Summer At Sea: Week 8 Day 6

Jonah 4

But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry. 2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” 4 And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”

5 Jonah went out of the city and sat to the east of the city and made a booth for himself there. He sat under it in the shade, till he should see what would become of the city. 6 Now the Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to save him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the plant. 7 But when dawn came up the next day, God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God appointed a scorching east wind, and the sun beat down on the head of Jonah so that he was faint. And he asked that he might die and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 9 But God said to Jonah, “Do you do well to be angry for the plant?” And he said, “Yes, I do well to be angry, angry enough to die.” 10 And the Lord said, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night. 11 And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle?”

This is one of the hardest truths we have to contend with as Christians; not that some very good-seeming people don’t have access to Heaven and the blessing of redemption, but that some truly awful people do. Spend enough time in religious circles, and you’ll eventually end up in a conversation on the subject of “unforgivable sin.” Or there will be a discussion about necessary timelines and a sequence of events to receive absolute forgiveness. Unforgivable sins, however, don’t exist, and all of God’s forgiveness is absolute. (Jesus refers to anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit as not being forgiven. If you want more understanding on that check out https://www.gotquestions.org/unpardonable-sin.html).

Comedian Pete Holmes once described God’s love as detestable to us; it doesn’t make sense, or adhere to a logical formula. Sin in all forms, repentant and stubbornly guarded, falls under the single category of “forgiven.” That’s the power of Christ on the cross.

It’s not our place to question mercy, nor is it our job to evaluate forgiveness. We are granted the privilege, painful as it may be, to accept that God calls all people from the turmoil of judgement and remains present with us in the depths of our rebellion. Faithfully accepting forgiveness for ourselves also requires we accept the same for all, even if we can’t see how redemption will find a way.

Prayer: Lord, we pray for hearts that recognize your work in our world and join in rejoicing where love triumphs over evil.