There’s something about the story of Jonah that has always bothered me – something that just never sat right.

It’s Jonah’s prayer in chapter 2. 

Until recently, I really couldn’t articulate just what exactly it was that bothered me so much.  Something was missing, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what that something was.  He acknowledges God as God.  He describes the hopelessness of his situation.  He honors God’s power and ability to save.  He celebrates God as his rescuer and rejects idolatry.  And all of those acknowledgements are wonderful, theologically on-point aspects of God’s character and are certainly worth lifting up in prayer.  Still, despite everything Jonah gets correct, something just seems off.

Now look, I’m not trying to judge Jonah or elevate myself above him as one who has mastered all things pertaining to God and prayer.  There is much I don’t know, and I have so much still to learn.  But with what I do know, I knew there was something missing in Jonah’s prayer, especially in light of what just took place in the chapter before. 

In Jonah 1, God calls Jonah to go to the people of Nineveh and call them to repentance on His behalf. 

Jonah refuses.  Not only does Jonah refuse, but Jonah runs away and boards a boat sailing to the other side of the then known world.  In doing this, he puts the lives of the sailors on the boat in danger as God chases Jonah down in a tempest on the open sea. 

Now let’s give credit where credit is due: Jonah owns the sin that created the context for the dangerous seas.  He fully acknowledges to the crew of the ship that their danger is his fault.  However, upon doing that, you would expect for Jonah to take this ownership to the next level. 

He was sent to Nineveh with a message of repentance.  He was sent to Nineveh to call them to account – for them to confess their sin, grieve it, reject it, and turn back to God.  Given the juxtaposition of the message of repentance God had entrusted to Jonah and the mess Jonah’s willful defiance against God had caused, you would think that repentance would be a central theme within Jonah’s prayer. 

And yet… there is not a shred of repentance in Jonah’s prayer.

No sorrow.  No grief.  No sense that he has come face to face with the cost of his own rebellion.  There’s no sense that Jonah is sorry for running or that any meaningful change has taken place within his heart. Jonah’s unrepentant heart is showcased all the more later in Jonah 4 when he angrily accosts God for being too merciful and compassionate! 

That’s what is missing in Jonah’s prayer.  That’s why it feels emptying and lacking – while he’s grateful for being rescued, he’s unrepentant.  While he’s thankful he’s been saved, his prayer shows no sense of sorrow for his sin. 

The prayer of Jonah reveals a terrible truth: we can be thankful for our salvation without ever really being repentant of our sin. Let that sink in.

We can be thankful for God without ever being repentant towards God.

We can be grateful for God without ever becoming graceful like God.

This sort of thinking is so incredibly dangerous because it puts the right words of the Gospel in our mouths, but never in our hearts. 

Jonah had been saved from the waters and for that he was thankful, but his heart was still oceans away from experiencing true freedom in and through God’s love that can only be accessed through humble, genuine repentance.

Sometimes I think I forget that the message Jesus preached was not, “Be thankful and believe the gospel” nor was it “Be grateful and believe the gospel.”  The message Jesus preached was, “Repent and believe the gospel.”  ~ Mark 1:15

Please don’t misunderstand me.  I’m in no way trying to downplay the significance of thankfulness and gratitude.  Thankfulness and gratitude are incredibly important.  However, if Jesus calls us to repentance and we never move past thankfulness, it’s a good indication that we’ve never really grasped the bitterness of our own sin or tasted the sweetness of God’s free, unmerited grace.

And if we never move beyond thankfulness towards genuine repentance rooted in the sweetness of God’s grace, I fear we will end up like Jonah, thankful but unrepentant; grateful but never able to extend grace to others. 

May it not be so of us.  Let us become more than thankful. 

May we be repentant of our sin even as we are thankful for our salvation in Christ.  May we be brokenhearted over our sin even as we are grateful to God for giving us new hearts through Jesus.  And in this beautiful fusion, may we extend to others the same grace we receive in Christ for the glory of God and the sake of the world.