But God said to Jonah, "Is it right for you to be angry about the plant?" "It is," he said. "And I'm so angry I wish I were dead." – Jonah 4:9

Today's Scripture Reading (April 6, 2026): Jonah 3 & 4

This is the second time in Jonah 4 that God has asked Jonah if he had any right to his anger. The first time was over the salvation of Nineveh. And the second time over the death of a plant. Here, Jonah replies, "Yes, I have the right to my anger. And if my rights are not going to be respected, I might as well be dead."

The story of Jonah is all about the selfishness of Jonah. It is about what Jonah wants. For Jonah, this is part of his definition of love. Don't miss this: throughout the entire story, Jonah craves love. He wants God to love him. What he doesn't want is any expectation that he will love others. And one of the realities of life is that, to be loved, we have to love. As long as he, or we, cling to our rights, we cannot really love because love does not ask that question.

Paul addresses the question of rights in his first letter to the Corinthians. In it, he addresses his right to be cared for by the church as well as his right to bring a wife with him when he travels. Other disciples, specifically Peter, made liberal use of these rights. But Paul did not. "But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ" (1 Corinthians 9:12b).

I am convinced that rights and love do not go well together. If you begin to focus on your rights in your marriage, then your marriage is in trouble. We do for those that we love what goes beyond the idea of rights. And the idea of sacrifice has always been at the cost of our rights.

God had asked Jonah to go to Nineveh and sacrifice his own desires and wants for the people who lived there. He wanted Jonah to love them. But Jonah refused to love them until God forced him. Now, he is more concerned about his right to be angry than about the people of Nineveh whom he had saved.

I also believe that unless we love, we cannot be loved. What Jonah needed the most was to be loved. But that was impossible unless Jonah loved. I think our capacity for holding love is fixed. If all that we do is receive love, our love barrel fills up. And once it is full, nothing more can be added. Love was never meant to be something we hold on to; it flows through us. The more we love, the more capacity we have to feel love. Some walk among us who have not felt loved for a long time because they have been unwilling or unable to love.

This inability to love describes Jonah. God was speaking directly to Jonah's craving for love when he called him to Nineveh. But Jonah was unable to process that idea. He knew that he craved love, but it had been so long since he had really loved anyone that the idea of love now only existed in his realm of selfish desire. God had a two-pronged need for Jonah. Jonah had to go to Nineveh because God loved Nineveh, but also because God loved Jonah. But Jonah had stopped loving without expectation, and so his love barrel had filled. God was the creator of the land and the sea, creator of the fish that had vomited Jonah up onto dry land, the creator of the sailors and of the people of beautiful Tarshish and evil Nineveh. God was the creator of Jonah, and He knew that unless Jonah could learn to love without rights and expectations getting in the way, he would never be able to feel love again; the very love that Jonah craved would be unavailable to him.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus equated this idea of love with "being perfect."

⁴³ "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? ⁴⁷ And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? ⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

                                                            Matthew 5:43-48

Be Perfect. Love despite your selfish rights and expectations. Love those who disagree with you; love, hold them in high regard, knowing that they, too, are loved by the creator. And, maybe, to the extent that you can do this, you will find that you, too, can receive the very love that you crave.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hosea 1