Beyond

I love the story of Jonah. Not because Jonah is particularly heroic, faithful, or even likable. In fact, Jonah may be one of the most shallow, self-centered, and stubborn people God ever called into ministry. And yet, God uses him to accomplish something extraordinary. Maybe that's the point of the whole story. Our God is a God who goes BEYOND.

1. Beyond Our Imagination - God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, and preach repentance. Nineveh! These were ruthless, violent people, enemies of Israel, and seemingly beyond redemption. If anybody deserved God's judgment, surely it was Nineveh.

But God had other plans. Jonah eventually preaches one of the shortest sermons in Scripture, and something unimaginable happens. The people listen. They believe. They repent. Even the king humbles himself before God. God sees possibilities where Jonah sees only problems. He sees people worth saving where Jonah sees people worth destroying.

God's mercy goes beyond our imagination, our prejudices, and our expectations.

2. Beyond God's Reach? - Jonah doesn't want to go to Nineveh. So he runs. He boards a ship headed in the opposite direction, apparently believing he can somehow get beyond the reach of God. That doesn't work out so well. A storm comes. The sailors become terrified. Jonah ends up overboard, swallowed by a great fish, and finds himself in a place seemingly beyond rescue. 

But even there, God is present. The remarkable thing is that the fish isn't simply God's punishment. It is also God's rescue. What looks like the end of Jonah's story becomes the place where God gives him another beginning.

Jonah discovers that we can run from God's calling, but we cannot run beyond God's reach. And sometimes the very place we think is beyond hope becomes the place where God's grace finds us.

3. Beyond Our Understanding - Perhaps the most astonishing thing about Jonah isn't the great fish, the storm, or even Nineveh's repentance. It's Jonah himself.

Why in the world would God choose such a shallow, stubborn, angry, and spiritually immature person to proclaim His message? Even after Nineveh repents, Jonah is furious that God would forgive them! And yet, God doesn't give up on Jonah. God patiently teaches him, questions him, rescues him, and continues working on his heart. The story ends with God asking Jonah a question, almost as though God is still inviting this reluctant prophet to grow up in his faith. Maybe Jonah wasn't simply sent to Nineveh so that Nineveh could be saved. Maybe Jonah was sent to Nineveh so that Jonah could be changed.

And that brings us to a wonderful question. Who is worth God's time, patience, understanding, forgiveness, and salvation? What say you?