“Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
This word of unwanted grace from the LORD called him to action: Arise and go – get up and get going.. There is immediacy, urgency in this word from the LORD..
This word of unwanted grace from the LORD called him with direction: to Nineveh.. Nineveh was what he did not want to hear – Nineveh was what made this word a word of unwanted grace..
Nineveh was the capital of an ancient called Assyria, located in modern Iran.. Nineveh was 550 miles from Samaria where Jonah lived.. Nineveh was a city of 600,000 people.. Nineveh was a Gentile city, and no one spoke Hebrew there, although many spoke Aramaic there, so Jonah could make himself understood.. Hebrew prophets would not be all that welcome in Nineveh..
Nineveh was a cruel city.. The kings of Assyria developed the concept of captivity, in which a conquered people would be moved from their home territory and settled elsewhere, while alien people would be settled in their former home.. One of their Kings boasted he had make a mountain red like wool by cutting off the head of some warriors he had defeated and piled their skulls as a pillar in front of their city.. Others boasted of flaying their enemies alive (cutting off their skin) and stretching their skin on the city wall..
At the time Nineveh was in trouble.. In the recent years before Jonah received this word from the LORD, they had experienced two plagues and also a total eclipse of the sun, which they took to be a bad omen of something bad about to come upon them.. They were divided politically and in a very weak condition.. Left to themselves, they would collapse in a short time..
Summary: The prophet received word from the LORD that called him to action and gave him direction..
That word also gave him motivation..
God was concerned about their wickedness..
Jonah was given the opportunity to have greatest evangelistic impact in history, but he didn’t want it because he was politically and culturally opposed to Nineveh and did not have God’s heart for them..
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Sunday, June 15, 2008
B. Unwanted Grace Comes as an Intrusion
It is quite evident that Jonah wasn’t looking for the privilege God has in mind for him..
It was much more of an intrusion than anything else..
It disrupted Jonah’s life and called him to do something he didn’t want to do..
Jonah was one of 16 men in all of history who were called to be prophets in the way he was called.
Jonah’s life was the way he wanted it to be..
He was a prophet..
He was recognized as a prophet..
He was a successful prophet according to II Kings 14:25..
He had said his king, Jeroboam II, would expand his kingdom’s border greatly and it came true..
This meant success, blessing, economic prosperity, and Jonah was a prophet with a popular message..
But the God unwanted grace comes along with a new word, a word Jonah doesn’t want. Even though it is a word of opportunity..
It was much more of an intrusion than anything else..
It disrupted Jonah’s life and called him to do something he didn’t want to do..
Jonah was one of 16 men in all of history who were called to be prophets in the way he was called.
Jonah’s life was the way he wanted it to be..
He was a prophet..
He was recognized as a prophet..
He was a successful prophet according to II Kings 14:25..
He had said his king, Jeroboam II, would expand his kingdom’s border greatly and it came true..
This meant success, blessing, economic prosperity, and Jonah was a prophet with a popular message..
But the God unwanted grace comes along with a new word, a word Jonah doesn’t want. Even though it is a word of opportunity..
Friday, June 13, 2008
1. God Sends Unwanted Grace. (Jonah 1:1-2)
Jonah 1:1-2 ~ the word of the LORD came to Jonah son of Amittai: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”
A. Unwanted Grace Comes as a Privilege
The word of the Lord was.. Jonah didn’t ask for it.. He didn’t plan for it.. He did nothing to get it.. He did not earn it and it was just there – it just showed up..
We don’t know how he got it.. We don’t know if he heard it.. Or sensed it.. Or felt it.. Or saw it.. Or he just received it..
Now remember this is the word of the LORD..
Every time we see LORD un upper case letters we must remember it means Yahweh, God’s formal name, His covenant making and covenant keeping name..
Yahweh is God’s initiating name – the name used to speak of His initiative to enter our lives.. In the Garden of Eden, with the call of Abraham, the commissioning of Moses – all the way throughout the Old Testament Yahweh initiates and this initiation is always an act of grace, even when it is not welcome in the lives of those with whom He initiates.
Yahweh is also God’s covenant making name, His commitment making, legal contract signing name, and everything He does grows out of the covenant He has made.
So unwanted grace comes from the covenant keeping god who is constantly making grace initiatives in our lives..
A. Unwanted Grace Comes as a Privilege
The word of the Lord was.. Jonah didn’t ask for it.. He didn’t plan for it.. He did nothing to get it.. He did not earn it and it was just there – it just showed up..
We don’t know how he got it.. We don’t know if he heard it.. Or sensed it.. Or felt it.. Or saw it.. Or he just received it..
Now remember this is the word of the LORD..
Every time we see LORD un upper case letters we must remember it means Yahweh, God’s formal name, His covenant making and covenant keeping name..
Yahweh is God’s initiating name – the name used to speak of His initiative to enter our lives.. In the Garden of Eden, with the call of Abraham, the commissioning of Moses – all the way throughout the Old Testament Yahweh initiates and this initiation is always an act of grace, even when it is not welcome in the lives of those with whom He initiates.
Yahweh is also God’s covenant making name, His commitment making, legal contract signing name, and everything He does grows out of the covenant He has made.
So unwanted grace comes from the covenant keeping god who is constantly making grace initiatives in our lives..
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
unwanted grace - intro
How do we respond to God’s unwanted grace?
How do we respond when God’s grace comes charging into our lives?
When it doesn’t knock on the door – or ask permission, or say how do you do, or have a nice day, or could we sit down and talk?
When it just barges in and takes over.
That’s the problem with grace, you know – it cannot be controlled; it is not predictable or rational; it cannot be owned.
Grace does exactly what grace wants to do when it wants to do it.
I can hear many of you protesting, objecting to the idea of unwanted grace.
Perhaps you’re saying, I want all of God’s grace I can get. There’s no such thing as unwanted grace.
Perhaps. Let’s see if this is true. Let me ask you a question.
Suppose we put two signs over these two doors,
One that says “Grace to have a great life, a wonderful family, a challenging and satisfying career, financial security, with excellent health right up to the end.”
And we had a sign over this door that says “Grace to die with cancer.”
Which line would you get in?
We don’t want the grace to die of cancer if we can possibly avoid it. Of course we want it if there’s nothing we can do about it, but none of us would get in the cancer line. That is certainly unwanted grace. None of us unwanted grace.
Or let me ask you this.
Let’s say your life is going well – a ministry that is strong and stable, or perhaps you’re very satisfied in a support role, very satisfied as a leader in your ministry, but you were challenged by someone in another strategic area, different from what you’re doing now – leading by email, contacting people by cell phone, not direct ministry – you don’t want to move up the ladder, to move into greater responsibility, to face greater pressure to travel and be gone one-third of the time.
But the pressure is there, and God’s unwanted grace is calling you, disrupting you demanding that you do something for God you don’t want to do.
How do you respond to God’s unwanted grace?
How welcome is God’s disruptive, life changing, redirecting grace?
How do we respond when God’s grace comes charging into our lives?
When it doesn’t knock on the door – or ask permission, or say how do you do, or have a nice day, or could we sit down and talk?
When it just barges in and takes over.
That’s the problem with grace, you know – it cannot be controlled; it is not predictable or rational; it cannot be owned.
Grace does exactly what grace wants to do when it wants to do it.
I can hear many of you protesting, objecting to the idea of unwanted grace.
Perhaps you’re saying, I want all of God’s grace I can get. There’s no such thing as unwanted grace.
Perhaps. Let’s see if this is true. Let me ask you a question.
Suppose we put two signs over these two doors,
One that says “Grace to have a great life, a wonderful family, a challenging and satisfying career, financial security, with excellent health right up to the end.”
And we had a sign over this door that says “Grace to die with cancer.”
Which line would you get in?
We don’t want the grace to die of cancer if we can possibly avoid it. Of course we want it if there’s nothing we can do about it, but none of us would get in the cancer line. That is certainly unwanted grace. None of us unwanted grace.
Or let me ask you this.
Let’s say your life is going well – a ministry that is strong and stable, or perhaps you’re very satisfied in a support role, very satisfied as a leader in your ministry, but you were challenged by someone in another strategic area, different from what you’re doing now – leading by email, contacting people by cell phone, not direct ministry – you don’t want to move up the ladder, to move into greater responsibility, to face greater pressure to travel and be gone one-third of the time.
But the pressure is there, and God’s unwanted grace is calling you, disrupting you demanding that you do something for God you don’t want to do.
How do you respond to God’s unwanted grace?
How welcome is God’s disruptive, life changing, redirecting grace?
- time to reflect -
By Bill Lawrence Th.M., Th.D.
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