Mercy: Jonah 4 | A Prophet’s Pity, God’s Compassion

Watch This Sermon: “Mercy”

Jonah ends not with triumph, but with tension. The final chapter reveals a prophet angry about mercy, a God abounding in compassion, and a question that confronts us all: do we share God’s heart?

As we conclude our series in Jonah, this sermon challenges us to examine our own responses to God's grace. Do we rejoice when the lost are found? Or do we, like Jonah, resist the wideness of God's mercy?

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Mercy is an amazing thing. It really is to have someone show you grace. Well, it humbles you, and it causes you to have gratitude. To come to grips with someone being merciful to us is truly at the center of being a Christian. It's the heart of what we believe.

If we don't understand that we need mercy, then we are missing the entire point of the Christian faith. Right? At the root of the Christian message is that we are fallen, that we are dead in trespasses and sins, and we need to be forgiven because we have offended a righteous God in our sin. We can't go before him on our own. And so in order to have access to God, we need divine mercy.

This defines who we are as a people. This is what we believe. And because of this, you would think that servants of the Most High God, who has been merciful to his people, that they would be the first to understand mercy, but sometimes that isn't what happens.

Jesus illustrates this for us in the parable of the unmerciful servant. Right? One man has a gigantic debt forgiven, but then that same man turns around, and someone asks him for leniency on his tiny debt, and he doesn't show him any mercy. We expect that mercy will be shown to someone if they have been merciful to them. We expect that. But this is illustrated by Jesus. That's not always the case and this is precisely what we see in Jonah four.

Jonah has been shown mercy by God, but he isn't too wild about God showing mercy to someone else. He doesn't like the fact that God has decided to show mercy to the people of Nineveh. And so as we land in chapter four of Jonah this morning, I think it's important to acknowledge just how awkward this whole chapter is.

And actually, while we're at it, why don't we just acknowledge that maybe the whole book of Jonah is a little bit awkward. I mean, this is a prophet of God, a servant of God, Most High, who runs from what God told him to do. What's going on here? What's this story about?

But even though he runs, God brings him to repentance through amazing circumstances. He pursues him and so God goes to Nineveh, or Jonah goes to Nineveh to preach repentance. And of all the amazing events in the book of Jonah, the storm, the storm stopping when Jonah goes into the water. The fish swallowing up and then the fish spitting him out on dry ground.

All these amazing things have happened, but perhaps the most amazing thing in the book of Jonah is the fact that these Assyrian pagans repent and God relents from the disaster that he had threatened upon them. And that is where we are left off. That's where we left off last week at the end of chapter three.

And really, if you didn't know about chapter four, if you were just reading this and you couldn't see the next page, you might think that the third chapter was a very satisfying end to the book of Jonah. We could celebrate that Jonah obeyed God finally, and that the Lord used the faithfulness of Jonah to bring the people to repentance. Actually, that would be a really, really clean ending to the wild ride that is the story of Jonah.

But we don't get a clean ending, do we? Instead, we get an unusual reaction and an unresolved ending. Even though Jonah still likely smells like undigested whale food, he still doesn't get it. He doesn't get what's going on. He's ticked off at God.

The one to whom God showed mercy is upset that God has shown mercy to the people of Nineveh. And as I mentioned many times in our short journey through the book of Jonah, this story is so different than how we as humans would make up this story to be. And this is just another example.

I think we would tell the story as one of redemption, as one of spiritual accomplishment, one of spiritual growth in the life of Jonah. Isn't that how we would do it? Chapter four verse one. Instead of Jonah being upset and angry with God, would probably sound like something this, like this if we were writing it.

And Jonah greatly rejoiced in the people of Nineveh being spared from the wrath of God, because God had shown mercy to Jonah. He knew how important the grace of God was. Jonah went on to proclaim repentance to the Gentiles, all the regions surrounding Israel, because he wanted to share the mercy that God had shown to him with others. Hell, I'd probably write it if I was making it up.

But that's not what we see here. That's nothing like what happens. Until we get to verse one here, we sort of feel like the story is about the spiritual progress of Jonah. He's come through a lot. He goes from disobedience to obedience, unfaithfulness to faithfulness.

But verse one here in chapter four just throws Jonah right back to where he was on the boat. Right where he should have been when he was ready to be swallowed by the fish. Have you learned anything, Jonah? Are you daft or what, Jonah? What is wrong with you?

How can you miss this gigantic billboard that God has made for you to see and understand his message to you? That he is gracious and merciful. But there is still so much that we can learn from Jonah four about this spiritual regression that Jonah has.

You would think if anyone had a spiritual experience that would help someone to conquer the sin in their life, it would be Jonah. Right? I mean, just two chapters back, the guy was proclaiming his hope in God. He was at the absolute bottom point of his life, and he cried out to God, and he was spared.

You would think that this experience would change him forever. But it would make him understand the need for the mercy of God. But that profound experience didn't do it. He still needed the mercy of God himself.

Despite everything that he had been through, he was still a person who needed the mercy and grace of God himself. He was still sinful. He needed that mercy. The very thing that he was willing to deprive the people of Nineveh from, he needed so badly himself.

And once again, we can go to the new testament for an illustration of this. We can go to a famous parable of Jesus to see this exact attitude. Story that Jesus told about the prodigal son. Now when we think of that story, what do we normally focus on?

We rightly focus on the mercy and love of the father in that story. But we quickly forget that there is someone just like Jonah in the story of the prodigal son, right? The older brother. The older brother behaves in a manner very similar to Jonah.

The older brother is bitter, that his father is merciful and gracious to his brother. And Jonah, Jonah here, we see just like that older brother, he is bitter with his heavenly father because he's shown mercy and compassion to these ones who have gone astray, to these gentile, Assyrian people.

And in this bitterness, Jonah prays to God. And we get the inside scoop on why Jonah wanted to go to Tarshish instead of Nineveh in the first place. He took that whole boat trip and eventually ended up in the belly of the fish because he knew that God is merciful.

Now isn't that something? He didn't obey the word of the Lord because he knew that God was a gracious and compassionate God. He knew that he was slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love.

Now, I want us to be really really really clear about what Jonah is doing here. He's actually complaining. He's complaining about the mercy of God. He's upset that God did not rain down fire on the people of Nineveh. He wanted these people to burn.

The guy who was shown mercy when he was as good as dead is angry that God isn't bringing his wrath down on an entire city of people. Let that sink in. This is a prophet of God. If you ever needed confirmation that the prophets of God were not perfect, you have it right here.

They heard the word of the Lord, but that doesn't mean their hearts were always in the right place. Because this servant of God is filled with rage for the most outlandish and selfish of reasons. Shouldn't it be his job to be out there proclaiming the grace of God? Instead, he's upset by the grace of God.

And on top of it all, he is like a child throwing a tantrum. He claims that he would be better off dead. But once again, God doesn't give up on Jonah. He wants him to learn something in this process.

Even in this tantrum, God is going to reveal something about himself to the prophet Jonah, and so he uses a question to prompt Jonah. And I guess we could say, like, that this is like those questions that parents ask kids. Right? Are we really, are we really going to start our day off like this? Is this, is this how we behave?

You've either asked a question like that, or you've been asked it when you were a child. And these types of questions are designed to bring us back to reality, to realize how we're behaving. The expectation of these kind of questions is that the person who is out of line will step back and assess what they're doing, step back and assess where their heart's at.

It's important that we understand what Jonah needs to realize about himself. The issue here is that he has hatred in his heart for his enemies. A hatred so great that he resents God's loving kindness to them.

And while we are thinking about this sin, I think it's important that we evaluate our own lives. Is there anything in our own lives that this question from God, Have you any right to be angry? Is there anything that this question exposes in us? Do you have hatred in your heart?

Remember how seriously Jesus talks about this sin? In the sermon on the mount, we're told that the sin of hatred is a violation of the commandment against murder. And so our anger is a big deal. It's a violation of God's law and it is serious.

Anger and hatred can take so many forms. There's that quick moment of rage that we experience, But we see here in the sin of Jonah, that there is anger, there is hatred that can fester within us, that can cause us to hate.

One example that we can think of is racism, where we can foster hatreds towards someone else because of their ethnicity. And while it may not ever be a raging anger within us, it can be a slow burn that comes out in our lives in negative thoughts, inappropriate comments.

We can also see sins of hatred and a sin similar to the sin of Jonah when we have resentment towards people who have wronged us. Now that may start with a more intense anger, but it becomes a slow burn. And all of it amounts to sin and hatred.

And we need to have the humility to listen to God's question to Jonah here. Do you have any right to be angry? Now in the heat of the moment, we might think our answer to this question could be yes. That we have a righteous anger. That our anger, our resentment is justified.

But it's important that we understand that that's not true. That ultimately, remember the forgiveness and grace that God has shown to us in Christ. It lets us know that when God asks this question of us, do you have any right to be angry? The answer is no.

The answer is no. Because God has shown mercy to us. We also should show mercy to others. Our sin and rebellion against God gives God every right to show his anger toward us.

We should not be filled with anger. We have no right to be angry, but instead, we should show grace and mercy to others because God has first done this in Jesus. Because God has stayed his wrath by pouring it out on Jesus Christ.

We have no right to have anger in our heart. We need to remember that we need to do the opposite of what Jonah does. He shouldn't be angry with God. Because God radically pursued him. And he offered him grace upon grace after he had openly rebelled against him.

Instead of being upset that God is gracious and merciful and abounding in steadfast love, Jonah should be reveling, reveling in this grace. And he should desire to show that same attribute in his life.

And we see how Jonah should have responded. And this is an example of how we should also respond to the grace of God in our lives. That we show mercy and compassion to others. And God decided to illustrate this truth to Jonah as well.

Jonah gets to the end of his three day mission to the city of Nineveh, and he goes out to the edge of the city, and he sets himself up a shelter. I kind of imagine him like that family that goes to the park early to get the best seat to watch the fireworks. Right? He's ready to watch. He's gonna see the fireworks. He wants the best spot in the park.

So he sets up a little shelter to protect himself from the elements because it's harsh there in the Near East. But you see, the shelter is missing something important. In that part of the world, you don't have any trees or lumber to make a shelter of, so you have to use rocks.

So he would have made a shelter, but there's no way for it to have a top. He couldn't lift up a giant rock to put it up. So God does something amazing. He causes this plant to grow and he gives him that overhead shelter and shade and that protection from the hot near eastern sun.

And as the text informs us, Jonah is really pleased about this development. He's happy. Not only is he shaded on the sides, he's protected from blowing sand, but now, this little makeshift shack has a roof.

He's all ready to watch fire rain down from the sky on these evil, gentile, Assyrian sinners. Not only can he watch this mini apocalypse, but now he can do it in comfort. He can do it in the comfort of the shade from the oppressive heat.

Oh, Jonah. You're in for one last lesson here. Your short little book has you learning so many lessons because God, once again, is gonna intervene in the life of Jonah.

Just as quickly as the vine has grown up over Jonah, it's consumed by a worm and it withers away. As the sun ascends into the sky and turns up the heat, God turns on the fan of the blast furnace and Jonah is sitting in his little hut and not only has the heat been turned up, but Jonah once again turns up the drama, doesn't he?

He would rather be dead than alive, all because he isn't getting to watch Nineveh burn, and he's hot, and he's miserable. And God continues to prove his point by asking some more questions about the priorities of Jonah.

He has more love for a vine than an entire city of people. He's more concerned about himself and his comfort than the very lives of the people of Nineveh. And that's precisely God's point.

If Jonah could care for this plant that he had nothing to do with, shouldn't the sovereign God of all of creation have even greater compassion and show mercy to all the thousands of people in Nineveh? And that's where this book ends.

It isn't very satisfying, is it? It just sort of ends. God asked Jonah a question, and we don't even know how the story ends. No reply from Jonah. No happy ending where Jonah falls on his face weeping before God for his sin. The book just ends with this question.

And on top of it all, God just adds the cattle into the mix. What's this all about? What's the story here? Well, God's question is exposing the pettiness of Jonah's concern for a small plant.

God reveals that he is concerned even for something beyond the people. He cares for everything in Nineveh. His love is that great. And in this last question, we see just how amazing the compassion of God is.

And while the story ends in an incomplete way, it just feels off for us because there's no resolution. It serves an important purpose for us. Because let's be honest, when we think about the story of Jonah, we're naturally drawn to the first two chapters.

Because the first two chapters have everything. They have action, suspense, drama. But then, by the time we're to the fourth chapter, it kind of fizzles out, doesn't it? It's a story about a plant and ends with a question.

But that serves us well. That does something in us as the word of God works in us through the spirit to make us holy. As we have seen, the point of the book of Jonah is not about telling us to obey God or else bad things will happen to us.

Because the main character of this story is God. And he is working in this story to show us his amazing mercy. As Jonah said in chapter two, and we know it's the whole point of the book, Salvation is of the Lord. That's the point. That's what we're meant to see.

And God brought salvation to Jonah in the belly of the whale, but he also spared the people of Nineveh from his wrath through the message of his prophet, even though that prophet was unwilling. So this book ending with a question does something in us.

It causes us to question ourselves. Do we have mercy? Do we have compassion? Do we love others? Do we want others to have the compassion and mercy of God? Are we showing others the mercy and grace that God has shown to us in Christ?

And as we apply this to our lives here in 02/2019, what we learned from Jonah is how great the compassion and mercy of God is. God, in Christ, has shown compassion to us, and we are now called to have compassion for others.

Not because it's on a list of things that we have to do, or else God is going to be mad at us. No. Instead, we see how much God loves us, and how we want to reflect that love of God in our lives.

Because let's be honest with ourselves. In our sin, we can be so much like Jonah. We're selfish, and we can be filled with resentment towards others. This can fester in us, That's not how we're called to live.

We are called to love others. We are to do this because God has first showed His mercy and compassion to us. As it says in first John, we love because He first loved us.

And now that plays out in our lives in so many different ways. There's so many ways that we can live our lives reflecting God's mercy. It's exhibited in the way we love our families. It comes out as we serve others in our vocations. It is the way we take time to welcome a stranger.

And we see here in Jonah that it is also in the way that we proclaim the word of God. The greatest love that we can show to someone is to proclaim the Word of the Lord, to proclaim the gospel, and call them to faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Because the amazing thing about the mercy of God is this that it is for anyone who believes. We see that here in Jonah. Even the people of Nineveh, the gentile pagans, repent. Faith in Jesus Christ is for all who believe.

When God calls us to faith through His word and spirit, we are shown the love, mercy, and compassion of God. Just as God was slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love to the gentile people at Nineveh, he has shown you that exact same love.

And so as we conclude the book of Jonah, may we be a people who hears the word of the Lord, calling us to proclaim the gospel. And may we rise to share that good news with the lost and dying world.

Jonah rose and went to Joppa and went to Tarshish. He didn't do what he was called to do. May we be the opposite. May we not go in the other direction from the opportunities that God puts in our lives to share the gospel with those we know.

Instead, let us faithfully speak of the work that God has done for us in Christ. Let us tell of this message of mercy and grace. Along with Jonah, may we confess that salvation is of the Lord.

And may God use our faithful proclamation to bring repentance and faith to those that he will show his amazing mercy. So let us revel in God's grace, and let us proclaim it that others may hear and believe. Amen.

Looking for more on Jonah?

Dive deeper with the Dwell in the Word video devotional series through Jonah.

Watch all four episodes here: 👉 Dwell in the Word: Jonah