Get ‘em, God!

READ: Romans 12:17-21

Revenge permeates human history and modern culture. Novels proclaim it; movies glorify it; humans fantasize about gaining it for themselves.

Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19)

A little contrary to human nature, but maybe not so bad. After all, human revenge is often limited by ability, opportunity, and that pesky threat of a jail sentence. Why not let an all-powerful God punish our enemies for us?

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. (Romans 12:20)

Ah, burning coals. Perhaps revenge is a dish best served hot!

And here many of us land - honoring God with our actions while our hearts are far from him.

For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so he may have mercy on them all. (Romans 11:32)

What if the burning coals are not punishment, but chastisement intended to bring repentance?

Remember Jonah. He went to Nineveh to proclaim God’s wrath, then burned with anger when he saw the mercy God showed his enemies. (Jonah 4)

There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. (Luke 15:7)

When God showers your enemies with mercy, will you burn with anger or celebrate with heaven?

Are we inviting the Locusts?

Joel 1:13-14 (MSG)And also you priests, put on your robes and join the outcry.
You who lead people in worship, lead them in lament.
Spend the night dressed in gunnysacks, you servants of my God.
Nothing’s going on in the place of worship, no offerings, no prayers—nothing.
Declare a holy fast, call a special meeting, get the leaders together,
Round up everyone in the country.Get them into God’s Sanctuary for serious prayer to God.

Joel was a prophet in the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the period of the Divided Kingdom (930-722 BC). Verses 13 and 14 are a call to repentance during a time in the Nation of Judah when the country was being ravaged by locusts.

What the chewing locust left, the gobbling locust ate;
What the gobbling locust left, the munching locust ate;
What the munching locust left, the chomping locust ate. (Joel 1:7 MSG)

Joel was warning the people that God was not happy with their sinful ways, but said there was hope for them if they would turn from their ways and repent and change. We have seen this over and over again. Read the stories from the other Minor Prophets like Jonah or Hosea. Each of these stories tells of a time when the people did their own thing; worshipped false gods and lived sinful lives.

We see much the same thing now. We are living for ourselves. We treasure our hi-tech items. We change the definitions of things we don't agree with, we go with the flow and allow our values to drown in a sea of tolerance.

God is willing to forgive, but He is waiting for us to repent; He needs us to change and set aside our false gods. Joel is calling the people to fast and to pray and to beg forgiveness. Were Joel with us today, he would likely be saying the same thing.

Joel 1:-7, 13-14

Jonah: Prodigal Son or Older Brother?

 

Jonah 4:1-11

  

“Jonah was furious. He lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness!

“So, God, if you won’t kill them, kill me! I’m better off dead!”           The Message

 

You’re probably familiar with the story of the Prodigal son. The younger son asks for his inheritance and spends it on wild living, while the older son stays at home, obediently working for his father. When the younger son realizes his sin and repents, his Father welcomes him home with open arms. But the older son resents him deeply.

 

The story of Jonah reminds me of this parable of Jesus. First you have the Ninevites – bad guys to the core. They represent everything that is evil and unrighteous before the Lord, but eventually repent.

 

Then you have Jonah – an all-around good religious guy. He is a prophet of the Lord, who God believed in enough to call him to minister in one of the most important cities of the day – Nineveh. But he rebels and condemns the Ninevites.

 

As a result, Jonah instead of following God’s word, heads off to Spain – the total opposite direction of Nineveh. Despite Jonah’s rebellious behavior, the Lord pursues him and shows His love and mercy to him. Following God’s saving grace, Jonah obeys and goes to Nineveh. And low and behold, the people repent!

 

You’d think at this point Jonah would be excited about how God has used him in His plan of redemption. NOT! Instead he is angry at God for showing grace and mercy to the hated Ninevites. This is the same grace and mercy that God had shown to him. It is the same grace and mercy that God shows to you and to me.

 

In this story we come face to face with ourselves. In so doing, we must ask ourselves the question that the title asks of Jonah: Are you like the prodigal son or the older brother? Or are you like the Ninevites or Jonah?

 

 

We also come face to face with a loving and merciful God and must ask ourselves another question: Will you accept His love and forgiveness only for yourself or will you pass it on to others. The choice is yours.

 

 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=jonah%204%3A1-11&version=NIV;MSG

https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Jonah.4.1-Jonah.4.11

 

 

 

 

Is Your Life a Shipwreck? - Acts 27:1-44

Sometimes life's difficulties and challenges bring us to the brink of giving up hope?  It does seem that God will often allow us to get to this point in our lives, the place where we are humbled and on our knees and looking up to Him  It is often the only way God has our attention; our willingness to surrender to Him and His way.

When reading this story in Acts I was reminded of Jonah and the big trouble he found himself in because he was headstrong and wanted to things his way.  It took a big storm and an even bigger fish to cause Jonah to give up control to God

"Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. (Acts 27:15, 18, 20)
Paul was on the same page as God in this story; it was the other characters in the story who needed to see a Great Big God in action.  This storm was one that would have ended in disaster any other time, but this time God sent an Angel to Paul who told him no one would be lost, only the ship would be destroyed.

We will have seasons when our life feels like a shipwreck, but if we take a lesson from Jonah and Paul and turn to God giving up our agendas, it will eventually be smooth sailing.

Read the Acts 27:1-44 text here.