Hang ‘Em
What makes Twitter light up?
When do TV ratings go off the charts?
How do things become trending topics that everyone is talking about?
When someone has done something wrong and the mob goes after them.
As much as we hate to admit it, we are a mob society. We look back at the times when punishment was flogging or hanging and we cannot believe it. Yet, I wonder how different we are from our ancestors. Someone does something wrong today and there is no room for retribution; no space for redemption.
There is a well-known character in the Bible named Jonah. We all know Jonah as the guy who got swallowed up by a whale. If you attend church, you may also know that he was swallowed because he did not obey God. He was called to go to the city of Nineveh, but Jonah wasn’t having it. So, he got on a boat and headed in the opposite directions. God, being God, brought on a huge storm sending Jonah overboard.
What isn’t talked a lot about in this popular Bible story is the end. Jonah ended up back in Nineveh. Let’s be real: you can’t run from God. So, Jonah tells the people about God and they end up changing their ways. So, God had compassion on them. Jonah did not like this. He wanted them to be held accountable for the wrong doings. But, God had other plans and did not follow through on the destruction He had once promised.
Jonah sulked under a tree angry at God for not doing anything to the people of Nineveh. He wanted some sort of consequence. Instead, God gave them grace. Jonah and God had a little chat while he sat under that tree (Jonah 4). Jonah was angry with God. Ironically, God had mercy on Jonah providing him with a leafy plant that grow over him creating shade in a very hot environment. Jonah was still mad.
We can shake our fists at Jonah and roll our eyes. We can be all judgmental and talk about how we’d never do that. But, if we are being honest, you and I have been Jonah a time or two. We’ve desired some kind of penalty for others’ wrong-doings. And when the punishment didn’t come, we sat and sulked praying it would.
I don’t want to be Jonah sitting under the tree angry that the people actually repented.
I don’t want to miss an opportunity to witness grace.
We have a decision to make. We can celebrate with God when someone turns towards him. Or, we can sit in our anger and plot revenge. I choose grace.
Jonah missed it. He absolutely missed an opportunity to witness the power of a loving God right before his very eyes. Instead, he chose to sit in his distaste for what God had done: given grace and mercy to the people He loved. I wish we knew what happened to Jonah. The story ends with Jonah angry wishing he was dead and God reminding him of His grace that his so wide and deep it covers all. We don’t have to know the rest of Jonah’s story to make a choice for how we want to live our lives. We can learn from him and decide the next time the top news story tells us to hang someone out to dry, we choose grace.
There is always space to right our wrongs.
There is always room for others to make things right.
There is always space for grace.
Love & Blessings,
Meg
Find the story of Jonah here: https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Book+of+Jonah+&qs_version=NIV