Learning from Jonah: God’s Heart for the Lost vs. Human Judgment

Written by Pastor Jason Kinnick

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Mercy: Compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. 

Greetings to all you saints, God’s beloved people. 
    I hope your week has been going well and you have been mindful of how God meets our needs every day and hope his blessings are always in front of you.
    This week I find myself still reflecting back on the story of Jonah. I am truly in awe of this amazing example of God’s concern for all people who are lost and His heart of mercy. The story is also quite the humorous comparison of the heart of man and how dark and judgemental we all can be towards those who live a life of moral depravity. If we aren’t careful to keep our hearts in check, much like Jonah, we can find ourselves wanting to die before we see this type of person be pardoned without penalty. We prefer to shake our heads in disgust and cast shame on them. I was wondering, have you ever had this thought in your head:  “Good, that’s what they deserve” when an evil-doer befalls calamity? Well, I must confess I have those very same thoughts more times than I probably should admit. But not God, no, not at all. The scriptures have tried to tell us time and again that God is merciful and forgiving, wanting all to come to repentance. I laugh when I think about how much I agree with God’s mercy and forgiveness towards me. But that makes sense since I am really not that bad of a person. Sadly, it isn’t shared with us if Jonah ever repented of his hard heart. But, I think that’s okay, the story wasn’t really about him anyway. 
     In Matthew’s gospel, we see Jesus making a similar statement to the Pharisees, bewildered as they watched him as he ate with “sinners and tax collectors”. How deplorable he was. Jesus had the heart of God and like God, he desired mercy and was gracious to the lost who were looking for purpose and didn’t know the one who made them. How they were drawn to Him.  “ But go and learn what this means: “ I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”- Matthew 9:13
Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6 to them, reminding them of the time when Israel was lost. Hosea warned them of God’s desire to be merciful to them if they would turn back to Him. Friends, we are children of God and I know we desire to be more like God and His son Jesus. In order to get this right, we must make sure we spend time learning what this statement of God means: I desire Mercy, not sacrifice. I’ll give you a hint, it isn’t about animal sacrifices or some form of penance…
    I encourage you all to take 20 minutes and read through the 4 chapters of the Book of Jonah and spend some time thinking about the words of Jesus to the Pharisees in Matt 9. 
 

God bless you all, His mercy is everlasting.

Shalom. – Pastor Jason