The Unhappy Missionary and The Unstoppable God (Jonah 4:5-11)

This morning we're in Jonah chapter 4.

Jonah 4 · chapter mention

We have a sermon this week and we have a sermon next Sunday to

finish our multi month journey through Jonah and I hope that

it's been a blessing to you. So this morning our text is

Jonah chapter 4, verses 5 through 11.

Jonah 4:5–11

Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and

made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade,

till he should see what would become of the city.

Now the Lord got appointed a plant, and made it come up over

Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save them from

his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad

because of the plant. But when dawn came up the next

day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it

withered when the sun rose, Got appointed A scorching E wind,

and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah, so that he was

faint. And he asked that he might die,

and said, It is better for me to die than to live.

But God said to Jonah, Do you do well to be angry for the plan?

And he said, yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.

And the Lord said, you pity the plan for which you did not

labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night

and perished in a night. Oh, should not I pity Nineveh,

that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons

who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much

cattle. This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God, Please be seated.

Father, we thank you for your word.

We pray that you would open our eyes this morning to see

wonderful things in your law. And Lord, we pray for us what

Jonah needed, open eyes and a change in perspective to see you

for who you are and to embrace that as a good thing, not a bad

thing. So help us this morning we pray

in Jesus name, Amen. About 20 years ago, I was still

on staff at PCPC, which is hard to believe.

I was working with the youth staff.

I was pretty new here, and Mark Davis was my boss.

He was the youth director at the time.

And we decided around 2005 that we would go as a staff to a

Desiring God conference in Minnesota.

Some of you may be familiar with Desiring God, so we love the

conference, being there in Minneapolis and hearing from men

like John Piper and Tim Keller and others.

But what I actually remember didn't take place at the

conference. It took place sitting around a

fire with a former missionary to the Philippines.

He was the father of one of the people on our youth staff.

And so we gathered at their house one night there and he

opened Second Corinthians 4 and wanted to give us a word.

And there Paul writes, Therefore, having this ministry,

by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.

So this missionary looked at all of us young youth workers

scattered around a fire, and he said the world doesn't need a

discouraged youth pastor. And that was really the apostle

Paul's point. We have this ministry by the

mercy of God, so how could we lose heart?

How could we be discouraged? So in a week where we heard some

of the best teaching in the world, this is what stuck with

me. The world doesn't need a

discouraged youth worker and the world doesn't need a discouraged

missionary. But that's what Jonah was, and

sometimes that's what we are. So as we consider this final

section of Jonah Four, we really see two things, an unhappy

missionary and an unstoppable God.

And Mark Davis will preach one more sermon.

That's the plan next Sunday from Jonah, where I think he'll focus

in on the very last verse. But I want to help us begin to

review where we've been and could consider what the Lord is

speaking to us from this remarkable book in His Word.

So as we study this passage and really the whole book, there's

much to learn. So let's ask today, why was

Jonah an unhappy missionary? And what did Jonah's unstoppable

God want him to see? So first, why was Jonah an

unhappy missionary? You may know this if you've been

on a mission trip, but sometimes things can go horribly wrong on

a mission trip. One time I had to send a student

home from a mission trip in Mexico.

And I'll spare you the details because this is being recorded.

But big picture, the whole incident put a real damper on

the trip for me, and you could say I was probably an unhappy

missionary most of that week. But if we think about Jonah, he

was unhappy from the jump before he ever got on a plane or a boat

or walked down a road. The book opens and the word of

the Lord comes to Jonah. Arise, go to Nineveh.

But Jonah arises to go to Tarshish.

He tries to run from the presence of the Lord.

When it comes to missions, you may have heard someone say, we

can pray, we can give, or we can go.

But Jonah chose D none of the above.

He disobeyed. He was an unhappy missionary

from the moment God called him. So we have to ask why and when

we do, we see issues in Jonah's life that are in our lives too.

So first, Jonah had issues with other people.

Jonah had what we hear a lot about in our culture today, an

US versus them mentality. For Jonah.

Us was Israel. Them was Nineveh.

Jonah was unhappy about his missionary assignment because he

hated the people he was assigned to.

He hated the people in Nineveh. It's a key city in the rival of

Syrian empire, and these people were violent and wicked.

It was full of Gentiles, not Jews.

They were Jonah's enemies in every way as far as he could

see. So they were the last people

Jonah wanted God to save. They were the first people God

wanted. Jonah sorry.

Jonah wanted God to punish. They were the last people Jonah

wanted God, God to save. They were the first people Jonah

wanted God to punish. God sent Jonah as a missionary

of mercy to his enemies, and he wasn't happy about that.

So if we're honest, we have issues with them too.

They might be people of a different religion or

denomination or political party or nationality or neighborhood.

They might be a world away or right next door to us.

But whoever they are, we see them as enemies, and we assume

God must feel the same way about them that we do.

We can't imagine that God would call us to love and preach to

them. It's an unwanted mission for us,

and so if God would call us to that, we would be unhappy

missionaries. So our issues with them out

there are real, but they're only the tip of the iceberg.

We have issues with the people out there because of our own

issues in here. And Jonah 28 From the belly of

the fish, you might remember Jonah prayed.

Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of

steadfast love. What's he saying?

If we put anything before God, that's an idol.

If we look to anything else for our identity, our meaning, our

purpose, we're on shaky ground. We're putting our hope in

something other than God's love. And Jonah knew this, but like

us, he was often blind to his idols and how they're working in

his life. So Jonah had personal idols.

He had expectations and desires for how his life as a prophet

should go. So he would follow the Lord as

long as it fit his plans. But following the Lord on a

mission to Nineveh? Jonah didn't sign up for that.

At least he didn't think he did. There were things Jonah wanted

more than he wanted God. And so it's worth asking, what

do we want more than we want Jesus?

Is there anything the Lord might ask us to do that we just would

not be willing to do? If you can zero in on that,

you're probably close to finding a personal idol.

Jonah also had cultural idols. He had what we might call a

disordered love for his own country and his own people.

You could call it all kinds of different things, but that's

what it was. And it's not bad to love and

care for our own people and our own place.

But Jonah cared more about the national interests of Israel

than the spiritual good of Nineveh or anyone who wasn't

part of Nineveh of Israel. So Jonah would be happy for

Jerusalem to be saved and for Nineveh to be damned.

And that's an interesting posture, isn't it?

And as the story unfolds, we see that he's angry when God

actually does a gracious work in Nineveh.

So it's worth asking, what are our cultural idols?

Do we have some kind of disordered love for our own

people or our own place that distracts us or derails us from

God's mission to the world? Jonah also had religious idols.

In chapter 2, he prayed salvation belongs to the Lord.

But Jonah lived like salvation should belong to him and to

people like him. So he's like the older brother

in Luke 15. And this is what the commentator

say. Jonah is the Old Testament older

brother. Do you remember him from Luke

15? The father welcomed the younger

brother home after he demanded his inheritance and then went

and wasted it. The father showered the younger

brother with grace and received him back as a son.

And the father threw this party for his prodigal son.

But an important person was missing the older brother.

He was out in the fields. He didn't want to be there.

He heard the sounds of the celebration and he asked what's

happening. And he couldn't believe the

father would do this. And so he's outraged and he

unloads on his father in Luke 15.

He says, look, these many years I have served you and I never

disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that

I might celebrate with my friends.

But when this son of yours came, who's devoured your property

with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.

He's the older brother. He's the good son.

He's never disobeyed, right? Wrong.

He's disobeying right now, in this moment.

The Father wants him at the party and he won't come.

The Father wants him to share his heart, a heart that rejoices

when the Sinner comes home. So there's an older brother in

Jonah and in us, because we can be very religious, but we don't

understand grace, and it becomes clear that we don't know the

Father's heart. So the book of Jonah invites us

to be honest about our own issues, our idols.

Have we taken inventory of our idols?

Have we asked the Lord to shine his light in our hearts?

And do we realize that our idols actually lead us to rebel

against the very God we think we're serving?

So idols have the power to turn us into unhappy missionaries,

and the world doesn't need an unhappy missionary.

So we have issues with them and we have issues with us.

But Jonah reminds us that our deepest issues are actually with

God. Jonah should have been a

rejoicing missionary. He should have rejoiced to be

called to go, to preach, to see God work miracles.

But Jonah doesn't rejoice. He's reluctant.

And if we ask again, why was Jonah an unhappy missionary, the

deepest answer is because Jonah didn't like how God was being

God. Remember Jonah 4/2 and three

from last week? Oh Lord, is not this what I said

when I was yet in my country? That's why I made haste to flee

to Tarshish. I knew that you're a gracious

God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love

and relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please

take my life from me, for it's better for me to die than to

live. See, this isn't really about

them. It's not really about Jonah

either. It's ultimately about God and

friends. It always is when we get angry,

we're ultimately angry with God. We're angry with who he is and

what he's doing or what he's not doing in the world or in our

lives. Jonah basically says, Lord, I

knew it. I knew you would do this.

I knew you would be patient and forgive them.

And that's why I ran away. I was right about you and now

I'm done. I'm out.

I don't want to live in a world where God is like this.

And isn't this wild that Jonah would think like this and then

say it out loud to God himself? But if we're honest, we've all

been there. When something happens or

doesn't happen to us or to someone we love, we get angry

with the way God is running the world in our lives.

We're outraged that he would do something that we can't

understand, or we're shocked that he would be gracious toward

people we don't like and we just want to take our ball and go

home. So look at verse 5.

Jonah goes out of the city, finds a place to sit down.

He could have stayed in Nineveh. The people probably would have

enjoyed spending time with him after all that God did.

But he's not rejoicing over God's work in Nineveh.

He's not weeping over Nineveh like Jesus might have wept over

Jerusalem. Now Jonah is stewing in anger.

This is his temper tantrum with God.

He's going to sit here and wait and hope that God might change

his mind and destroy the city. So Jonah's an unhappy missionary

because God refuses to fit in his boxes.

But thankfully, the Lord doesn't leave Jonah alone in his anger.

He continues to pursue him, and he does the same for us.

So now we have to ask, what did Jonah's unstoppable God want him

to see? So we've already seen God's

unstoppable love for the rebels and Nineveh, and now we see his

unstoppable love for the rebel prophet Jonah.

The Lord had numerous opportunities to throw in the

towel all the way back to chapter 1.

The Lord had so many opportunities.

He could have just said, Jonah, I'm done, I'm out.

But his love simply will not give up on Jonah.

God wants Jonah to see something and he uses a plant, a worm, and

a wind to get his message across.

So Jonah built this makeshift booth to give himself some

shade. But what happens?

Look at verse 6. Now the Lord God appointed a

plant and made it come up over Jonah that it might be a shade

over his head to save them from his discomfort.

So even though Jonah is sinfully angry, God gives him the comfort

that he wants. God causes this plant to grow up

and give Jonah some shade, and this little bit of comfort makes

angry Jonah exceedingly glad. But then what happens?

Look at verse 7. But when dawn came up the next

day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant so that it

withered. So the same God who sent the

plant for Jonah's comfort sends a worm to eat it the next

morning. Now look at verse 8.

When the sun rose, God appointed A scorching E wind and the sun

beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint.

So God sends one more thing to turn up the heat on his unhappy

prophet. And whether Jonah likes it or

not, it's clear God is at the center of his story.

God calls him, then sends a storm, then a fish, then speaks

to the fish to vomit Jonah out, then calls him again, empowers

him to preach, works in the people of Nineveh, relents from

disaster, and now appoints a plant, a worm, and a wind.

So do you realize, whether you like it or not, God is at the

center of your story? We wouldn't have a story to tell

if God didn't give us life and a point when and where we would

live, order our days, surround us with friends and family, give

us work, send comfort, take it away, speak to us from His Word.

So what's going on with the plant and the worm and the wind?

Like a good youth minister, the Lord provides objects, lessons

for his child. God wants Jonah to see one big

thing. Look at verse 9.

God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the plant?

And it's the second time the Lord confronts Jonah about his

anger. Earlier God sent this violent

storm, but now God is counseling him, reasoning with him.

And isn't this beautiful? God doesn't always work in the

same way in our lives. He knows just what we need in

each moment. So Jonah says, yes, I do well to

be angry, angry enough to die. And the Lord said, you pity the

plan for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow,

which came into being in a night and perished in a night.

And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city in which there

are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand

from their left, and also much cattle?

So what does God want Jonah and the readers of Jonah to see?

Your priorities are all out of whack.

You care so much about what matters so little, and you care

so little about what matters so much.

Jonah, You care about the plant. I'd send it one day and took it

away the next. You were exceedingly glad about

a plant. I just did miraculous work in

Nineveh. Why aren't you exceedingly glad

about that? Brothers and sisters, we care so

much about what matters so little.

And we care so little about what matters so much.

Think about it. What is our plant?

What comfort has the Lord given us that we make way too

important? What thing in this life has the

power to make us go from really angry to exceedingly glad just

because of this little gift, this little comfort?

Do we thank the Lord for that thing?

You don't see Jonah really thanking the Lord for the plan.

Do we realize that God is the one behind it?

So do we actually love the giver of the gift, or do we just love

the gift? If the Lord took our plant away,

would we be angry enough to die? Have you been there before?

Is there something in life that if we lost it, we'd almost lose

the will to live? It's amazing Jonas says this to

God, who is the ultimate reason to live.

When we care so much about what matters little, we attach our

happiness to that thing. And that sounds a lot like

idolatry, doesn't it? The unstoppable God is doing

beautiful work all around us. But just like Jonah, it's so

easy for us to miss it. And at the end of Jonah, the

Lord makes it clear He wants to open our eyes and invite us into

real, deep joy, just like the older brother in Luke 15.

This ending is a cliffhanger. Did you notice that?

There's no sense for what Jonah's going to do, just like

the older brother in Luke 15? We don't know.

Is he going to come to the party?

What's going to happen? And the function of that, I

think, as a reader, is the question is turned on us.

It's like the Lord is asking us, OK, reader, how will you

respond? Will you continue to pity the

plant? Will you attach your heart to

the things of this world? Will you be glad when I bring

comfort and angry when I take it away?

Or will you join me in pitying Nineveh?

Will you attach your heart not to things but to people?

Will you join me in caring about the cities and even cattle and

the lost being found? Will you learn to see and love

like I do? I think that's what the Lord is

asking us. And friends, it can feel

hopeless, but we have hope because Jesus succeeded where

Jonah failed and where we fail. So consider the depth of your

sin in all the ways you've run from God.

But then consider the depth of God's love for you, that our

Lord Jesus came and lived and died and rose again for you.

He was not an unhappy missionary.

With holy zeal, He loved you and gave himself for you, though you

didn't deserve it. He wanted you.

This week I imagine Jesus rewriting Jonah's words during

his time on earth. But instead of speaking in

anger, Jesus would joyfully say, Oh Father, is not this what I

said when I was yet in heaven with you?

This is why I made haste to come to earth.

For I know that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow

to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting

from disaster. Therefore now, O Father, please

accept my life as a sacrifice, for it is better for me to die

so that they might live. If you're an unhappy missionary

this morning, remember this. The mission that we don't want

is the mission closest to God's heart.

It's the very mission that brought us to Jesus in the 1st

place. How quickly we forget that He

loved us when we were His enemies.

But nothing, not even sin and death, could stop Him from

saving us. And nothing, nothing will stop

Him from working until in us, until we know and embrace the

joy of His mission. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for your sovereign mercy, for your

unstoppable purposes to save your people.

Would you give us grace this morning to turn from our idols,

to let go of our anger and enter into your joy?

Should we not pity this great city and this lost world?

This world doesn't need an unhappy missionary.

So thank you, Lord Jesus, that for the joy set before you.

You endured the cross, despising the shame, and now you're seated

at the right hand of the throne of God as we come to this table

at your invitation, restore to us the joy of your salvation and

give us everything we need to run to this world.

With the joyful news of your grace and your name, we pray.

Amen. Let's stand together.