Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonah 3:10-4:11 Pentecost 17
Pastor Ron Koehler
Grace—Tucson, AZ
September 19, 2026
The Unfairness of Grace Kids will know what I’m talking about—and so will the rest of you because you were kids once. If you can’t picture what 1/32 of an inch is, just look at the letter “T” in the word Tucson on the cover of your worship folder. The lines that make up the “T” are 1/32 of an inch. If there are two pieces of cake or two brownies sitting on the table for two children…and one piece looks 1/32 of an inch bigger than the other…you know what will happen. There’s going to be a fight. “That’s not fair! His piece is bigger than mine!” There might even be tears! We don’t grow out of this, do we? If you have ever been passed up for a promotion or denied a bonus that you feel you deserved, you know the feeling. “Unfair!” You hear about a guy that you believe most certainly committed a murder going free. “Unfair!” If I’m nice to you, and you aren’t nice back? “Unfair!” We all have this sense of fairness. And we don’t like it if things seem unfair. And then…along comes God doing something completely unexpected. He doesn’t give people what would be “fair;” he gives them what they don’t deserve! That’s called “Grace.” And a man named Jonah hated it. As we talk about grace, there are three big things to think about: Fairness, Value, and Rescue. 1. Grace offends our sense of fairness. 2. Grace exposes what we really value. 3. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued. Grace offends our sense of fairness I’ll sometimes start talking about something and my will tell me, “It feels like I’m coming into the middle of the story.” So I have to back up and say what I should have said to lead into it. If it feels like we’re jumping into the middle of the story of Jonah, that’s because we are. We need the backstory, but we have to do the quick version. God told Jonah to go and preach against the sins of the people in the Assyrian capital city. Jonah didn’t want to go…refused to go…jumped in a boat going the opposite direction! Big storm…he tells the sailors that it’s his fault and to throw him into the sea. They do. God sends an enormous fish to swallow him. He spends three days in the smelly, slimy, stomach of it before God has the fish throw up, setting Jonah free. Now that God had his attention, he tells him again—go to Nineveh and preach. He gave them a 40-day heads-up that they would be destroyed if they did not repent. If you want to know how terrible these people were, ask me later. Let’s just say that history paints a picture of one of the most vicious nations the world has seen. I doubt whether you would have wanted to go anywhere near Nineveh. Jonah was almost certainly afraid of them. Maybe it’s hard to believe, but Jonah had an even bigger fear—and it’s disgusting.
He did end up preaching and the people repented! Jonah’s law-preaching worked! He must have been happy and proud to have been a part of such a miraculous spiritual turnaround, right?! Sadly, no. What happened then is so stunning. Jonah cried, “Unfair!” Like stamping his feet and yelling, “I told you! I told you! I told you!” he says, “LORD, wasn’t this exactly what I said when I was still in my own country? That is why I previously fled to Tarshish, because I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abounding in mercy, and you relent from sending disaster. So now, LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.” I shouldn’t laugh because the subject matter is serious, but I kind of can’t help it when I hear Jonah's complaint. He’s angry because grace worked and people were saved! That’s not how a person called to serve as God’s prophet should feel! So arrogant before the holy God! So lacking in love for others! It’s absurd! Here’s the other reason it’s really not funny—there are times when we do the absurd thing and think that someone else doesn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Oh, we love grace when God gives it to us. We’ll confess that we don’t deserve anything from God and we’ll sing, Amazing Grace which puts that confession into song. We rejoice that Christ forgives sinners…but not always. We don’t always feel that way about someone who hurt us…or someone who has made just one horrible life choice after another…or someone who has different views than we have…or who mocks Christianity. Grace is a little too easy if God just hands it out without them having to do something. And really, some of them don’t deserve it at all. It would be completely unfair. But what would fairness look like? If God treated everyone as their sins deserved, Jonah would not survive it. Neither would Nineveh. Neither would you or I. If we received what was truly “fair,” we would get God's judgment. And so would everyone else. But Jesus took on the “unfair” of the cross. God’s justice demanded that a price for sin be paid—and we would have all paid the price if Jesus hadn’t come for us. But he offered to take our sins—and he took them all—to the cross. All the brutality of the Ninevites, the terrible attitude of Jonah, all the atrocities ever committed, all the idol worship, all the rejection of God by atheists, all our sins that we wrongly don’t think are as bad as those other things—all of it on Jesus’ shoulders when he died. He suffered and was killed because of us. You tell me, is that “fair?” Thank God he isn’t “fair” with us in the way our sinful hearts sometimes demand that he be with others.
Grace exposes what we really value When God asked him, “Is it right for you to be angry?” Jonah doesn’t answer. He walks away to go sit on a hill. In my mind I see Jonah angrily snapping open a lawn chair with a large umbrella planted in the ground, hand above his eyes, shielding the sun, as he looks off in the distance at Nineveh, hoping that somehow the LORD would still hammer them—even though he already said he wouldn’t. Jonah was mad. God’s grace moved him to keep teaching Jonah. Just as he “provided” a fish to teach him the first time, he “provided” a plant to give his prophet more shade. If ever a guy loved a plant, Jonah was that guy. Then God “provided” a worm to kill the plant, then a scorching wind. The sun is blazing. The wind is blowing. His cover is gone. And the Ninevites are getting away with being among the most evil and cruel people the world has ever seen. So…he’s delighted about a plant. He’s furious that sinners repent and are forgiven. You can see the problem. He cared more about himself and his comfort than he did about people—souls at risk of hell. Jonah had 120,000 reasons to rejoice, but the thing that made him happy was shade on a hot day. So when the worm comes, and the plant dies, and the wind blows, and the sun beats down, Jonah says it again: “It is better for me to die than to live.” And he tells God that he’s right to feel that way! Again, we shouldn’t laugh, but can you picture him? His fists balled up and his face bright red. He’s enraged that God forgave them and furious that his shade is gone and the weather is bad. All this makes him wish he was dead! We would never be that ridiculous, right? Wrong. What gets us most upset? What kinds of things do we complain about? Clueless drivers. Netflix keeps buffering and we can’t watch our movie. If we damage something or lose something we enjoy, how long are we upset about it? The AC breaks and we’re so hot (that sounds like Jonah!)! The car got wrecked. The stock market went down. Someone posted something online that you didn’t like. Maybe these things don’t make you want to die, but there can be a lot of anger there and a lot of energy consumed by them, and it’s sometimes hard to let it go. Let me ask you this: How concerned are you that your friends don’t trust in Christ? How concerned are you—and how much do you pray—that Muslims would come to know Jesus for who he actually is? Do you rejoice when a murderer waiting for trial comes to know his Savior—or do you question his sincerity and not want it to be true? Are you filled with joy when the not-always-nice spouse of a friend comes to faith on his deathbed—or do you doubt it? What do you really value? Is it grace? Maybe one more thought about what we value. Learn from Jonah’s plant. He didn’t create it. He didn’t grow it. He didn’t earn it. God gave it to him. And God could take it away. And he did.
God needed to teach Jonah what was important. And as he did it, he showed grace to him too. Look at the things he used to bring his heart and mind into line with his: a fish, a plant, a worm, a wind. He rescued Jonah from the sea. He recommissioned him, used his preaching, and instead of tossing him aside because of his weakness and sinful anger, he had patience with him. What patience God has with sinners—including us. How many times has he had to teach us the same lesson? How many times have we valued comfort more than compassion? In grace, God keeps coming to us. He confronts us with our sin and urges us to look to Christ and be forgiven. THAT is what we should value most—not the “plants” in our lives. Grace rejoices over people God has rescued Then God delivers the final lesson: “You have been concerned about this plant. You did not work for it or make it grow. It grew up in one night and perished after one night. So should I not be concerned for Nineveh…? If you turn the page to see what chapter 5 of Jonah says, you’re going to be disappointed. There is no chapter 5. This is how it all ends—with the LORD asking the question of the prophet. You’ve been concerned about this plant and how uncomfortable you are. Isn’t it a lot more important that I should be more concerned about more than 120,000 souls? Jonah’s thoughts or answer to the question are not recorded. I hope you have some thoughts about this. I hope you get what God was trying get his prophet to understand—that his grace is something to rejoice over! You experience it. You know what life feels like knowing God’s love and his forgiveness in Jesus. And you should want that for everyone, no matter who they are, or what they’ve done. Shouldn’t God care about people who have wandered away…about people who don’t understand…about people who can be a little difficult to be around…that unbelieving family member…the college student who drifted away from church when they stepped onto campus…that one person whose lifestyle makes you uncomfortable? Of course he should care. And God’s grace should bring us joy whenever we see it work in someone’s life. It is always good news when a sinner repents. It is never something to resent. Jonah looked at Nineveh and saw people who deserved judgment. God looked at Nineveh and saw people who needed mercy. And at the cross we discover that both things are true of us. We deserved judgment; God unexpectedly gave forgiveness. That is grace. Amen. Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.