The text this morning is from the book of the prophet Jonah, the third chapter:
Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.Thus far the text.
… When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.
Dear friends in Christ,
The story of Jonah is one that can easily pass our understanding, and not in the way that God’s peace passes all understanding. No, we have tendency to miss the story for the whale. Yes, indeed, you heard me right. We miss the story for the whale.
Of course, I’m talking about Jonah’s experience in the belly of the giant fish. We make this the focus of the book of Jonah and miss the rest of the story. Of course there is indeed a point in our church year where talking about Jonah and the fish is important, but that’s not now. We’re not talking about that now. We’re not talking about the sign of Jonah, where Jesus, like Jonah, spends three days in the dark, in death, in the tomb, and is raised up on that third day. That’s not what we’re talking about.
We’re talking about this morning the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet. He was sent by God to bring news to Nineveh that they had sinned grievously before the eyes of the Lord. Jonah was to tell them to repent, but Jonah was scared, Jonah was reluctant, Jonah didn’t think “sinners” deserved to potentially be forgiven if they repented. Jonah has a whole story that’s associated with this. In fact, he tried to run away from what God was calling him to do, completely missing the fact that by his running away he himself was sinning against the Lord of all creation, hence Jonah’s time in the belly of the great fish.
But the fish is not the whole story. It’s just a part of Jonah’s story. Let’s skip ahead, shall we? Jonah finally relents to God’s message, to God’s sending of him to Nineveh. He went and did what God commanded.
Now, we must understand, Nineveh sinned greatly before the eyes of the Lord. They did much evil there before God. You’ve heard the saying before, “To whom much is given, much is expected?” You’ve heard, “With great power comes great responsibility?” Nineveh was great. It was huge. It was massive. According to the Scriptures, to walk the whole city took three days. It’s a big, big city, especially for its time. In the text of Jonah, it is made quite clear that God has a special place in His plan for Nineveh. Now, it isn’t said what that plan is, but we know that it is important to God. Unfortunately, Nineveh’s greatness, either in size or in importance, was exceeded by Nineveh’s own sin. They sinned greatly before the Lord. Huge. Massive. Unashamedly. Unabashedly. Uniformly. The whole city of Nineveh sinned before the Lord.
Nineveh was evil. When we think of their evil, we should have in the forefront of our minds the evil that was in the world when God decided to kill everything He had made, save one family, the family of Noah. The world was so evil then, sinning against God so greatly that it made God wish that He had never created anything. That’s how bad the sin of Nineveh was, so bad it made God wish that they had never been created. But, God doesn’t desire to destroy a people for their sin, rather He wishes that they would repent and turn to Him.
And that’s what happened to Nineveh. They repented. If I were them, I’d be like, “What did he say? Repent? What? What did he say?” When God sent a prophet into their midst, when God sent the carrier of His own Word, when God sent a man to tell the people that they had sinned, they repented of their sin. Through Jonah, God told them they would be destroyed. He sent them the Law. He sent them their conviction. And they repented. Even more than that, they showed that their repentance made a difference. They turned from their wicked ways. They tore their clothes. They put on burlap. They fasted. They were repenting from their wickedness, they were turning 180 degrees from where they had been. They were seeking after the Lord. And the Lord had mercy because of their repentance!
I think that this floored Jonah. I think he was surprised at this. Nineveh knew what their sin was and they repented. You know, there’s a part of me, and I would bet that there’s a part of you, too, that wishes we knew what Nineveh had done that was so bad. We want to know what Nineveh did that was so awful that God was going to reign down terror and destruction on them. We so badly want to look into the lives of people and figure out all their faults and foibles. We want to know their sins. We want to look into the lives of the sinners around us. Why?
Because we want to judge them! We want to compare ourselves to them! We want to be separated from them! We want to feel better about ourselves by looking at them and saying, “Well, I’m not like them. I don’t sin like that. At least I’m not that bad!”
Yes, you are!!!! Yes, you are! You are that bad! You are that sinful! You deserve just as much terror and destruction and wrath and condemnation from God, perhaps even more so than Nineveh!
We’re not that different from Nineveh! We deserve the same! Let’s just take a look at ten quick things, shall we, and see how we’re doing.
You shall have no other gods before me. How you doing with that? We have other gods who take the place of the one true god, whether that’s money, time, our kids, our wives, our husbands, our church, our work. Fail. You sinner.
You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. How you doing with that? You worshipping God in spirit and in truth? You ever cried out the name of God when you’re so completely exasperated? Fail. Sinner.
You shall honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy. How you doing with that? Are you going to church every week? Are you despising the sacraments at all? Have you honored God’s Holy Word in the Scriptures by dedicating yourself to it and making it a part of your daily life? Fail. Sinner.
You shall honor your father and mother. How you doing with that? You obeying all authority in your life? Do you feel resentful and angry when you see the police sitting on the side of the road, knowing they caught you? You obeying every rule and law around you? Fail. Sinner.
Need I go on? I will. You shall not kill. Jesus says that if we hate our brother or sister, we might as well have murdered them. It’s the same thing. Are you honoring the people around you, helping them whenever they need it? Fail. Sinner.
You shall not commit adultery. Jesus says that if you lust after another person, you have committed adultery with them in your heart. How you doing there? Fail. Sinner.
You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. How you doing with those? Fail. Sinner.
If you don’t know what I was going over there, it’s the Ten Commandments, God’s Law, the Law we are expected to keep but never can. You can find them in the book of Exodus, chapter 20. Read your Small Catechism. See how you’re doing compared to what Luther said you should be. It’s incredible! We are sinners! How many of those sins have you committed? How many do you do each day? You sin because you a sinner! You can’t get away from it! You can’t just stop sinning! In this life, you will always sin and you are just as guilty of your sins as the city of Nineveh was guilty of theirs.
And yet. God has mercy on you! He doesn’t destroy you! Rather, He gives you the opportunity, just as He gives every person the opportunity, to repent, turn from your wicked ways, and seek after the Lord. This isn’t by your own doing, but it is a gift of faith, a gift of the Holy Spirit, a gift won for you by the very blood of Jesus Christ Himself!
God doesn’t destroy you in this life, He lets you continue to live, to breathe, constantly giving you opportunities to be convicted and come to true repentance. What is this true repentance? It’s not coming to church, but you do repent in church. It’s not doing good works, but good works are evident of your faith which leads you to repentance. Repentance is turning away from your sin, confessing it before God, knowing you are a sinner who sins daily and is in need of much mercy!
We come to church, but we don’t come here to feel good! We come here to hear that God is good! We come to church, but not to hear how awesome we are. We come here to hear that God is awesome! God is merciful! God is gracious! God is forgiving! God is loving! God is Jesus Christ, that same Jesus Christ who came to earth in order to save us. He died on the cross of Calvary so that He would become our sin, taking it from us. He took everything from us and gives us all His forgiveness, making us righteous, saving us, redeeming us, rescuing us!
This is God’s Word! This is the same Word of God that Jonah preached. It is the same Word of God that Jesus preached! What did He say? Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Repent for the kingdom of God is near! God is giving you the ability and the opportunity to repent and be forgiven! God’s Word is powerful! God’s Word is mighty! God’s Word does this to us! We are here, now, in this church, and I tell you with all the confidence in the world, no, with all the confidence in the Word, that Jesus Christ has forgiven you all your sins. “What did he say,” you ask? Your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. Repent for your sins are forgiven!
Are you a blasphemer? Of course, you are. Boom. Forgiven.
Do you not esteem God’s Word and come to hear it as often as you should? Of course, you do. Boom. Forgiven.
Do you not honor your father and mother? Do you not obey the authorities? Boom. Forgiven.
Commit adultery? Lust after another? Hate someone? Murder someone? Are you a thief? Do you covet other people’s stuff? Do you covet other people? Boom! Forgiven.
What good news this is for us! Like Nineveh, we hear our sin! We hear that we are deserving of God’s wrath, of His condemnation! But, God has poured out His wrath and condemnation on His own Son, Jesus Christ! We aren’t the recipients of God’s wrath! We are the recipients of Christ’s righteousness! We are forgiven children of God!
My friends, don’t compare yourself to the sins of those around you. Don’t compare yourself to the sins of those who are in the Scriptures. Those people of Nineveh, their sins are many and they are great. Your sins are many and they are great, too. How amazing is it that God, in His mercy, is the one who delivers to you the greatest mercy of all, having mercy on you for all your sins, for all your faults and foibles, and forgives you all of your sins?
Just as God sent one man, Jonah, into the midst of sinners, so too did God send one Man, Jesus Christ, into the midst of sinners, to call our repentance and to, in His own person, deliver to you the forgiveness of your sins. Just as God sent on man, Jonah, into the midst of sinners, so too does God send His Son, Jesus Christ into the midst of sinners to declare to you through this pulpit that you are to repent of your sin, and when you do, to announce the forgiveness of God in Christ Jesus to you! You are forgiven! No longer ask, what did he say, but hear that Word of Christ that He says to you, “You are forgiven.”
God had great mercy on Nineveh. God has great mercy on you, through Jesus Christ by His horrendous death on the cross and victorious resurrection from the grave that Easter Sunday 2,000 years ago. God forgives you all your sin and will keep you faithful to His Word and His mercy, now and always. Amen.
Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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