1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,320 This morning we're in Jonah chapter 4. 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,800 We have a sermon this week and we have a sermon next Sunday to 3 00:00:07,800 --> 00:00:11,680 finish our multi month journey through Jonah and I hope that 4 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,680 it's been a blessing to you. So this morning our text is 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:18,040 Jonah chapter 4, verses 5 through 11. 6 00:00:18,840 --> 00:00:22,080 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and 7 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:25,440 made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, 8 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,080 till he should see what would become of the city. 9 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,320 Now the Lord got appointed a plant, and made it come up over 10 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,600 Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save them from 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,920 his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad 12 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,000 because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next 13 00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:45,320 day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it 14 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:49,320 withered when the sun rose, Got appointed A scorching E wind, 15 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:52,280 and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah, so that he was 16 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:55,120 faint. And he asked that he might die, 17 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:58,760 and said, It is better for me to die than to live. 18 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,400 But God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the plan? 19 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:07,800 And he said, yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die. 20 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,800 And the Lord said, you pity the plan for which you did not 21 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,160 labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night 22 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,600 and perished in a night. Oh, should not I pity Nineveh, 23 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:25,120 that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons 24 00:01:25,120 --> 00:01:29,200 who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much 25 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,520 cattle. This is the word of the Lord. 26 00:01:32,080 --> 00:01:34,200 Thanks be to God, Please be seated. 27 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,600 Father, we thank you for your word. 28 00:01:38,080 --> 00:01:40,400 We pray that you would open our eyes this morning to see 29 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:45,960 wonderful things in your law. And Lord, we pray for us what 30 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:51,320 Jonah needed, open eyes and a change in perspective to see you 31 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,680 for who you are and to embrace that as a good thing, not a bad 32 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,080 thing. So help us this morning we pray 33 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:03,280 in Jesus name, Amen. About 20 years ago, I was still 34 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,640 on staff at PCPC, which is hard to believe. 35 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,160 I was working with the youth staff. 36 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,000 I was pretty new here, and Mark Davis was my boss. 37 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,800 He was the youth director at the time. 38 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:18,320 And we decided around 2005 that we would go as a staff to a 39 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:20,320 Desiring God conference in Minnesota. 40 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,720 Some of you may be familiar with Desiring God, so we love the 41 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,720 conference, being there in Minneapolis and hearing from men 42 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,160 like John Piper and Tim Keller and others. 43 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,400 But what I actually remember didn't take place at the 44 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,600 conference. It took place sitting around a 45 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:39,120 fire with a former missionary to the Philippines. 46 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,480 He was the father of one of the people on our youth staff. 47 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,240 And so we gathered at their house one night there and he 48 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,800 opened Second Corinthians 4 and wanted to give us a word. 49 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:53,280 And there Paul writes, Therefore, having this ministry, 50 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:56,800 by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 51 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,760 So this missionary looked at all of us young youth workers 52 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:04,800 scattered around a fire, and he said the world doesn't need a 53 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,760 discouraged youth pastor. And that was really the apostle 54 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,560 Paul's point. We have this ministry by the 55 00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:15,560 mercy of God, so how could we lose heart? 56 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:19,680 How could we be discouraged? So in a week where we heard some 57 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:22,960 of the best teaching in the world, this is what stuck with 58 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:24,960 me. The world doesn't need a 59 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,520 discouraged youth worker and the world doesn't need a discouraged 60 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:32,640 missionary. But that's what Jonah was, and 61 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:36,560 sometimes that's what we are. So as we consider this final 62 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,280 section of Jonah Four, we really see two things, an unhappy 63 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:42,800 missionary and an unstoppable God. 64 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,360 And Mark Davis will preach one more sermon. 65 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,880 That's the plan next Sunday from Jonah, where I think he'll focus 66 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,520 in on the very last verse. But I want to help us begin to 67 00:03:52,520 --> 00:03:56,480 review where we've been and could consider what the Lord is 68 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,200 speaking to us from this remarkable book in His Word. 69 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:02,440 So as we study this passage and really the whole book, there's 70 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,680 much to learn. So let's ask today, why was 71 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:10,800 Jonah an unhappy missionary? And what did Jonah's unstoppable 72 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:15,000 God want him to see? So first, why was Jonah an 73 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,959 unhappy missionary? You may know this if you've been 74 00:04:17,959 --> 00:04:21,519 on a mission trip, but sometimes things can go horribly wrong on 75 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:24,280 a mission trip. One time I had to send a student 76 00:04:24,280 --> 00:04:26,480 home from a mission trip in Mexico. 77 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,000 And I'll spare you the details because this is being recorded. 78 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:35,040 But big picture, the whole incident put a real damper on 79 00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:38,280 the trip for me, and you could say I was probably an unhappy 80 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:41,680 missionary most of that week. But if we think about Jonah, he 81 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,880 was unhappy from the jump before he ever got on a plane or a boat 82 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,600 or walked down a road. The book opens and the word of 83 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:51,720 the Lord comes to Jonah. Arise, go to Nineveh. 84 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,640 But Jonah arises to go to Tarshish. 85 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,680 He tries to run from the presence of the Lord. 86 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,080 When it comes to missions, you may have heard someone say, we 87 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,760 can pray, we can give, or we can go. 88 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:08,080 But Jonah chose D none of the above. 89 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,080 He disobeyed. He was an unhappy missionary 90 00:05:12,280 --> 00:05:17,000 from the moment God called him. So we have to ask why and when 91 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:22,080 we do, we see issues in Jonah's life that are in our lives too. 92 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:25,280 So first, Jonah had issues with other people. 93 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:28,360 Jonah had what we hear a lot about in our culture today, an 94 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,000 US versus them mentality. For Jonah. 95 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,560 Us was Israel. Them was Nineveh. 96 00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:38,120 Jonah was unhappy about his missionary assignment because he 97 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:39,840 hated the people he was assigned to. 98 00:05:39,840 --> 00:05:44,520 He hated the people in Nineveh. It's a key city in the rival of 99 00:05:44,520 --> 00:05:48,600 Syrian empire, and these people were violent and wicked. 100 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,240 It was full of Gentiles, not Jews. 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:54,320 They were Jonah's enemies in every way as far as he could 102 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,480 see. So they were the last people 103 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,800 Jonah wanted God to save. They were the first people God 104 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:01,520 wanted. Jonah sorry. 105 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:04,720 Jonah wanted God to punish. They were the last people Jonah 106 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,960 wanted God, God to save. They were the first people Jonah 107 00:06:07,960 --> 00:06:12,520 wanted God to punish. God sent Jonah as a missionary 108 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,880 of mercy to his enemies, and he wasn't happy about that. 109 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:20,160 So if we're honest, we have issues with them too. 110 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,200 They might be people of a different religion or 111 00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:27,720 denomination or political party or nationality or neighborhood. 112 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,480 They might be a world away or right next door to us. 113 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:36,440 But whoever they are, we see them as enemies, and we assume 114 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:39,400 God must feel the same way about them that we do. 115 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:43,840 We can't imagine that God would call us to love and preach to 116 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:47,320 them. It's an unwanted mission for us, 117 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,520 and so if God would call us to that, we would be unhappy 118 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,920 missionaries. So our issues with them out 119 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:56,600 there are real, but they're only the tip of the iceberg. 120 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,680 We have issues with the people out there because of our own 121 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,200 issues in here. And Jonah 28 From the belly of 122 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,120 the fish, you might remember Jonah prayed. 123 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,880 Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of 124 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,560 steadfast love. What's he saying? 125 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,840 If we put anything before God, that's an idol. 126 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,360 If we look to anything else for our identity, our meaning, our 127 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:23,080 purpose, we're on shaky ground. We're putting our hope in 128 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:28,000 something other than God's love. And Jonah knew this, but like 129 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,480 us, he was often blind to his idols and how they're working in 130 00:07:32,480 --> 00:07:35,560 his life. So Jonah had personal idols. 131 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:40,920 He had expectations and desires for how his life as a prophet 132 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:43,680 should go. So he would follow the Lord as 133 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:47,800 long as it fit his plans. But following the Lord on a 134 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:51,200 mission to Nineveh? Jonah didn't sign up for that. 135 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:55,560 At least he didn't think he did. There were things Jonah wanted 136 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,120 more than he wanted God. And so it's worth asking, what 137 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,320 do we want more than we want Jesus? 138 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:07,320 Is there anything the Lord might ask us to do that we just would 139 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:11,680 not be willing to do? If you can zero in on that, 140 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:14,800 you're probably close to finding a personal idol. 141 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:19,000 Jonah also had cultural idols. He had what we might call a 142 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:22,920 disordered love for his own country and his own people. 143 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:25,320 You could call it all kinds of different things, but that's 144 00:08:25,320 --> 00:08:28,240 what it was. And it's not bad to love and 145 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,120 care for our own people and our own place. 146 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,919 But Jonah cared more about the national interests of Israel 147 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:39,679 than the spiritual good of Nineveh or anyone who wasn't 148 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:43,360 part of Nineveh of Israel. So Jonah would be happy for 149 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,760 Jerusalem to be saved and for Nineveh to be damned. 150 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:49,080 And that's an interesting posture, isn't it? 151 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,600 And as the story unfolds, we see that he's angry when God 152 00:08:53,600 --> 00:08:56,640 actually does a gracious work in Nineveh. 153 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,840 So it's worth asking, what are our cultural idols? 154 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:05,160 Do we have some kind of disordered love for our own 155 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:09,960 people or our own place that distracts us or derails us from 156 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:15,120 God's mission to the world? Jonah also had religious idols. 157 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:18,920 In chapter 2, he prayed salvation belongs to the Lord. 158 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,640 But Jonah lived like salvation should belong to him and to 159 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:26,800 people like him. So he's like the older brother 160 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:29,040 in Luke 15. And this is what the commentator 161 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:31,760 say. Jonah is the Old Testament older 162 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:33,360 brother. Do you remember him from Luke 163 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:36,000 15? The father welcomed the younger 164 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,680 brother home after he demanded his inheritance and then went 165 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:42,720 and wasted it. The father showered the younger 166 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,720 brother with grace and received him back as a son. 167 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,880 And the father threw this party for his prodigal son. 168 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,720 But an important person was missing the older brother. 169 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:56,120 He was out in the fields. He didn't want to be there. 170 00:09:56,440 --> 00:09:59,600 He heard the sounds of the celebration and he asked what's 171 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:01,680 happening. And he couldn't believe the 172 00:10:01,680 --> 00:10:04,680 father would do this. And so he's outraged and he 173 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:06,720 unloads on his father in Luke 15. 174 00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,920 He says, look, these many years I have served you and I never 175 00:10:10,920 --> 00:10:14,920 disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that 176 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:16,920 I might celebrate with my friends. 177 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:21,000 But when this son of yours came, who's devoured your property 178 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:24,640 with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him. 179 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:28,440 He's the older brother. He's the good son. 180 00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:32,280 He's never disobeyed, right? Wrong. 181 00:10:32,960 --> 00:10:36,600 He's disobeying right now, in this moment. 182 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:39,120 The Father wants him at the party and he won't come. 183 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:43,480 The Father wants him to share his heart, a heart that rejoices 184 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:47,840 when the Sinner comes home. So there's an older brother in 185 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:52,200 Jonah and in us, because we can be very religious, but we don't 186 00:10:52,200 --> 00:10:57,400 understand grace, and it becomes clear that we don't know the 187 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,240 Father's heart. So the book of Jonah invites us 188 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:03,080 to be honest about our own issues, our idols. 189 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,200 Have we taken inventory of our idols? 190 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:10,400 Have we asked the Lord to shine his light in our hearts? 191 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,280 And do we realize that our idols actually lead us to rebel 192 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,400 against the very God we think we're serving? 193 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:21,760 So idols have the power to turn us into unhappy missionaries, 194 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:24,960 and the world doesn't need an unhappy missionary. 195 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:29,200 So we have issues with them and we have issues with us. 196 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:33,360 But Jonah reminds us that our deepest issues are actually with 197 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:35,400 God. Jonah should have been a 198 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:38,040 rejoicing missionary. He should have rejoiced to be 199 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:42,800 called to go, to preach, to see God work miracles. 200 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:46,520 But Jonah doesn't rejoice. He's reluctant. 201 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:51,120 And if we ask again, why was Jonah an unhappy missionary, the 202 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:55,520 deepest answer is because Jonah didn't like how God was being 203 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:59,240 God. Remember Jonah 4/2 and three 204 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:01,840 from last week? Oh Lord, is not this what I said 205 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,720 when I was yet in my country? That's why I made haste to flee 206 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,600 to Tarshish. I knew that you're a gracious 207 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,320 God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love 208 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:16,480 and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please 209 00:12:16,480 --> 00:12:20,240 take my life from me, for it's better for me to die than to 210 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:23,000 live. See, this isn't really about 211 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,280 them. It's not really about Jonah 212 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,240 either. It's ultimately about God and 213 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:33,040 friends. It always is when we get angry, 214 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:38,840 we're ultimately angry with God. We're angry with who he is and 215 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:43,160 what he's doing or what he's not doing in the world or in our 216 00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,120 lives. Jonah basically says, Lord, I 217 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:48,360 knew it. I knew you would do this. 218 00:12:48,560 --> 00:12:51,160 I knew you would be patient and forgive them. 219 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:54,960 And that's why I ran away. I was right about you and now 220 00:12:54,960 --> 00:12:56,560 I'm done. I'm out. 221 00:12:56,920 --> 00:13:00,600 I don't want to live in a world where God is like this. 222 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:05,480 And isn't this wild that Jonah would think like this and then 223 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:10,920 say it out loud to God himself? But if we're honest, we've all 224 00:13:10,920 --> 00:13:14,000 been there. When something happens or 225 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:19,000 doesn't happen to us or to someone we love, we get angry 226 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:22,240 with the way God is running the world in our lives. 227 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:25,640 We're outraged that he would do something that we can't 228 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,560 understand, or we're shocked that he would be gracious toward 229 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,880 people we don't like and we just want to take our ball and go 230 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:35,960 home. So look at verse 5. 231 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:39,240 Jonah goes out of the city, finds a place to sit down. 232 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:43,080 He could have stayed in Nineveh. The people probably would have 233 00:13:43,080 --> 00:13:45,960 enjoyed spending time with him after all that God did. 234 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:49,320 But he's not rejoicing over God's work in Nineveh. 235 00:13:49,480 --> 00:13:53,680 He's not weeping over Nineveh like Jesus might have wept over 236 00:13:53,680 --> 00:13:57,160 Jerusalem. Now Jonah is stewing in anger. 237 00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:58,920 This is his temper tantrum with God. 238 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:03,320 He's going to sit here and wait and hope that God might change 239 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:08,200 his mind and destroy the city. So Jonah's an unhappy missionary 240 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:11,640 because God refuses to fit in his boxes. 241 00:14:12,280 --> 00:14:15,760 But thankfully, the Lord doesn't leave Jonah alone in his anger. 242 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:19,640 He continues to pursue him, and he does the same for us. 243 00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:24,920 So now we have to ask, what did Jonah's unstoppable God want him 244 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,720 to see? So we've already seen God's 245 00:14:27,720 --> 00:14:32,160 unstoppable love for the rebels and Nineveh, and now we see his 246 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:35,240 unstoppable love for the rebel prophet Jonah. 247 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,480 The Lord had numerous opportunities to throw in the 248 00:14:38,480 --> 00:14:40,600 towel all the way back to chapter 1. 249 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:43,080 The Lord had so many opportunities. 250 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,360 He could have just said, Jonah, I'm done, I'm out. 251 00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,080 But his love simply will not give up on Jonah. 252 00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:54,800 God wants Jonah to see something and he uses a plant, a worm, and 253 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:57,640 a wind to get his message across. 254 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:01,520 So Jonah built this makeshift booth to give himself some 255 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,280 shade. But what happens? 256 00:15:03,280 --> 00:15:06,160 Look at verse 6. Now the Lord God appointed a 257 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:09,720 plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade 258 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,400 over his head to save them from his discomfort. 259 00:15:12,880 --> 00:15:16,600 So even though Jonah is sinfully angry, God gives him the comfort 260 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:19,960 that he wants. God causes this plant to grow up 261 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:24,520 and give Jonah some shade, and this little bit of comfort makes 262 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:28,520 angry Jonah exceedingly glad. But then what happens? 263 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,160 Look at verse 7. But when dawn came up the next 264 00:15:31,160 --> 00:15:34,760 day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it 265 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:37,240 withered. So the same God who sent the 266 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,360 plant for Jonah's comfort sends a worm to eat it the next 267 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:43,280 morning. Now look at verse 8. 268 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:47,200 When the sun rose, God appointed A scorching E wind and the sun 269 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,400 beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. 270 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,360 So God sends one more thing to turn up the heat on his unhappy 271 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:57,760 prophet. And whether Jonah likes it or 272 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,680 not, it's clear God is at the center of his story. 273 00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:05,320 God calls him, then sends a storm, then a fish, then speaks 274 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:09,520 to the fish to vomit Jonah out, then calls him again, empowers 275 00:16:09,520 --> 00:16:13,160 him to preach, works in the people of Nineveh, relents from 276 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:18,200 disaster, and now appoints a plant, a worm, and a wind. 277 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,200 So do you realize, whether you like it or not, God is at the 278 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:26,360 center of your story? We wouldn't have a story to tell 279 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:31,200 if God didn't give us life and a point when and where we would 280 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,560 live, order our days, surround us with friends and family, give 281 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:42,600 us work, send comfort, take it away, speak to us from His Word. 282 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:46,680 So what's going on with the plant and the worm and the wind? 283 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:50,640 Like a good youth minister, the Lord provides objects, lessons 284 00:16:50,640 --> 00:16:54,320 for his child. God wants Jonah to see one big 285 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:55,760 thing. Look at verse 9. 286 00:16:56,040 --> 00:16:59,680 God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the plant? 287 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:03,000 And it's the second time the Lord confronts Jonah about his 288 00:17:03,000 --> 00:17:05,720 anger. Earlier God sent this violent 289 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:10,520 storm, but now God is counseling him, reasoning with him. 290 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:13,839 And isn't this beautiful? God doesn't always work in the 291 00:17:13,839 --> 00:17:17,960 same way in our lives. He knows just what we need in 292 00:17:17,960 --> 00:17:21,040 each moment. So Jonah says, yes, I do well to 293 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:25,640 be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord said, you pity the 294 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,320 plan for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, 295 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:31,880 which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 296 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,360 And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there 297 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:40,080 are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand 298 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,720 from their left, and also much cattle? 299 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:48,000 So what does God want Jonah and the readers of Jonah to see? 300 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:52,240 Your priorities are all out of whack. 301 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:57,080 You care so much about what matters so little, and you care 302 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,680 so little about what matters so much. 303 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:04,440 Jonah, You care about the plant. I'd send it one day and took it 304 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,560 away the next. You were exceedingly glad about 305 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,320 a plant. I just did miraculous work in 306 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,480 Nineveh. Why aren't you exceedingly glad 307 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:18,560 about that? Brothers and sisters, we care so 308 00:18:18,560 --> 00:18:21,120 much about what matters so little. 309 00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:24,760 And we care so little about what matters so much. 310 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:28,240 Think about it. What is our plant? 311 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:33,680 What comfort has the Lord given us that we make way too 312 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:38,120 important? What thing in this life has the 313 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:43,800 power to make us go from really angry to exceedingly glad just 314 00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,360 because of this little gift, this little comfort? 315 00:18:47,360 --> 00:18:49,360 Do we thank the Lord for that thing? 316 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:53,680 You don't see Jonah really thanking the Lord for the plan. 317 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:57,640 Do we realize that God is the one behind it? 318 00:18:58,480 --> 00:19:02,880 So do we actually love the giver of the gift, or do we just love 319 00:19:02,880 --> 00:19:06,320 the gift? If the Lord took our plant away, 320 00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:11,120 would we be angry enough to die? Have you been there before? 321 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,880 Is there something in life that if we lost it, we'd almost lose 322 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:20,080 the will to live? It's amazing Jonas says this to 323 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,880 God, who is the ultimate reason to live. 324 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,320 When we care so much about what matters little, we attach our 325 00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:32,440 happiness to that thing. And that sounds a lot like 326 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:36,120 idolatry, doesn't it? The unstoppable God is doing 327 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:39,080 beautiful work all around us. But just like Jonah, it's so 328 00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:42,240 easy for us to miss it. And at the end of Jonah, the 329 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,680 Lord makes it clear He wants to open our eyes and invite us into 330 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,880 real, deep joy, just like the older brother in Luke 15. 331 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,240 This ending is a cliffhanger. Did you notice that? 332 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,280 There's no sense for what Jonah's going to do, just like 333 00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,240 the older brother in Luke 15? We don't know. 334 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:00,440 Is he going to come to the party? 335 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,200 What's going to happen? And the function of that, I 336 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,400 think, as a reader, is the question is turned on us. 337 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:10,160 It's like the Lord is asking us, OK, reader, how will you 338 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:13,240 respond? Will you continue to pity the 339 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,400 plant? Will you attach your heart to 340 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:20,200 the things of this world? Will you be glad when I bring 341 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,120 comfort and angry when I take it away? 342 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,800 Or will you join me in pitying Nineveh? 343 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,600 Will you attach your heart not to things but to people? 344 00:20:32,360 --> 00:20:37,280 Will you join me in caring about the cities and even cattle and 345 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:41,680 the lost being found? Will you learn to see and love 346 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,000 like I do? I think that's what the Lord is 347 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:47,640 asking us. And friends, it can feel 348 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:51,600 hopeless, but we have hope because Jesus succeeded where 349 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:55,960 Jonah failed and where we fail. So consider the depth of your 350 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,240 sin in all the ways you've run from God. 351 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:02,200 But then consider the depth of God's love for you, that our 352 00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:07,120 Lord Jesus came and lived and died and rose again for you. 353 00:21:08,280 --> 00:21:10,560 He was not an unhappy missionary. 354 00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:16,440 With holy zeal, He loved you and gave himself for you, though you 355 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:18,960 didn't deserve it. He wanted you. 356 00:21:20,400 --> 00:21:24,800 This week I imagine Jesus rewriting Jonah's words during 357 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,560 his time on earth. But instead of speaking in 358 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:32,760 anger, Jesus would joyfully say, Oh Father, is not this what I 359 00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:35,360 said when I was yet in heaven with you? 360 00:21:36,040 --> 00:21:38,920 This is why I made haste to come to earth. 361 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:43,160 For I know that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow 362 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,640 to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting 363 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:50,320 from disaster. Therefore now, O Father, please 364 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:55,440 accept my life as a sacrifice, for it is better for me to die 365 00:21:55,800 --> 00:22:00,160 so that they might live. If you're an unhappy missionary 366 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,440 this morning, remember this. The mission that we don't want 367 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,440 is the mission closest to God's heart. 368 00:22:08,080 --> 00:22:11,960 It's the very mission that brought us to Jesus in the 1st 369 00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,680 place. How quickly we forget that He 370 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,040 loved us when we were His enemies. 371 00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:23,240 But nothing, not even sin and death, could stop Him from 372 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:27,040 saving us. And nothing, nothing will stop 373 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:31,760 Him from working until in us, until we know and embrace the 374 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,560 joy of His mission. Let's pray together. 375 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,360 Father, we thank you for your sovereign mercy, for your 376 00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:42,240 unstoppable purposes to save your people. 377 00:22:43,360 --> 00:22:46,600 Would you give us grace this morning to turn from our idols, 378 00:22:47,040 --> 00:22:50,720 to let go of our anger and enter into your joy? 379 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:55,960 Should we not pity this great city and this lost world? 380 00:22:57,240 --> 00:22:59,880 This world doesn't need an unhappy missionary. 381 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:03,720 So thank you, Lord Jesus, that for the joy set before you. 382 00:23:03,720 --> 00:23:08,320 You endured the cross, despising the shame, and now you're seated 383 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:12,560 at the right hand of the throne of God as we come to this table 384 00:23:12,560 --> 00:23:16,800 at your invitation, restore to us the joy of your salvation and 385 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,680 give us everything we need to run to this world. 386 00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:23,920 With the joyful news of your grace and your name, we pray. 387 00:23:24,400 --> 00:23:26,960 Amen. Let's stand together.