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?