Jonah 4:1-11

4 But this was very displeasing to Jonah, and he became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord! Is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. 3 And now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.’ 4 And the Lord said, ‘Is it right for you to be angry?’ 5 Then Jonah went out of the city and sat down east of the city, and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, waiting to see what would become of the city.

6 The Lord God appointed a bush,[a] and made it come up over Jonah, to give shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort; so Jonah was very happy about the bush. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the bush, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God prepared a sultry east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint and asked that he might die. He said, ‘It is better for me to die than to live.’

9 But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ 10 Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labour and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?’

This comes from the end of the Jonah story – a part of the story that gets much less attention than the great fish.

God who had sent Jonah to Ninevah with a warning of coming judgment has made a promise that the destruction he was going to bring on the people of Ninevah is not going to happen. Ninevah will not be smashed as Jonah had proclaimed. Jonah is mad that God is “a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.” (vs. 2) Seemingly having forgotten that God showed Jonah himself grace and mercy and steadfast love. It is laughable that Jonah is this upset that God is gracious, generous, forgiving. But then we catch ourselves. For in our lives there have been times when we wished that God would punish some group or individual, finding it unimaginable that God could ever offer forgiveness to the individual or group for that they have done. So we have walked in Jonah’s shoes.

The example of the bush is an acted parable – if Jonah is in grief about the death of the bush, how is that he can feel no concern over the potential death of thousands of people if Ninevah were destroyed. God is confronting Jonah with the truth that the death of anyone is tragic, and we should not rejoice in anyone’s death, for they like us are people made in the image of God.

In a world of strong views and deep division, in a world where enemies use violence, followers of Jesus are invited to be people who weep over the death of even enemies and opponents. For we are invited to believe that even our most avowed enemy is capable of being transformed by the power of God, just as we have been transformed by the steadfast love of God.    

PRAYER:

O Lord, we rejoice that your mercy has found us. Shape us that might join the angels in heaven in rejoicing when your generous mercy finds our enemies and opponents. In Jesus’ name. Amen.   

Luke 6:27-31

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

No retaliation – and we say “but…”

Let people take your stuff don’t ask for it back – and we say “but…”

Jesus’ words seem ridiculous. Does not the approach that Jesus suggests lead to us being abused – physically (as we are bullied); emotionally (as we are cursed); and financially (as people take our stuff and don’t return it?

I have no answer to those objections – that is exactly what this passage would suggest – that loving our enemies means letting them take advantage of us. Of being so kind that we let those who insult us and take from us, walk over us. Living this way feels wrong – going against everything that the culture around us says is the way to live. But Jesus lived this way – he let people insult him, he let people arrest him and kill him – even though he could have defended himself. He did not exercise his self-interest choosing instead to show kindness even to those who hurt him.

We hear that in the opening line – “do good to those who hate you” – and we say, “but…”  

The call to kindness, to doing good to those who are difficult to like, to those who hurt us, to those who we feel angry at – is not an easy call to follow. It is hard to like the people who don’t like us, it is hard to genuinely care for the people who insult us. Jesus says, move beyond the question, how can we possibly like such people; to instead ask, how can we show them kindness and care in action. Moving to show care with our deeds, trusting that the feelings will come afterwards. In this way we will follow Jesus, in showing kindness to our opponents and loving our enemies. 

PRAYER:

O Lord, following the example of your Son, Jesus Christ, is very difficult, so often we want to quit this journey. Shape us to be people who turn the other cheek, who are generous with those who ask us for money, time, help even though we will never get any of it back, Help us Lord to live this way. In Jesus’ name. Amen.