{"id":14292,"date":"2013-09-27T14:39:09","date_gmt":"2013-09-27T03:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/?page_id=14292"},"modified":"2013-09-27T14:39:09","modified_gmt":"2013-09-27T03:39:09","slug":"sixteen-days-with-jonah-day-16","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/studies\/jonah\/sixteen-days-with-jonah-day-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Sixteen Days with Jonah – Day 16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Day 16<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Jonah 4:8b-11<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

(Jonah) wanted to die, and said, \u201cIt would be better for me to die than to live.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a09<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> But God said to Jonah, \u201cIs it right for you to be angry about the plant?\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m so angry I wish I were dead.\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a010<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> But the LORD said, \u201cYou have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. <\/i><\/span><\/span>11<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup> And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left\u2014and also many animals?\u201d <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Matthew 28:18-20<\/b><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

18 <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup>Then Jesus came to them and said, <\/i><\/span><\/span>\u2018All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.<\/i><\/span><\/span>19 <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup>Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,<\/i><\/span><\/span>20 <\/i><\/span><\/span><\/sup>and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.\u2019<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

God persists in confronting Jonah with his wrong attitudes towards the Ninevites. <\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s first question is testing: <\/span>Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?<\/i><\/span> To which Jonah answers: <\/span>It is, <\/i><\/span>and declares for the second time:<\/span> I wish I were dead!<\/i><\/span> (Jonah 4:9) Jonah has got himself into quite a state! <\/span><\/p>\n

God\u2019s second question challenges Jonah: <\/span>Should I not have concern…?<\/i><\/span> It seems clear to me that God would answer his own question this way: <\/span>Of course, I should have concern! I am the LORD of all. Look, Jonah, at what I have been doing!<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

God has an underlying question here which is addressed to Jonah and, indeed, to all of God\u2019s people: <\/span>If I, God, have concern, should not therefore my people be also concerned?<\/i><\/span> And God\u2019s people should answer: <\/span>Yes, we are concerned! <\/i><\/span>This is God\u2019s question and the answer he patiently sought from Jonah and which runs throughout the Book of Jonah. <\/span><\/p>\n

Will God\u2019s people, you and I, care for that for which God cares? Do I really care for non-Christian people? Do I yearn for them to become disciples of Christ? Is my vision of God and God\u2019s world, God\u2019s vision<\/span>:<\/i><\/span> to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God<\/i><\/span>? <\/i><\/span>(Micah 6:8) <\/span><\/p>\n

God of love and life, give me your heart for your world. Strengthen me through your Holy Spirit, your word and your people to fulfill your purposes in the world you love. Amen.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Day 16 Jonah 4:8b-11 (Jonah) wanted to die, and said, \u201cIt would be better for me to die than to live.\u201d \u00a09 But God said to Jonah, \u201cIs it right for you to be angry about the plant?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt is,\u201d … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":14238,"menu_order":16,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14292"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14292"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14292\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14293,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14292\/revisions\/14293"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/imaginarydiocese.org\/bishopjohn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}