I was at a restaurant with my wife in Pacifica, California, during a summer evening many Sundays ago.
We sat at a beautiful table, ready to enjoy dinner. Our table faced directly towards a floor-to-ceiling plate glass window. On the other side, less than 100 yards, was the Pacific Ocean pounding the surf. The sun finally broke through the coastal fog around 6:00 PM. Beautiful, majestic; our hearts filled with praise and gratitude towards God.
Outside, slightly to our right, were fishermen casting their lines into the surf. Suddenly, one of the fishermen caught what looked like a 30-pound striped bass. Awesome, praise God! What a catch! Several minutes later, another large bass. All this beauty is a gift from God.
The table to our right was seated with two men, one man slightly older than the other. I could tell that it was their first date. As their conversation carried into our booth, I was annoyed, angered, and critical. My wife could sense the tension and change in my attitude.
Suddenly, beauty faded. Gratitude left. Praises ceased. My sense of awe was dwarfed into awfulness.
What are “they” doing here?
God, they’re soaking up and wasting all this beauty. GOD… …the beauty – the ocean – the sunset is lavished on them. Do something!
Judgment rose within me. They are “those people” who bring God’s judgment on us all. I tried to block them, ignore them, wish them gone, hoping they’d finish their meals and leave. Then, it hit me. Yea, it shouted from inside my mind:
I want; no, I can’t wait for God’s judgments on ‘those people,’ they’re destroying our country!
Then a voice inside me said:
“This is my time of grace for the lost…”
His Spirit touched my heart, and immediately He gave me insight and the grace to see my sin.
He continued:
“…My Grace comes for the Lost, even the vilest sinner; yes, even for those two men, who for a moment were, by my choosing, your neighbor.
I lavished them with my glory, the works of my hands, and my breath over the waters that they may see the mighty waves pound the sand. I hooked those great fish to those lines that they might know I provide. I, not you, broke through the clouds and, at just the right moment, displayed my splendor and majesty to the crowd.
And you, my dutiful son, did not lift one finger to welcome or even offer a “good evening, gentlemen.” You, my son, are lost. You’ve quickly forgotten the depth from which I drew you, the vileness of your own sin, which, let me remind you, has been fully pardoned and atoned! Should I not have compassion for those whom I choose?
You’ve forgotten I came not for the righteous but for the sinner. I came not for the well, neither the well-to-do nor the do-gooder. I came for the lost, the vilest, the better. I’m not too weak to save the homosexual or promiscuous heterosexual. I see no degree, no difference between the sins of men.
You’ve questioned my judgment! Do you want me to withhold grace for judgment on those whom you choose? There already exists an appointed time of judgment for the rebellious, the coward, the unbeliever, the faithless, and the murderer, those who love to live a lie. But it is not now. I have my “Grace Agents” all over the world, commissioned to seek and save the lost.
You suffer from Jonahitis!
You think you can sit comfortably beneath my heaven, waiting for judgment to fall on the unrighteous? You are on the wrong team. You’re cheering for judgment! I don’t know you because you don’t know me. You’ve lost touch with my heart. You better draw near; you better search me out, humbling yourself and repent from your wicked bout.
You’re correct about one thing; judgment is coming; it’s nearly here. The world, and yes, even the United States, will get a taste of what’s near. But this judgment is not for the lost, the homosexual or adulterer, not for the murderer or thief, liar, or cheat. It’s coming for you. You, who call yourselves by my Name, refuse to say “good evening, gentlemen” or hello, neighbor. You, who are amazed by my amazing grace, only to keep it hidden and selectively gracing only the attractive and well-dressed, the sinless and smell-good-people.
It’s the people who attend my Sunday worship services, raising their hands in awe, lowering their heads in sweet repose, singing me “love songs” of sweet devotion, and giving such melodic lip service. You can sing and worship all you like. I want your obedience and not just your sweet “I love you, Lord.”
You’ve sat too long in those cushiony pews. You’ve basked in my presence long enough! Now, GET UP. GET OUT. Ask me for my heart and eyes, and I will place them into your hearts and minds.
Then, once again, you will remember. You will feel what I feel and see what I see and cry for the lost sons and lost daughters. You will no longer see homosexuals or prostitutes, murderers, adulterers, liars, and cheats. You will see the lost and hurting, broken and needy.
Let me unveil something new to you, “repentance with action,” yes, righteous deeds will only revert my day of disaster against my Church. Stop your prim and pose services, your judgments, and the stingy hoarding of grace.”
If you recall, Jonah’s sailing companions were fearful and terrified of the sea’s great fury! They feared for their lives and prayed in a hurry. Only finding Jonah asleep in the hull, they shouted and roused the man of God from his slumber, “What have you done, and what god have you angered?”
“I serve the Lord God,” said Jonah; God said I must go to Nineveh and preach all over. But the people of Nineveh are vile and sinful, “said Jonah. They’re undeserved of God’s grace, so I’m off to Tarshish after this nine-day-cruse for some rest and some peace.
I know this God who chases me, churning up the seas and bringing you to your knees. He thinks I’m not smart or wise to his ways; if I go to Nineveh, he’ll forgive, and he’ll save! So why should I bother and upset my vacation plans? If the sinners go unpunished, why save and heal the land?
Your disobedience and running are threatening our lives; you, not we, have brought God’s judgment to light; here cast in your lot, and let’s see if it’s so!
The lot fell to Jonah, and they tossed him over the bow; he hit the water, sinking to depths far below. No prayer could be heard, no pleading was pled, he sternly and steadily held in his head, no confession, and no repentance to bring change to his dread. He hits bottom, surrounded and tangled in seaweed and mire; he offers a faint cry, higher and higher; a great fish appears, swallowing him whole and entire.
The wayward prophet calls out to God;
“When my life ebbed away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs.”
O Church, wake up! You’re asleep in the light God’s anger is coming, but not for the lost. We’ve been headed in the wrong direction! The world cries for a Savior, and we cry for heaven. We spend dollars and hours prettying our sanctuaries, staining our stained glass windows, and tuning our instruments. We Christianize our music, our cars, and our shops. We invent new ways to heavenize everything we touch.
We think we can vote in morality by Christianizing our politics or changing our Nation’s future with “born-again-and-again” candidates. We’ve forgotten that God appoints the rulers we deserve according to our righteousness, and then His judgment will swerve.
You say the homosexual, the transvestite, the tattooed and the pierced; the thief and robber, the liar and cheat have brought us Katrina, Northridge, and Ike. The earth shakes and quakes because the sinners are unrighteous? No. We’ve got it wrong! The earth shakes and quakes, rumbles, and floods; it becomes hotter or colder because we’ve left things undone! Judgment is coming because the righteous practices unrighteousness.
It’s because of the sins of “omission.”
We’ve omitted God’s grace from our neighborhoods and marketplaces. We’ve omitted God’s grace from our downtown, uptown, and the lowdown; from the down-and-outers, underachievers, and meat-eaters; from our dinner tables, family rooms, boardrooms, and horse stables. Grace can’t be found, not because sin abounds, but because we want judgment to fall against the unrighteous!
We yearn for the rapture, “operation exfil.” Christ yearns for a victorious and triumphant bride! Her beauty and rightness are her righteous acts and deeds.
Then God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry because the plant died?”
“Yes,” Jonah retorted, “even angry enough to die!”
Then the LORD said, “You feel sorry about the plant, though you did nothing to put it there. It came quickly and died quickly. But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people living in spiritual darkness, not to mention all the animals. Shouldn’t I feel sorry for such a great city?” Jonah 4:9-11
Should we be angry that sinful people flourish? Or shall we feel what God feels and offer them Christ, in us, their only hope and glory?
God, heal us from our Jonahitis!
Call To Courage 