约拿的呼召和回应（拿1:1-17）

和十二小先知书一样，约拿书以上帝对先知的呼召开篇（拿1:1-2）。但是，和其他书卷不一样的是，约拿抗拒上帝的呼召。他愚蠢地试图躲避上帝的面，乘船到外国的海岸(拿1:3)。这样做不仅仅给他自己，也给同船的人带来了危害，因为正如我们在十二小先知书中所看到的，不守上帝的约带来真实可见的后果，而个人的行动总是会影响众人的。上帝差来了狂风暴雨。首先，狂风暴雨毁坏了水手们的商业前途，因为他们被迫丢弃了所有的货物，以便让船身更轻省（拿1:5）。接下来，狂风暴雨威胁到他们的生命（拿1:11）。只有当约拿提出要把他投入海中——海员们不情愿地接受了——才最终平息了风浪，消除了对众人的危险（拿1:12-15）。

上帝呼召我们的目的是服侍他人。呼召约拿是为了尼尼微人的益处。当他抗拒上帝的带领时，不仅仅他受召要去服侍的人受苦，他身边的人也遭殃。当我们承认所有人都受召在工作中服侍上帝时——我们的工作可能和约拿不一样，但对上帝而言同样重要（参考工作神学计划文章，《职业概述》）——那么我们会认识到，我们没有在工作中服侍上帝也会导致社区的衰弱。我们的恩赐和才干越强，假如我们在工作中拒绝上帝的带领，我们可能带来的伤害就越大。毫无疑问，我们可以想到很多人，他们的旷世奇才让他们有能力在商业、政府、社会、科学、宗教和其他所有的领域当中带来了巨大的伤害。假如他们能够将他们的技能首先委身于对上帝的敬拜和服侍，想象一下他们所能带来的好处，以及他们本来能避免的罪恶。相比而言，我们的恩赐可能看起来是微弱的；但是想象一下，如果我们在一生当中为服侍上帝而工作，我们将能做怎样的善事，将能避免怎样的罪恶。

上帝对各国的祝福（拿1:16，3:1-4:2）

Jonah disobeyed God's call because he refused to accept God's offer to bless Israel's enemy nation, Assyria, and its capital, Nineveh. When he finally relented and succeeded in his mission, he resented God's mercy toward them (Jonah 4:1-2). This is understandable, since Assyria was about to capture the northern kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 17:6). Jonah was sent to bless those he despised. However, this is God's will. It is clear that God intended to use the people of Israel to bless the nations, not just themselves (see, "Blessing the Nations (Jeremiah 29)" , "Jeremiah and Lamentations and Works" ).

Is it possible for each of us to try to place our own limitations within the blessings that God extends through our work? We often think that we must accumulate the benefits of our work for ourselves so that others will not take advantage of us. We may resort to secrecy, deceit, deception, shortcuts, exploitation, and intimidation to outperform our opponents at work. We seem to accept the unproven assumption that our success at work must be based on the expense of others. Do we believe that success is an either-or, zero-sum game?

God’s blessing is not a bucket with a limited capacity, but an overflowing fountain. “Try if I will open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing for you, so that there will be no place to contain it” (Malachi 3:10). Although we often face competition, resource constraints, and the ill will of others at work, God’s mission for us is not just to survive all the odds, but to dramatically transform our workplaces and enable creativity. and productivity, building harmonious relationships in society, and maintaining environmental balance—this is God’s will from the beginning.

Although Jonah initially refused to participate in God's blessings to an enemy nation, in the end his faith in God outweighed his disobedience. Finally, he did warn Nineveh, and they eagerly responded to his message amid Jonah's consternation. Throughout the city, “everyone, great and small” (Jonah 3:5b), from the king to his subjects, from the people on the streets to the animals in the flock, “everyone turned back from his evil ways and threw away the violence in his hands. ” (Jonah 3:8). “The people of Nineveh believed in God” (Jonah 3:5b), and “God looked at their deeds and saw that they turned from their evil ways, and he repented and did not bring on them the calamity he had spoken of” (Jonah 3:10). This frustrated Jonah because he wanted to continue to declare the consequences of the work God had called him to do. He wanted the Ninevites to be punished, not forgiven. He judges the results of his own work harshly (Jonah 4:5) and misses the joy of others. Do we do the same thing? When we lament the seeming lack of meaning and success in our work, do we forget that only God can see the true value of our work?

Even Jonah’s small, hesitant moment of obedience to God brought blessings to those around him. On the boat, he affirmed, "I fear the Lord, the God of heaven" (Jonah 1:9), and sacrificed himself for his companions on the boat. Therefore, they were saved from the storm and became followers of God. “Then they feared the LORD greatly, and they offered sacrifices to the LORD and made vows” (Jonah 1:16).

Jonah’s experience may be an encouragement to us if we recognize that our work in serving God can be hindered by disobedience, dissatisfaction, disengagement, fear, selfishness, or other evils of the heart. Here is a prophet who failed even more than we do in faithful service. Yet, through Jonah’s hesitant, flawed, and intermittent ministry, God fulfilled His mission to the fullest. By the power of God, our poor service can accomplish all that God desires.

上帝关心那些回应祂呼召的人（拿1:3，12-14，17；2:10；4:3-8）

根据约拿的经历，我们可能会害怕上帝的呼召会带领我们进入灾祸和困境中。希望上帝完全不呼召我们，是不是会更容易一点呢？回应上帝的呼召可能要求巨大的牺牲和代价，这是真的。[1] 然而，在约拿的例子中，困境并不是来自于上帝的呼召，而是来自约拿对呼召的不顺服。船难和在海洋大鱼肚子里面被埋的三天，直接来自于他试图逃避上帝的面。他后来所受的太阳和热风，还有他几乎想自杀的绝望（拿4:3-8）都不是上帝所施加的困境。困境的到来是因为约拿拒绝接受来自“有恩典、有怜悯的上帝“的祝福，他“不轻易发怒，有丰盛的慈爱，并且后悔不降所说的灾”（拿4:2）。

事实是上帝总是努力看顾和安慰约拿。上帝感动人们怜悯他，就如船员努力划船登岸，而不是接受约拿的建议，把他扔入水中（拿1:12-14）。上帝差派一条大鱼拯救约拿脱离溺亡（拿1:17），并且吩咐大鱼将他吐在旱地上（拿2:10）。祂让约拿在敌国尼尼微城的百姓中蒙恩，他们敬重他，并留心听他的信息。在尼尼微，上帝在约拿最需要的时候为他提供了树荫和一座棚（拿4:5-6）。

如果约拿的例子是一个范本，那么上帝呼召我们在工作中服侍他人，并不需要以我们的幸福作为代价。若我们期待相反的事情，则表明我们依然困在零和博弈的思维模式里面。鉴于约拿拒绝上帝的呼召时，上帝为供应他所采取的非凡手段，想象一下，假如约拿从一开始就接受呼召，他会经历何等大的祝福。旅行的方式，为他冒险舍命的朋友，和自然世界和谐的关系，树荫和歇息处，所服侍的人给予的尊重，以及工作上令人震惊的成功——想象一下，如果约拿如上帝所愿的接受它们，这将会是多么大的祝福！尽管约拿以贬低的方式强迫自己，但它们却表明，上帝呼召我们服侍也是一个祝福的邀请。