One evening last week while our grandchildren were with us, Sue told our 4-year-old granddaughter to go upstairs and tell me that dinner was ready. Her 8-year-old brother overheard the conversation and ran up the stairs ahead of her to tell me. The 4-year-old, still half-way up the stairs, let out a loud wail and burst into tears, saying, “Grandma told me to say it.” And she would not be comforted.
It was a teachable moment, so I told the 8-year-old, “Just because you are faster and bigger doesn’t mean that you can take advantage of her.” And I told him that I thought he owed her an apology. He did apologize and she accepted it through her tears.
Then my mind went back to a time when my little brother was holding one of those rolled up calendars with a steel rim across the top. I was bigger and stronger and I wanted it. When he didn’t give it to me, I grabbed hold of it and pulled, slicing his fingers in the process. I don’t remember apologizing, although nice boy that I was I’m sure that I did!
Some of you kids probably know how it feels when a school bully uses his size or his strength to tease or even to hurt you. Or, and I hope this isn’t true, maybe you have acted like a bully, getting what you want because you are bigger, faster, stronger or smarter.
Unfortunately, some of you have been abused or molested by people older and bigger than you and even after many years still carry the pain and the scars with you. And even though you have forgiven, it’s hard to forget. One author said, “Humans are such fragile creatures. They can be broken beyond repair.” Let me assure you that God wants to heal your brokenness. And in a few moments, I will invite you to bring your brokenness to God. (H. Schwartzendtruber. Jesus in Back Alleys. DreamSeeker Books. 2002)
All too often we hear in the news about poor people who get lots of jail time for a $10 crime and rich people who get off scot-free even though they have committed a million-dollar crime. The powerful often get their own way. If you have been following the news from the Middle East, you know that when the Israelis suspect someone from a Palestinian family might be a terrorist, the army bulldozes their house down. And the family is powerless to do anything about it. You might have also heard that the Israelis are building a concrete wall the length of the country to keep the Palestinians out of Israel. This wall goes right through the vineyards and orchards of the Palestinians, leaving them with no land, no crops, and no income. I find it ironic that Israel, who once was oppressed, is now the oppressor. Our world seems stacked in favor of those who have the resources and the power.
A moment ago we heard the story of Ahab, king of Israel long ago. On first reading, it may sound like a simple story of selfishness and greed. Here is a man who, even though he was king over a whole nation, was not satisfied. He wanted a little plot of land next door and he schemed to get it. He fit the description of Proverbs 21:26, All day long the wicked covet. Even though he already had a lot, it was not enough. Many of you know the answer that John Rockefeller, one of American’s richest men, once gave to the question, “How much money do you need?” “Just a little more,” he said. That is the way it was for King Ahab. He wanted just a little bit more. Last Monday’s reading in Our Daily Bread said, “Greed whispers in our ear that we would be happier if we had more money, more things, and more power. It creates discontent and a growing desire to do whatever it takes to gain position and possessions.”
Many times, people try to fill the spiritual vacuum in their hearts with material things when Jesus should be the real treasure of their lives. Eventually, Ahab got what he wanted, but his whole family suffered for it. In our country that has happened to some greedy executives of corporations as well. Proverbs 15:27 says, Those who are greedy for unjust gain make trouble for their households.
The story of Ahab is more than a story about greed; it is a story about power and injustice, about big people running over little people. But this story also reminds us that God is on the side of the little people, the powerless, the victims of injustice. As one author has written, “The popular gods of the human race [may] show much more respect and consideration for the strong, the wealthy, and the powerful than they do for the weak,” but in the Bible we have a God who chose to combat the strong in behalf of the weak. (G. Earnest Wright & Reginald H. Fuller, The Acts of God. Anchor Books 1969. p.75). When Jesus preached his first sermon, he quoted from the prophet Isaiah in Luke 4:18. God cares about the weak and the oppressed.
Even though Ahab lived a long time ago, I want to highlight three rules for living that we can learn from him.
Rule 1: Don’t throw your weight around.
I know that you kids understand why we need a rule like this. You don’t like it when someone gets to the head of the line just because he is bigger than you or gets chosen for the team just because he is faster than you. As I listen to kids talk, I often hear them say “That’s not fair.” They know when they are being pushed around.
As we know from our story, Ahab had his eye on Naboth’s vineyard. He probably thought that getting it would be a piece of cake. After all, he was king. All he had to do was say the word. But he was wrong. God had put a limit on the power of the king to keep him from treating citizens unfairly.
Naboth couldn’t sell the land because he had received it as an inheritance. We might think that if he received it from his father, it was his, and he could do what he wanted with it. But the fact is that his father had inherited this land and his father before that had inherited the land. None of them had purchased the land. Where did it come from? God had given it to them when they entered the Promised Land. The land was God’s promise to them. They didn’t buy it. They didn’t earn it. They didn’t own it. And since it was God’s land, they couldn’t sell it, not even to the king. They remembered God’s law that said The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. (Lev. 25:23) And no amount of money or power could change that. For Ahab to take it would violate the rights of one of his citizens.
Ahab’s power had limits. His power ended where the rights of his citizens began. He could not violate the rights, privileges, and freedoms of his citizens. That’s the way God had written the rules. And Ahab knew that to go against God’s rule would bring harsh consequences.
It’s a rule all of us need to understand. Being the owner of a company or boss of the crew doesn’t mean you can treat those under you as less than human. Being the parent of a child doesn’t give you the license to treat your child unfairly. You don’t own your workers or even your children. God has entrusted them to you for awhile. They have the stamp of God’s image on them. Treat them with respect.
God, in his wisdom, has given us two places where we can practice this rule: in our families and in the church. 1) Paul addressed family concerns when he wrote to Ephesians. He told husbands and wives to love and respect each other. He reminded fathers not to provoke their children to anger. It’s easy to overwhelm children with voices that are louder than theirs and bodies that are bigger than theirs. Let’s protect our children from abuse of any kind.
2) The other laboratory is the church. One of the fruits of the Spirit Paul names in Galatians 5 is gentleness. Last Wednesday evening as we talked about Christian fellowship, we came across words like sympathy, mercy, and courtesy. Living together as Christian brothers and sisters requires love, honor, and respect for one another, not lording it over one another. Rule 1 from Ahab: Don’t throw your weight around.
Rule 2: Don’t listen to Jezebel
Kids, this is an important rule, too. Sometimes when someone does something wrong, he says, “But she told me to do it.” Have you ever heard that? And then someone else will ask, “If she told you to jump in a lake, would you do that?” Think before you do what someone tells you to do, especially if you think that it might not be the right thing to do.
That is what Ahab should have done. He should not have listened to Queen Jezebel. Jezebel came from a family outside of Israel that served and worshiped Baal. She did not serve the God of Israel and so she had a completely different view of what kings should do. In her country, she was used to kings who acted like dictators, kings who take charge, kings who are willing to do whatever it takes to get their own way, even if it means killing someone. To her, Ahab seemed like a weakling because he recognized the limits God had placed on kingship. But, remember, she was not a spokesman for God. She was a bad influence on Ahab. He should not have listened to her. In fact he should not have married her.
Some of you are struggling with people like Jezebel in your own lives. You have made that all important decision to make Jesus king of your life and to follow him every step of the way. You want to clean up your act and walk a new path. But you are surrounded by people and values that go against what you know is right. And their advice contradicts what Jesus asks.
They say, “You are in charge of your own life. Do what you want.” Jesus says, “Follow me.”
They say, “Do your enemies in.” Jesus says, “Love your enemies.”
They say, “It’s O.K. to have sex with someone you aren’t married to.” Jesus says, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has committed adultery with her in his heart.”
They say, smoke, drink, do drugs, whatever makes you look cool. Last Wednesday morning we saw a woman walk down the street drinking alcohol from a bottle. At noon I saw her sitting alone on a step on Linden Street drinking. After our Wednesday evening meeting my path home intersected with hers and I spoke with her. She was carrying a can of beer. She must have seen where I came from. She said, “Say a prayer for me. I’m a poor lost soul.” I don’t know how she became what she is. Maybe some Jezebel in her life convinced her to go down the wrong road.
When Paul wrote to the Romans, he gave the Christians there some advice in Chapter 12. “Don’t let the world squeeze you into its mold,” he said. Remember that you are a citizen of the kingdom of God. Don’t let the voices of people like Jezebel confuse and mislead you. They come from a different kingdom. Kids, young people, you may find the summer boring or maybe you think your life is boring. Keep your eyes on Jesus; listen to his voice. People like Jezebel can lead you astray.
Rule 3: Don’t settle for a vegetable garden.
I’ll explain the vegetable garden in a minute, but kids I want you to think of it this way. When you go back to school at the end of next month, I want to encourage you to do your best and work hard on subjects you enjoy and work especially hard on those you don’t enjoy. If you are able to get a B, don’t be satisfied with a C. If you are able to get an A, don’t settle for a B.
Do you know what King Ahab wanted? He wanted the vineyard next to his palace. And he wanted to make it into a vegetable garden. Now I suppose there is nothing wrong with a veggie garden, but think about it. A vineyard takes years and years to develop. To destroy such a long range plan for a short-term project is a waste. But the garden idea has an even bigger meaning. When Ahab’s people were slaves back in Egypt many years ago, there were vegetable gardens all around them. But God delivered them out of Egypt so they could have not just a veggie patch, but a whole land for themselves. This is what the Bible calls the promised land. Deut. 11:10 “For the land that you are about to enter to occupy is not like the land of Egypt”
Ahab was ready to settle for less than what God wanted for him, ready to go back to the vegetable patches God had delivered his ancestors from. God had a whole territory for him if he had been obedient, but greed clouded his thinking and made him short-sighted. He was willing to settle for a veggie garden.
Sometimes people are willing to sell themselves short of what God wants for them. Young people are especially vulnerable because they want to grow up fast. One of the most damaging ways youth are doing this is by having sex and babies before they are married, a very short-term pleasure with years of hardship to follow, sometimes with poverty and regret when if they had waited and trusted God, he would give them a vineyard of family blessing.
Whether you are young or old, don’t sell yourself short. Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful.” It’s our task as pastors to teach, to warn, to persuade anyone who will listen to follow these three rules. Recently, Sue and I were encouraged by an email from a college student who helped with VBS. She wrote, “Just know that God is doing a great work and He can do all things. Begin to challenge the people of God to come higher in their walk and not be stagnant in their way of thinking but to always be teachable! We are to be in the world but not of the world because we are to remain set apart and holy in His presence and stay before His face daily. Stay encouraged and keep the faith! Continue to spread the good news to this dying world and minister life!” And that is what we intend to do.
In the end God showed Ahab a measure of grace when he repented, but as a result of his sin, both he and Jezebel died violent deaths.
Conclusion
I don’t know what God is saying to you this morning. You may be struggling with one of these rules. Maybe God is telling you to repent. You may be carrying scars in your heart. Maybe God is inviting you to be healed. Why not come to the altar for prayer?
