WHY GOD? GOD IS FOR US!



John 3:16-17
Jonah 3:1-10 

 Did you hear the one about the church that provided hard hats for first timers and long absent members as incentives to come to Church?  Believe it or not, there are people who think God is hiding around the corner, waiting to catch us at doing something bad so God can punish us.  What is the truth?  Is God for us or against us?


 Jonah was furious.  After all, it had been a rough week, and now it seemed pointless.   Admittedly the three days in the belly of that fish was his own fault for not following God's orders.  Truth be known, he really didn't want to go to Ninevah because they were pretty nasty to the people of Israel.  Even after repenting and being thrown up on the beach outside of Ninevah, Jonah still had a chip on his shoulder.

For three days, stinking like fish vomit, his skin and clothing bleached by the stomach acids of the fish, Jonah walked across the city of Nineveh shouting, "Forty Days, and God's going to destroy you and your city!" Doom and destruction upon them all; that's what Jonah thought they deserved.

All that and what happens?  The people repent.  From the King down to the lowliest peasant, every one fasted and put on burlap to show their contrition and prayed for forgiveness.  And what did God do?   God forgave them, of course.

Jonah ...lost his temper. He yelled at God, “God! I knew it—when I was back home, I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish!  I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a program of forgiveness! "                     Jonah 4:1-2  (The Message)

Jonah sulked off mumbling to himself, "Well, that was six days of my life I won't get back!  There should have been smiting.  God is suppose to smite the wicked."


My dad told the story about the Sunday he decided to not go to church and instead spend the day laying down insulation in the attic.  He took a wrong step and his foot went through the living room ceiling.  His wife at the time, looked up at his dangling foot and said, "That's what you get, Art, for not going to church this morning."

There's quite a few people who believe that God is all about "getting" us.  God's only interest in us is catching us doing something wrong and then "smiting" us, punishing us with sickness, financial problems, or bad luck in general.

Think about a time when you invited someone to church.  Did their response sound something like this?  "If I showed up at church, the roof would fall in on me."

Someday I'm going to say, "Really?  I've got some good news.  If God was really out to get you, God wouldn't wait until you came to church.  If anything, God wants to drop a ton of grace and love on you,"

Looking at God's track record in the Bible, we see that God will try everything, give warning after, before God takes drastic action to correct His people.  From Adam and Eve to the people of Israel to the world today, God is for us.  God doesn't break off relationships and plot revenge.  God's plan is for reconciliation and new life, new ways to be in relationship with God and with each other.

John 3:16-17 tells us  “This is how much God loved the world [how much God is for every human being]: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.            The Message

If God is out to get us, why would God go to such extraordinary measures to make new beginnings and second chances possible and save us for true freedom in Christ and for eternal life?

Jonah had a problem with God's mercy and compassion towards the people Ninevah because I believe he thought he and the people of Israel held exclusive right to God's love and mercy.  Only God's chosen people had the market cornered on repentance and forgiveness.  As Christians, don't we do the same thing, sometimes -- we are so quick to curse our enemies, and so slow to pray for them?

God never signs an exclusive contract with anyone, including Christians.  God's grace, is inclusive, offered to everyone on the planet.   God's forgiveness was as sure  a sign that God was for Jonah as it was that God was for Ninevah, too.

God is for us and everyone else, deserving or not, because God loves us all unconditionally and wants us  all live in peace and fellowship with God and with one another.  God is for us all because God wants all of us to be able to experience the very best of God, turn away from sin and live in new and life-bringing ways.

When someone asks, "Why should I believe in God if God is only out to get me?" how will we respond.  What stories will we shareof our personal experiences with God who is for us ?

How will our words and actions reflect the unconditional love of God?  How will our relationship with them witness to a God whom we can wholeheartedly trust and believe in?


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