When mercy meets brokenness

Morning everyone, I'm reading from Jonah chapter 4.

Jonah 4 · chapter mention

And the Lord said,

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 God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah,

that it might be a shade over his head to save him 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, God appointed a scorching east 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 plant?

And he said,

Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.

And the Lord said,

You pity the plant for which you did not labour,

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.

Good morning.

My name is Bo.

I'm one of the elders.

I'm going to bring you the message this morning.

Father God,

it's so blessed for us to know that

our sins,

not in part,

but the whole,

has been nailed to the cross,

and we bear it no more.

We thank you for the privilege

of being your people today.

May you help us now,

as we hear your word,

that you might see your glory

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

For in his name we pray.

Amen.

Okay, so today is chapter 4 of Jonah,

Isaiah 4 · chapter mention

so the last chapter.

Just a recap,

we know that Jonah was commissioned

to go to Nineveh,

and then he ran away,

he didn't want to go.

But God hunted him down,

and he was in the stomach of the fish

for three days,

and then he sort of repented,

and then God recommissioned him,

and he went to Nineveh,

and he told the Nineveh

that in 40 days,

their city will be overturned,

will be destroyed.

And the Nineveh,

from the kingdom,

repented of their evil ways,

and then God forgave them.

And I suppose God

was somehow telling

these Nineveh

that they were forgiven,

because the king's edit

was that they shouldn't eat or drink

until they were forgiven.

So they couldn't have waited

for 40 days,

I suppose,

to not have eaten and drank.

It would be maybe a couple of days.

Somehow they knew that,

and then Jonah also knew

God could have used Jonah

to tell the Nineveh

that they were forgiven.

So in chapter 4,

we were very surprised

to read that

Jonah was exceedingly displeased,

and he was very angry

with the outcome

of the whole event.

And he asked God

to take his life away.

Have you ever been so angry

that you want to kill yourself?

I think this is not,

doesn't make sense,

does it?

I mean,

if I'm angry,

I won't kill myself,

I will kill whoever offended me

if I want to kill someone.

Isn't it true?

So the fact that

Jonah wanted to end his life

is telling us a lot of things

we shall consider that.

When we are angry,

we were offended by something

or someone.

On the other hand,

if we want to end our life,

we don't think life is worth living.

that's because

we become so broken

inside us

that we don't think

we can

recover from it.

So these two things

are happening to Jonah

at the same time.

We want to consider

why is

Jonah

complaining

about

the outcome

of the

whole event.

I mean,

consider

Jonah,

we can

see that Jonah

could be the most

effective prophet ever.

I mean,

imagine if we want

to preach

to the people

in Newcastle

or even

Glendale

and everybody

suddenly

repented

of their

sinful ways.

How would you feel?

Definitely,

you would be thankful

to God

and for the

people

being

safe.

But not for

Jonah

because he

when you

remember that

when he told

the Linniwai,

he didn't say that

if you

don't repent,

you will be

destroyed in 40 days.

He simply said that

you will be

destroyed

or overcome

in 40 days.

There is no

option

for repentance.

I suppose

Jonah

didn't want

them to

repent

and didn't

give them

the option

for them

to repent

and therefore

their repentance

was not

what Jonah

would expect

and then

even worse,

God actually

just forgave

them

and didn't

carry out

the threat

that God

was telling

Jonah

to tell

the Linniwai

and so

Jonah

was

very angry

and

we know

that

Jonah's

anger

is not

only because

God

had mercy

on the

Linniwai

his anger

is also

because

God's

generosity

was at

his expense

that means

Jonah

had lost

something

in the process

he has lost

his identity

at least

things that

make Jonah

who he

was

that is

his identity

let's

consider

what

Jonah

was

living

for

that is

we can

consider

ourselves

we

will be

proud

for

whatever

we

do

like

our

profession

or

our

look

our

family

background

our

education

our

possessions

all those

are

things that

we identify

ourselves

with

now

in

Jonah's

case

there are

at least

three things

that we

can consider

he

lost

in the

process

of

God

forgiving

the

line

wise

the

first

thing

is

his

profession

so

he

is

a

prophet

he

will

be

proud

to be

a

prophet

and

he

prophesies

that

the

line

will

be

destroyed

in

40

days

now

if

this

didn't

come

true

how

would

Jonah

feel

about

that

God

tell him

to warn

the

line

wise

he

did

and

then

the

warning

didn't

come

true

so

that

means

he's

a

false

prophet

he

will

lose

his

identity

as

a

prophet

okay

that's

one

thing

the

other

thing

is

line

why

Jonah

is

proud

to be

a

Hebrew

a

Jew

his

nationality

okay

I

think

we

are

as

Australians

proud

to be

Australian

and so

we

say

that

this

is

an

un-Austrian

way

of doing

things

so

this

is

our

identity

so

that

if

you

consider

yourself

an

Australian

you

should

do

things

this

way

and

the

Americans

the

same

Trump

wants

to

make

Americans

great

again

and so

that's

what

he's

doing

things

to do

that

just

to

be

great

that's

very

important

for

our

identity

as a

nation

we

know

that

Jonah

in

chapter

one

told

the

sailors

that

he

was

a

Hebrew

and

that

is

what

he's

proud

to

be

and

Jonah

knew

that

the

Ninevites

would

attack

and conquer

Israel

sometime

in future

if they

continue

to

be

stronger

and

that's

why

he

would

expect

God

to

destroy

Nineveh

so

that

Nineveh

would

not

destroy

Israel

or

Jerusalem

in

time

to

come

and

so

if

God

doesn't

do

it

then

he

would

if

Israel

was

destroyed

then

he

would

lose

his

identity

as

a

Hebrew

and

so

that

is

a

threat

to

him

and

that's

why

he

wanted

Nineveh

to be

destroyed

you

might

think

that

isn't

it

better

for

the

evil

Nineveh

to

repent

and

so

they

don't

then

go

and

conquer

other

people

for

that

generation

is

but

for

the

next

generation

may

not

be

just

that

while

the

Nineveh

were

fighters

they

like

to

conquer

and

plunder

people

they

also

fight

among

themselves

and

so

they

are

not

united

people

so

while

they

are

a

threat

they

were

not

immediate

or

big

threat

but

once

they

repented

of

their

evil

ways

that

means

that

they

can

start

to

organize

themselves

as

a

country

and

become

strong

so

the

Assyrian

will

come up

from

that

and

then

they

would

become

a

threat

to

other

countries

and

so

I

think

Jonah

would

be

thinking

further

ahead

and

so

the

profession

nationality

the

third thing

would be

his

righteousness

or

religiosity

because

Jonah

is proud

of being

someone

who is

religious

he

kept

the

law

of

God

he

was

circumcised

circumcised

he

did

all

the

right

things

and

so

he

he

thought

that

he

deserved

God's

mercy

because

of

what

he

did

and

when

he

saw

that

God

forgave

those

evil

linivites

I mean

those

linivites

didn't

even

keep

God's

law

they

didn't

become

circumcised

repentance

may not

be

long term

could be

just

at that

time

because

of

fear

and

that's

why

Jonah

think

that

I

have

worked

all my

life

I

worked

so

hard

to be

a good

person

and

yet

these

people

who have

been doing

bad

things

and God

just

simply

forgave

them

how

is it

fair

so

his

effort

to be

righteous

didn't

seem to

matter

if you

understand

that

it's like

Psalm

Psalms 73:13

73

verse 13

when

I

I'm

envious

of the

arrogant

when I

see their

prosperity

in

when

have

kept

my

heart

clean

and

washed

my

hands

in

innocence

that

is

why

are

those

bad

people

have

such

a

good

time

and

I

work

so

hard

to

keep

God's

law

and

I

don't

seem

to be

any

better

than

those

people

so

these

are

the

three

things

at

least

I

think

that

is

making

Jonah

angry

and

his

identity

has

been

broken

you see

since

the time

of Adam

and Eve

we

humans

have been

feeling

ashamed

of

ourselves

Adam

and Eve

they needed

to

fix

leaves

to

cover

themselves

but we

all

want

something

to

cover

ourselves

to

make

ourselves

great

again

we

know

that

we

have

fallen

short

of

the

glory

of

God

and

we

want

to

make

ourselves

to be

somebody

and we

want

to

heal

our

brokenness

and

God

seems

I mean

Jonah

worked

very hard

to make

himself

someone

but

God

is

taking

away

all

that

he

relies

on

for

his

identity

and

that's

why

he

is

so

angry

I

would

like

to

in

the

third

point

about

the

righteousness

I

think

I

should

expand

a bit

deeper

there's

the

idea

that

Jonah

was

thinking

himself

more

righteous

than

the

Lenivites

and

therefore

God

should

have

treated

Jonah

and the

Israelites

much

better

than

the

Lenivites

but

it

seems

that

God

has

treated

them

the

same

in

terms

of

forgiving

their

sins

so

there

is

the

idea

that

the

bad

people

don't

suffer

anything

after

they

confess

their

sins

I

think

especially

in

eastern

culture

from the

culture

I came

from

in the

olden

days

we

do

not

have

any

problem

to

believe

that

God

will

punish

the

bad

people

and

reward

the

good

people

but

we

do

have

problem

to

believe

a

God

who

would

just

simply

forgive

bad

people

because

we

believe

that

bad

people

should

be

punished

so

the

presumption

is

that

after

you

confess

your

sin

and

you

got

forgiven

and

there

is

no

consequence

so

the

presumption

of no

consequence

is not

actually

true

just

like

if

I

was

a

glutton

I

just

simply

eat

anything

I

like

and

then

after

I

came

to

know

God

and

I

changed

my

way

I

was

forgiven

for

my

gluttony

but

whatever

I

have

eaten

in the

past

has

destroyed

my

body

I

might

get

diabetes

for

me

and

it

doesn't

mean

that

after

I

become

a

Christian

my

diabetes

would

automatically

be

reverted

so

there's

consequence

or

if

I

offend

somebody

a

damaged

relationship

after

I

am

forgiven

the

relationship

that

has

been

damaged

will

take

years

to

heal

or

may

not

even

heal

in

this

lifetime

so

there

is

consequence

for

the

bad

things

that

we

all

do

or

the

Ninevite

have

done

they

have

to

live

with it

and

repent

or

just

be

something

that

they

will

be

troubling

their

heart

for a

long

time

as well

especially

the

more

for

us

the

more

we

know

God

the

more

things

that

we

have

done

trouble

our

hearts

things

that

we

did

foolishness

I

remember

about

40

years

ago

as a

uni

student

I

was

a

joker

I

tried

to

tell

jokes

and

so

my

friends

I

was

with

the

overseas

christian

fellowship

people

one

day

we

have

a

workshop

and

the

teacher

was

asking

us

to

pair

up

to

get

to

know

one

another

and

then

getting

us

to

tell

the

group

about

what

we

observed

about

the

other

person

or

what

we

get

to

know

about

that

person

I

was

making

jokes

throughout

and

so

the

teacher

picked

me

to

be

the

first

one

to

tell

about

the

sister

that

I

was

talking

with

and

I

make

a

joke

out

of

that

and

say

something

quite

bad

about

the

person

but

the

other

friends

knew

that

I

was

telling

jokes

so

they

were

not

surprised

but

the

teacher

was

very

surprised

and

she

looked

at

me

sternly

and

I

am

thankful

that

she

did

that

she

didn't

laugh

with

me

but

that

thing

since

then

has

been

in

my

heart

for

the

40

years

that

I

did

not

take

the

opportunity

to say

something

encouraging

and building

up

to that

person

instead

of just

wasting

it

on a

joke

and a

bad

joke

as well

so

even

last

month

I

was

reminded

about

that

when

I

was

doing

gardening

I

lost

contact

with

that

sister

since

uni

day

but

surprisingly

three weeks

ago

when

they

and I

were

in

Singapore

another

couple

invited us

for

dinner

from

the same

group

of

people

and

that

sister

turned

up

to

join

us

for

the

dinner

I

was

so

glad

that

she

turned

up

the

first

thing

I

told

her

was

I

want

to

apologize

for

what I

said

40

years

ago

and

she

said

I

didn't

remember

anything

you

said

she

didn't

even

remember

the

whole

event

so

for

her

it

was

nothing

but

for

me

it

was

something

over

the

40

years

I

still

lost

that

opportunity

I

should

have

said

something

encouraging

and building

up

I

lost

that

forever

and

so

there's

consequence

for us

for bad

people

for bad

things

that we

do

the

other

thing

is

that

it's

unfair

for

God

to

forgive

both

the

Israelites

and

the

Ninevites

the

Jonah

didn't

know

that

in

God's

side

he

is

also

like

the

Ninevites

who

was

not

seeking

God

he

was

only

seeking

for

his

own

identity

for

his

own

comfort

so

in

God's

side

he

is

as

lost

as

the

Ninevites

God

and

so

if

Jonah

wants

fairness

then

everybody

would

not

be

forgiven

everybody

would

end

up

in

hell

so

fairness

again

in

God's

side

we

can't

ask

for

fairness

because

we

all

of us

are

recipients

of

God's

mercy

so

we

should

ask

ourselves

when

we

are

angry

why

it is

so

what

idols

or

what

things

that

we

are

relying

on

that

is

being

disturbed

being

devalued

being

disregarded

that

we

are

not

happy

with

and

why

is

and

then

we

dig

deeper

and

why

is

Jonah

so

broken

in terms

of

he's

trying

to

mend

himself

building

up

his

identity

with

all

these

things

now

God

seems

to

take

them

away

and

Jonah

is

telling

God

to

his

face

that

take

my

life

away

so

can

you

see

that

that

means

God

is

not

Jonah's

joy

God

is

not

Jonah's

life

because

if

God

is

Jonah's

joy

he

wouldn't

have

seen

God

and

feel

angry

and

tell

God

to

end

to

take

his

life

away

he

will

be

joyful

when

he

faces

God

regardless

of

the

circumstances

of

his

experience

and so

the

deeper

problem

is that

Jonah

didn't

actually

have

a

personal

relationship

with

God

he

can

serve

God

but

God

is

not

his

friend

or

not

his

joy

and

that

is

why

he

is

struggling

with

and

he

he

cannot

simply

just

go away

from

God

actually

instead

of

committing

suicide

wanting

to

end

his

life

for

most

of us

we

can

if

we

are

angry

with

God

we

can

just

not

come

to

church

and

not

associate

with

Christians

anymore

just

do

our

own

things

but

Jonah

couldn't

do

it

we

have

a

friend

again

from

40

years

ago

she

was

very

committed

during

that

uni

years

but

after

she

finished