Jonah 3:1-4:11
As far as prophets go Jonah was hardly the most enthusiastic person God could have sent to Nineveh. Jonah’s unwillingness to carry God’s message is well documented. And it is this unwillingness that casts Jonah’s profession of faith into a strange light.
“O Lord!” he laments, “Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing” (Jonah 4:2). Can it really be true? Is Jonah really complaining about God’s mercy and grace, about God’s abounding love? Yes, he is. What it all boils down to is Jonah’s insistence that God is too nice. Why should he, Jonah, proclaim destruction to the Ninevites if God is just going to forgive them anyway? Instead of rejoicing in God’s love, Jonah resents it and crawls away to pout.
Today marks the beginning of Lent, a season of self-awareness and repentance. Many of us will pause today to worship, perhaps even receiving the imposition of ashes, marking us as sinners in need of God’s redeeming grace. Will we spend the day rejoicing that God offers such forgiveness to those who accept it? Or will we find ourselves resenting the “other folks” who God seems willing to interact with? It’s an honest question for us to consider. Are we willing to let God’s good news be good news? Or will we twist it until it becomes a lament over God’s steadfast love?
Prayer: Lord, help us to see the grace you offer as a blessing to us and to others, and may we be led to share it with all people. Amen.
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