like. But as I understand that they can have these winds that come up that grab some of that really hot sand and can send it in a direction. And the heat of it coming with that, those grains of sand can heat the air up to maybe 100 to 120 degrees. And so what God is doing here is not just taking away the thing that was providing comfort, but he is actually amping things up. And it just made me think a rise in temperature can bake out the unfinished part of the thing being baked.
And in this particular case, the thing that's being baked is Jonah's heart.
Something's not quite there. I mean, all of these things have happened for him, and yet Jonah is still not getting the point. And God turns up the heat, so to speak, speak on him. And so he says God says to him, is it right for you to be angry because the plant died? And Jonah says, of course, you know, yes. Even angry enough to die, he still is not getting the point. I just want you to notice all the different things in this story that have been arranged by God. It starts with that great storm, right? Jonah had already made the mistakes and already determined he wasn't going to do what God said. So God brings a storm, and then he brings the great fish, and then he gives him a second chance. And then he brings plant for the shade, and then he brings a worm to kill the shade. And then now he's got this scorching he. God is in the process of all of these things. He's in the background trying to shape him. And that's the whole point. Rather than softening his heart What? Jonah absolutely prefers death.
And that's so silly, is it not?
And we can look at that and go, man, that's. That's ridiculous to feel that way.
But I think sometimes we get so disappointed and frustrated and hurt by things that sometimes we throw in the towel, too, and we say, it's just not worth it. Why would I serve God? I don't ever get anything that I want.
And we have turned it and made it about us and not about what God wants.
And maybe that's not only Jonah's fault or Jonah's problem, but it's also ours as well.
Think about this. God is arranging events in your life, and those are to challenge you and to refine you and to bring you into unity with his mindset, with the heart of God.
So everything in our life. And I can look back in my life and I can see things that have happened, things that are challenging, that are things that were great. It seemed like in those moments where I needed grace and mercy, God provided it in some way, in unexpected ways. And it seems like in moments where I felt like things are going great and maybe I was getting a little bit lazy, that some other challenge came to where I had to deal with some things a little bit more internally and to change my mind about some things, I can see God at work in the rearview mirror. It's hard to know what's going ahead, but I can always look back and see how God has put certain things in my life to help shape me and to refine me and to bring me closer into what he wants me to be.
So the Lord said to him, you feel compassionate about the plan, but you didn't do anything to put it there.
He says, but nineveh, there are 120,000 souls, and they're all living in spiritual darkness, and you don't care about them at all.
Is that us?
Is it that we are so caught up in our perspective, our life, that we can't see it from another's perspective? I'm always amazed during this time of year, in the fall, when we're watching our football games, you can watch a crowd, and half of them can be for one team, and half of them can be the other. And we can watch the same exact event, same. Same broadcast, the whole nine yards, and yet everybody sees it the way they want to. Why? Because we want our team to win. We want everything to be good for them, and we want the other team for it to all be bad. And they're doing the same thing. And so as they see the game, they see it from that lens, and that perspective changes the way you understand that game, right?
But it's not a game, and it's not just a metaphor.
It's really kind of who we are sometimes, right? We just see things the way we want to see it. And we don't stop and open our eyes up to, what is it that God is calling me to in this moment.
It hurt Jonah that the plant perished. Felt bad for it.
You know, Bible says he had pity or compassion toward the plant. Like, oh, it was so good. Why did it have to go? It was perfect for me, right?
And yet that's not what Jonah needed in that moment.
He was concerned about that, but he was not concerned about the souls who had turned back to God.
Not quite where he needed to be. Right. Wouldn't it be great if everybody just saw things from my perspective?
I think that's how we think sometimes, right? That it's just all about how I feel about things like Jonah. We don't want to live in a world without justice. We want everybody to get what they deserve, right? That's why we like law and order sometimes. And while we do want law and order, we do want people to get punished for the things that they've done wrong. There has to be some element of compassion, right? I think about Siegfried Beale here. Siegfried Beale is our prison minister. And if you have not met him, you're missing out. He is wonderful, but he's not just wonderful. He is a man of God who is in a place where people don't look, act, or anything like him.
And he goes there every single day to spread God's word. He goes and teaches those guys and tells them about a God who loves them so much that he would send his very son to die for them so that they could be relieved of all of that sin and that grief in their life and get a new start and to have that freedom and that joy of knowing that they're right with the Lord. And he tells them that message, and they respond, respond to it. And they give their life over to Christ. And then he stays with them on and on and nurtures that relationship on and on. He is light in the middle of the darkness.
And he does that on and on and on and on.
That's his surroundings. That's how God has arranged things for him to be in those surroundings. And he's using it for the glory of God. God is about bringing light and mercy into this darkness. And I'm reminded in John, chapter one, you know, when it says that Jesus put on flesh and he dwelt among us, and we beheld him as the only begotten of the Father. Do you remember the last part of that?
Full of grace and truth. Do you catch that? The mercy of God is right there in the fact that Jesus came for us. The truth of it is that there's a way in which we live that responds back to that gift, that shows God our love for what he's done for us. And that is who we are, and that is what we are called to do. So when I think about it, this story is not about Nineveh per se. You know, it's not the book of Nineveh, it's the book of Jonah. We're following his life and his as he's going back and retelling some of the things that happened to him. But when I think about it, doesn't. Isn't it true that this story kind of has its own little cliffhanger?
And the ledge that he's hanging on is one of unmerciful bigotry?
He just. No matter what God has done, he cannot bring himself to love the way God asks us to love.
So there's questions for us, right? It's not the story of Nineveh, it's not the story of Jonah, but rather it's a story about us and maybe how God is arranging things in our life.
And maybe, just maybe, that we are around those people, that we're surrounded by those people that it's hard to love, it's hard to root for, it's hard to give ourselves to them, it's hard to wish for their best. He's put you in those circumstances in the same way he put Jonah in all of those places to bring about what he intentionally needed from the get go. So the question for all of us is, are we on that ledge with Jonah hanging onto that unmerciful bigotry, or are we ready to do the next thing?
See, I think maybe the story is not finished in the way we like it, because in reality, it's a reminder that all of us have choices to make from this point forward. So wherever you are and whatever you've done in this moment, understand we have opportunities yet to explore.
And he's calling all of us to take advantage of those moments and the people surrounding us. This morning, if you have a need at all, please don't wait. Make things right with God. Let's get that fresh start and come while together we stand and sing.
