Have you ever been confronted by a bully? I think most of us have at one time or another, especially when we were younger and I was no exception. I still remember the first time I encountered one. I was in the first grade. My mother made us wear kerchiefs when we went out to play and we know that we had better not come home without them. We were sometimes made fun of by the other kids but on one occasion a bigger kid – a bigger boy – demanded that I hand mine over so he could blow his nose in it. He didn’t really want it. He was being egged on by his friends and couldn’t back down. But this was my kerchief and I knew what would happen if I came home without it.
He finally tried to snatch it off my head – and I beat him up. Now I don’t recommend that as a way to solve all problems, but I did gain a lot of respect from the guys that day. But I confess that I have not always been so willing to put up a fight. Many times since then I have acted in ways that I am not so proud of. Many times since then I have handed over what was mine because it was easier and safer.
This morning’s scripture passage is not one that we hear about very often. The names of one or two of the characters may be familiar to us, but the story is not because it just strikes too close to home. We all want to think that when confronted with injustice, we will act justly, but many of us will admit that there are times when we prefer to turn our heads and pretend it isn’t there.
Many who read this morning’s passage will assume that this story is nothing more than a minor dispute between neighbors, but this story is not about more than a garden area. This story is about murder, greed, and deception and - courage.
Our story takes place after the schism that divided the nation of
One of the things he has done is to marry Jezebel, a princess from
As we read through these verses from 1 Kings, we see the great King Ahab acting more like a spoiled child than a responsible adult and a powerful monarch. He is at his summer palace and wants to do plant a new garden outside the palace walls. As is happens, the man Naboth owns the land next to the palace where the King wants to plant his garden.
It is his ancestral home, the land given to his family at the time the Hebrews came into the land. It is the land handed down from father to son to son to son and held in trust for the next generation and the next. Naboth is more than just a political activist or a stubborn holdout to eminent domain. He is the head of his clan and he believes that the land must be kept in trust or if sold, must be sold only to someone of his tribe. He knows that the Torah in Leviticus 25:23 prohibits selling the land at all.
When Naboth refuses to sell, Ahab sulks. Scripture tells us that he was resentful and sullen, that he ran to his room, jumped on his bed and wouldn’t eat.
Enter Jezebel – a take charge woman with a ‘can do’ attitude. ‘Don’t worry.’ She says. ‘Get up and cheer up. I’ll get you the garden.’ Do you notice that Ahab doesn’t ask what she will do to get the garden? He doesn’t question her plan – he doesn’t want to know. He is happy to have someone else do his dirty work for him as long as he gets what he wants. He turns his head while his wife hatches her evil plan.
Jezebel sends letters to the good people of the city – the elders and the nobles who have too much to lose by saying ‘no’. ‘Proclaim a fast’ she orders, ‘and seat Naboth at the head of the table’.
Next, she directs them to find two scoundrels to come in and accuse Naboth of treason. She may not have converted to the worship of the true God, but she knows the law: two witnesses are required to bring charges against anyone.
‘Naboth has cursed God and the King’ they declare. Treason against the king and dishonor of God. If the two witnesses are to be believed, there is only one punishment – stoning. But are the witnesses to be believed? Can all the elders of the town really not know who instigated the accusations? Can the nobles really not know that these charges are false? Can they stand up for justice without risking their own reputations, their own wealth, their own lives? Will they choose justice or political expediency?
Naboth is taken from the city and stoned and the good citizens of the town report back to the queen: ‘Naboth has been stoned. He is dead.’
It seems that injustice and greed have prevailed. That might has made right.
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But the main character – the most important character of our story is not the wicked King Ahab – and the person we need to talk about is not the scheming Queen Jezebel. The person we need to look at is not one or both of the two witnesses who made false accusations or even all those who, possibly aware of the Queen’s plot, threw down stones on an innocent man.
The character we focus our attention on this morning is Naboth – the only one of the four named characters in this morning’s scripture portion that we tend NOT to remember: Naboth, the honorable and courageous man who stood his ground, who chose to stand against injustice and do the right thing. Naboth decided to do what was right instead of what was easy. Naboth whose fellow townspeople stoned him to death rather than stand up for what they knew was right.
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We all admire the David who fearlessly confronts the mighty Goliath – the property owner who refuses to sell out to the big developer – the whistle-blower who alerts the authorities to the crimes of big business – we admire him or her – but we don’t want to be him or her. In our hearts we want to take the peaceable way, the easy way, the path of least resistance.
And somewhere in the last century or so, we have all been told that this is how we should be. We have been told that a faith that teaches us to turn the other cheek also requires us to let people walk all over us. We have been told that Christians are supposed to be complacent doormats for the world. We hear that Christians should always be good and kind and loving – and that we should stand by while corporate execs fleece their investors, while politicians pocket bribes and while police turn blind eyes to the crimes of their cronies.
We are told that Christians should always be ‘nice’ and not make any trouble. We should be ‘nice’ when we are cheated or challenged. That we should be ‘nice’ when others dare to take what is legally ours. That we should be ‘nice’ while others dishonor our God or disgrace our faith and that we should be ‘nice’ while the innocent suffer and the helpless are murdered.
But this is not the message of scripture. The message of scripture can be seen on a popular bumper sticker: ‘Evil Triumphs When Good Men Do Nothing’. Now as a woman, I would not let myself get off the hook so easily so I would change it to: ‘Evil Triumphs When Good People Do Nothing’. But even this doesn’t go far enough. It may not make as good a bumper sticker, but evil also triumphs when good people let themselves be pushed around and coerced, when good and Godly people refuse to stand for justice or when they become complicit in the sins of others.
Naboth lost his life when he stood for justice. But his loss, his death, did not go unnoticed by a just and loving God. The moment Ahab enters his ill-gotten garden, he is confronted by the prophet Elijah. Perhaps the townspeople will not reprove the king, but God’s prophet will. Perhaps the legal system could not stop the king, but God will. Perhaps the townspeople would not act justly, but God will.
Our God is not just another Mr. Nice Guy. Our God is no mere doormat for the world to walk over. Our God is a God of Love – but a God, a parent, a father, who loves, who really loves, does more than turn a blind eye to wrongdoing, and never hurts others so we can have the desires of the moment.
Our God is a God who demands justice, who cares for the homeless, who comforts the widow and who protects the helpless. Our God is no simple Mr. Nice Guy who meekly hands out all our dearest wishes and makes every dream come true.
We need to get it right – to turn the other cheek is to refuse to respond to insults not to avert our eyes from evil.
When the prophet Elijah confronts the king Ahab, Ahab understands that God has seen it all – that nothing has been hidden from the Holy One – and that his selfishness, his greed, his covetousness will not go unanswered. No More Mr. Nice Guy. Ahab and Jezebel will eventually pay for their sins.
In Galatians 6:7 we read, ‘Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow’. Let us this day decide to sow the seeds of justice rather than injustice. Let us like Naboth decide to stand for truth and righteousness whatever the cost. Let us determine that we, like Naboth, like Elijah, like the God we worship and serve, will be No More Mr. Nice Guy, no more Ms Nice Gal but that we will risk all for righteousness, that we will work for justice, that we will live and die as people of God who trust in a God who sees all and knows all and repays all.
Amen.
