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The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah 1:1-2
I’ve heard the story of ‘Jonah and the Whale’ retold hundreds of times in Sunday School,VacationBibleSchool, Sunday sermons and even a few theology classes. I know all about the typology of Jonahs three days in the belly of a fish and Jesus’ three days in the tomb.
I know the lesson about not running from God, about the faith Jonah had and how ungrateful he was. I know the story about the faithfulness and forgiveness of God as evidenced by his holding back the judgment promised because of the repentance of the city ofNineveh.
Yet there is another part of this story that escaped me until recently. The Biblical record tells us little about Jonah’s background other than the fact that he was a prophet and that he chose to run from God rather that go where God sent him.
Jonah was most likely a good prophet. His ability to preach the word of God is evidenced by the fact that his message brought a city of 120,000 people to their knees, literally. But Jonah was also a proud and stubborn man. When questioned on the boat about whom he was he proudly testified to his heritage (“I am a Hebrew”) and his theology (“I worship the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” Jonah 1:9).
His stubbornness is evidenced by the fact that he refused to follow the leading of the very God he professed to worship and then became angry when God relented of his judgment over repentantNineveh.
Stubbornness and pride are two things God can not honor in a ministry, and all of us, regardless of our walk in life are ministers in some way to the Father. We can be successful, but we will never experience the full measure of God’s blessing if we are governed by pride and stubbornness.
Nineveh can stand for anything that goes against our cultural heritage and our doctrinal/theological distinctives. Ninevehwasn’t the squeaky clean, suburban ministry. It was the little rural church made up of people who were content to stay the way they are. It was the inner city ministry with little money and large problems. It was no place for someone who rigidly stuck to their doctrine.
Nineveh didn’t need more religion, they needed relationship and Jonah was unwilling to give it to them. The story of Jonah is a story of grace. God asked Jonah to show grace to a people he disagreed with culturally, religiously and socially and Jonah refused. His story begs an answer from each of us. If we believe we are called to be ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ (and Matthew 28 gives us that charge) are we willing to passionately pursue those who are different than us in order to show them the forgiveness, mercy and love of Jesus Christ? Jonah wasn’t called to preach his own opinions; he was called to turn people towards the God of heaven, a God who passionately desires to bring ALL people to himself. If your Father calls you to preach to a group of people you dislike, are you willing to go in love?
PRAYER: Father, the message of Jonah is renewed in my heart today. I confess to you that I’ve been close-minded in ministry because of my own standards and doctrine. Open my heart and my eyes to those to whom I’ve been withholding your word by my deeds and attitudes. Amen.
The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:40 (CEV)
It was the week before Easter when our small community choir visited a homeless shelter in a nearby city. Our small town, rural environment didn’t prepare us for what we experienced. Some of us had seen them in passing, the younger ones hadn’t. They were ‘bums, or hobos’ when I was growing up. Now the more ‘politically correct’ title was ‘the homeless’.
Our stereotypes were greatly wounded by the experience. After our concert we sat with men and women who missed their families dearly. Mom’s who admitted that their choices sent their children away. Dad’s who longed to know how their little boy was, but because of the mistakes he’s made, wasn’t allowed to. The tears of remorse flowed. The stories came out.
The experience taught me to look a little differently at the man on the street corner holding up a ‘Will Work For Food’ sign. These were men named ‘John’ and women named ‘Sandy’. Moms and Dads, sons and daughters, who were faced with the same decisions you and I were faced with. They took an easier way, a way that looked better at the time but ended up being a path with stiff and harsh consequences.
There was one other thing we noticed about many of those who stayed for the meal afterwards. They had a deep love for Jesus. How can someone who uses drugs, sleeps under bridges and occasionally steals claim to love Jesus? Better yet, how can I claim to love Jesus and not have compassion (at the least) for those less fortunate, the social outcasts, he’s put in my way to love and when possible give a helping hand.
What a privilege the Father has given us to be able to show the love of Jesus to those less fortunate than ourselves! There was no money handed out that night, but all of us left richer than when we came. Our new friends were reminded of Jesus love for them and the forgiveness only he can offer. We were reminded that not only did Jesus die for all of us. He allows us to minister to one another.
It’s a hard, but true fact that our Father expects us to reach out to those who we least want to reach out to. The dirty, the failures, the ones that we’d rather turn away from. “But,” you may say, “They will just use us. They’ll just take advantage of us. They can’t be trusted.”
The Father turns to us and says, “Yes, they may. I took a chance on you. Will you take a chance on them?”
PRAYER: Father, I’d far rather turn my attention and focus towards the beautiful and lovely. I’d far rather show your love to those who will build me up for my efforts. But I realize your desire is for those who are unlovely by the world’s standards to be shown your love. Empower me to show your love in a tangible way to the unlovely people around me. Amen.
But since I was worse than anyone else, God had mercy on me and let me be an example of the endless patience of Christ Jesus. He did this so that others would put their faith in Christ and have eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:16 (CEV)
To the Judge your value is determined by your ability to follow the rules. To the educator your value is determined by your grades and your performance in the classroom. To your spouse your value may be determined by your ability to perform according to their expectations. To your friends your value could be determined by your willingness to go along with their crowd. To the businessman determines your value by the amount of profit you generate. Bottom line is the motivator. The politician determines your value by the strength of your vote and the depth of your pocket. The religious zealot determines your worthiness for the heavenly gates by the number of ‘spiritual hoops’ you need to jump through.
With all these demands on us, it’s no wonder that we find ourselves asking the question ‘Am I good enough?’ We look around and see other people who seem to have arrived and wonder what is wrong with us. We try and fail. We pick ourselves up and try again…and fail again. Sometimes we decide it’s easier just to give up. We are misunderstood, abandoned by lovers, used by friends. Finances don’t work out and our health gives out.
In the midst of the gloom and doom, when we find ourselves in the midst of despair and disappointment; when the anger and bitterness and frustration seem to be too much it’s important to remember that our Heavenly Father, the creator-God of the universe tells us a different story. While others look at our failure and dismiss us, God looks at our failure and uses us.
Our best work for the kingdom comes because we have failed and been forgiven; because we are weak in ourselves but strong in our faith; because we have used our own shortcomings to prove to those around us that while the world may say you won’t amount to anything, in God’s eyes you are his everything.
Don’t listen to the lies of those around you. It’s your inability to get things right that gives God an opportunity to use you in mighty ways.
PRAYER: Father God, I’ve been living far too long under the scrutiny and judgment of the world around me. I’ve believed the lies that my worth comes from my ability and not my faith in you. Thank you that in Jesus, no matter what, I have great value. Empower me with your Spirit to live according to the value you’ve placed in me to do your work. In Jesus name, Amen.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” Genesis 18:14 (NLT)
You can’t do it. You know you can’t. It’s impossible. You’ve tried before and failed and you’ll fail again. Why bother to try? You really need to be more realistic about your abilities. You’ve prayed about it. You’ve done everything right and it hasn’t happened. Why not just give it up now. Move on. That’s one dream that was never meant to be.
We’ve heard it all before. Those voices that remind us that we’ve failed. Those not-so-gentle reminders that we’ve fallen short of our potential or expectations. We’ve wasted yet another opportunity for success. We haven’t measured up, we don’t measure up, and since it seems to be a pattern, we probably don’t have much of a chance to measure up in the foreseeable future.
Words of gloom and doom can come from the expected sources; the people who seem to have as their goal in life to be our enemies regardless of how we try to live in peace with them. These remarks can come from those who are so-called friends but are really wolves in sheep’s clothing. It’s especially painful when they preface their remarks with “I’m telling you this in Christian love”. (Yeah, right. I can feel the love oozing from your pores.) Even parents are guilty of the destructive tongue, those who are supposed to nurture us and care for us.
Some people should be given the benefit of the doubt I suppose. Their intentions may be noble; it’s just their method that has the diplomacy of a fox gone wild in the chicken coop. Well intentioned attacks are still attacks!
But the most painful voice we hear, the most destructive one that has the most impact on us is the voice that comes from within. We are often our worst critic. We are the ones that can do the most damage to our own possibilities. I can imagine Sarah’s frustration when God said she’d have a baby. She’d heard God promise this before but the promise had long been drowned out by the women at the well who constantly asked “So, you pregnant yet?” It wasn’t always a verbal question, but there was no denying it was there.
The words ricocheted from one side of her skull to the other. “Is nothing to hard for the Lord? No, of course not. But where’s my baby?” Then one day it happened. There were stirrings inside her that she’d never felt before but longed for since she was a young woman. A few months later the midwife handed her a little pink bundle of God’s fulfilled promise!
Never give up. Never listen to the voices of the nay Sayers and the speakers of gloom and doom. Your Heavenly Father, the God of the universe, Creator of the seen and the unseen, loves you. God’s promises may come in ways we don’t expect, but they will come. His promises may take longer than we’d like, but they always come in his perfect time.
Never stop believing in God’s ability to give you the victory you desire. Never give up on you. Losing faith in yourself will keep you from the blessings God so earnestly wants to give you.
PRAYER: Father God, all my life I’ve been running from the voices that tell me ‘I can’t’. Some of those words have come from people I loved and trusted the most. Their words have left a gaping wound in my soul. Some of those words have come from me. I ask that you would fill the wound in my soul with your love and forgiveness. Empower me to believe that your word is true and your promises will be fulfilled in your time. Grant me the patience to wait. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
He who is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward him for what he has done. Proverbs 19:17
In our times of uncertainty, the credit rating has become huge in determining if we will reach our goals. It wasn’t long ago that a mediocre credit rating could give you all the money you thought you needed to get all those cool toys you wanted. But easy credit led to debt because we borrowed way more than we could possibly pay. Now our dreams for dream home have changed to a hoping for a home at all; rather than the shiny sports car we just hope we have enough money to keep our 15 year old sedan running one more year; and Christmas…tighten your belt because even Santa is having trouble these days.
Financial institutions are afraid to loan money these days because so many of us are in debt that they can’t take the risk. Those with good collateral or an outstanding credit rating get the money they are seeking at the best loan rates.
God’s economy doesn’t work anything like mans economy. God’s economy isn’t built on what we have or what we’ve done in the past. God’s economy is built on who He is and what we do with Him.
Proverbs 19:17 isn’t so much about money as it is how we treat each other. Sometimes our actions towards one another are built on the philosophy of ‘what will I get in return for this.’ At the very least, when we do something nice for someone we expect a ‘thank you’. If we don’t get thanked we feel slighted and may think twice about doing something for that person again.
Relationship Credit Ratings also ask the question, ‘What have you done to me/for me in the past?’ It’s easy to be kind to kind people. It’s easy (and sometimes safer) to avoid angry people. Angry people hurt people and none of us wants to be hurt. Being kind is as risky as loaning money to a person with bad credit. The result can be the same. You get burned and feel like you’ve been taken advantage of.
As Christ-followers we need to take a different look at kindness. Each of us has a ‘Love Bank’ within us. We take from this bank to do kind things for others. When that kindness is returned we deposit it back in our bank to share with others. Sometimes though, our tank runs dry. We are in abusive situations, we are hounded by the guilt and shame of our past, we’re overworked, underpaid and so deep in trouble we can’t see the end of the tunnel.
What we need to make progress on this journey called life is a bank account that is endless. Proverbs says that when we show kindness to someone; no matter who it is; no matter what they have done to us in the past; no matter how ungrateful or undeserving they are, we should do it as though we are lending to God. Our actions may not be appreciated by others, but they will be by God.
When we do good things for ‘bad people’ we are drawing off the Love Bank of God. His ‘bank’ has unlimited assets. Every time we make a withdrawal from God’s bank account, He promises to reward us! Be kind to each other as though we were being kind to God. Consider what He has done for you when you interact with those who may not be pleasant. You will reap the rewards of God’s love when you do.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you today for your great kindness and love. I confess to you that there are some days, and some people who I have a real hard time being kind to. They have hurt me, taken advantage of me and judged me unfairly. Empower me by Your Spirit to show them kindness because of you and not based on their Relational Credit Rating. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 