Jonah and the Gourd

1. Jonah and the Gourd • Jon 4:1-11 KJVR But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. (2) And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil. (3) Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live. (4) Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry? (5) So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. (6) And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. (7) But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. (8) And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me to die than to live. (9) And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death. (10) Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: (11) And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? • I have one question, • Do you think that Jonah really had pity on the gourd? • No he didn't, • God is making a point. • Why was Jonah mad about the gourd? • Because it caused him shade. • Because it was dear to him. • He did not have pity on the gourd for the gourd's sake • But for his own. • Jonah had pity on his own people • Jonah had preached a message to the king, • Not for their sakes • But because his people are dear to him. • Here, in Nineveh he preached, only after a come to Jesus meeting with a fish.

2. Jonah Crusade • Here was the first installment of the Jonah crusade. Jon 3:4 KJVR And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. • We don't have any indication that Jonah used any persuasion at all. • Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. • I have a message form the God of the Israelites. • Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. • I don't in my minds eye believe that Jonah used any alliteration, • He didn't have a story or a film. • He probably didn't even start with a joke. • Jonah did what he was told, • That was it. • That is malicious obedience. • Steven Covey tells a story about how in England, the train operators, instead of going on strike, • Followed every regulation in the book because they knew it would slow the trains to a stop. • God said, warn them of the coming danger. • Yet 40 days and Nineveh will be overthrown. • Thank you, I'll be here all week. • Now Jonah sits on a ridge angry at God over a gourd And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.

3. Jonah climbed atop that hill and watched. • He was waiting for the brimstone to fall. • Burn baby burn. • He's pulling out a hotdog and a cookin stick. • How cold is that? • Then when it doesn't come, • He is getting more and more tense. • In my head I see God nudge an angel and say, “Watch this” • That worm eats his shade tree and Jonah has enough of it. • He didn't want to come anyway. • He has been dropped in the ocean to die, • Eaten by a fish • Treked across the land into enemy territory, • Had God show his mortal enemies mercy, • And now THE WORM ATE MY SHADE TREE!!! • BAAAAAAA! • I wish I could die! • You ever have a day like that? • Everything is going wrong. • Something big is gnawing at you. • Then pick, pick, pick • And finally, you go to lunch with you friends • And they don't put ketchup in your basket • BAAAAAA, I could kill them all!!! • Someone from the back seat says kinda quiet. • I have some ketchup I'll share. • The whole group is thinking you lost your mind

4. God is saying, • Jonah's rope has run out. • God is big, • He is little • But he just can't take it any more. • He's throwing a tantrum. • And God says real quiet like. • Shouldn't I care about even the 120000 little toddlers and infants there? • Should they burn up too. • (10) Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night: (11) And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle? • Don't you understand, these are my children. • 120 thousand of them, • And you couldn't care less • In fact, you care more about a gourd • Then 120000 people because it shaded your head. • On top of that, he says there are 120000 people that cannot tell their left hand from their right. • This is a reference to a child • God says to Jonah • I am the God that would spare Sodom for the sake of 10, • Should I not spare Nineveh for the sake of 120000 little children?

5. This is the message God has for Jonah • These folks are not dear to you • These folks are dear to me. • I'm not asking you to go to them because you love them • But because I do. Mar 10:13-16 KJVR And they brought young children to him, that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them. (14) But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (15) Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. (16) And he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them. • I sat with my great grandmother one day • I asked her what it was like when she was a little girl • When she started telling me the story, her eyes lit up and for that time she was a little girl again. • She told me a stories about laundry and playing and getting a doll for Christmas • When I look into the eyes of a old man • I see a child that has grown old on the outside, scarred on the inside, but a child still • Mat 5:43-47 KJVRYe have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.(44)But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;(45)That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.(46)For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?(47)And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye morethan others?do not even the publicans so? Eze 33:11 KJVR Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? • Do you believe God sits in heaven anxiously awaiting the judgment to come? • The bible says that His heart breaks at the stiff necked people • Those lost to the world and the devil.

6. Men and women, • I know we are plowing rocky ground, • But I believe that you have some Ninevites in your neighborhood • I think that right now, as I'm talking about Nineveh • And people that your really not excited about living next door to in glory, • You've got a picture of that person in your head. • Maybe you hate them, • Maybe they hate you • But if you get to heavens gate and they are next in line, • You are going to check to see if your in the right place. • To be serious, • Christ is calling us to to have broken hearts for each other • His heart is breaking for these around us • Does God not hear the cries of the child in the corner? • That child that grows up to be a hard man • That child that grows up rough around the edges. • The God that when separating the sheep from the goats says this. Mat 25:41-46 KJVRThen shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:(42)For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:(43)I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.(44)Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?(45)Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye diditnot to one of the least of these, ye diditnot to me.(46)And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal. • Should I not hear the cries of 120000 innocents, Jonah? • Should I not hold you accountable for those around you that hate you? • He did not command Jonah to love them • He commanded him to show love to them through the gospel.

7. I am asking you today, will you show love to those around you? • Will you take the gospel to them • Will you be a living sacrifice to those.