Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 51:11-18; Luke 11:29-32
Poor Jonah! He succeeds where he doesn't want to. He hates the city of Nineveh, the capital of Assyria; he would like nothing better than to see it destroyed. But he suspects, rightly it turns out, that if he announces their doom then the people of Nineveh will repent and God will relent. So when God tells him to go to Nineveh, he resists. He doesn’t want to tell them of the judgment, because then they might repent and God might relent. But God has other plans.
Have you ever willed someone else’s harm and destruction? Perhaps you haven’t prayed for it, but you’ve delighted in it when it comes. Perhaps you’ve thought, “Serves them right.” I’ve thought that. i’m ashamed to say it, but I have.
Sin is separation from God. I cut myself off from God when I turn against God’s commandments: love God, and love your neighbor. Willing their destruction is as much a sin in Jesus’ book as actually doing it. It doesn’t matter how big the other person’s sin is; my burden is heavy when I refuse mercy and forgiveness.
Forgiveness is not justifying the wrongs done by another. It is refusing to let those wrongs destroy my life and humanity, my relationship with God. When I find myself gloating or hoping for another’s downfall, I can only say: “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your holy Spirit from me. Give me the joy of your saving help again, and sustain me with your bountiful Spirit.”
Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner.
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