Key Episode Scripture: Jonah 1-4
And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?” (Jonah 4:4 ESVUK)
When the people of Nineveh received the Doomsday message – God would wipe them out in 40 days – they took it seriously and repented. The messenger, however, was unhappy about God’s relenting and complained to God, showing hypocrisy by having more compassion for a plant than a city full of people (and livestock).
In this episode, we took time to consider the context in which it takes place. We outlined the episode’s contents and explored some of the concepts involved. Previously, we considered conclusions to reach. Now, however, how should we operate in God’s mission in light of this episode?
Mission of Mercy – Compelled by Compassion
God expects mercy from those on a mission for Him. After all, the mission itself is one of extending His mercy. Though we failed to reach His standard of glory, He made it possible for us to have a right relationship with Him through hearing His Word and repenting. The relationship between receiving mercy and extending it is fascinating. Jesus, in His beatitudes, says that those who are merciful obtain mercy. Jesus also points out that those who are recipients of great mercy tend to be practitioners of mercy. It’s like a mercy cycle – a feature of all who represent the Father.
It also informs us what motivates us in mission – the same compassion that Jonah knew made God outstanding. The kind of compassion that would see people stinking in its evil but willing to relent in His judgment in the light of their compassion. That compassion also marks out those who follow Jesus because we can even love our enemies. That Enemy Love is no greater seen than in compassionately conveying the message of God in the hope that they repent – not primarily repent from being our enemies but repent from being enemies of God who reaches out to them. The message we have for all to hear is how the Enemy Love is seen in that while we were enemies of God, His Son was sent to turn us from strangers to members of the family. Salvation is from the Lord, who sent His Son to spend three days and three nights before rising from the dead.
God for the World
The mission of God propels us beyond our safe confines. The mission will not leave us in huddles that create bunkers like we’re supposed to avoid others. The mission propelled Jonah into a foreign land. Even in his rebellion, he bore witness of God to strangers of the covenant people. There is the unmistakable sense that God wants the mission to cover the earth. As Jesus instructed His apostles to get ready to be witnesses to the ends of the world, we continue that compulsion in lives that see mission as more than a space of time to go to another country, but as a daily heartbeat to see those who have not heard the message to get that chance to hear and repent.
The mission of God sees His power impacting all aspects of creation to get the job done. This episode featured a plant, a large fish, folks on their way to somewhere completely different, and a city of ignorant people; God is not limited in how the mission will be accomplished. We don’t have to limit God in how His mission will be accomplished. We must be sensitive to God’s reach and cooperate with Him.
Primed by Prayer
Prayer is used in different ways in this episode as a communication method. God has permitted us to use prayer to engage with Him in various ways in a bid to be mission-focused. We even have permission to use prayer to share complaints or queries with him. It’s much better to use prayer as this method of engagement than grumbling and complaining. That means we’re as sensitive to hear His response to our talk to Him as we are to talk.
Prayer is as vital when used as a means of praise and adoration to God’s character as it is to ask God and query things with Him. Prayers that praise and adore Him can also be used for something very important in the mission …
Submit to the Sovereign
God asks Jonah twice, “Is it right for you to be angry?” There’s a reason why God asks questions. God’s rebuke challenges what underlies Jonah’s rebellion and resentment. God rules and expects those who serve Him to submit to Him rather than hold an opinion as though they know better than God. Questioning God is not so much the problem; it’s the heart that lies beneath the questioning that is the issue.
Who are we to question God? Who are we to hold an issue with God because He’s done something His way rather than our own? The journey with Jesus helps expose those issues in us that have a problem with the rule of God. Whether that issue is about foreigners or about other positions we hold that go against the character of God. We’re exposed to them and given the challenge of how we’ll respond. Will we look to engineer a way to maintain our contrary position, or will we submit to God – ruler of heaven and earth?
Next, from a rebellious prophet resentful of God’s nature, we turn to the Son of God, who submitted to the will of His Father in baptism and a time in the wilderness in the episode called Mission Prep.
For His Name’s Sake
C. L. J. Dryden
Shalom
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