Last week, as Lauryl and I drove along a Georgia highway, we were able to listen to our Meadow Glade Sabbath School discussion lead by Shelly Opdycke, Shelly Williams, and Alex Browning. It was such a blessing to hear these ladies break down the book of Jonah in ways I had never thought of before.
As Alex read the last chapter of Jonah, these words really hit me as never before.
Jonah 4:1-2
'Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it — when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready, at the drop of a hat, to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!"'
Jonah had a unique view of God’s character (being in the belly of a whale will do that), but somehow he was unable or unwilling for that God to show up in Nineveh. We can speculate about his motivates for not wanting to go, but at the end of the day he didn’t want the God of mercy, he wanted the God of wrath and judgment.
Jonah may have been spat out of the great fish, but he really never left there. Even while he walked around the city of Nineveh, speaking God’s message, he was still running from God.
So he sat outside the city waiting, wanting destruction and chaos. His heart was set in one direction. What scares me is that after all Jonah had been through and after all that he had seen, he was still unable to allow God to be God.
When we look at the ministry of Jesus and His interactions with the religious leaders, I see shades of the spirit that was in Jonah. Many could not accept Jesus because He extended grace and mercy to those whom religion found unacceptable. The words leveled against Jesus should give us all pause - “He eats with sinners". Let that sink deep into our hearts today.
As Seventh-day Adventist Christ-followers where do we find ourselves? Are we more like Jonah than like Jesus? The question is simple and I hope it leads us to take an honest look at our calling to live-out and proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
—Pastor Jackie