Just like clock work – about the end of October through mid January I go into a funk.  I am short tempered about anything.  I am impatient with how fast things and people go or impatient about how slow other things or people are.  I am just warning you that come October, I will get angry about issues that I seriously have no business about which to be angry.   Yea, yea, I know this is commonly known as Seasonal Affective Disorder, or S.A.D.  It doesn’t matter what it is called, I will be in need of an attitude adjustment!  My guess is that Jonah did not have SAD.   And to be honest, mine is not as serious as others experience.  But Jonah is in serious need of an attitude adjustment.   And  I believe he should have gotten it by the end of Chapter 3.

            As a matter of fact, I wanted to say at the end of last week’s sermon, “The end!”  And how great if this little book had ended at the last verse of chapter 3.  History would

show us that Jonah was the greatest of the prophets.  After all, he preached one message, one sentence!  “Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  Over and over Jonah preaches this.   Thousands of people repent and turn to God.   God accomplishes what He set out to do after Jonah finally arrives in Nineveh .    Jonah preaches.  They hear. They repent.  God accepts them.  End of story!   Right?

            For the longest time I thought that was the end.    When I was in about 1^st through 4^th grades I listened to all those Sunday School stories and listened and watched all the flannel board stories with rapt attention.  But I do not remember even one story about this part in the book of Jonah!   For a quick recap:  In chapter 1 we see that Jonah is like the prodigal son.  The petulant, snotty child insists on doing his own thing and going her own way.  In chapter 2 Jonah is like the Psalmist, pouring out his heart and soul to God thankfulness.  Chapter 3 shows God’s love, forgiveness and acceptance to us.  Here in chapter 4, Jonah is like the elder brother in the Prodigal story.  He is  critical, selfish, sullen, angry, unhappy and pouting about what is going on.

            You see, all of this tells us that it is not enough for us as God’s servants simply to do God’s will.  We must do as the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:5: “Do the will of God from the heart.”   There is the rub!  It has been said that the heart of every problem is the problem in the heart.  That is where Jonah’s problems have been all along. 

God did a great thing in the great Nineveh .  The hearts of the wicked Assyrians have been changed.  That truly is a miracle – for them and for us.  This tells us that the most wicked, horrible, despicable parts of our hearts are not lost when we choose to turn to God through Jesus Christ. 

            How deep was the spiritual experience of the people of Nineveh ?  If repentance and faith are the basic conditions of salvation as we are told in Acts 20:21, then we can believe they were accepted by God.   We read in Jonah 3:5 says, that they repented and had faith in God.  The fact that we read in Matthew (12:38-41) that  Jesus uses the Ninevites to shame the unbelieving Jews of His day is further evidence that the Ninevites’ response to Jonah’s ministry was sincere.

            But Jonah is not happy.  Jonah is not simply “a bit put out”.  He is exceedingly displeased.  He is very angry!  Why? Because the city of Nineveh turned to God.   From the beginning Jonah had hatred and bitterness in his heart against the Ninevites.   That hatred could have stemmed from personal loss at their hands or born out from second hand knowledge of their cruelty.  And that is one reason why Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh in the first place.

            Not only does Jonah know the cruelty of the Ninevites, but he also knows God.  Now Jonah tells us the second reason he did not want to go to Nineveh .  Jonah says, “I knew it!  I knew all along that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.  I knew you would accept those nasty buggers!”  Jonah knew all along that if Nineveh would turn to God, God would save them – because that’s the business God is in.   And this upsets Jonah.

Jonah goes off to do his sulking up on the east hill overlooking the city, God listens.  Jonah wails:  “Now, Lord, if you please, just take my life. It is better for me to die than to live.  I would rather die than accept what You have done.”  God listens with a tender and loving heart to the wailing of this angry servant.  God’s response:  “Is it right for you to be angry?”   Jonah doesn’t seem to be listening to God. 

Instead Jonah busies himself.   He sets about and builds a lean-to for shelter and shade from the desert sun.  There he sits.  There he pouts.   Granted he probably needs a time out; a little alone time.   He is no doubt physically tired – after the storm, being plunged into the sea, being in the belly of the fish, being vomited  back to life.  Then he had to walk all the way to Nineveh .  There he finally declared God’s word.   And the final straw: he witnesses thousands of his enemies sitting in sackcloth because they repented and turned to God.   So he plops himself down for a huge self-pity party.  There he waits to see what will become of the city.  There Jonah waits to see if God has gotten

the point of his criticism.  There he waits to see if God will, after all, destroy Nineveh .  Surely God will now realize His mistake.  After all, evil people should get what they deserve.  Jonah knows this.  God will certainly come to His senses and learn from Jonah.

            God, in His amazing love for Jonah, provides a gourd - with a growing vine.  The vine grows over the lean-to, providing better shade for Jonah.  God provides for Jonah.  God comforts Jonah.   Jonah is very happy about the gourd and vine and its shade.

            But with the dawn of a new day God creates a very hungry worm.  The worm attacks the vine and the vine withers and it dies.   By the time the sun is up and in full shine God sends the worst Santa Ana wind.  Between the heat from the sun and the dry wind – and now no shade from the vine – Jonah understandably grows faint.  Just like in the depths of the sea and in the belly of the fish, now here overlooking Nineveh, God reminds Jonah what it is like to be lost: helpless, hopeless, miserable.  Jonah experiences a taste of hell, again!  He lives in this separation from God.  But Jonah expresses his anger to God - about having no gourd.   And once again Jonah just wants to die. 

Again God very tenderly rebukes his servant.  Jonah feels his own anger is still justified.  God tells Jonah and us, “I have spared the city.  I have saved more than 120,000 people who cannot discern between right and wrong.  These are all but children.  You wouldn’t want Me to destroy that city, now would you, Jonah?  If you can fall in love with a gourd vine – that you did not create - can’t you at lease fall in love with Ninevite children?  Can’t you see how I, the Creator of the Ninevites, would love them?”  The Ninevites – men, women, children, and animals represent creation – God’s

creation.  So why wouldn’t God love them and want all good for them?  Jonah does not love them.  He doesn’t even like them. He loves a gourd more tenderly than God’s people.

How often we modern-day Jonahs are sure that God should punish this person or that nation.  They should not be forgiven – not by us, not by anyone, and certainly not by God. We are sure that their sin places them outside the realm of God’s grace.

            Or, how often do we come to believe that there is no justice in the world?  We believe the wicked should be punished and the good we do should be rewarded.  When the wicked don’t get punished we decide that “life is unfair” and we become despairing Jonahs.  But Jesus tells us in Luke’s gospel that “we have done only what we (as believers) ought to have done!” 

            And dare I speak personally for each of us?  Many here this morning, our loved ones, also believe that the sin in our past is outside the realm of God’s grace.  We say, “How could He love me in light of what I have done?  I wouldn’t blame God if He turned His back on me.”    God does not do that.   God loves us through it all, and back to Him.   All the time, God continues gently and graciously to teach.  He teaches us like He does Jonah, despite disobedience.  Despite turning away.  Despite telling God exactly what God should do!  There is no earthly reason why we should be saved from the storms that hit us.  There is no earthly reason you and I should continually be deposited on dry land.  There is no earthly reason we should be given second and third, and more, chances at partnering with God in His mission. 

            In spite of receiving act of grace after act of grace from God: after rejecting God’s call, being saved by a big fish from the storm; in spite of the entire enemy camp hearing God’s word and repenting; in spite of receiving first hand God’s comfort through the vine, and then God’s gentle rebuke and judgment through the worm, and hot dry wind…Jonah does not repent. Three times Jonah wishes himself to be dead.  But he does not repent. 

            From both – grace and judgment – God wants Jonah to learn.  He wants us to learn.   God wants us to learn that life is totally in the hands of God.  He also wants us to realize that, above all else, the Sovereign over life is very gracious.  God wants goodness and life, not only for all of us disobedient Jonahs, but for the Ninevites of the world….the Judases, Hitlers, Stalins, Saddams, the Bin Ladin’s and every other terrorist, bully, rapist, murderer and child molester.  Yes.  God wants life for those who hung His own Son on that cross.   He wants life for every person who did us wrong…. including current and former employers, or co-workers, and friends or relatives, and  the person sitting in the next chair in worship - you and me.  And that is awesome!

            Remember I said earlier that I wanted to say last week, “The end.”   The reason is partly because of Jonah’s need of that attitude adjustment.  But also, because this chapter, the end of the book of Jonah ends with a question.  This book and the book of Nahum are the only books in the Bible that end with questions – both books have to do with the city of Nineveh .  Nahum ends with a question about God’s punishment of Nineveh (3:19).  The book of Jonah ends with a question about God’s pity for Nineveh (4:11).  We can only hope that Jonah did accept at least one more chance from God.  Since it seems that Jonah told his own story it is fairly reasonable to think that Jonah finally leaves the hill and the dead gourd vine.  He walks back down to Nineveh where the living are walking the streets, and in need of God’s ministry. 

Author Paul Little points out:  “God has the most wonderful ways of reweaving the strands of our lives.  He takes us where we are when we come to Him in confession and repentance and uses us fully again…if not for the original good, then for another good.  Our disobedience does not take Him by surprise, and His grace reaches right out to us.”  Jonah’s disobedience does not surprise God.  Perhaps God experiences disappointment in Jonah – and yes in us.  But not surprise.

            So yes, Jonah is a lot like us!  Or we are much like Jonah.  In order for us to learn about grace, God let’s us look in on Jonah’s experience with God’s grace.  God’s grace saves.  God alone brings that grace; God alone can save.  God’s grace shapes us.  This is the grace Jonah helps us understand because of the way he fails and fails – AND is formed by – not only the failings – but most especially by God’s grace.  Grace brings you and me into God’s presence.  It is also what keeps us functioning as we carry on with Him.  We try to move under our own power, again and again.  Then of course we wonder about those spiritual cramps we experience.   We may be chosen by God and destined for a life with Him.  But so often we follow our whims and give that chosen place up to our own Tarshish – the place we would rather be – the place where we keep our modern idols: work, money, pleasure, power health, material things – any place away from God.   As a result, we live unevenly.  We live out of balance.  The grace that saves us is supposed to be the grace that keeps us, shape us … the grace in which we are to grow, closer to God (2 Peter 3:18).

            The very grace that God shows us is precisely the grace we can show… because God shows it to us!  Grace is not only accessible and available…it is also widespread and contagious.  Grace fills and flows from God.  Grace should be characteristic of each of us who belong to God. 

            Someone said:  One does not earn grace.  One simply stands under it like rain – allowing its cool refreshment to fill the dry cracks.  And then one picks up a bucket and dumps it on someone else.  We must remember that grace flows from God – not to those who earn it but on those who need it.  Then we get to dump that grace on someone else.

God shows us through this little book of Jonah that He is ready to shower His grace on all who turn to Him and away from worthless things and activities, wrong thoughts, stubbornness, arrogance, conceit, - our old self – sin!  God is ready to shower all with His grace – whether non-believer, evil Assyrians, esteemed Hebrew prophets, His chosen children of Israel, sports moms and dads, locksmiths, gardeners, diplomats, CEO’s, attorneys, contractors, insurance brokers, secretaries, accountants, real estate people, retirees, young people, doctors, pastors, elders, deacons and all the rest of us.  Jonah announces the offer of God’s grace to people who in no way deserve it.  Like for Jonah, God’s grace reaches right out to each of us.  Let God shower you with His grace.  Then dump God’s grace on someone else.