Sunday Sermon | Jonah: An Angry Prophet

What happens when God shows mercy to people we think don’t deserve it?
 Jonah’s reaction to Nineveh’s revival reveals a heart problem that may be closer to home than we’d like to admit.

In Jonah 4, the prophet who once begged for mercy becomes angry when God shows mercy to others. Through a simple object lesson involving a plant, God exposes Jonah’s misplaced priorities—and confronts us with a question that still echoes today: Do we share God’s heart for the lost?

Key Takeaways

• God’s mercy often reaches people we would not choose
• Self-righteousness can hide inside religious obedience
• What makes us happiest reveals what we truly love
• God is more glorified by mercy than by judgment
• Christians must guard against loving comfort more than lost souls
• Jesus embodies the compassion Jonah refused to show

Scripture: Jonah 4

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Transcript

Welcome, Prayer, Global Focus

SPEAKER_01 0:05

All right, good morning, church family. Hope that all of you are really well rested with the uh time change. I'm sure it feels a little early to you. That's okay. Alright, turn with me in your Bibles to Jonah chapter four as we continue and finish our Jonah series. If you do not have a Bible, there is a Bible in the PureC in front of you. Please take that as a gift from us to you so that you can have a copy of God's Word. If you're a guest with us, let me introduce myself. My name is Jason Smith, and I'm the pastor here at First Baptist, and it is a privilege to have you with us this morning. Church, before we jump into the text, let me begin by praying. I want to remind you, of course, of the uh global events of what's going on in the Middle East. Uh lots of turmoil. Uh we opened up in prayer last week, and I just want to continue to pray for uh specifically for the people of Iran and the church, uh, that God's kingdom would continue to uh go forward and that God's will would be done. I also want to remind you that we have a mission team that is in Yucatan, Mexico, and all reports are they are doing great. Uh they've arrived safely and they are getting into all that awaits them this week. So uh remember to be in prayer for them. Let's let's go to the Lord in prayer together. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning and this day. Father, our our heart is is anxious and we cry out for the people of Iran and all the uh tyranny and heartache that they have lived through and endured. And Father, we pray, Father, uh, for them to have a freedom. Um, God, you you know the world, you know circumstances, you know kings, uh kingdoms come and go. Father, your word teaches us to pray that your kingdom would come and that the gospel of Jesus Christ would go forward and flourish. Father, you are the God who saves from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation. So we pray to that end. Father, we thank you that we are ones that get to go. We thank you that we have a mission team right now in Yucatan, Mexico. And so, Father, we remember them and we pray for them. Uh God, uh be their strength, give them wisdom, go before them and behind them, and allow their hands and feet and their mouths uh to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. It is in his name that we pray. Amen. Jesus' uh probably most well-known uh parable is the story that we call the prodigal son. A younger son rebels against his father, essentially wishing his father dead because he wants his inheritance. He takes the money and he runs far from home and quickly discovers that life apart from the father is empty and destructive. Broken and humbled, he returns home in repentance. Now, the most dramatic part of the story is not the son in rebellion, but rather the father. See, the father is waiting and watching and longing for his son's return. He sees his son from a distance and he runs to meet him. He embraces him, restores him, throws a feast. But, church, we often miss why Jesus actually told this parable. You see, the story is not ultimately about the younger brother, it is about the older brother. Because when the rebel comes home, shockingly, the older brother refuses to go inside. He will not celebrate, not rejoice with his father. He stands outside of the party angry. His words reveal his heart. He is self-righteous and resentful. He is offended that grace has been shown to someone that he thinks does not deserve it. You see, he is physically near the father, but he is spiritually far from the father's heart. Church family, when we come to Jonah 4, we are going to see something that is incredibly uncomfortable today. Jonah is the older brother. He is the only prophet in all of Scripture that is angry that his sermon worked. Revival breaks out, an entire city repents, hundreds of thousands turn to the living God, and Jonah is furious. But friend, don't miss the point of the entire account of Jonah. You see, it is not for you and I to evaluate Jonah, but rather ourselves. The book ends abruptly with a question and no recorded answer, no resolution, no response from Jonah. Why? Because you are meant to answer it. Are you like Jonah? That is the question that hangs in the air as the book comes to a close. Now, before we jump into chapter four, it's important for you and I to remember, go back and to remember chapter two. Recall, Jonah ran from the presence of God. He refused to preach to Nineveh. He fled from the presence of the Lord, away from the temple, away from God's people, the opposite direction of obedience. You see, he wasn't confused, he was rebelling. He was actively attempting to thwart the plan and the will of God. But as we saw, you can't outrun God. You can't outrun him. Where could you go that he is not there? And so injustice, Jonah receives what he deserves. Injustice, what you deserve for rebellion, Jonah is thrown into the sea. And he sinks into the depths, and he is on the very doorstep of death. And in the very last moments, he cries out for mercy. In chapter two, three, he says, You cast me into the deep. All your breakers and billows passed over me. I have been expelled from your sight. Jonah knows what justice deserves. And then verse seven, while I was fainting away, I remembered the Lord. And my prayer came to you into your holy temple. You see, even then God heard Jonah's plea. The rebel prophet who deserves judgment and death receives mercy. Receives mercy. And God rescued him and restored him and recommissioned him. Now keep that in mind as we jump into chapter four, because the man who was spared is angry that others are spared. Listen as we read Jonah chapter one, one through three, recalling that at the end of chapter three, God has just spared Nineveh because of Jonah's preaching. But it greatly displeased Jonah, and he became angry. He prayed to the Lord and said, Please, Lord, was this not what I said while I was still in my own country? Therefore, in order to forestall this, I fled to Tarshus. For I knew that you are gracious and compassionate, God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. Therefore, now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for death is better to me than life. What a despicable response. You see, Jonah knew. He knew that when he saw the entire city, from least to greatest, even the king, repent with deep contrition. Unlike anything he had ever seen, certainly not in Israel. Israel never repents like this. Jonah knew at that moment God would relent. But he waited forty days in hopes that judgment would still come. And after forty days, verse one tells us that it greatly displeased Jonah and he became angry. The Hebrew literally says, Jonah saw this as a great evil. What heaven celebrates, Jonah despises. And Jonah addresses God with venom.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Is this not what I said when I was back in Israel?

SPEAKER_01 11:03

Suddenly we get a flashback to when God first called Jonah. And Jonah is arguing with God. No, I will not go and preach to them, because if I do, you will show them mercy. No, I will not go. And then Jonah confesses to intentionally running the other way. Not because he fears failure, but because he did not want them to repent. He did not want them to find God's mercy. He actually tried to stop God's plan and God's will and was willing to die for it. And then Jonah perfectly quotes Exodus 34, verse 6. You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, and one who relents concerning calamity. But catch this when Jonah quotes it, he is resenting God for it.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

He views it as a great evil. But you say Jonah was at the bottom of the sea, about to receive the judgment that he deserved, and he cried out, and God gave him mercy.

God’s Question And The Waiting Hut

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Exactly. See, Jonah loves God's grace. Whenever it's shown to him and to people like him, if he gets to draw the boundary line. Grace for me, but not for thee. Am I like Jonah? Do I rejoice when God saves those that I naturally dislike? Or am I only pleased when God draws the lines where I think he should draw them? On my political side of the aisle. Do we have the missionary heart of God? In verse four, God asked Jonah a question. The Lord said, Do you have good reason to be angry? Now Jonah doesn't reply to the question. The question hangs there. This is intentional. It is the beauty of this account, because the answer to this question is about to be revealed in the object lesson that God unfolds through the rest of the account. Do you have good reason to be angry? So hold on to this because God is about to expose Jonah's heart. Then Jonah went out from the city and he sat east of it. There he made a shelter for himself, and he sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. So in disgust, Jonah builds a small hut outside the city and he sits and waits. He's hoping that Nineveh will mess up and sin. And he wants a front row seat for it. He wants a front row seat for God's judgment and destruction that he will bring about. He is not praying for the people. He is not ministering to them.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

He is not discipling them on how to crawl and then how to walk with the Lord. No. He is outside the city actively wishing that people made in the image of God will spend eternity in hell.

The Plant, The Worm, And Exposed Joy

Comfort Idols Versus God’s Heart

Should I Not Pity Nineveh

From Jonah To Jesus: True Compassion

Call To Repent And Respond In Worship

Sing With Nineveh In Mind

SPEAKER_01 15:21

Now recall from last week that our big conclusion was that God is more glorified by his mercy against his wrath. That what makes God look more amazing is that God would rather be glorified by his mercy. He is a holy God. There is no doubt about that. But he would rather be glorified by his mercy. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He delights to show all who turned him, he delights to show them mercy. Do we long for the same? Jonah didn't. Beloved, we were Nineveh. Every one of us, dead in our sin. But now that we have found grace, have we become Jonah? Saying that grace has come far enough. So there Jonah sits. Like the older brother, refusing to go in and celebrate. And because Jonah is a lousy carpenter, his self-made shade stinks. All right? And he is still burdened by the desert heat. So the Lord appointed a plant, and it grew up over Jonah to be shade over his head to deliver him from his discomfort. And Jonah was extremely happy about the plant. See, the prophet of God saw mercy to the Ninevites as a great evil. But the plant makes him extremely happy. Friend, whatever makes us glad reveals what we love. But God appointed a worm. And when dawn came the next day, and it had attacked the plant, and it withered. When the sun came up, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on Jonah's head so that he became faint and begged with all of his soul to die, saying, Death is better to me than life. You see, the plant that he didn't plow or water or cause to grow or deserve in any way has died. And Jonah is now left with his lousy hut that he built. But without God's help of the plant, his discomfort has returned. And again, he has returned to throwing a temper tantrum. And Jonah's foolish heart has been exposed. His joy rises and falls with his own comfort. And don't you see? Jonah now expects God owes him this plant. He is selfish and self-righteous. And here's the heart-revealing truth. Whatever controls your joy reveals your God. And Jonah's God was himself. What makes you exceedingly glad? Well, we've got this new king-size bed, and my boots are really rocking awesome, and we just got back from this amazing vacation, and I just binge watched this TV series on Netflix, it's hilarious, and my Aggies finally won a football game. What makes you exceedingly glad? Listen, I'm not trying to be heavy-handed with the fact that we have stuff. God has given us those resources, and we should consider ourselves very blessed to have that. I'm asking you to discern what are the true delights of your heart. Because it can't be stuff. Beloved, if all of your time and money and energy goes towards that which makes you comfortable, then your God is your own comfort. And in many ways, this is every one of us. This book was written to the people of God, forcing us to compare our pursuit of our own comfort versus our pursuit of the lost. And the book is warning us. Beloved, do not become like Jonah. It's begging for us to see Jonah's foolishness and then be ignited in our soul and saying, I am not going to waste my life, my one life, and just pursue that which doesn't last. Because lostness should break our hearts. Every soul will spend eternity in heaven or hell. And we cannot be like Jonah and just sit comfortably at a distance. And then the Lord said. Jonah, you had compassion on the plant which you did not work, which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and their left hand, as well as many animals? A hundred and twenty thousand eternal souls made in the image of God. And Jonah weeps for a plant. And the book of Jonah ends with a question. God does not thunder, God does not crush Jonah. He simply asks, should I not pity Nineveh? And the book closes. No resolution, no answer recorded. Because the answer is meant to come from us. And beloved, if we are honest, we see ourselves in Jonah much more than we would want to admit. We rejoice that God has been merciful to us. We sing about his grace. We defend grace. But when grace crosses a line that we would not, when mercy reaches those that we would rather avoid, something in us tightens. Jonah wanted judgment. But God wanted redemption. Jonah cherished shade. God cherished souls. In the greatest contrast of all, Jonah sat outside of Nineveh hoping it would be destroyed. And Jesus sat outside Jerusalem and wept. Jonah would not sacrifice his comfort for Nineveh. Jesus laid aside the glories of heaven in order to pursue sinners. Jonah was angry enough to die because mercy had been shown to sinners. Jesus would be crucified so that mercy could be shown to sinners. Beloved, if your heart feels exposed, that is not condemnation. That is the kindness of the Lord. Because God is still asking his people, do you share my heart? Do you love what I love? Do you pity what I pity? Church, we were Nineveh. And God did not sit outside far away waiting for destruction. No, he sent his son. So this morning, let us repent. Not only of open sin, but also of narrow compassion. Let us ask God to work on our hearts. Because the world does not need more comfortable Christians who are guarding their shade. It needs a church with a heart full of compassion like Christ. And the question still remains, should he not pity Nineveh? Will you pray with me? Heavenly Father. Your compassion and your mercy far exceed our understanding. There is no God like you. You sent your Son to enter in to our misery, into our depravity, to take on flesh in order to be tempted in every way to sympathize with our weaknesses so that we might be forgiven. Even while we were your enemies, you pursued us with love and died for us. Father, we pray this morning that we would be filled with your compassion, that we would see not only your holiness, your perfection and your magnificence, but that you are more glorified by your mercy, by sinners coming to repentance, by lavishing grace upon those who are undeserving. Father, help us to see in our own lives those who are around us, both near and far, that you are calling us to have compassion, to pursue, that we would not stand at a distance and wish for condemnation. But that you're going to give us the strength and the words and the opportunity to draw near to. Amen. Church family, as the praise team comes to lead us in one final song, it is an opportunity for you to respond. As always, I can never tell you how to respond. That is the work of the Spirit of God. I encourage you to be obedient. We have ministers down here at the front who would love to pray with you. If you want to use these steps as an altar to pour out your heart before the Lord, I pray that you have the courage to be obedient to whatever God has pressed upon your heart. Now, the song that Phil is going to lead us in is a song about the goodness of God and the gospel and the call for all to come to the love of God. When you sing it, church family, I want you to sing it with Nineveh in mind. Those people that are far from God, I want you to sing it with them in mind. I want your heart to be pricked as you sing in faith and as you commit to the Lord to put his heart in you. Okay? Would you stand?