GOD LOVES YOUR ENEMY.

Hello to the person reading this. We’re in the final chapter and final blog in the story of Jonah. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope that it’s been helpful. Like I’ve repeatedly said the book of Jonah is a deeply complex story. In my opinion there’s nothing like it in the Bible. It is a beautiful commentary on how we tend to live our own lives. In the penultimate blog last week we looked at this beautiful picture of repentance that Nineveh gives us. Today we’re going to look at the final and probably the most important part of the story, the final chapter of Jonah.

So a quick recap. The word of the Lord comes to Jonah again in chapter 3 and this time he obeys it and he preaches the most half-hearted sermon that history has ever seen and Nineveh still repents. We left the story at this point last week. Most of us think that the story of Jonah ends there. It doesn’t. I call this picture storybook Bible effect. If you had one of those you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s the kiddies Bible with all the cartoon stories and because the story of Jonah is too complex for kids they leave out chapter 4 in its entirety and leave us with an arbitrary lesson about not running from God. In Actuality, chapter 4 is the chapter of the story that helps us understand what God is trying to say about who he is.

So we pick up the story in chapter 4 and it starts with Jonah becoming angry. We learn why in v2. Jonah says “Isn’t this what I said Lord, when I was still at home? That is what I tried to forestall by fleeing to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”  We touched on this in the first blog Jonah isn’t scared of Nineveh that’s not why he ran. Jonah ran because he hates Nineveh and he’s now angry because God has displayed his grace to a group of people that he feels does not deserve God’s grace. He cannot believe that God would show grace to these wicked people. Jonah has been on fire this entire story his drama is top class. Anyway, God responds to this by engaging with Jonah.  He asks Jonah in v4; “Is it right for you to be angry Jonah?” Jonah ignores God completely when he asks this, it isn’t the first time Jonah has ignored God in this story. But Jonah has said that God is gracious and compassionate and ironically God extends that grace and compassion to Jonah and he reaches out to him another time. This time Jonah has built himself a shelter just outside of Nineveh so that he can see what will happen to the city. So in this instance God tries a less direct approach in v6 he gives Jonah a plant to give him shade and ease his discomfort. Jonah is really happy about this plant; it’s the first time in the story that he’s happy about anything. Then in v7-8 God provides a worm that eats the plant and then a scorching east wind and the sun blazes on Jonah’s head. And Jonah is angry again in fact he’s so angry he wants to die, it’s not the first time in the story he’s wanted to die. The guy is going through it. So God reaches out again and asks Jonah in v9 the same question but slightly different. He asks Jonah if it’s right for Jonah to be angry about the plant. Jonah is a stubborn guy so he gives a stubborn answer he says “yes!” In fact Jonah is so angry he wishes he was… you guessed it! Dead, Jonah wishes he was dead for the third time in this chapter. But God as patient as ever continues to engage him. And he says to Jonah in v10-11; “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left- and also many animals?” And with that question the book of Jonah ends. Like isn’t that weird! What a strange ending. And you’re left in a place of confusion, because what happened afterwards? What was Jonah’s response?  And that is the beauty of the Bible. That interaction isn’t about Jonah’s response. It’s about you and how you relate to the human beings around you. The author of this story is inviting you to consider that question for yourself.

You see in Jonah’s eyes Nineveh doesn’t deserve the grace and mercy of the Lord. In other words Jonah considers Nineveh his enemy and he cannot deal with the fact that God loves his enemy. What about you? How do you feel about the fact that the God you are trying to serve loves the person you hate the most as much as he loves you? I’ll tell you how I feel. I don’t like it. When I think about this I think of a day in my life I’ll never forget. So, I’ve always had a sweet tooth. One day when I was 12 I think, I walked to the Caltex garage that was down the street from me so I could buy wine gums. As I got into the store there was a white man who forgot his wallet he did the whole frantic patting of the clothing thing but his wallet was gone. He walked back out the store with his head down. I thought to myself ‘yikes imagine forgetting your wallet’ and then I realised that I’d also forgotten my wallet. I also did the whole frantic patting of clothing thing but my wallet was also gone. I tried to walk out the store but the owner, an Indian man stopped me. He was convinced I’d stolen something. I hadn’t stolen anything but he insisted on searching my bag before letting me go. I walked out of that place feeling so demeaned. I pray about that moment often. I still vividly feel those feelings whenever I think about it. So you can imagine the tension that comes with the realisation that the God that I want to serve looks at that guy and loves him! and honestly I struggle with that part of God’s character immensely. God looks at Jonah and has a frank conversation with him. He tells Jonah that the fact that he sees Nineveh as his enemy isn’t going to change the fact that God is concerned about that city. God loves your enemy. Does that mean that he’s happy when your enemy treats you badly? No. Does that mean that your enemy can use God’s love for them as an excuse to mistreat you? No. Does that mean that God is dismissive of the pain your enemy has caused you? No. Does that mean that God will go out of his way to see your enemy repent so that they can also experience his love? Yes. Why? Because that it is who God is, God is love and that love exists for your enemy.

So when God looks at the person you fantasise about punching in the face God sees the person that he created to bear his image. Modern Christianity loves to preach this message right? ‘We’re all human beings!” but not really. Because, “we’re all human beings!” until they have a view that’s different to yours. “We’re all human beings!” until he’s been struggling with the same thing for way too long. “We’re all human beings!” until it’s time to talk about how the structures in our society favour certain kinds of people at the expense of other kinds of people. “We’re all human beings!” until she wears something that you don’t like. “We’re all human beings!” dot dot dot, the list can go on forever. But God isn’t wired like we are. God’s love goes to places that our love refuses to go. Pete Holmes the comedian captures it beautifully with this statement. He says; “God’s love is so big and irrational that it’s actually offensive to us. And we actually have to get honest- we don’t even really like it. We would prefer winners and losers and champions and scoundrels. We want a God that hates what we hate, and a God that loves what we love.” If we’re honest that probably sums us up more often than we’d like to admit. It’d be so much easier If God would just always be on our side, but the God we serve is bigger than sides. Time and time again the Lord goes out of his way to rescue people who enjoy dishonouring him. That is a thing that we will have to wrestle with but it is also the thing that will save us. The fact that God’s love stretches that far means that we will always be able to live in it, it’s like the apostle Paul says in Romans 5:8; “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, The Messiah died for us.” Jesus died for us while we were sinning against him, while we made him our enemy with our lives, Jesus chose to save those very same lives. That is the admission you make when you decide that Jesus is worth following. When you say “Jesus is Lord” what you are saying is that outside of the love of Christ you would be living in enmity towards God and you would be dead. But because of Christ and the sacrifice that he chose to make on your behalf you can turn from your enmity towards him and live. God’s love saves you. God’s love also saves your enemy. And that is good news!

To the person reading this I pray that you choose to see that it is good and that you welcome the life that Christ has given you. The call for us is to follow Jesus with our lives and to embrace a different humanity. Embrace a kind of humanity where the love of God is the most powerful force, a force so powerful that it can transform those who encounter it into a group of people who love even their enemies. My hope for you is that you choose to embrace that kind of humanity, the same way The Messiah chose to embrace your humanity when you were his enemy. May God have mercy on us as we try to love all we encounter, even our enemies. And I hope that this can ultimately help us all thrive in our life and our faith.