What Right Have We To Complain?

Jonah 3:1-4:11
There is a very basic truth about the relationship between God and humanity contained in the closing verses of today’s reading from Jonah. “Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’" (Jonah 4:10-11).

Jonah was in a foul mood, partly because God had spared Nineveh, but also because a bush that God had caused to grow over him had soon withered away. God’s response was decisive. Jonah had done nothing to cause the bush to grow and yet mourned it’s demise. At the same time, though, Jonah was irked because God chose not to destroy a great city containing tens of thousands of people. Indeed, not only was God concerned for the people of Nineveh, God even considered the animals as precious.

To me this passage helps to highlight the inherent self-centeredness with which we struggle. We have a lot of trouble seeing past our own comfort, our own perspectives, our own perceived needs. We so often see the world as us v. them, me v. you, and as a result we refuse to consider that the God who created us is the same God who created everyone else. To demean others, to hope for their destruction—either literally or figuratively—is to ignore God’s will for redemption. When we bemoan the injustice of our lives even in the midst of plenty we belittle God’s providence. When we begrudge God’s desire that all people have life and have it abundantly, we devalue that life.

Jonah was sorry that God spared Nineveh. How sorry are we when those with whom we differ experience grace? And is that really how God wants us to feel?

Prayer: Lord, help us to move beyond our selfishness and to open our hearts and lives to others so that together all people may experience your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

When Good News Sounds Like Bad News

Ash Wednesday

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.