Learning to Share

Okay, I’ll admit it: I learn a lot from Veggie Tales. Maybe not for the first time, but there have been lessons driven home through the creativity found in the lyrics of the songs that are sung by the colorful and animated fruits and vegetables. One in particular is their full movie production of Jonah. Can anyone walk away from that without seeing grace all over it? Come on – …Our God is a God of second chances… and third and forth and gazillionth. Why is it that we have so much trouble in seeing just how much grace we’ve been given?

Sharing is a big thing in our home and has been coming up a lot lately. With having a bonus kiddo or two since June, we’ve been discussing behaviors that we consider to be normal and kind of oh-duh type things. Sharing is an oh-duh for our kiddos so much so that we often have to tell them not to share. No, I really don’t want to try your gum that you’ve been chewing… Thank you, but I really don’t want to lick your ice cream cone that’s mostly melted and mixed with spit… There are definitely times to not share. But when sharing has not been encouraged or when possessions are prized due to lacking relationship, sharing might just be a brand-new concept.

I make it a priority to spend one-on-one time with my kiddos (including the bonus ones). It’s never anything super cool or exciting – it’s usually getting groceries. The draw is that it’s one-on-one and I get them a treat. Something small like a candy bar, a drink (we don’t do sodas, so this is their chance to get a soda), or a coffee (for the teenagers). What I’ve observed is that the teens (bonus kiddos) often ask what the other picked and then ask for something a bit bigger. If one got a medium drink, the next one will ask for a large.

While enjoying some candy that they’ve picked, completely sharable like Skittles or M&Ms, the response to the suggestion of sharing is that they don’t have to because it’s theirs. Which is true – they don’t have to. It was a gift to them. It belongs to them. But what if we acted that way with the grace we’ve been given? Forgiveness?

After Jonah tries to run away from God, gets swallowed by a great fish, and then vomited up on land after repenting, He goes to Nineveh and tells them that they had 40 more days before they would be overturned (Jonah 3:4)… and the people of Nineveh repented! Not only did they repent, but they repented right away! But what does Jonah do?

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. But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. He prayed to the Lord, “Oh Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live.” Jonah 3:10-4:1-3 NIV

Is Jonah so mad that Nineveh was given grace that he actually wants to die? He didn’t even want to go to Nineveh to deliver the warning because he knew God would extend mercy to them when they repented. The message of God’s goodness is so, so, so wonderful that Jonah knew the people would repent and they would be spared. Veggie Tales portrays Jonah not wanting to go to Nineveh because of the violence there (fish-slapping sounds fun for the kiddos), but the Bible tells us it’s because Jonah didn’t want them to be given grace; he didn’t want them spared from God’s wrath.

At what point do we determine, in our infinite wisdom, that someone doesn’t deserve a second, or third, or gazillionth chance? At what point should they not have the opportunity to have God show them His love? When I think about all the grace that God has given me, all the gazillion chances that I have needed, how could I possibly think that God’s Hesed isn’t going to chase down someone who also requires a gazillion chances?

Hesed is Hebrew and means lovingkindness. But not just any lovingkindness. It’s a covenantal lovingkindness that is in pursuit of what it loves. It’s a word that is used to express that there are not enough words to describe God’s love, mercy, grace, affection, and loyalty to mankind. I’ve read this word before, studied this word before, but never made the connection about the covenantal aspect till studying through the book of Jonah.

The covenantal aspect is what had Jonah in such a tizzy. Remember how so many Jews took issue with Jesus extending grace, love, and forgiveness to all the Gentiles (non-Jews)? Anyone who was not a Jew was not considered God’s children. Then God comes along and shakes things up for Jonah. He tells Jonah that the Ninevites were going to be extended the same covenantal, chase-you-down, overtaking lovingkindness, grace, and mercy that He had reserved for His people. But not only were the Ninevites not God’s chosen people, but they were considered their enemy.

When I think about the snobbery and hatred (yes, Jonah obviously hated the Ninevites), I have to pause and wonder who I’m being a snob to. Who have I determined to be unworthy of God’s hesed? Neighbors? Co-workers? Strangers? Family? Who have I decided is beyond God’s reach? Who have you decided to be beyond God’s reach?

Jonah knew that God’s goodness was something that the Ninevites would turn to. He knew that the message of hesed would have them turning away from their wicked ways (repenting). As Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), we are charged with representing Him, who He is and what He desires (His will). His desire is that all come to know Him (I Timothy 2:1-6), not just those who we deem worthy or likely to repent. I would rather heap grace on someone’s head (an accurate picture of God’s heart) than condemnation, guilt or shame.

Jonah is considered a reluctant prophet. He didn’t want to go, he tried running away, and he finally went (probably because he didn’t want to be digested). And he was angry when God’s message was well-received. Are we going to be mad when God works a miraculous change for someone we don’t like? Or are we going to mirror Heaven in celebratory praise and worship when an enemy of God repents and is brought into His covenantal embrace?

Here’s the movie reference for the post: If you build it, they will come. It’s from Field of Dreams – love that movie! I feel as though it’s the same concept with the good news. If we share it, if we share love to the unlovable, the Holy Spirit will bring them home. Step out in faith, share, and be prepared to experience hesed yourself. A lovingkindness that is out to overtake you.