Jonah Christians Part 2
Scripture: Jonah 1-4; Matthew 12:40; Luke 11:29-30
Good morning, New Light. This is part two of the message I began two weeks ago about Jonah Christians. As we read through the first chapter of the book of Jonah we looked at several attributes of Christians who act like Jonah. You know the story, so I am not going to spend much time reviewing it. God had sent Jonah to Nineveh, which was an extremely wicked city, to give the people an opportunity to repent and not incur God’s wrath. Jonah did not like the assignment, so he tried to avoid obeying God by getting on a boat to Tarshish. While Jonah was asleep below deck on the boat, a storm with strong winds arose causing the men to throw their cargo overboard in an attempt to save their ship. This, however, did not change the situation. It was only when they threw Jonah overboard did the storm and strong winds cease. Now, with this in mind, I am going to remind you of the major points I called to your attention in the first message, and I am simply going to list them. You will have to go back and listen to or read the first message for the details. The first trait of a Jonah Christian that I identified was that they believed “they can pick and choose the things of God that they will do.” The second trait that I discussed was Jonah Christians “refuse to do good for someone because of their dislike towards them.” The third and last trait that I pointed out in the first message was that Jonah Christians will allow their attitudes/actions to harm others without caring.
Now, before I continue with this message this morning, I want to pause and tell you a story. Remember how I said that Jonah hated Nineveh to the point that he wanted God to destroy them and that he did not want them to receive God’s forgiveness and be saved? Jonah had made the determination that the people of the city deserved God’s wrath and judgment and that he did not want to stop it. With this in mind I want you to listen to this story. “There was this man who died and went to heaven. When he got there he was concerned about some of the things he saw. First, it was as beautiful as he had imagined, but then, with great surprise, he saw several people that he knew while he was alive on earth. When he looked at them, he noticed how quiet they were. Jesus, noticing his surprise, asked him about it. The man points out his next door neighbor who never talked to him and said he could not believe that the man was in heaven. Next, he pointed out the town drunk and the mean store owner, both of whom he could not believe made it into heaven. He went down the list of people in heaven that he was surprised to see. Finally, as he rationalized why they were so quiet, he said that they were probably quiet because they recognized that they did not deserve to be there, and they were happy and grateful for what they had received. Jesus looked at the man and explained to him that all of the people he saw were happy and talking just moments before. When the man asked why they were quiet, Jesus replied ‘Because they are surprised to see you here.’” Jonah Christians often carry this same attitude, believing they know who deserves to go to heaven and who does not. Jonah Christians are unaware that many of them will be surprised beyond their wildest imaginations “if” they, in turn, do not get into heaven. Keep this in mind as I finish out this message.
Jonah told the sailors that in order to save themselves and the boat, they had to throw him overboard. Although they initially resisted, they finally complied. Once again, God, in His goodness, saved Jonah. God could have let Jonah drown for his rebellion, but God loved the people of Nineveh and He needed Jonah to deliver the message of their destruction to give them an opportunity to repent. So, to save Nineveh, God had to save Jonah. God prepared a large fish to swallow Jonah and keep him alive. Imagine what Jonah went through in the belly of that great fish for three days. You’d think after that experience that he would have been a changed man. Well, let’s see if that was the case. One thing I want to stress at this point in defense of Jonah is that his limited beliefs about God were part of his motivation and his problem. You see, during his time, the Israelites believed that God was limited to the temple, that He was not really everywhere. Also they believed since the Jews were the chosen people, God’s grace was limited to only them. He had to go through a transformation in thinking to carry out his assignment. And, without spending a great deal of time on this, our thinking will also need to go through a continuing transformation process until the day we see Jesus face to face.
Now, continuing the list of traits from the first message, the fourth trait of a Jonah Christian is that they will call on God in times of trouble and promise change that won’t happen after they are delivered. In chapter two, Jonah prays to God from the belly of the fish. Jonah 2:2 says, “And he said: ‘I cried out to the LORD because of my affliction ….” And in verse seven he says, “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer went up to You, into your holy temple.” (Jonah 2:7) In his prayer, he recognized that God was not limited to a single location and that His grace is for more than just the Jews. He says in verse eight, “Those who regard worthless idols forsake their own mercy.” (Jonah 2:8) At this point he recognizes that God is the God for everyone, not just the Jews. Remember the fourth trait is a willingness to make a promise. Listen to what Jonah promised God in verse nine. “But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” (Jonah 2:9) When he comes to this realization, God had the great fish vomit Jonah out onto dry land. Once he is on dry land, chapter three records that he goes to Nineveh to deliver the message from God. Jonah 3:3-4 records, “(3) So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. (4) And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” This sounds great right? He is actually doing what God had told him to do. He goes to Nineveh and delivers the message, but his attitude was still the same. His feelings towards the people of Nineveh had not changed.
The fifth trait of Jonah Christians in this story is that they will sometime reluctantly do what God tells them to do, but they won’t be happy about it. Jonah goes through the city telling the people that they would be overthrown (destroyed) in forty days. Although Jonah delivers the message that God commands him to deliver, he is not happy about it. His attitude and demeanor were more like a child that you ask to do something and they fuss about doing it only to do it with an attitude. Jonah told the people what God wanted them to know, but he did it with an attitude – an attitude that was hopeful they were not listening to him. Jonah Christians will be able to get things done, but they will gripe and complain to the point you'd rather do it yourself just so you would not have to listen to them complain. When Jonah Christians are asked to do anything that is an inconvenience to them, you can expect them to complain; ask why they have to do it; seek alternative means to getting it done and finally, when all else has failed, do it with an attitude. I think sometimes we can do things God asks us to do and still be in rebellion while we’re doing it. Rebellion is a heart issue, and we see this often with our children, especially if they think they have done more than their siblings. They obey because the consequences for not obeying are not pleasant, but they are still in rebellion because they didn’t want to do it in the first place. You'd expect it from a child, but when you see a grown person doing it, there is a deeper spiritual issue underneath the rebellion. Finally, after they have completed the task, they were asked to do, they look at you with the attitude that you should be grateful that they did it; grateful that they gave you some of their precious time and how you should feel guilty for even asking for it.
The sixth trait of a Jonah Christian, for those of you keeping count, is that they will get mad when things work out for their enemies. When the people of the city heard Jonah’s message, they repented and called for a fast. Jonah 3:5-9 records, “(5) So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. (6) Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. (7) And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. (8) But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. (9) Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’” (Jonah 3:5-9) The people immediately responded to Jonah’s message, which should have made him happy. I mean, you preach a message and a whole city repents – that’s a cause for a celebration, if you are a preacher of righteousness. But not if you are a Jonah Christian! Jonah did not want them to listen to him. He did not want them to repent! He wanted them destroyed!!! They heard his message and every man, woman, child and beast was covered in sackcloth and no one ate or drank anything during the fast.
While this was going on, you know what Jonah did? Like I said, you would expect that a prophet of God would have been excited that his or her message was received by the people. So many times, a minister of God will deliver a message only to have it ignored. And when it is received, some will say it was a good message, but for someone else. Jonah's message was received by everyone, including the King and instead of being happy he became very angry because he knew God! Think about that. This rebellious prophet really knew God’s heart for Nineveh. He knew that God, in His mercy and His lovingkindness, would save the people instead of destroying them if they turned to Him and repented. Jonah knew that! Look at Jonah chapter four verses one through three. “(1) But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. (2) So he prayed to the LORD, and said, ‘Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. (3) Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!’ (4) Then the LORD said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’” (Jonah 4:1-4)
In his anger, Jonah confesses that he knew that if he delivered the message that God would forgive them. He did not want God to forgive them; he wanted God to destroy those wicked people. He was so angry that he tells God “go ahead and put me out of my misery.” Can you even fathom how he was feeling? He was so angry that the people repented and that God would forgive them that he asked God to kill him! Can you imagine feeling so angry that you give up and say “what’s the use”? Jonah Christians can!!! They will get angry when they are seeking God’s retribution for someone else and it seems like that person is being blessed even more. It is hard for Jonah Christians to be forgiving. If they think you deserve what is coming to you, they will patiently wait to see it happen. If you do something against them, it will be a very long time before they will ever consider forgiving you. As a matter of fact, they will get angry at their other friends if they forgive you after you have hurt them. Their anger will fester for long periods of time. New Light, unrepentant unforgiveness is an eternal death sentence and I encourage you to read that for yourselves in Matthew 6:14-15. Are you starting to see how detrimental being a Jonah Christians can be?
Now we will really see the attitude of a Jonah Christian. The seventh trait of Jonah Christians is that they will sit on the sideline and wait to see the destruction of others. After Jonah witnessed their repentance, he left the city, made himself a shelter and sat under it so he could see what would happen to the city. Jonah 4:5 records, “So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city.” Do you understand what he was doing? After he had told God how he felt about wanting the city destroyed, he fully expected God to do it. When he told God that he would rather die than live because the city of Nineveh was saved, in my mind he was actually giving God an ultimatum. He was telling God, “It is me or them and since I know You love me I am going to go out of the city and watch in satisfaction as You destroy them as You had said You would do.” He could have been in the city comfortable with the repentant people, but no! Instead, he chose to deal with the heat because he was sure the city would be destroyed. Remember when you got the chance to see one of your siblings or friend get in trouble and you knew a whipping was going to come? You'd sit there patiently waiting for it to happen, being glad that it was not you. This is what Jonah was doing when he went and sat outside of the city waiting for it to be destroyed. Jonah Christians will be happy that you are getting what is coming to you – especially if it is painful. Although they seem to sympathize with you, in their hearts they are glad it is you and not them and even be happy that you are in the situation that you are in. But God was not done with Jonah. Look at verses six through eight of chapter four. “(6) And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from his misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. (7) But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. (8) And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself, and said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’” (Jonah 4:6-8)
God caused a plant to grow and provide shade for Jonah, and for a while he was happy. He had shade and a front row seat to the destruction of Nineveh, and then the plant dies just like his hopes of the city’s demise. Jonah was now very angry. The city of Nineveh was not destroyed as he had told them it would be; the plant that was providing him shade was now gone and he was hot. He was hot physically, emotionally and spiritually. God looked down on Jonah and began to teach him a lesson.
Look at verses nine through eleven and we will see the last trait of a Jonah Christian. Jonah 4:9-11 records, “(9) Then God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?’ And he said, ‘It is right for me to be angry, even to death!’ (10) But the LORD said, ‘You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. (11) And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left and much livestock?” The eighth and final trait of Jonah Christians is that they will have more compassions for plants and pets (even other people’s pets) than they do for the person they despise! They will treasure things that bring pleasure to them over people!
When God asked Jonah if he had a reason to be angry Jonah’s reply was that he had a reason, even unto death. That is a lot of anger. God told Jonah that he had more compassion for a plant than he did for the 120,000 people of Nineveh. I believe it was because the plant was providing something to Jonah (shade) and the people meant nothing to him. As I said, Jonah Christians will treasure things that bring pleasure to them over people, especially those they dislike. Their clothes may mean more to them than you. Their possessions will mean more to them than you because those possessions do something for them. Jonah Christians can be selfish; self-centered; unforgiving; mean and very dangerous. This book is about mercy and grace, how God’s mercy and grace is given to any who call on His Name. As it relates to His mercy and grace, God said the people of Nineveh did not know the difference between their left or right hand – meaning that they did not understand God as Jonah did. But this book is also a story of human emotion, of someone who is saved but chooses to act as if they were not saved. You see, there is a little bit of Jonah Christians in all of us, but our goal should be to rid ourselves of any traces of it. There are many Christians in the world that use Christianity as a weapon to get back at those who do not believe as they believe; to punish those who fall short of their expectations; and to continue their own self-promotion in this world. Christianity is about grace, God’s grace given to us through His Son Jesus Christ. Jonah Christians actively seek to cancel out God’s grace in how they live and act towards others. This cannot be who we are. If any of the traits I have mentioned in these two messages are present in your life, you now have the opportunity to remove them. Acknowledge that you have them and ask God to help you to rid them of your life. When we have done this, we can walk in the grace and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
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