Sermon Title: The Wideness of God’s Mercy
Scripture: Jonah 3 (NIV)

Contributed Nancy Buschart

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” —Jonah 3:1-2

As we make our way through the brief book of Jonah, three things become clear. The Lord’s purposes will be accomplished. The Lord uses even reticent individuals to accomplish his purposes. And the Lord’s mercy extends to all—even to those we may deem unworthy.

In chapter 1, the Lord tells Jonah to go to Ninevah. However, Jonah “got up to flee to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord” (1:3). Jonah has understandable reason for his disagreement with God’s plan for the Ninevites, and for Jonah. The Assyrians have brutally persecuted Jonah’s people and Jonah holds a deep resentment toward them. But the Lord’s purposes will not be thwarted by human disobedience.

Jonah knows this is true even before his agonizing days in the belly of the whale. So what does Jonah do while he is confined within the great fish? He prays and worships. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord’” (2:7-9). Once the Lord “commanded the fish” (1:10) to free Jonah from his confinement, the Lord comes to Jonah “a second time” (3:1). The God whose purposes will be accomplished, again tells Jonah to go to Ninevah. This time, Jonah “obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh” (3:3). Jonah’s experience in the fish’s belly has refreshed his memory that he is “a Hebrew [who worships] the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land” (1:9). When the Lord of heaven and earth tells us to go, it is time to obey.

In Ninevah Jonah finds a remarkable receptivity to God’s words of judgment and call to repentance. As much as he may want God’s righteous judgment to fall upon this brutal enemy, the Ninevites repent and turn to receive God’s mercy. “Salvation comes from the Lord” (2:9). Jonah himself has received God’s salvation. Now the Lord uses Jonah to bring salvation to an unlikely people.

We may think we know who deserves God’s great mercy and compassion, but Isaiah reminds us that “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [God’s] ways higher than your ways and [God’s] thoughts than your thoughts” (Is 55:9). Jonah sees this reality clearly. He chafes at being the human instrument who brings God’s message of salvation to a people that he, Jonah, despises (chapter 4). However, without question, Jonah comes to know that God’s plan of salvation will be accomplished in God’s way and in God’s time. The Lord uses even reticent and rebellious people to bring his compassion and mercy to other reticent and rebellious people.

Consider—

╬ Jonah worshipped God while he was in the belly of the whale and not after the crisis was passed. Face to face with the consequences of his disobedience, Jonah turned to the God of heaven and earth, the God who created and directs the fishes of the seas and the people who walk the land. As a result, the Ninevites learned that “salvation comes from the Lord.” When have you worshipped the Lord in the midst of crisis even without knowing what the outcome would be? What stories of God’s compassion and mercy can you tell?

╬ One definition of mercy is “not receiving what we deserve.” Often, we demand justice for wrong-doing and we cry “Unfair!” when mercy is extended. It is easy to place misdeeds on a scale of “Oh well,” “Bad,” or “Despicable and unforgivable.” God doesn’t use this scale. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). In Jonah 3, we see the expanse of God’s mercy. The Lord’s mercy is extended to Jonah despite his disobedience and to the Ninevites despite their cruelty. When do you use a scale to weigh the severity of sin within you and the sin around you? Based on the story of Jonah, what is an alternative way to view sin, both your own and others’?

╬ Father God, your mercy and compassion for sinful and selfish people is difficult to understand, and it is a great gift to us all. Help us to have repentant hearts as we come face to face with our sin. Help us to be compassionate people who extend mercy just as you are merciful toward us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.