Bible Verse: Should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals? Jonah 4:11
Scripture Reading: Jonah 4
The Assyrians were infamous for brutality.
I remember a seminary professor casually reciting the gruesome details of people being skinned alive and tribes conquered with raping and pillaging. Much of this happened after Jonah’s work, but it gives us an inkling of why God tells Jonah that the Assyrian capital of Nineveh’s “wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2) and sends Jonah on a mission to call these evil people to repentance.
The depth and extent of human depravity are perennially shocking. The reality of our country, city, neighbourhood and home is often worse than we know or admit.
However, God’s people tend to be even more shocked by the extent of God’s love for His sinful and captive creation.
The book of Jonah has unsettled the faithful in every generation. The Ninevites were notorious perpetrators of evil, so surely God must only be stern and wrathful with them?
Jonah was not happy with God’s grace for these people. The funny thing is that he knew the grace of God. Jonah wasn’t surprised when God forgave them after their repentance. In chapter 4, the prophet says, “I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love…” (Jonah 4:2).
The scandalous beginning of living on God’s mission is recognizing God’s great love for the Ninevite, sex trafficker, slave trader, tyrant, transgender activist, abusive father, embezzling business partner and ___________ (insert the name/group that bothers you most).
Maybe that surprises you; maybe you fear it to be true, like Jonah.
Regardless, God loves us where we are. Like Nineveh, God also loves us too much to leave us where we are. He doesn’t bless our sin, but He blesses sinners (Matthew 5:45).
Who are the Ninevites in your life and our world? Which people and groups do you assume God looks at mostly/only with displeasure and anger?
God loves sinners, even unto His death on the cross, even if they never say thanks or repent. This unsettling and transforming truth is where we must begin talking about “Living on a Mission.”
“For God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16a)
Prayer: Lord, give me Your heart for all people. Let Your love increasingly take root in me and send me wherever You want me to go. Amen.
Reflection: Which people do you find it most difficult to imagine God “letting off the hook” and forgiving their sins as if nothing happened? Can you fathom that God loves you this way, too?
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