Keith Battle - The Jonah Story - Part 4

We are in the fourth and final part of this Jonah series, and what I want to do today is start in chapter three. I’ll begin reading at the end of chapter three, so if you have your own copy of the Scriptures or a device with the Bible on it, you can join me there in Jonah chapter 3. Right now, if you want to follow along through your own device or Bible, it’s going to come up on the screen. I’m going to read the last verse of chapter 3 and the first four verses of chapter 4, just to set the tone for my topic today.

Beginning at verse 10 of chapter 3, the New Living Translation states: «When God saw what they had done and how they had put a stop to their evil ways,» referring to the Ninevites, «he changed his mind and did not carry out the destruction he had threatened.» Wow! Chapter 4, verse 1 says, «This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry, so he complained to the Lord.» Verse 2 goes on to say, «Did I not say before I left home that you would do this, Lord? That is why I ran away to Tarshish. I knew that you are a merciful and compassionate God, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love; you are eager to turn back from destroying people.» Verse 3: «Just kill me now, Lord! I’d rather be dead than alive if what I predicted will not happen.» The Lord replied to him in verse 4, «Is it right for you to be angry about this?» Wow!

Look at verse 1 again: «This change of plans greatly upset Jonah, and he became very angry.» And verse 4 says, «The Lord replied, 'Is it right for you to be angry about this? '» You mad? That’s my subject today: You mad? I know that’s not good English; I know that’s not grammatically correct, but it’s a great question. You mad? In fact, do me a favor and just randomly ask someone in the chat or in the thread right now, just say, «You mad?» Two words: «You mad?» Matter of fact, better still, just walk through your house right now. Take the device you’re watching the service on, take your iPad, your laptop, whatever, and just walk around to someone in your house. Make sure to stay six feet away from them, not just for social distancing purposes but for your own safety, depending on how they might react to this. Just walk by someone in your family and say, «You mad?»

In fact, here’s what I really want you to do: tomorrow, after you hear about someone you know whose favorite football team lost, I want you to call them. Don’t just text them; without explanation, just send them the text: «You mad?» Usually, when someone asks the question «You mad?» they are being condescending, and it’s really petty. I know it’s petty; it’s not nice. People are usually trying to talk down to you or make fun of you, but I’m telling you, this question begs to be asked. You mad? To all of us: What are you angry about, and is it right for you to be mad? Are you still mad about what you’re mad about? Are you demonstrating your anger in the right way?

This fourth chapter is replete with Jonah just being mad over and over again; we see that he’s mad in this chapter. What is important to me is that Jonah’s anger—his being mad—is distorting his vision. He is distorting the way he views things. The way he feels, his temperament, his anger is causing a mess. Anger has the potential to distort the way we see things so much that when people get mad, even if you try to introduce them to new information about something or someone they’re mad at, they refuse to hear it because they’re so attached to their anger that they won’t even see anything differently. Jonah is mad.

So, before I go any further, I want to ask you straight up, just between you and me: I have a question for you. Here’s my question: It’s two words—"You mad?» Let me backtrack for a minute and see what triggered Jonah’s anger. If you remember in chapter one, Jonah was given an assignment by God that he didn’t want to fulfill. God said, «Jonah, I want you to go to Nineveh and tell them that I’m going to destroy them in 40 days.»

Finally, after all the drama Jonah went through, he did what God told him to do. He went to Nineveh and told them exactly what God said to him to tell them. But here’s a surprise, y’all: the people of Nineveh repented! They flipped the script, changed the game; all those folks turned their whole lives around, like 180 degrees. They were having small group prayer services, fasting and praying, seeking the Lord—they completely changed their lives! They shocked the world! And watch this: Jonah was mad about it. Now, check this out: everybody’s rejoicing, but Jonah…