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A God Who Shows Pity

Jonah: God’s Matchless Grace
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

4 And the LORD said, 'Do you do well to be angry?' 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, 'It is better for me to die than to live.' 9 But God said to Jonah, 'Do you do well to be angry for the plant?' And he said, 'Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.' 10 And the LORD said, 'You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?'

Why does God ask questions?

Ultimately, God asks questions not to learn anything new, but for us to learn many new things about God…and about ourselves.

I.          Jonah, do you really have a right to be angry? [vv4-5]
II.        Jonah, do you really love the gift more than the Giver? [vv6-9]
III.       Jonah, do you really care more about a plant than people? [vv10-11]

I.         Jonah, do you really have a right to be angry? [vv4-5]
4 And the LORD said, 'Do you do well to be angry?' 5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city.

He wants justice done, not mercy. He wants punishment inflicted, not forgiveness shown. So with this question, God is challenging Jonah's assumptions and exposing Jonah's compassionless, selfish, and prideful heart.

Do you really have a right to be angry? Are you upset because God has been offended, or because you've been offended and haven't gotten your way?

II.        Jonah, do you really love the gift more than the Giver? [vv6-9]
6 Now the LORD God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, 'It is better for me to die than to live.' 9 But God said to Jonah, 'Do you do well to be angry for the plant?' And he said, 'Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.'

6 ...So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant.

Jonah, do you really love the gift more than the Giver? Do you love the blessings more than the Blesser?

7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, 'It is better for me to die than to live.' 9 But God said to Jonah, 'Do you do well to be angry for the plant?' And he said, 'Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.'

God here is really asking Jonah about what he loves most, where his treasure is in life, what he values, what his worship is, where is happiness lies.

How about you? Can you say with Job, "The Lord gives, the Lord takes, blessed be the name of the Lord"? Or do you get angry at God when life turns hard, when trials come? You will love God for His gifts, but you won't love Him for Himself. St. Augustine said it best: "For he loves Thee too little who loves anything together with Thee, which he loves not for Thy sake."

Tim Keller: “You don’t realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. Fill in whatever you want in place of the plant: "I am exceedingly glad because of/I would rather die without..."

Tim Keller: "When a fish leaves the water, which he was built for, he is not free, but dead."

9 But God said to Jonah, 'Do you do well to be angry for the plant?' And he said, 'Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.'

III.      Jonah, do you really care more about a plant than people? [vv10-11]
10 And the LORD said, 'You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?'

The way out of our self-absorbed misery is to fix our eyes on God's gracious and compassionate salvation. The most joyful and most useful Christians are those with a passion for the gospel and disciple-making.

10 And the LORD said, 'You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?'

Jonah loves the amoral plant; God loves these immoral people. So the question is, "Jonah, do you really care more about this little plant than all these lost people?"

11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?

Is there a greater cause to fill our hearts than seeing God's salvation among the nations? Do you marvel at the pity and mercy and love of God toward the lost?

Dr. J.I. Packer: “The study of the character of God is the most practical project anyone can engage in. Knowing about God is crucially important for the living of our lives…We are cruel to ourselves if we try to live in this world without knowing about the God whose world it is and who runs it. The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfolded, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you.”

First, we see the Lord's sovereignty on display.

Hurling, sending, purposing, appointing...the book of Jonah is a testimony of God's total sovereignty over all things, from the smallest matters like giving a plant to greater matters like saving sinners and commanding nature to do His will.

Second, we see the Lord's holiness on display.

Jon 1:2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before Me.

Jon 3:4 Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!

Third, we see the Lord's matchless grace on display.

So we are reminded that the God of the Bible and the God of CrossLife Community Church is a God who truly has pitied us, seen our condition, and shown a matchless grace in Jesus our Savior.

11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?