Our sermon series for the summer has been the Book of Jonah. We will conclude our journey through this surprising book this Sunday August 24th.

Jonah is a man with issues. He hears voices. He runs from God. He is angry enough to die.

The surprising thing about Jonah is that he is not afraid of failure but rather of success. When God calls him to go to the capitol city of his archenemy he goes the other direction. But this is not because he is afraid of persecution or afraid of stumbling in his delivery of the message.

He runs and hides from God because he hates them and he knows that the God of the Bible is of such compassion and grace that there is a strong chance that his enemies will be pardoned. When his enemies do repent and God does pardon them that is when Jonah loses it.

He prays for God to take away his life. He is so angry he wants to die.

 The amazing truth in this little book is that God can handle his anger and his disappointment. This is true in our lives as well. When we are angry with the hand we have been dealt. When we are disappointed with our lives. God can handle that. We do not need to pretend or put on a mask. We can just say it how it is just like Jonah does in the final chapter.

Strangely enough Jonah is not the only prophet to pray for God to take away his life. Both Moses and Elijah pray the same prayer. In fact Moses says, "If this is the way you are going to treat me then put me to death right now."

Why are these prayers in the Bible? I thought this was supposed to be a book of heroes, men of faith who could not be shaken?? Actually there is only one hero in the Bible and that is God. Every man that he uses has issues. Some more serious than others. The Bible does not pretned otherwise. It tells it like it is. Whether it is Jonah's anger, Elijah's depression, David's adultery, or Peter's denials, the scripture is brutally honest about the weakness and failings of the men and women used by God.

This is where we jump for joy and get up to go on mission like God called us to do because we realize that God can use even the most mixed up of people. He loves us as we are. But he loves us so much that he will not leave us as we are.

Jonah lacks God's heart of compassion for others. We read his story hoping that God will give us a different heart than Jonah. A heart that rejoices when even one sinner repents and is forgiven by God's righteous grace.