Stuck right between Obadiah and Micah is a short four chapter book called Jonah. If you have spent any time in or around a Sunday school room, you have heard the story of Jonah and the whale/big fish. It usually is served up with goldfish crackers to really drive the message home. Overall the book gives us a singular purpose of showing the extent of God’s grace, and ultimately salvation for all people. Since most of us are familiar with that story, I thought I would jump ahead to the aftermath of Jonah actually doing what God asked of him. “This change of plans upset Jonah, and he became very angry”Jonah 4:1 (NLT). Wait…what? You read that right, Jonah got angry because God spared the people and animals of Ninevah. In fact, he was so angry that the majority of chapter four reads like one of Ralph and Alice Kramden’s fights. Ralph…I mean Jonah goes off on a tangent about how he knew God would change His mind and save all those people. Jonah is actually angry that God in His infinite wisdom decides to show compassion and grace instead of drone bombing…I mean decimating the city. Jonah uses the Meg Griffin angsty quip “kill me now” like four times. He would have played a moody teen well on one of these new teen dramas – “I’ll love you forever Dawson!”. I can hear his theme music now. However, even in the midst of Jonah’s temper tantrum, God shows mercy and sends a vine to grow and shade Jonah from the heat of the sun. But, the next day a worm comes and eats the plant. Jonah goes full tree hugger with a splash of My So-Called Life. He’s actually more angry about the plant dying than the possibility that God could have destroyed a city of more than 120,000 people. Perspective, and politics, it’ll get you every single time. Now, what’s the point? Jonah is the only prophetic book that focuses on the story of the prophet alone rather than on the prophecies. The book is written as a historical narrative. I believe that Jonah was a minor prophet because he failed to see the bigger picture. He didn’t make the majors because rather than being the servant he was meant to be, he wanted to complain because God didn’t do what Jonah thought that He should. You see, that is the disconnect in western Christianity today. We want God to do our bidding. Our prayers, our offerings, and even our willingness to attend are singularly focused on what we want, and what we care about. That’s just not how being a servant works. Claiming we are Christians entails that we carry the torch. We bring love, forgiveness, compassion, peace and empathy with us. Because that’s what Jesus would do (oh yes I did). Don’t blanket your faith in politics. If you’re going to serve Christ, do it unabashedly and without a hidden agenda. In the end, your plan falls to dust anyway. Ask yourself this, is the “H” in my He or Him upper or lower case? If your response was lower, then you’re just a fan. 
sheanwages 