Gospel Lenses Part II

Just like any pair of handy glasses or lenses, Gospel lenses need a regular cleaning so we can continue to see clearly.  This past Wednesday night as we continued our walk through Jonah, we looked at Jonah chapter 3.  I'm not sure if Jonah took his Gospel lenses off when he ran from God or if they had just gotten really dirty and he wasn't seeing clearly.  For most of us, I don't think it's that we take off or abandon the Gospel, but it is more like we aren't quite seeing the Gospel clearly.  That's because things seem to get a little muddy sometimes.  Maybe Jonah needed a good washing and that's why he was tossed straight into the ocean.  A baptism for Jonah?  Maybe so...

By the time we turn to chapter three, Jonah is a washed-up prophet (literally)!  He has seen the depths and been spared.  But God seems to be an advocate of second chances and tells Jonah that his mission is the same (3:1).  God gives Jonah a second chance because He has remained the same and so too has his mission--God in all times and places desires that all creation be reconciled to him.  God calls a second time because he wants the lost saved, even the Ninevites.  Jonah has enjoyed God's grace and mercy, but has been reluctant to see God use that same grace and mercy on the Ninevites.  Sounds like some of us in the church today.  Scary...

So when Jonah finally shows up to Nineveh, God has given him a message to proclaim.  It's a message of coming doom and gloom.  In the Hebrew, Jonah simply preaches 5 words.  Imagine a Sunday morning sermon only 5 words long.  You would never miss a kickoff or wait in line at a restaurant again!  5 Words!!!  So, in a mighty city known for torturing their enemies*, Jonah brings a message of their coming destruction if they fail to turn to God.  He does so seemingly in an earnest way.  This is probably because he thinks they'll never repent, or they're too far gone.  He enjoys the message because he thinks God will overturn them and they will reap his wrath.  However, after 5 words, the people repent.  They are totally overturned!  They turn from sin and to God!  This was not the overturning Jonah had hoped for.  And why should God have mercy on people like this?  That seems like an injustice in the mind of Jonah.

But wait!  It's God.  It's the same God that brought about a storm and a fish to rescue Jonah.  He has done something even more incredible now!  He is changing the hearts of sinful human beings.  Their repentance encompasses all parts of life.  They respond by fasting, wearing sackcloth, and crying out to God.  Even the animals fasted!  They abstained from both food and water, and by having their livestock fast, they put their economy in God's hands as well.  What's even more amazing is that they do all this not knowing whether or not God will spare them.  They respond in repentance to God because he is God.  We should respond to God for who God IS, not because of what we might get or gain!  We don't worship God to get something in return.  We worship God because GOD IS GOD!  That's enough.  They put everything in God's hands, even their finances!  Total surrender to God because God is God.  That is the kind of humility that leads to a true repentant heart.

Perhaps we get like Jonah and the Gospel lenses through which we view life become a little muddy.  They get a little dirty when we come to church and dig deep into religious duties.  They are clouded a bit when we yearn for God's mercy for ourselves, but cry out for wrath and justice on others.  The lenses grow darker when we take the Gospel and keep it to ourselves.  They lose their clarity every time we sin because every time we sin we are living contrary to God's will.  We in fact are turning our backs to God and running toward Tarshish.  You see, sin makes it hard to see through those Gospel lenses, but like the Ninevites found out, God is ready to clean them off for us when we are overturned by repentance.

The real injustice in this life lies not in God seeking the redemption of our enemies.  The real injustice lies in the hearts of those who have the Gospel and keep it to themselves.  Why do you think Jesus tells us to love our enemies?  Because God loves them and God is calling us to share the good news with them.  In fact, every time we fail to share the Gospel, we are running from God just like Jonah.  What if Jonah had never gone to Nineveh?  They may have never had the opportunity to respond.

Perhaps as a church, we need to repent.  Perhaps we have been unjust.  Perhaps the lenses God gave us to view the world have become a bit muddy.  Maybe it's time for a cleaning.  Maybe it's time for humility.   And maybe, just maybe it's time for repentance.  I believe revival springs forth from true repentance.  Where there is true repentance, there is an increase of comfort and compassion in this world.  True repentance is not just about turning from disobedience.  It is about turning all the way back to obedience.  Ask God to clean your lenses so you don't lose sight of him in this world.


*“Records brag of live dismemberment, often leaving one hand attached so they could shake it before the person died.  They made parades of heads, requiring friends of the deceased to carry them on elevated poles.  They boasted of their practice of stretching live prisoners with ropes so they could be skinned alive.  The human skins were then displayed on city walls and poles.  They commissioned pictures of their post-battle tortures where piles of heads, hands, and feet and heads impaled on poles—eight heads to a stake—were displayed.  They pulled out the tongues of live victims and burned the young alive.”  (NIV Application Commentary on Jonah, 29)