The Place For Grace

“The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai, ‘Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.” Jonah 1:1-2


Location. Location. Location. The problem wasn’t the “what”—“Go and preach” was standard fare for a prophet. The problem was the “where.” Nineveh. God didn’t send Jonah to nice neighbors down the street but across the tracks (over 500 miles across the tracks) to rude, crude, and socially unacceptable foreigners. “The great city of Nineveh” wasn’t great because it was good but because it was big. Nineveh was infamous for its cruelty, violence, and idolatry. “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims” (Nahum 3:1). Even God had noticed. “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”


But why didn’t Jonah want to go? Not because of the bad news but because of the good news. Jonah wasn’t hesitant to preach God’s wrath, but he was hoping God wouldn’t show grace (Jonah 4:1-2). Jonah didn’t want those who didn’t like his country and who hadn’t cared about his God to escape the calamity they deserved. He wanted them to go down and go down hard. If the people in Nineveh never had a chance to repent, God wouldn’t have reason to relent, so Jonah ran away.


Before you act appalled, swallow hard. You may not have packed your bags and bought a ticket, but most of us have felt the same. Atrocities and injustices perpetrated by others onto us, those we care about, or those we hear about cause us to desire their downfall and hope for their ruin. They deserve to hurt. They should feel the pain. They surely shouldn’t be set free. In an effort to punish as we think best, we withhold our love and God’s grace.


I’m not speaking of societal justice. Courts, juries, and judgments are all God’s ideas. I’m talking to our hearts—to the hidden parts of our souls hanging onto resentment, bitterness, and anger caused by cruelness, betrayal, and lies. Yes, you have reason for revenge, and, no, they don’t deserve a do-over, but withholding the chance for change will send you places you shouldn’t go. Just because what they did was bad, doesn’t mean you’re better. We all sin in different ways, and our failures always affect others.


Since God met us where we were, we must reach out to others where they are. We can’t pick and choose the place for grace. We might not like the location, but God knows we both have a lot to learn about His love.