We welcome you to Stone's Hill today!

A typical Stone's Hill service has:

* music (so feel free to sing out);

* some announcements (things that are upcoming that you can be a part of);

* a message out of the Bible (God speaks to us through his Word);

* and an opportunity for you to respond to the message (either immediately in the case of a decision that needs to be made OR in the future as you live out the message in your daily life.)

So relax and enjoy your morning! We're so glad you are here!

MESSAGE TEXT
Jonah 4:1-11
*
Introduction
We’ve been looking at the story of Jonah, and we now get into the last chapter of Jonah and the last chapter is a surprise chapter. After preaching a five Hebrew word sermon, an entire nation repented. And not just any nation – it was the Ninevites, whose cruelty and idolatry were known all around the ancient world. Jonah didn’t want them to have God’s love. And I get it.
*
The Assyrians are terrorists. They are brutal. This is well-documented by historians and in the Assyrian reliefs that the Assyrian Empire was horrible. They skinned their enemies alive. They hoisted them on pikes and left them in the desert to die. They would put fishhooks in their cheeks and haul their enemies off. These were brutal people. They were geopolitical bullies of the Ancient World. And Jonah says, “Look, they don’t deserve an ounce of mercy and grace – not even their kids, not after what they’ve done.” If you had a family member tortured by the Assyrians, would you struggle like Jonah struggled?
*
A rebellious and unrepentant nation is an affront to our sense of justice. People shouldn’t be getting away with the stuff they’re getting away with. But the Assyrians genuinely repented. And still Jonah hated it. Jonah’s perspective was skewed. He couldn’t see as God sees. God had tears when he looked at Nineveh. Jonah had smoke coming out of his ears – driven by these thoughts: “I can’t figure out God’s love. I don’t see how it really operates. It doesn’t make sense to me.”
*
God’s love was bigger than Jonah’s borders. There’s no one beyond Gods reach. God is redeeming sinners as His Spirit sweeps through Nineveh. Yet, Jonah is outside the city, absorbed with his own problems and brooding over his disappointments.
*
Proposition
Like Jonah, our challenge is learning to see as God sees. And Jonah teaches us that God is patient to get us there, working with us through the full range of emotions. God just stuck with Jonah through this whole ordeal. He could have said “You little dweeb. Do as you’re told!” Or, “You little twerp. Who are you to tell Me what you’re not going to do or who I’m allowed to love.” Instead, God is having a conversation with Jonah. He wants Jonah to see as He sees and he’s willing to work with him to get him there.
*
As we come to the end of this four-chapter book and reflect on all that we’ve read, one thing becomes clear: Jonah goes out of his way to write himself as the clown, the fool in his book. The book ends with an angry, pouty Jonah who is mad over his success. That is NOT a good look. He messed up at every turn, yet he recorded all of it for all of us. And the book closes with an unexpected conclusion and an unanswered question (see 4:11). No closure. No final good-bye. No epic finale. And just like that, the story ends with God's comments and questions lingering there in the air. Unanswered. Open-ended. How did Jonah answer this question? Like the elder brother in Luke 15. Will he go inside to the party or will he stay outside and refuse to participate in the festivities of a homecoming. What will Jonah do? While the question leaves us hanging, the book of Jonah does not.
*
Application
Ways to focus a blurry or skewed perspective… to see things the way God sees them…
*
Stop and consider: Why am I reacting the way I am? Talking to others will give you perspective. Even more, like Jonah, talk to God about how you feel and how you want to react. God can take it.
*
Observe and describe: What is happening right now? Refrain from snap judgments and go over what you see. If you pull a Jonah, and let your sense of “unfairness” dictate your actions, you’ll never do anything for anyone. No one will ever deserve it.
*
Pause and breathe: Is what God is asking you to do the end of the world? Take a step back and look at the big picture. The repentance of Assyria is going to make the world a better place. Full stop.
*
Wait and settle: Has the passing of time changed how I feel? Think beyond the moment. It might seem pretty silly now that you’ve had a year to think about it. This is precisely the reason we have the book of Jonah. He let things settle and then he wrote.
*
Live and learn: What is the best way to do life? View every life challenge and hurt as a minor inconvenience to God. It may feel major to you, but you can prevail with God because God likes to appoint things in His time. It’s not about the vine that bring you comfort or a worm that robs your joy.
*
Conclusion
God had tears when he looked at Nineveh. Jonah had smoke coming out of his ears. I’m reminded of another man 700 years later who would stand on another hill overlooking another city filled with another group of enemies; but instead of anger and smoke out of his ears, this man is weeping. Instead of calling down condemnation, this man cries out in compassion. “Oh, Jerusalem, oh Jerusalem, how I would have gathered your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not wiling.”
*
This is Jesus in Matthew 23. He says, “I’m like a mother hen, I’m like a chicken.” Jesus blows your world up every so often, doesn’t He? I’m like, “Jesus, you’re pretty cool. Why don’t you pick a better mascot, like “be an eagle” or something? Cool talons! Why does Jesus pick a chicken? Why? Because when the fox comes, all the chicken can do is throw its own body into the mouth of a predator to protect the chicks. The hen who lays down her life for her young. And don’t you see, friends, Jesus is the Jonah who should have been. Instead of waiting around, wanting to die rather than see his enemies be saved, Jesus laid down his life to save His enemies. On the cross Jesus became sin for us and He threw His body into the open jaws of death so that He might shelter us forever under His wings of righteousness, that we who were once enemies of God, estranged from Him, might have our lives now hidden in Christ because of His grace. Place your truth in Him today.