Pastor Rajiv: Reliving Jonah

Once upon a time there was a man named Jonah. God calls Jonah and charges him with a specific task go to Nineveh the capital of Assyria and ‘cry out against it for their wickedness.

What did Jonah do? He went in the opposite direction. The Assyrians were a wicked nation and their years of cruelty had left deep wounds in the Israelite psyche. And for this reason, Jonah hated the Assyrians and his hatred for them caused him to question God’s grace. God knew that the Assyrians were a wicked nation so Jonah questioned why would God want to forgive them? Jonah thought he knew better, so he took a judgement call: Run away from God! But can anyone do that?

In spite of Jonah’s self-justification of his action his was an act of deliberate disobedience. Jonah did not understand God’s grace. He did not understand that God appointed the Jewish people to be a light to the nations and what this meant. He did not understand why God wanted to give a second chance to the people of Nineveh.

We all know Jonah’s story. But what is the big take away?

Jonah's story isn’t just about a man and a fish; it’s about the tension between calling and reluctance, mercy and judgment, obedience and fear.

We all have our Jonah moments where we wrestle with obedience, fear, and the unsettling reach of grace. A very common example is when you're asked to forgive or show kindness to someone who deeply hurt you, and every instinct says, “they don’t deserve it.”

So today, Jonah is alive and well in each one of us. Every time we ignore Gods calling or His direction, we replicate Jonah. Every time we are judgmental, we replicate Jonah. Every time we think we know better than God, we create Jonah again.

Jonah’s story is in the Bible with a purpose: Make us realize and remember a few things -

One, God never has a plan B! If God has chosen you for a specific purpose, He will achieve that purpose and he will achieve through you as he has planned it.

Second, in spite of our high intellect, we DO NOT know better than God.

Three, judgement belongs to God. Jonah struggled with God's mercy toward Nineveh. We too sometimes question how grace works—who “deserves” it and who doesn’t. It’s humbling to remember that we’re recipients of grace, not gatekeepers.

So, do not ignore or disobey god’s calling and purpose, even if you think you know better. Christ has given spiritual gifts to all believers, and each gift has a specific purpose. It could be music, singing, preaching, supporting the sick, praying, feeding the hungry – there is plenty of work to be done in God’s world, and even though we are all sinners we are to do His work. 

The Last Resort

Human independence is devastating. When we are faced with a challenge, our first option or attempt is to address and solve it ourselves. We think we know all the answers. And then when we face failure we pray to God to help us out. Often, prayer becomes the last resort.

The fact is that the enablement to solve problems or face challenges actually comes from God. He is the alpha and creator of everything, including our abilities and circumstances.

After all when we face a problem with an appliance, do we not refer it to the manufacturers for a solution?

Then why, in our life, do we try and solve everything on our own? Why not just refer it to the "manufacturer" of our lives?

Logically, prayer should actually be our first option and not the last resort. As we go through life, living merrily everyday, we become stuck when we suddenly face a wall. That's when we rush to pray. But if proactive prayer was in our life, God would have shown us the way around the wall, and not getting stuck. The wall would not magically disappear, but the way would be shown.

As John Bown says (in the Upper Room), "Prayer should be the steering wheel that guides our life, not the spare tire we pull out in emergencies".