This was Jonah’s reply to the Lord when asked if he was angry at the castor plant. Jonah as we remember was commissioned by God to proclaim a message of repentance to the people of Nineveh, he tried to escape from it, but with storm in the sea and the big fish that brought him to the shore, he eventually found himself in Nineveh. The Ninevites repented. I will quote the reading from Jonah 4:1-11, to give us a good look at the story.
“Jonah was very indignant; he fell into a rage. He prayed to the Lord and said, ‘Ah, Lord, is not this just as I said would happen when I was still at home? That was why I went and fled to Tarshish: I knew that you were a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness, relenting from evil. So now, Lord, please take away my life, for I might as well be dead as go on living.’ The Lord replied, ‘Are you right to be angry?’
Jonah then went out of the city and sat down to the east of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, to see what would happen to the city. Then the Lord God arranged that a castor-oil plant should grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head and soothe his ill-humour; Jonah was delighted with the castor-oil plant. But at dawn the next day, God arranged that a worm should attack the castor-oil plant – and it withered.
Next, when the sun rose, God arranged that there should be a scorching east wind; the sun beat down so hard on Jonah’s head that he was overcome and begged for death, saying, ‘I might as well be dead as go on living.’ God said to Jonah, ‘Are you right to be angry about the castor-oil plant?’ He replied, ‘I have every right to be angry, to the point of death.’ The Lord replied, ‘You are only upset about a castor-oil plant which cost you no labour, which you did not make grow, which sprouted in a night and has perished in a night. And am I not to feel sorry for Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, to say nothing of all the animals?’”
We always expect the wrongs we have done should have a commensurate punishment. Jonah was upset, because he thought at least God could have punish the people so that they will not do it again. In our society, we say, we must teach them a lesson. But God, knows the people of Nineveh, he knows that deep in their hearts, they don’t know fully what they are doing. “They cannot even tell their right hand from their left!”
What made God compassionate is that he knows us. He knows our human frailty that is why he understands. Thank God, He is God and not Jonah. This is actually our challenge, that when we look at the other person, we look at him or her beyond his or her actions, but actually asking what made that person do such things. We can never judge, we can only act on the things that can help make him or her a better person.
I had been confronted at times with that kind of situation, especially during the times when I was part of the YFC Council and we need to deliberate on the merits of the fulltime applicants. It is so easy to look at their exam results, reflections as well assessments from all sides. But at the end of the deliberations, the question is always, what can be the best for this person in his or her journey that He or she might be drawn more closely to Christ. Is this calling actually helping him or her? When we deliberate we don’t judge, we try as much as possible to be of help in the discernment of the brother or sister.
In our everyday life, we are challenged to go beyond the Jonah mindset and try to get to know more the other person, so we can understand his or her situation. Understanding the other will make us more compassionate. Compassion is what this wounded generation needs.
Lord, thank you for your compassion. Amen.