Anger management
Text: Jonah 4:1-11
Intro:
Today we are going to deal with chapter 4 our study from the book of Jonah. I may or may not have a look at the “Sign of Jonah” next week as it relates to the Commuion table but this lesson will finish our walk through the entire book.
I am not sure everyone would share this passion, but I love epic movies, you know the Ben Hur, Ten Commandment types. Just last week Heather and I watched the lengthy “Spartacus.” The movie had a stellar plot, interesting characters and a redemptive narrative.
Perhaps you will agree with me that account of Jonah would be a great subject for the next Mel Gibson epic. Maybe someone should write him and tell him this. But he will have one big problem if he takes our advice as classic epics are logical and have a resolving ending that ties everything together. The good guys usually win and the romantic story line ends in a happily ever after one and the future is bright for most of the characters involved.
Mel’s problem will be this. Jonah has a very abrupt and unresolved ending. The ending is the exposure of a great sin problem as Jonah’s anger is exposed and we don’t ever find out what becomes of him after his problem is exposed.
But I can assure you of something today. You are going to learn a lot about the subject of unholy anger so you can just turn to someone and ask them the question that is our theme today and the question is this “do you think I have an anger management problem?”
I.Jonah’s displeasure
In verse 1 we read “But it displeased Jonah…”
What a strange way to find Jonah after last weeks teaching. If I was writing the script for Jonah, I would have completed the whole thing with verse 10 of chapter 3. “Then God saw there works…”
If you were a Hebrew prophet, evangelist type, there would be no greater pleasure, sense of being in the center of God’s will, than to preach to a wicked city and have revival break out.
But this was not the case, “he became angry”. The Hebrew word used for angry here can actually be described as “boiling over”. If you are like me, no one likes to be around angry people when they are boiling over. Angry people are threataning, irrational, unreliable, often violent and are usually distorted in their thinking. So right away we have some positioning to do with Jonah.
If you are a student of human behavior, you will already know that angry people are often myopic or totally self centred. Jonah has made the Lord’s work his own problem. “It is all about Jonah!”
What might some of his justifications be? Perhaps he is of the mind that no one will trust a prophet who’s word doesn’t come true? After all a good old fashioned judgment makes the point! Or maybe he is really zealous for God and in a misguided way believes that a judgment averted might not make God’s point. But I think we have already discovered the real reason in previous teachings. Jonah hates Ninevah, the enemy of Israel and does not want an enemy on equal spiritual footing.
II.Jonah’s prayer
And now like every good prophet, Jonah prays!
- It is a second prayer.
We spent a whole Sunday on Jonah’s prayer of deliverance from the whale’s belly and here is a second one.
- It is a distorted prayer
One of the troubling things for me growing up in the faith was finding out that I had to be discerning about what was truth in the bible. Now pay attention. The whole bible is true, but some of the true accounts of people’s lives are to show us their weakness and distorted thinking and their distorted prayer lives. So the prophet Jonah prayed this way but it is not a model to show us how to pray.
This prayer consists of bringing back to memory the reason that Jonah fled in the first place. He cries out God, your character was the reason I wanted to quit and run away.
He then begins with accurate and truthful detail to describe God’s characteristics. You are: “gracious, merciful….”
- It is an angry prayer
Angry people pray angry prayers. Their prayers are not from a humble heart but from a self motivated, self interested and self righteous place. His prayer is actually projecting blame on God.
“God, the reason that we are in the mess is that you are good!”
- It is a selfish prayer
“God, take my life…!” Now this would be a good prayer if your hearts motive was right but this is not the case. Jonah is saying to the Lord that if life is not going to be done his way then it is not going to get done.
What does this kind of prayer sound like. “Lord, if I can’t have that person, then I would rather die. Lord if you want me to go to a foreign country as a missionary when I have told you that Pembroke is the only place I am going to live and minister in, then I would rather die….”
III.Jonah’s first question
And now God poses the first of two questions to Jonah. If anyone has walked with the Lord for any length of time, they will know that God will often ask questions of us to allow us to get to the right answers.
Here is the question. “Is it right for you to be angry?”
- There is only one kind of justifiable anger
Let’s make a point right up front. The only acceptable and biblical anger is righteous anger. If it is not the temple cleansing type, an anger agaisnt sin and injustice, then it is unrighteous and sin for us and for Jonah.
- So where does this unrighteous anger come from?
This type of anger comes from a very simple place. It is sin that originates in the flesh. It is one of the results of the fall. This anger problem raises it’s ugly head when people can’t control some things. We all know these kinds of people. If they can’t control a situation, they become frustrated and angry. We can’t control our situations and we get frustrated and angry.
Many in this room are struggling with anger today, you can’t control some thing you want to control. If I want to identify the angry people in a church all I have to do is change something.
For Jonah, He and God were on a whole different mission. God was focused on prophetic restoration and Jonah on judgment for historical problems and a payback plan.
Angry people get angry when they can’t control other people. Their employers won’t do what they want, their employees won’t. Their wives, their children oh and yes, the church leadership won’t.
Here is what they sound like:
I get angry about all the building talk….it is all about missions you know. I get angry about all the missions talk…it is all about Pembroke you know. I get angry about small groups talk…it is all about other ministry structures.
I get angry about praise for our church leaders…they are not as good as people are saying.
These things often will come out of the mouth of the same person over time if you listen. The problem is that things are out of their control! Oh then there is the inability to control God! Now I am not making this up. Jonah was mad because he could not control God’s agenda!
God you made a mistake when you allowed me to marry that woman, or man. God you were mistaken when you gave me those parents. God you were mistaken when you blinded 93% of the people the day we voted that Pastor in.
Angry people when they get boiling over will often stop talking to God altogether.
Jonah then in verse 5 heads out to the east end of the city and makes himself a shelter. Jonah has exited, he has built a booth believing in his heart that God would now see it his way and he is getting ready to be a spectator at the judgment of Ninevah. I think this angry spirit keeps people away from evangelicals and the media understand this and try and position all believers as hate mongers and homophobes. But in some cases we earn the distrust of people.
IV.Jonah’s temporary comfort
Now the plot of this epic gets really interesting. Now let’s picture Jonah, in the booth, the sun partially shining through, the sun is excruciatingly hot.
- The preparation of the gourde.
And now God sends him some temporary relief. This gourde would have been an enormous plant with enormous shelter from the sun for Jonah. Jonah would have recognized God’s miraculous provision of this gourde. This thing pleased Jonah “he was very grateful”. This is perhaps the only time that Jonah was grateful other than the expulsion from the fish. But those of you who live with angry people you know that they can be pacified in the short term when they get their way.
Escpecially when gourds are coming their way. They are getting prospered and materially blessed. Every one loves gourds and gourd times.
The problem is people can mistake gourds as God’s acceptance of their sinful and defiant condition as they receive some shortterm benefit of kingdom life.
But how many know that the Lord giveth gourds and the Lord takes away gourds? Because His plans for the redemption of people make gourds one of the things that God will use to chastise those he loves.
- The preparation of the worm
Now the worm! Just picture the worm or worms attacking the stem of this plant, cutting off it’s life supply and just as quickly as the gourd appeared, now it is gone. Now remember it is the Lord who prepared and sent the worm.
When the prophets are defiant, distorted and displeased, God will apply worm theology and especially in the financial realm. If money becomes an idol, here comes the worm. If God blesses us with a gourd season and we neglect to tithe on the gourd, then watch out for the devourer who comes to take and that is God’s gourd plan.
(Dave Hensman story)
Worms take ministries and relationships too when they are ungodly and self motivated and my kingdom type relationships and ministries rather than His kingdom ones.
- The preparation of the wind.
For those who have experienced the middleeastern winds, you know how severe this wind was to Jonah’s life and health. It was a scorcher and Jonah is now becoming faint, dehydrated and the death wish is coming back. He is now realizing that he is the object of God’s gourd management and anger management plan.
“It is better for me to die than to live…” Blah, blah, blah!
Conclusion:
And now let’s look at Jonah’s second question from the Lord. “Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?” And Jonah in very honest form says “yes”!
Then God says Jonah, let’s have a God perspective look at everything here. Jonah. You love gourds, you actually cracked a smile and everyone saw a little bit of daylight here. They could actually stand to be around you.
Jonah, you are so gourd focused that you have totally lost the perspective of my kingdom plan for people. Jonah, this is not about you! While you are in gourd preservation mode and self preservation mode worried about losing control over situations and people. I have a redeeming work to do.
I planted Ninevah! I have laboured over them and made them grow so if you love this old gourd that really was no effort for you than how much do you think I love Ninevah.
I love that great city, I love it’s children, and I love it’s animals! And Jonah you don’t and that is your problem. You are selfish and angry and controlling.
So here is the challenge for us. I wish we had a happy ending, that Jonah would be there among the Ninevites as a full time pastor and missionary. But the story ends with the question.
And here are the questions that Holy Spirit asks us today.
Are we wholly focused on God’s plan for Pembroke? Are your thoughts consumed with everything you need to do right this year or are they focused on the things and people you can’t control.
Are you a gourd focused people or a kingdom one. Ministries and programs that will support our future will continue to be implemented, one’s that don’t are going to be dying off, missions aren’t going away, they are getting stronger and I know this is not what you want to here but not one person in this whole place gets to have their favortie music all the time.
Are you angry about these things and unable to pray and perhaps purposefully holding back tithes and offerings because you are angry? You are clutching your gourds as a way of control. You better watch for worms and winds.
But the right answer is to get right smack dab in the middle of the Ninevites, take your gourds and get them working for kingdom things that will last.
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