Read: Jonah 4:1-4

After the people of Nineveh repented of their sins, the Lord did not destroy the city. In a way it might have been nice if the book of Jonah finished there. But it does not. Chapter 4 tells us that Jonah got very angry with the Lord. He was so angry that he even wanted to die.

He was angry because God did not destroy Nineveh. He did not want God to show grace and mercy to their enemies. He knew that God was gracious and forgiving. So, he knew that God would forgive the people of Nineveh if they repented, and he did not like that. He wanted his enemies destroyed. He told the Lord, that this was why he had run away to Tarshish in the first place. He did not want to see the grace of the Lord to their enemies if they repented. He wanted God’s grace and forgiveness for himself, but not for the unbelieving enemies.

Sometimes we can be a bit like Jonah. We want to decide what God can and cannot do. We are happy for God to show grace to us, we are happy for our sins to be forgiven, but we are not happy if God forgives our horrible neighbour or even the kid at school who refused to talk to us.

Sometimes we think that God’s love should only be shown to people in the church. We are God’s special people and so God’s grace is for us only. But we have to remember that we do not deserve God’s forgiveness and mercy any more than other people. We are not more worthy of God’s love than others. If God works in that boy who used to say very nasty things about you, in such a way that he repents, then God can certainly show his grace to him as well.

Yes, we are God’s special covenant people. But that does not mean that we are allowed to be proud and claim God’s love only for ourselves. Instead, we should be humble. We must tell many others about God’s grace and pray that many more people will come to know Jesus.

Reflection with your child:

Why was it wrong for Jonah to be angry that God did not destroy Nineveh?

Source: Sermon by Rev. S. ’t Hart