Observation: After being swallowed by God's fish and spat out on the land, Jonah resigns himself to following God's command and prophesying to Nineveh. Still, he does the bare minimum, not even mentioning God's name or the specific sins of the Ninevites. All he does is walk into town and shout aloud, apparently just once, "Forty days more and Nineveh shall be overthrown!" But the Holy Spirit won't be counted out. The Ninevites' response is overwhelming. Not only does the king announce a mandatory fast for the people, but the animals too! God's word breaks through despite Jonah's intentionally lackluster performance.
Application: During Lent I'm going to be talking about something that has been somewhat controversial in contemporary culture: "Christian values." The value I see in today's text is love of enemies. It should be obvious, since God made all humankind, but it needs to be said, over and over. God made people from every country in our world, not just our own, not just those with friendly relations with our country, not just those who look or talk or love or worship like us. In fact, to drive the point home, God often calls us to do what Jonah does, and talk to our least favorite people--our enemies. Those who wish us harm, and those who, deep down, we are not sad to see in pain. Like Jonah, God calls us to start the conversation, and leave the response up to God. If God can turn hundreds of thousands of Ninevites into repentant believers, what could God do if we were to simply open our mouths and speak a word of care, even to people we'd rather see get their just desserts?
Prayer: God, I pray for the strength to speak in love to those whose ways are different from mine. Help me speak boldly and lovingly to my enemies: those who offend, and maybe even seek to offend me. Help me value their lives as you do. Amen.
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