To The Worse of Offenders: Jonah

Sermon - Jonah
“To the worse of Offenders”

A man by the name of Ted Bundy was executed on January 24, 1989. Who was he, you may ask. Ted Bundy was a murderer. He had raped, molested, and killed 28 women at least. He was convicted to the death penalty after he had murdered and molested a 12 year girl. Ted Bundy, the day before his execution, had called in christian psychologist, Dr. James Dobson. As Dobson was entering into Florida State Prison, masses of teenagers, young adults, and adults were outside of the prison carrying signs that read “Burn Bundy Burn, Burn!!” “Your Dead, Ted” and countless others. They were relentless in their anger and hate. They wanted him so badly to die. No man such as Bundy should ever continue to live, right?

Dobson spoke with Bundy, and how hard-core, violent pornography had contributed to his rage and sexual violence. There was this dark, intense passion within that was let out. What he had seen in magazines went from fantasy to reality. Nearing the end of their discussion, Bundy told James Dobson that he had accepted the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. That he was a follower, and a believer in Him.

When asked about his murder of 12 yr. old Kimberly Leach, Bundy said “I can’t really talk about that right now. It’s too painful. I would like to be able to convey to you what that experience is like, but I won’t be able to talk about that. I can’t begin to understand the pain that the parents of these children and young women that I have harmed feel. And I can’t restore much to them, if anything. I won’t pretend to, and I don’t even expect them to forgive me. I’m not asking for it. That kind of forgiveness is of God; if they have it, they have it, and if they don’t, maybe they’ll find it someday.” Why do I tell this true, but unfortunate story of Ted Bundy? Because there was also a man in the Bible who struggled with what God had told him to do.

The man’s name was Jonah. Jonah was a godly man, he loved God, but he also had a a lot of hate in his heart. God had given Jonah a mission to go to the people of Nineveh. In the first chapter of Jonah, God told Jonah “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” The Bible tells us in verse 2, that Jonah “...got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord.” He wanted nothing to do with the Ninevites. The city of Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria. It’s kind of like Ottawa is the capital of Canada. Why was Jonah so reluctant in obeying God and going to the Ninevites? We’d have to first understand just who were the Assyrians. They were one of Israel’s greatest, if not the greatest enemy, in terms of a people group. They were wicked, evil, ruthless, thoughtless, heartless, people. They loved to do wrong, they boasted about their power to God, they were arrogant. They were pretty much people you would love to hate. Have you been around such people? People who display such arrogance and pride about themselves? People who think they are the absolute best and top? Nobody is better than they? They boast about their looks, they boast even more about what they have, and what they’ve done. Such people were the Assyrians. These people were godless people. They had no fear, no reverence, no awe before God. On top of all these things, Jonah KNEW that if he obeyed God, that God would display his great mercies to this wicked and evil people. Flip to chapter 4, and follow along. The Bible says “This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry. So he complained to the Lord about it: ‘Didn’t I say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish! I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. You are eager to turn back from destroying people.” He knew that God would forgive and bless them if the Ninevites turned from their sin and worshipped God. How much did he hate the Ninevites? A lot. He hated them so much that he told God in verse 3 of chapter 4, “...God, if you won't kill them, kill me! I'm better off dead!" Jonah’s heart was not in the right place. Is your heart in the right place this morning?

Why was Jonah sent? So that God’s message of grace, God’s message of mercy, His message of an unfailing love, His message of compassion, His message of hope would be told to the people of Nineveh. He was a missionary to the Ninevites to share and proclaim from what he knew and experienced with God, to the Ninevites. He was told to give them a message of judgment, so that they would turn away from their evil ways of living and flee to being made right with God. What is a missionary? If you look at any dictionary, it will give you several definitions. A few of the definitions:

1) a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities, as educational or hospital work.

2) a person strongly in favor of a program, set of principles, etc., who attempts to persuade or convert others.

3) reflecting or prompted by the desire to persuade or convert others.

Let me give you my definition of what a missionary means. To be a Christian means to be a missionary. Why? What do I mean? If your faith is real, and genuine today, then you will echo the same cry that the prophet Jeremiah also echoed. He said “...I can’t stop! If I say I’ll never mention the Lord or speak in his name, his words burn in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am weary of holding it in!” Jeremiah couldn’t hold the joy of speaking on behalf of God! The passion and the excitement of what God has done, and simply WHO God is, compelled him to speak of His great and awesome Lord. It’s like when your excited about a HK movie star coming to Vancouver to perform - if you went to the concert, you’d probably come back raving and ranting about just HOW GOOD it was. If you you’re a basketball fan or a hockey fan, or a soccer fan - if you went to a live game, and saw your favorite team play, and saw your favorite player score 3 goals in the game, you would also come back ecstatic, happy, joyful! In the same way then, if we’ve experienced God in our lives, His goodness, His embrace, we won’t be able to hold in what we know to be true. How could we? It’s like coming back from a concert, after hearing your favorite singer (Jay Chou) and then telling your friends “meh, it was aiight.”

What can we learn about God through Jonah? Three things. First, God has called everyone to be HIS missionaries where-ever we are, & to be available to do His work whenever. 2 Timothy 4.2 says this about being prepared about sharing the Word, “Be prepared in season and out of season.” Always be ready to give your testimony in how God has worked in your life. On Wednesday night, we had a guest speaker who challenged many of us who attended to take part in missions globally. I hope you were challenged and are already thinking how you can get involved in missions. We must also remember that we’re not to look at the rest of the world, but forget those in our own backyards. People in the cities we live in. For us, it’s Vancouver, Canada. There is such thing as local missions. God is as much concerned about the poor in our neighborhoods and communities, as He is with the rest of the world. How can you bless someone today? Besides sharing the gospel, How can your friends, your neighbors know that you are a true Christian, and not one only by name? Think about it.

Second, God loves us as well as the people we resent or even hate. Jonah exemplified this second point to the dot. He hated the Assyrians so badly that he ran in the opposite direction where Nineveh was located. It’s like trying to outrun God, running from Quebec City to Vancouver. The Psalms are full of “mercy” passages. People pleading and asking the Lord to not be given what they deserve. Psalm 25.6 says “Remember, O Lord, your great mercy and love...”, Psalm 28.2 “Hear my cry for mercy as I call to you for help...”, Psalm 86.3 “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call out to you all day long.” There are so many more passages that we could go through this morning, but won’t. The point is that God loves us, but he also waits patiently on those who do wicked and evil things.

There were times when I was younger, I saw myself kind of like Jonah, looking back at my own life growing up. Growing up as a missionary and pastors child, you see certain things that normally other people at church do not see. You also hear things that other people don’t hear about. Sometimes certain people do things that they ought not to do, when they know they ought not to do it, but they do it anyhow - it made me angry. Mind you it wasn’t righteous anger, it was selfish anger that was being fueled. I felt like Jonah and just wanted them to perish. To die. One passage that often comes to mind is Isaiah 55.8,9 which tells us that God’s mind and heart is so much larger, wider, deeper. God says “For my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” I often am very thankful that God isn’t like us. Where would we be if He were like us? Sometimes we say when we get angry “If I were God, I’d destroy this whole world!! What a mistake!” Which one would you choose: to live and enjoy life, or die and have nobody remember you? Aren’t you glad then that God’s love is beyond our comprehension? Jonah wanted vengeance, not forgiveness for the Ninevites. God desired forgiveness and mercy, not vengeance for the people of Nineveh. Jonah didn’t have in his heart the things of God - do you?

Third, God will accomplish his purposes even with unwilling and reluctant servants. If God had to wait for every person of his to BE willing to do what He asks of them, we would be in a heap load of trouble. Nothing would get done. God works in spite of His people’s disobedience, unwillingness and reluctance. This is not to say that we deliberately become unwilling, and reluctant all the time. There will be times, when you may be unwilling to do something because your scared. Say, for example, for me to talk to new people out of the blue - I can do that. No problem. Set me with a bunch of people who I don’t know, and I’ll make some new friends, and strike up conversations within minutes. It’s not a problem for me. Some of you here this morning though would be challenged to do that. How about sharing your faith with someone off the streets? It would be difficult for some of you, and yet in spite of our fears, God still carries out his work and His purposes. Aren’t you thankful for that? I am. You can either choose to be a part of God’s purposes willingly, or unwilling. But no matter how you slice the pie, God’s purposes will be carried out. It will be done. So, what now? How do we respond? You know, the Ninevites were very evil people. They did such wicked things, it angered God. In many ways, the Ninevites were like Ted Bundy. Would you want to meet the man face to face after what he’s done to so many young women? It would probably anger you too, for what he’s done. Sometimes I think, what would I say if I was one of those people outside the Florida State prison, waiting for Bundy’s execution? Would I also have made a sign that said “Burn Bundy Burn”? God is a God who does not think like we do - for that, we ought to be grateful. If he did think like us, none of us would be here today. Let me tell you this morning, that as much as God loves you and me, He also loved Ted Bundy. You may ask “How?? HOW could God love such a man?!” Jesus died for him too. If you were in Bundy’s shoes, would you not want to know that God loves you?

Jonah wanted vengeance. God desired mercy. Jonah wanted the Ninevites to die. God wanted them to have a second chance to live. Jonah hated them. God loved them. Do you see who God is? Jonah was sent as a missionary, to proclaim judgement upon the Ninevites. We are to proclaim too, about our first love. Not soccer. Not hockey. Not Jay Chou. Jesus.

Maybe there are some friends, some people you know who are “Ninevites” - wicked people, people who not only sin, but encourage it to you, and to others. God is calling you to be a missionary among them. Are you a Jonah? Running away from the work that God has called you to do? Or will you learn from Jonah’s life, and follow in God’s steps? Desire Mercy for people, not vengeance. Desire Forgiveness, not bitterness. Desire love, not hate.
** Pray**