I hope you get your due. NOT!

God had called Jonah to go to Nineveh. Why Nineveh? They were an idolatrous people – why not leave them to their fate and destruction. But it is not Jonah's place nor ours to judge. God calls Jonah and us to love and to be obedient. Yes, Jonah was being called to preach to them, to pull them to a point of conviction and repentance. But, he was to do it with the love from God which would lead them to repentance.

As Jonah ran, God brought discipline in the form of storms and later a great fish to swallow him. Imagine the utter disgusting environment – the stomach of a fish. Sometimes, the struggles we are experiencing are created by our resistance of God's will for our lives. As Jonah recognized his plight, he wrote (chapter 2):

8 "Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. 9 But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."

Jonah recognizes that the people of Nineveh are missing out on God’s grace. We all are recipient of God’s grace. Yet, the people of Nineveh had forfeited theirs. Unfortunately, Jonah seemed to have forgotten that he too was a recipient of God’s grace. His desire was for God to give the people of Nineveh what they deserved. Aren’t we glad we don’t receive what we deserve? In the stomach of the fish, Jonah realizes that God’s grace is not his to distribute. He is called to obedience. In this state, he decides to obey.

Yet the attitude of Jonah had not been fully adjusted. He brought the message of God to the people of Nineveh. They responded to the message and God responded to their repentance (chapter 3):

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.

Jonah was livid! God showed mercy on these people and they didn’t deserve it! He ran away to pout. How could God forgive them? They were evil and idolatrous people. Do we do this? Do we wish that certain people would get their due?

As Jonah pouted, he sat around watching to see if the people would fail so that God would bring judgment. He seemed to be waiting for the chance to say, I told you so. As he pouted, God provided him with a vine for shade and comfort. Just as Jonah was feeling refreshed from the vine, God removed it and Jonah felt the full brunt of the heat of the day. Jonah complained about the loss of the vine. The book of Jonah ends with a telling response from God (chapter 4):

10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

Just as God had created the vine, he had created these people as well. He loved these people. His desire was to see his relationship with them restored. Jonah cared more about the vine than he did these people -- God's creation. People are lost without Christ. Without his Spirit to help them, they are doomed. Even people with Christ struggle, and are in need of forgiveness, grace, and mercy. We all have been recipients of God’s grace and forgiveness. We should be willing to administer that grace to others because we love God and we love people.

A similar story occurs in Matthew 18:21-35. A servant who owed a great debt received mercy and forgiveness of the debt from his master. Yet, when the man had the opportunity to forgive the debt of his servant, he chose rather to throw his servant in jail. Upon hearing this, the master rebuked the man:

'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you
begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had
on you?'

This man and Jonah missed the point of grace. Yes, there are times when we need to confront evil and expect repentance. However, as we confront, the desire should be for restoration. We should pray and hope for restoration, not hope that others “get their due.”

May we be grateful for God’s grace to us, and be overjoyed in administering his grace to others.