He Takes on Our Pain (1)

I've been having some excellent conversations with my new friend Scott Bane about real ministry. I have to say that lately I understand with much more clarity the verse where Jesus talks about the cost of being his disciple.

When you are intentional about sitting and learning at Jesus' feet, you can't help but eventually be led to what he was led to: sacrifice on behalf of those who are drowning in sin.

In Genesis 6, we see a population of people that didn't know right from wrong. The beginning verses are hotly debated, all for really stupid reasons. Some say the "sons of God" are fallen angels and some think they are some line of Seth or something. That's completely beside the point. Whoever these people were, the point is that their sin was so severe that it was to the point of no return. Yet God still had a heart that was grieved:

(Gen. 6:5-6) The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.

They sinned. God felt pain.

In Jonah, there was an entire city of people (Nineveh) that are in a similar situation, but they are not beyond saving as the story turns out. God calls Jonah to deliver a message of destruction to them. He eventually delivers this message even though he doesn't want to, and somehow this city responds to the message. As a result they not only repent, they declare a fast for the people AND the animals. One verse later it reads:

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.

What comes next is interesting because God is not done with Jonah, who at this point is pissed off because God forgives the sinful Assyrians instead of destroying them. God teaches Jonah an object lesson.

To paraphrase here's how it goes: God causes a vine to grow and give Jonah shade from the hot sun. Jonah grows a fondness for this plant. Immediately God takes the vine away by killing it. Unsurprisingly, Jonah starts complaining again and this is where God makes his point:

Jonah 4:9-10 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?" "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?"

And that's how the entire book ends! The level of violence and corruption in Nineveh looks worse than Gotham city in the Dark Knight, but they are showing signs of repentance, and all Jonah cares about is a STUPID vine to shade his STUPID head.

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Can you feel the urgency that God is displaying in His call for disciples who will be willing to pay the cost of suffering and grief for those who are suffocating under the burden of their own sin?

I fear that those who have at least been bold enough to stand up for their faith in Jesus for a time may NOT have courage to walk away from their insignificant distractions, their vines, and have some compassion for people who are one step away from destruction.