St. Paul Lutheran Church

St. Paul Lutheran Church

If only Jonah would have ended happily ever after in chapter 3, but instead realistically ends (sort of) in chapter 4 were Jonah reveals his real reason for not wanting to go to Nineveh. The way that Jonah ends helps all of us to take a hard look in mirror of our sin but even more so assures us of our Lord God who will never give up on his prophets or his people always inviting them to repent and receive what nobody deserves grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

When Jonah is called a second time to go to Nineveh by God he chooses to go. After delivering a very short 5 word sermon it would seem Nineveh destruction in 40 days is eminent. Yet in those 40 days God through His Word spoken by Jonah accomplishes the biggest miracle in the story of Jonah. God does not given up on his prophet, the Ninevites, or YOU! He is a God of second chances purchased and won through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ who specializes in transforming lives through the mercy, grace and steadfast love of God.

Jonah may have wanted to end his life and thereby bringing condemnation upon the people of Nineveh but God has other supernatural plans that will unfold in the belly of a great fish. In this belly Jonah will say a prayer that is pretty solid theologically but lacking in believability on the part of Jonah's true faith as he unmasks himself as the object of his worship. But God will not give up on Jonah as he continues to pursue him with his relentless steadfast mercy and love.

Jonah is not interested in God's plan for his life and will do anything he can to reassert his control over his life even if it means ending it. In the midst of a storm Jonah professes the right theology but the application of that theology is far from where God would have him be. Yet through it all God continues to pursue his prophet using even creation to call him to repentance and reception of the mercy of God.

When God calls his prophet Jonah to leave the comfort of his home and go to the city of Nineveh with words of judgement, the prophet of God without saying a word to God rebels and runs in the opposite direction. The book of Jonah begins with the audience wondering why this prophet of God is so reluctant to deliver God's word and when we finally find out the reason is quite shocking and sad, but yet if we are honest with ourselves not entirely shocking because we can so often have the same attitude toward the mercy of God.

At the baptism of Jesus as described by the Gospel of Mark we see the incredible good news that Jesus is willing to stand in the place of sinners and in doing so shows the kind of ministry and work he has come to do. In our own baptism we get the incredible good news that Jesus has chosen us personally!

No matter who you are, where you are from, what you look like, or even what you smell like, King Jesus born in Bethlehem is the Savior of the world for all people. The lowest in the land were given the highest honor that first Christmas to be the first to share. They didn’t have all the answers but they knew enough that Jesus wasn’t just for them but for the world. Let’s join them and continue to share that hope this Christmas.

There is a huge difference in life between knowledge and wisdom perhaps no better illustrated in Daniel 5 where one king who had the knowledge of the past yet did not have wisdom in learning from it. When the "writing is on the wall" in our lives do we learn from the past and especially from God's Word by both gaining knowledge of that Word and applying it in our life as the wisdom to which to live life by? After all what is at stake is not just our future but the future of those around us who God has perfectly positioned in our lives to make an eternal difference in.