2-4 Minute Read Time

Jonah can't even repent right.

There's hardly a moment in any part of scripture where the prophet Jonah is portrayed in a positive light.

He's first mentioned in 2 Kings blessing an evil king that another prophet, Amos, has to later go and undo the blessing Jonah proclaimed. Fast forward to the book of Jonah and from the outset Jonah is not with the program. He runs as far away as humanly possible from God's call to go and preach a message of repentance to the city of Nineveh. 

Instead, he finds himself in a boat full of pagan sailors heading in the opposite direction. God sends in a terrifying storm. The sailors all cry out to their gods in futility before Jonah, who acknowledges his God made the seas, could spare them. Rather than seeing the storm as a sign to return to God's original call and choosing to go to Nineveh, Jonah opts to be thrown overboard to his death instead. As he sinks down in the water, he's swallowed by a fish.

After 3 days inside the fish, Jonah repents. Well, sort of. He basically says God please save me from this and God mercifully does. Yet, he never apologizes or recognizes that he's done anything wrong.

Surely this act of grace will cause Jonah to change his ways. Surely, now, Jonah's heart has changed and he'll go and share God's message to Nineveh.

Upon arrival, Jonah musters up all of five words for the people of Nineveh to encounter the living God. To make matters worse, Jonah's half-hearted message fails to mention who God is or give any hope that if people follow God they can be saved. As one pastor put it, his message to the Ninevites is effectively "I hate you. God hates you. Figure it out."

Despite giving God far less than his best effort, God still moves in power and the king of Nineveh and plenty of others turn from their ways and find salvation in Yahweh. Jonah should rejoice, right?

Instead he pitches a fit, angrily declaring the he knew that God was gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in love. He knew that he would save the Ninevites. And he's angry because they don't deserve salvation.

Once again, Jonah asks for death rather than see his enemies find God. Even still, God blesses him. Once again, no effect. Jonah's still ticked and wishes he were dead. The book ends with an unanswered question: will Jonah ever change? 

Jonah, the supposed prophet of God, is far and away the most wicked man in the story. All those who don't believe get saved and the prophet gets angry. Jonah knows all the truth about God and yet has no compassion. He's a train wreck. 

But God....

Despite Jonah's rebellion, God still uses him to save the lost.

God responds to Jonah's cry for help and saves him. God takes Jonah's poor attempt at a prophetic message and uses it to transform a nation. God still responds with grace to Jonah, after all of this, urging Jonah to share in his compassion for people. 

Jonah's life is a powerful reminder that sometimes the people of God lose their way. They receive grace and fail to show it. They run from God despite God's desire to use them powerfully. They "repent" only to fail again and again. Even through all of this, God never stops loving. God never stops showing grace. God never stops trying to show Jonah the error of his ways so that he'll do more than reluctantly obey Him, but actually begin to become like Him. 

There is no place you can run, no sin you can commit, no anger that you feel, that will keep God from loving you. His grace and mercy are for all of us, even the ones who should "know better" but fail to live like followers of Jesus ought to live. That is great news for you and me. Because as much as I hate to admit it, I have some things in common with Jonah.

Sometimes I hold on to bitterness when God wants me to show mercy. Sometimes I allow fear to drive me away from God's call. Sometimes I tell God I'm going to change, but I stay stuck in the same place.

And yet, despite all of that, God still will use people like Jonah, me, and you. His story is a reminder that we can say, not in anger as Jonah did, but with praise, 

"I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity." Jonah 4:2 NIV 

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