26 Jul Life is Unfair…God is Just

“The test of our spirituality comes when we find ourselves faced with injustice and cruelty and ingratitude and turmoil” –Oswald Chambers

Most parents would agree that one of the first words, if not the very first word, their child spoke was “NO!” It’s also possible that one of the earliest sentences they uttered was: “It’s not fair!” Children are experts at knowing when they’ve been treated unfairly. What we don’t realize is that it’s a skill we don’t ever lose. Some of us learn to limit its use. Others learn to wield it as a sword.

Perhaps nothing offends Christ-followers’ sense of fairness more than seeing someone they have declared as “unworthy” receiving a blessing from God; especially the blessing of forgiveness. Well, perhaps one thing offends us more: When God wants to use us to forgive them! We see this play out in the book of Jonah.

Jonah was a prophet, which means God spoke to Him. Jonah didn’t like what he heard:

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Jonah 1:1-3 (NIV)

Why did Jonah react this way? Rebecca Faires explains it well:

A chief city in the already brutal and wicked Assyrian empire, Nineveh removed the noses and ears of their prisoners to mark and maim them for life. And like most Mesopotamian civilizations, their culture was immoral and generally terrifying—temple prostitution, child sacrifice, abortion, and infanticide. 

This offended Jonah so badly, he attempted to run from God’s command. Once he boards the ship, things get really interesting:

•             God causes a great storm to hit the boat

•             The sailors ask Jonah to pray to his God

•             Jonah says, uhm, this is my fault

•             Jonah urges them to toss him overboard

•             The sailors pray for forgiveness and throw him overboard

•             Jonah is swallowed by a whale (large fish, other creature?)

•             Jonah prays

•             Jonah is vomited onto shore

Jonah relents and delivers God’s message to Nineveh. And they repent. This is exactly what Jonah feared:

But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, “Isn’t this what I said, Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 4:1-3 (NIV)

God then goes on to explain to Jonah that who God chooses to forgive is not his concern. This story has an element of anger at its core. Jonah reveals his own anger by using God’s own words from Exodus against Him: “…slow to anger and abounding in love…”

So, here are the lessons for us from Jonah’s story:

Don’t be angry about God’s concern for others

Don’t be angry that our attempts to save ourselves are in vain.

Don’t be angry when God calls you to serve those you consider unworthy

The key is gratitude. Being thankful for God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness is what makes it possible for us to share it with others. So, what about you? Is God calling you to urge someone to accept God’s grace today? Will you say yes immediately? Or will you spend three days and nights in a “fish” of your own? An ever-gracious God leaves the choice up to you!

Pastor Jerry Bader