Pentecost 17 A 2023 God’s Mercy Sermon
Jonah 3:10-4:11
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Biblical story of Jonah and the big fish is one of those accounts everyone has heard. And why not? It is an interesting story. It is a story that people of all ages can comprehend and grasp. It is a story that grabs our attention and keeps us spellbound.
Think about it. Jonah is swallowed up by a big fish, and for three days and three nights he dwells inside the belly of the fish before being spit out on the beach. If that’s not a story for Hollywood, I don’t know what is.
But it gets even better. Do you remember why Jonah ended up in the belly of the big fish? Jonah was running away from God. And he was running away from where God had told him to go. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and “cry out against it,” Jonah said no, and he took off as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
Jonah did not want to be a prophet. And Jonah did not want to warn the people of Nineveh what would happen to them if they continued living their lives the way that they were living at the time. So, he fled, hoping to avoid the mission that God had invited him to be a part of in His Great Redeeming Activity. But God had other plans.
In our First Reading this morning, we hear the rest of the story, and learn that after Jonah finally went to the people of Nineveh and warned them of their imminent destruction, the people repented. And they turned away from their sin, and they fasted and prayed.
And Jonah was happy, right? No. Jonah was not happy. He was angry. And he spoke to God and said, “This is why I fled; for I know that you are a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”
Jonah ran away from God because he knows that God is merciful. And now Jonah is angry because God did not bring destruction upon the people of Nineveh. Jonah wanted the people Nineveh to get what he thought they deserved, and when it did not happen, he was outraged.
Now, I think we need to understand why Jonah felt this way. And why the folks in Biblical times reading the story might also feel this way.
Israel was a small country that was surrounded by bigger countries. There was Egypt to the south, and there was also a succession of other bigger empires in the north, east, and west of the country. Israel was a small nation, but it was also in a very important location.
And so, Israel was constantly under attack. The Assyrians and the Babylonians, the Greeks and the Romans all attacked Israel at some point in history and made life miserable for the Israelites. It is no wonder that Jonah or the folks in Israel had strong feelings. These bigger and stronger nations defeated them and took their young men, women and children into exile.
In Jonah’s time, it was the Assyrians that attacked and destroyed the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The City of Ninevite was the capital city of the Assyrian Empire. That is why Jonah hated them. The Assyrians were not just rivals, they were conquerors. They were the enemy.
So, Jonah did not respond well when God told him to go and speak to them. Jonah knew all about his people’s struggle.
But Jonah also knew something else. Jonah knew God. And Jonah knew that God is gracious, and slow to angry, and is ready to relent from punishing. Jonah did not want the Ninevites to know that what they were doing was sinful in the eyes of God. And Jonah did not want to tell the Ninevites to stop what they were doing and ask for forgiveness. In other words, Jonah did not want God to forgive them.
So, what happens in the fourth chapter of the Book of Jonah is probably the saddest, and silliest passages in the Bible. Jonah sits down outside the city and sulks. Like a spoiled child that has not gotten his or her own way, Jonah pouts, and feels sorry for himself.
And as he waits for God to do what he wants God to do, he builds a booth to sit under so he can shade himself from the desert heat. But God had other plans. And God appointed a bush to grow up over Jonah to provide shade for him.
And this pleases Jonah, but then something happened that Jonah did not expect. God appointed a worm to attack the bush and make it wither, which left Jonah unprotected in the hot sun. And then God sent a hot east wind to blow in his direction. And finally, the last straw, God let the sun beat down upon Jonah’s head. And all this upset Jonah to the point where he lost his mind.
Think about it. Before, Jonah was angry because God did not punish the people of Ninevite as he wanted God to punish them. But now, Jonah was angry because his emotions clouded his thinking. He was full of anger because a worm ate his bush. He became a hothead because now an east wind was blowing warm air in his direction. And in a childlike self-absorbed state he shouted out “It is better for me to die than to live.” Verse 8
In the heat of the moment his emotions got the best of him. And his reasoning powers fell by the wayside. We see this happening in our lives too. It happens when we let the little things build up so much that we cannot think straight. I remember one lady years ago who came to me to complain about her husband. She was so upset and disturbed that she said to me “I can tell that he hates me just by the way he holds his coffee mug.”
Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but that is what happens when our emotions cloud our thinking.
Just as God had mercy upon the inhabitants of Nineveh, the great city where over one hundred and twenty thousand sinful people lived, God had mercy on Jonah. Yes, God is indeed generous, and full of compassion. And God is patient, even when we throw a temper tantrum and do not care if we live or if we die.
God loves His whole creation, and God gives us all time to change our ways and return to Him. Even when we run away from Him. Even when our emotions get the best of us. God loves His creation so much that He sent to us His only begotten Son to take away the sin of whole world so we could be with God forever.
I would like for you to stand and sing with me “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.”
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the little bitty baby in His hands,
He's got the little bitty baby in His hands,
He's got the little bitty baby in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got you and me Brother in His hands,
He's got you and me Brother in His hands,
He's got you and me Brother in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got you and me Sister in His hands,
He's got you and me Sister in His hands,
He's got you and me Sister in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got everybody here in His hands,
He's got everybody here in His hands,
He's got everybody here in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
Let us pray: God of mercy, you know us better than we know ourselves, and still you love us. Wash us from all our sins, create in us clean hearts, and strengthen us by your Holy Spirit. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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