GodSpeak: Missed Links – “It’s Not Fair!”

GodSpeak for the Week of November 11

“It’s Not FAIR!”

This week we take a one Sunday excursion back to our “Missed Links” sermon series, looking at a famous story that does not appear in the three-year Lectionary – the story of Jonah and Nineveh.

 Day 1…Read Jonah 3:10

  • Consider this – the Ninevites had been a Godless people…until Jonah spent three days walking through town pronouncing God’s judgement on them. Yet, they DID repent and turned to God.
  • Answer this – what was God’s response to the Ninevites act of faith?
    • Where else in Scripture does God act in a similar way?

Day 2…Read Jonah 4:1-3 (especially v. 2)

  • Answer this – how does Jonah react to God’s reversal of judgement?
  • Consider this – God has called Jonah to a simple yet profound task…to be God’s voice to the Ninevites and proclaim God’s intended judgement upon them.
  • Answer this – as such, who works for who, here?!
  • Consider this – note, then, how Jonah constructs his response to God in v. 2.
  • Answer this – what kind of tone is Jonah taking with God in v. 2?

 Day 3…Read Jonah 4:1-3

  • Answer this – what words would you use to describe Jonah’s attitude…his behavior, here?
  • Answer this – why would he be acting this way and saying to God what he’s saying?
    • What does he hope to accomplish, here?

Day 4…Read Jonah 4:5-8

  • Consider this – so Jonah goes to the east side of Nineveh and sets up a shelter for himself to escape the scorching sun/heat.
  • Answer this – why does he do this? Why set up a place to sit and wait?
    • Why not just move on from Nineveh, given that Jonah has done what God asked him to do?
    • What might Jonah be hoping for, here?

 Day 5…Read Jonah 4:5-8 (again)

  • Consider this – so, in addition to the shelter Jonah has set up, God provides him with a large, leafy plant to give him additional shade. But, the next day, God sends a worm to eat away at the plant’s roots, thereby causing it to wilt.
  • Answer this – how did Jonah react, when God gave him the plant in the first place?
    • How does he react, when God takes the plant away the next day?
    • What does this say about where Jonah’s priorities lie, along with his sense of God’s providence?

Day 6…Read Jonah 4:1-11

  • Answer this – what does the story of Jonah’s reaction to God’s grace and mercy on Nineveh have to say to us today?
    • How are we to apply its lessons to our own lives these days?

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