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Jonah 4 Jonah Sulks

Jonah 4 Jonah Sulks. Jonah's Anger at the Lord 's Compassion

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Jonah 4 Jonah Sulks

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  1. Jonah 4 Jonah Sulks

  2. Jonah's Anger at the Lord 's Compassion 1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the LORD, "O LORD, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O LORD, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live."  4 But the LORD replied, "Have you any right to be angry?" 5

  3. Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."

  4. 9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"       "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die." 10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

  5. The story so far... Can run away from God Can run intoGod Jonah runs into God and becomes an evangelist.

  6. Story of Jonah is not about a fish but about our compassionate and merciful God. • Interesting education--A whale school • The devil can always provide transport to a different school • Jonah moves from being a truant to star pupil—he’s learned to run into God

  7. The new lesson... • Jonah has to learn to run with God • Jonah didn’t want a John 3:16 God 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

  8. The story of Jonah is paralleled in the story of the Prodigal son (Luke 15) Jonah becomes the sulky Big Brother Just like the Big brother Jonah has to be reminded what it means to be loved by the God of the Universe. "His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'“(The Message)

  9. Both stories challenge us to examine the things that can make us angry with God. It’s often times when we think that God needs our help to run the world rather than realising that we have to run with God instead of trying to run God! Who are our Ninevites? Who do we think are unworthy of God’s love and mercy? Those who annoy us, who disagree with us, who behave in ways that we think is beyond God’s saving grace? If so, then we don’t want a John 3:16 God either!

  10. It’s not just individual people who decide others are unworthy either! Whole nations, societies and communities--even churches behave in similar ways Our language is full of ways we sort out the sheep from the goats, the Ninevites from the Israelites, the prodigals from the well behaved brothers. Black, white, rich, poor, disabled, able bodied, delinquents, thugs, asylum seekers—the list goes on Ask yourself who God draws closest too?

  11. Remember that Jonah was the first Old Testament prophet who God asked to take the good news to the Gentiles. Like the Prodigal’s older brother, he was not all happy about it. Jonah, the Israelite couldn’t understand why God could possibly want to bring the good news to a pagan people. Like the Older Brother, God reminds us today about all the blessings we already have as members of his kingdom. God is walking with us all the time, merciful, compassionate, forgiving!Offering us life in all its fullness so we can become the person he intended us to be.

  12. But sulky, angry Jonah is sitting under a tree waiting for the Ninevites to fall from grace. Waiting to see what would happen next!!!!!! Enjoying God’s provision in his life while he mumps and moans about a worm that has eaten the beautiful tree that God made to shade him? Is that a picture of us sometimes?

  13. What are the worms that we get bugged about?

  14. Where are the trees that used to shelter us that have died because worms ate them?

  15. Examples form my own thinking! • I want a new minister now! • Why is the process taking so long? • If you listened to my wise advice God, we’d get there! • Human Beings have a great proclivity for thinking they know better than God. • This kind of thinking is what leads human beings to do something they are very good at—judging the worthiness of other people. • It’s the sin that caused the Fall—wanting our own way instead of God’s way.

  16. Are these also some of our worms? • Nothing is happening in church! • Nobody is doing anything! • Why has that not been sorted? • We get told nothing. • Why did she get chosen and not me? • If only they would listen to me things would be a lot better? Sometimes, like Jonah, we get so caught up attending to the minutiae that we fail to see the width and depth and height and breadth of God’s love and mercy beyond our own little self centred world?

  17. Could we today learn again how to rejoice in God’s boundless mercy and compassion and remember that no matter what is going on around us, God is still there for us. Could we remember that God has a special plan for each of our lives—even the Ninevites? Could we try to stop running away from God Could we run into God instead and rejoice that he chose us and that we didn’t choose him? Could we learn to run with God instead of tying to run God? Jesus name above all names!

  18. We seriously need to ask ourselves where our own theology is coming from. • Is it from our own human thought or is it from our reading and meditating on Scripture? • Is it from speaking with our pals or through prayer with God When we pray we are led back to the bible. When we read the Bible we are led to pray This is how we learn to run with God This is where we learn the greatness of God’s mercy Let’s pray these words of Paul’s together from Ephesians 3?

  19. 14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

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