Key Truth: God’s compassion shapes us for His mission for the life of the world. 

Introduction:

What have you been angry about recently?
What does your anger reveal about what you love most? 

Jonah’s Anger Distracts Him from God’s Mission

Jonah 4:5-9

“Trouble may come when we think ourselves secure. . . . I will tell you when you will get into a comfortable place, if you are a Christian, and that is when you pass out of this world altogether! And you will not find it anywhere else—go where you may on this globe—there are no islands upon which the sea does not sometimes beat roughly. There is no atmosphere so calm but the east wind will disturb it, sooner or later. You may go and sit in your booth if you like, but there shall come to you, even in that booth, the checks of comfort and of loss, of gourds which spring up in a night and which also wither in a night!”

Charles Spurgeon, Sermon No. 2504

How has God used discomfort to strengthen your love for Him and for your neighbor?

God’s Compassion Shapes Jonah for His Mission

Jonah 4:10-11 

How is God’s compassion shaping you for His mission for the life of the world?

“The book of Jonah is a shot across the bow. God asks, how can we look at anyone—even those with deeply opposing beliefs and practices—with no compassion? If your compassion is going to resemble God’s, you must abandon a cozy world of self-protection. God’s compassion meant he could not stay perched above the circle of the earth and simply feel bad for us. He came down, he took on a human nature, he literally stepped into our shoes and into our condition and problems and walked with us. If you have a friend who’s going through a really hard time, don’t be too busy to spend time with them. Walk with them through this suffering. Of course you’re going to weep. It’s going to hurt! That’s what God did for you.”

Tim Keller, The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God’s Mercy

Application:

Jonah 4:5-11 teaches us that 

- Our anger reveals what we love most

- God uses discomfort to reshape our love for Him and for our neighbor

- God’s compassion shapes us for His mission

Benediction

Jude 20-25