Who are your Ninevites?
Most of us have heard the story of Jonah. Jonah, an Old Testament prophet, was told by God to go to the city of Nineveh (an enemy stronghold) and tell them that unless they repented, they would be destroyed. Jonah doesn't want to go to his enemy's base, so he runs away, onto a ship. God, probably exasperated with Jonah, sends a storm, and Jonah ends up in the belly of a great fish/whale, where he begins praying and asking for mercy. God delivers him, and Jonah agrees to go to Nineveh.
It is what happens at this point that is of interest today. Jonah goes to a city full of wicked people, whom he detests and fears, and (probably gleefully) tells them, "Repent, your city is going to be destroyed." Jonah hasn't had a change of heart since his experience at sea, he still fears and hates these people, only now his fear of God has made him do his duty. I doubt Jonah preached with much love, and was probably rubbing his hands in anticipation that God was going to finally take care of these wicked people. He didn't want them to repent, he just didn't want to get in trouble with God again.
But something happened. God worked on the hearts of the people of Nineveh, and they repented. With tears and mourning, and so God spared them.
Jonah is furious. With God, with the city. It comes to light in the Biblical narrative that one of the reasons he fled in the first part was he didn't want the people of Nineveh to have a chance to repent. He wanted them destroyed. (Why? Because the city of Nineveh was a stronghold for the Assyrians, a formidable enemy of the Jewish people, who at that time were taking tribute from the Jews.) Jonah could not believe God has use for such people, Jonah wanted to see God rain down fire, or send a massacring army, or an earthquake. I doubt Jonah cared how the people of Nineveh were destroyed, he just wanted it done.
So Jonah goes out into the desert and pouts. He mutters, he probably kicked some small rocks, in his mind and in his heart he questions God's plan. Then it starts to get hot, and Jonah becomes uncomfortable, and God causes a large plant to grow, to give Jonah shade. Jonah, the text says, is "exceedingly glad" about the plant. Then God causes the plant to wither and die, and Jonah is baffled, saddened and mournful.
This is where God changes the scope of Jonah's understanding and heart. God says to Jonah, (in Chapter 4, verses 10 and 11) "Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and 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 left hand, as well as many animals?” "
Who are we to say that God should only have compassion on this person, or that person? Who are we to say that God to only give His mercy to people we approve of?
Who is the Ninevite in your life? Who is it that you want to see God bring down vengeance and justice (in your eyes) upon, but not mercy and grace? We are so quick to want God to punish those we think are wrong, but so fast to ask for His mercy upon our lives, and the lives of those we love and admire.
God desires to give mercy to all who will repent and come unto Him. Our job, as believers, is to carry the message of the Gospel, in love and obedience, to the world that does not know Christ. There are people in your life who do not know God's love, and some of them are probably the very people you want the littlest to do with. They are the people you look at and say, "What are they thinking? How can they believe that? How can they act that way? How can they live that way? I'm so glad I'm not like them."
They are your Ninevites. They are the people God is calling you to love, and to share His word with. What will it take for you to do so?
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles Butler
Most of us have heard the story of Jonah. Jonah, an Old Testament prophet, was told by God to go to the city of Nineveh (an enemy stronghold) and tell them that unless they repented, they would be destroyed. Jonah doesn't want to go to his enemy's base, so he runs away, onto a ship. God, probably exasperated with Jonah, sends a storm, and Jonah ends up in the belly of a great fish/whale, where he begins praying and asking for mercy. God delivers him, and Jonah agrees to go to Nineveh.
It is what happens at this point that is of interest today. Jonah goes to a city full of wicked people, whom he detests and fears, and (probably gleefully) tells them, "Repent, your city is going to be destroyed." Jonah hasn't had a change of heart since his experience at sea, he still fears and hates these people, only now his fear of God has made him do his duty. I doubt Jonah preached with much love, and was probably rubbing his hands in anticipation that God was going to finally take care of these wicked people. He didn't want them to repent, he just didn't want to get in trouble with God again.
But something happened. God worked on the hearts of the people of Nineveh, and they repented. With tears and mourning, and so God spared them.
Jonah is furious. With God, with the city. It comes to light in the Biblical narrative that one of the reasons he fled in the first part was he didn't want the people of Nineveh to have a chance to repent. He wanted them destroyed. (Why? Because the city of Nineveh was a stronghold for the Assyrians, a formidable enemy of the Jewish people, who at that time were taking tribute from the Jews.) Jonah could not believe God has use for such people, Jonah wanted to see God rain down fire, or send a massacring army, or an earthquake. I doubt Jonah cared how the people of Nineveh were destroyed, he just wanted it done.
So Jonah goes out into the desert and pouts. He mutters, he probably kicked some small rocks, in his mind and in his heart he questions God's plan. Then it starts to get hot, and Jonah becomes uncomfortable, and God causes a large plant to grow, to give Jonah shade. Jonah, the text says, is "exceedingly glad" about the plant. Then God causes the plant to wither and die, and Jonah is baffled, saddened and mournful.
This is where God changes the scope of Jonah's understanding and heart. God says to Jonah, (in Chapter 4, verses 10 and 11) "Then the LORD said, “You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and 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 left hand, as well as many animals?” "
Who are we to say that God should only have compassion on this person, or that person? Who are we to say that God to only give His mercy to people we approve of?
Who is the Ninevite in your life? Who is it that you want to see God bring down vengeance and justice (in your eyes) upon, but not mercy and grace? We are so quick to want God to punish those we think are wrong, but so fast to ask for His mercy upon our lives, and the lives of those we love and admire.
God desires to give mercy to all who will repent and come unto Him. Our job, as believers, is to carry the message of the Gospel, in love and obedience, to the world that does not know Christ. There are people in your life who do not know God's love, and some of them are probably the very people you want the littlest to do with. They are the people you look at and say, "What are they thinking? How can they believe that? How can they act that way? How can they live that way? I'm so glad I'm not like them."
They are your Ninevites. They are the people God is calling you to love, and to share His word with. What will it take for you to do so?
God's grace be with you,
Fr. Charles Butler
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