God's Heart for the City

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 labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should not I 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?"- Jonah 4:9‭-‬11 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Called To Reorder

We see how God shows mercy to Nineveh because of their repentance. Jonah was throwing a fit because of this. God grows a plant to shade Jonah. And Jonah is happy. Then God sends a worm to kill the plant. Jonah is hot and on top of it, God sends a scorching wind. Jonah is so upset now that he wants to die. Jonah is so worked up over this. God confronts him on this.

God talks about how Jonah is so worked up over this plant that grew up and died in one day that Jonah did not nurture or help to grow. God says he's worked up over this city of 120,000 people. A city of souls created in God's image with eternal consequence. God is confronting Jonah's priorities. How can Jonah be so worked up over these plants and care not for these people? And if not even the people, how about the cattle? Yes, some holy sarcasm.

So the book ends on this question. A question that confronts Jonah. But not only him, but also us, the readers. Are our emotions not also so misdirected? Do we not get all worked up over  such mundane things? How much consideration and care do we take with people, with souls? Should we not care enormously about their eternal destination?

Called To Respond

Jonah was angry because he wanted God to be like Jonah. Jonah wanted his enemies dead. He wanted God to agree with him. But we know that is not how it should be. We should become more like God! Jonah had pity on the plant. But God he had pity on Nineveh. Some translations use the word compassion or grieving. God had compassion on these people. God was weeping over these people. This warring and aggressive nation was not good, but God did not respond with just anger. God was grieved. This is what Jonah was struggling with... the complexity of God's response to sinners.

God says that these people do not know their right from their left. This is not a question of their intelligence. This is pointing out a lack of or disordered moral compass. They are ignorant of their lack of morality. God is not excusing their sin. But God has compassion. They are not foolish, but they are ignorant.

We see this complexity in Jesus. He hates sin, but he has compassion on the sinner. Jonah left the city seething. Jesus left the city to cover over the sins of those in the city.

Christians are called to love those who disagree with them. Not only that, but also love those who hate them, because that is what it means to follow Jesus. Jesus never considered sinners ignorant fools, but rather he had compassion. We are called to humility knowing our sinfulness, but also bold pursuit of souls to call them to the heavenly kingdom.

Called To Remember

We are called both individually and corporately to serve the city of Philadelphia. But we need to remember that we are first and foremost citizens of heaven. The kingdom of God is for the glory of God rather than man. It stands in stark contrast to the cities of men.

We are not serving for our fame or glory. God had already bestowed more glory than we can possibly gather in our lifetime in Jesus. We are not here for our comfort, our personal goals and dreams. We have more than we could ever need in Jesus. We are to remember our true home, heaven... and in doing so, we will better serve and contribute to wherever God has called us to.