Grievances Require a Huge Gulp

Column for The North Huron Citizen, "From the Minister's Study" - July 18, 2025

            Which is harder to swallow: an entire person – or a grievance?

            People wonder, in the Biblical story of Jonah, how a “great fish” could swallow a prophet then spit him up again conveniently on shore nearer his appointed destination to continue his mission. (Jonah 1:17, 2:10) But the main point of the story is not the bite size or cavernous innards of a submarine creature, but the reluctant prophet’s own inner resistance to forgive his enemies. Let me explain.

            When God first tells Jonah to go preach against Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Jonah does not obey; instead he heads in the opposite direction as far as he can, boarding a ship to sail to a far distant port. He obviously considered Nineveh not worthy of a warning. What was so bad about Assyria that might make an Israelite hesitant to help its people?

            Nineveh’s king eventually calls on his countrymen to give up their “evil ways and violence” (3:8). Another prophet, Nahum, provides more detail: Nineveh’s sins included plotting evil against the Lord, cruelty and plundering in war, prostitution and witchcraft, and commercial exploitation. Assyria was one of the world’s first great organized empires, so had figured out how to use its power and resources to threaten, intimidate, and brutally dominate others.

            Can you relate? How do you feel toward others that rip you off, or treat you unfairly? What’s your attitude toward those that use power or status or speech to put you down, make you feel demeaned? Do you wish them well? Hardly! That’s just not natural. Far easier for us to want to see them get their “just desserts”, to wish to see the downfall of those who’ve put us down.

            Eventually God gets Jonah’s attention, saving his life after an insurmountable storm at sea. Jonah relents, goes and preaches to Nineveh briefly, then takes a seat outside the city to await its promised destruction. But he’s disappointed. Nineveh’s king proclaims a period of repentance and fasting. As a result - “When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened.” (Jonah 3:10)

            How does Jonah feel in response? Greatly displeased and angry – to the point of asking God to end his life because “it is better for me to die than to live” (4:4). The Lord replies, “Have you any right to be angry?”

            But that’s exactly how we feel when our enemies have done us wrong, have hurt us deeply. “I have a right to be upset! I want them to suffer just like they’ve hurt me.”

            Scale it down for a moment from the Evil Oppressive Empire and make it personal. Who might you find it hardest to forgive? Can you honestly pray for God’s mercy to be shown to them? My Dad and uncles fought in World War II, one uncle in the RCAF was killed in France in January 1945 returning from a mission. Would I want to see Hitler in heaven? (supposing, theoretically, in his dying moments in that bunker, he had sincerely repented) What about Josef Stalin, or Mao Tse-Tung, responsible for the deaths of millions? Some of the most despicable villainous criminals have repented and turned to Jesus in prison; would I want God to show mercy to them, after the horrible deeds they’ve committed?

            A third juncture in the Jonah story highlights how hard it is for him to give up his grievances. God provides a leafy vine to provide shade for Jonah and ease his discomfort, which makes Jonah very happy (4:6). But a worm withers the vine, and again the blazing sun and scorching wind make Jonah wish he were dead. Once more God asks him, “Do you have a right to be angry (about the vine)?” Jonah whines that he does; but God points out He actually has a right to be concerned about the thousands of people in Nineveh, whereas Jonah had nothing at all invested in the vine. Throughout the story, God’s character is highlighted as Jonah describes it in 4:2 (and is echoed throughout the Old Testament): “a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity.”

            Don’t be waylaid by a whale; don’t become flabbergasted by a fish! The point of the story of Jonah is not whether Nessie had a cousin lurking deep in the Mediterranean. The point is startlingly personal: would we be willing to do whatever it takes for even our enemies to be forgiven? Or would we be only to happy to stand apart and watch them be damned?

            Which brings us right to the cross of Jesus. He was the only perfectly innocent person that ever lived; He was simultaneously God in-the-flesh, so had every right to invoke judgment on His enemies. But rather, He went to the cross, being whipped and beaten and tortured to death in their stead, so they could be forgiven. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us… For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” (Romans 5:8,10) As sinners, we were God’s “enemies”... The cross shows us just how far God’s compassion and grace and abounding love is willing to go to save those who would reject Him.

            God, help me to become willing to have the same attitude toward those who’ve hurt me, that Jesus had toward sinner-enemies like me! To swallow my grievances, that I might taste Your grace.