Kings of Summer: Truth to Power

July 7^th, 2013         “Truth to Power”        Rev. Heather Jepsen

Sermon Series: Kings of Summer

1 Kings 21

          Today we continue our sermon series “Kings of Summer” where I challenge myself to preach strictly from the Old Testament texts of 1 and 2 Kings and where together we boldly go where we have hesitated to go before, into a direct encounter with the God of the Old Testament.

          In worship this summer we have been following the story of Elijah.  We began with the story of his call and his early miracles in the land of Sidon with the widow of Zarephath.  We have witnessed his challenge of the prophets of Baal with a showdown of the gods, victory in the form of fire from heaven, and eventually the coming rains to end the drought.  We have seen Elijah get out of control, slaughtering the 450 prophets of Baal and then spiraling down into a suicidal depression.  And we have witnessed God move past Mount Horeb, not in the fire or earthquake but in the still small voice that is present in our hearts.  Finally, God dusts Elijah off, pats his rump, and sends him on his way to anoint Elisha as his eventual successor.  Today we meet Elijah again, as he is called to speak the truth to power.

          Today’s story takes place in the land of Jezreel where Ahab has his winter palace.  A fellow named Naboth owns a vineyard next door and after years of looking out the window at it, Ahab decides that he really wants to have the place for his own vegetable garden.  Ahab makes Naboth a fair offer, “Sell me your vineyard or trade it to me for another piece of land.”  Naboth declines the offer, saying “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.” 

          There is a lot going on here behind the scenes.  First of all, there is a lot of symbolism in the vegetable garden/ vineyard language.  The term vegetable garden is used in only one other place in the Old Testament and there it is used in a derogatory way to describe the land of Egypt.  By contrast, the use of the vineyard term is prolific in the ancient texts to describe not only the Promised Land but also the relationship between the nation of Israel and the Lord God.  Vineyards in the Bible are a sign of God’s blessing.

          The other background theme here is the understanding of land in ancient Israel.  All of the Promised Land is regarded as an inheritance given by the Lord to the people.  Ahab’s offer is fair, but the vineyard is Naboth’s ancestral inheritance.  Israelite law stipulates that ancestral estates must remain within the family or clan.  So, it is more than mere sentiment that causes Naboth to turn down the offer, he is religiously obligated to keep the land in his family.  To sell the land to Ahab would be an affront to both his family and his faith.

          Naturally, Ahab is depressed at this news.   Though he has led the people astray, Ahab is still the king of Israel and is bound by the laws of Israel.  The fact that he wants Naboth’s land, does not give him the right to take it, even if he is the king.  Ahab’s wife Jezebel though comes from a different tradition.  She neither understands nor accepts the religious laws of Israel.  She is a worshipper of Baal and so abides by a different set of religious laws.  She is also a Sidonian princess so she abides by a different set of rules for the noble class.

          Jezebel does not understand why Ahab is so put out by Naboth’s denial of his request.  “Aren’t you the king of Israel?” she asks.  As Ahab pouts and sulks, Jezebel decides to take action.  Like many a wife before her and since Jezebel’s answer to Ahab’s mood is a familiar one, “Fine . . . I’ll take care of it!”  Using Ahab’s authority, Jezebel orchestrates the murder of Naboth in order to secure the vineyard for Ahab.

          Now I am not defending Jezebel’s actions here but I think it is important to look at things from her perspective.  If any woman in the Bible gets a bad rap, it’s Jezebel.  For some reason her actions in the books of Kings are associated with sexuality which in my opinion is just bizarre.  The real threat that Jezebel represents to the writer of 1 and 2 Kings is that of gender and power.  Jezebel is queen and has a different understanding of the role of power in the empire.  Claudia Camp writes in The Women’s Bible Commentary  that

“As a Phoenician princess, Jezebel was accustomed to royal prerogative and unused to the democratic impulse in Israelite culture that regarded land as a gift given to each Israelite family by Yahweh, rather than at the behest of the king.  Thus her brutal response to Naboth’s refusal to sell his vineyard may be understood from her point of view as an appropriate royal response to insubordination, in contrast to Ahab’s unconscionable weakness as a leader.”

After the unjust death of Naboth, Ahab is sent by Jezebel out to view the vineyard that is now his, and who should meet him there but our friend, the prophet Elijah.  Ahab seems less than pleased to see Elijah standing on his new plot of land.  “Have you found me, O my enemy?” he asks him.  Elijah then launches into a God ordained tirade against the king and queen.  Because Ahab and Jezebel have perverted justice, killed an innocent man, and taken land that was not theirs to take, God will punish them severely.  Elijah declares that disaster will come upon the house of Ahab, including graphic descriptions of the deaths of Ahab, Jezebel, and their children.  In a surprising move, Ahab repents his actions, fasting in sackcloth and ashes.  Though God is touched by Ahab’s humbleness, God will not spare him the humiliating death that has been promised.

          Of all of this summer’s stories of the Old Testament God, I think this morning’s reading is the most difficult.  Here we come face to face with that God we don’t like; the Old Testament God of violence and judgment.  The violent deaths that Elijah prophesies do come to pass for Ahab and Jezebel.  In one of those stories that makes me wonder why we tell children to read the bible, we find out in the next chapter that Ahab, while hiding in a chariot, is wounded in battle when an arrow manages to pierce him between two plates in his armor.  As the battle rages on in the heat of the day, Ahab bleeds out into the chariot.  As the dead king is brought into Samaria, we read that “They washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria; the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.”

          Jezebel’s death is an equally bloody and perhaps more familiar story.  In second Kings we read that as Jehu, the divinely anointed usurper to the throne of Israel rides into town Jezebel prepares to meet him “painting her eyes, and adorning her head.”  Basically she is dressing like a queen in order to hold on to any power or authority she still has among the people.  As she looks out the window to taunt Jehu, he calls out to her servant eunuchs, who betray her and push her out of her own window.  In another R rated Bible scene we read that “they threw her down; some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses, which trampled on her.  When they went to bury her they found no more than the skull and the feet and the palms of her hands.  “This is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, ‘In the territory of Jezreel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; the corpse of Jezebel shall be like dung on the field in the territory of Jezreel, so that no one can say, This is Jezebel.”

          What bloody disgusting stories these are, and this is supposed to be the will of God.  Ugh!  Even though we can understand that Ahab and Jezebel were bad people, these are some pretty brutal deaths, and frankly I am not OK with it.  As those who have used violence to get their way, Ahab and Jezebel die violent deaths.  I suppose there is justice in it but I don’t like these stories and I have a feeling that many of you share my opinion here.

          And what is even more troubling than the glorified violence of these narratives is the fact that more often than not, we find ourselves on the side of the bad guys in these stories.  Like the people of Israel, we have turned a blind eye to the injustice in the world around us.  If we haven’t picked up the stones ourselves, we have at least watched the murder of Naboth and we have said nothing.  We have not been strong enough to speak the truth to power like Elijah does, rather we have silently stood by and watched the atrocities of abuse of power and social injustice continue in our world.  Like the people of Israel, we stand guilty of the stoning of Naboth.

          I am talking here about the current political situation.  I am talking about a congress that cares so much more about money and personal gain than the people that elected them that they can’t get anything done.  I am talking about more laws to loosen gun restrictions after Sandy Hook than laws to restrict access to weapons.  I am talking about repealing the rights of voters.  I am talking about cutting programs for the most needy in our communities, from hungry kids to hungry seniors.  I am talking about lack of access to good affordable healthcare.  I am talking about big business that pushes out the local mom and pops.  I am talking about Monsanto and Round Up and genetically modified food that may or may not be making us sick.  I am talking about fracking and mining and drilling which ruins the environment all to the tune of making more money.  I am talking about kids separated from parents just because they happened to have been born on the wrong side of a line.  I am talking about never ending wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan where the killing of innocent bystanders is just an unfortunate cost to war.  I am talking about the erosion of our right to privacy.  I am talking about a war on terror or a war on drugs that has no beginning and no end and yet is always a reason to be killing someone, or spying on someone, or putting someone in jail. 

I am talking about all the Jezebels and Ahabs of our world who see what they want and take it, because they can, because they are powerful enough, and because we are too weak to say anything about it.  We are too weak to speak the truth to power.  When it comes to injustice in our world, the church has been a failure in their silence.  The church has been a failure in their silence!

          We don’t like these Old Testament texts because they are bloody and awful and difficult, and most of all because they remind us of ourselves.  They remind us of the ways we have seen injustice play out, of the many Naboth’s we have seen killed, of the many vineyards we have seen plowed under, and we have done nothing.  And so we stand condemned, guilty by association.

          Now, I believe that it is my job as a preacher to find a glimmer of hope in this text for us and to do that this week I am looking back to the last sermon.  I am remembering Elijah burnt out and sad sitting on Mount Horeb.  I am remembering God telling him to get back out into the world.  The same can be true for us today.

          Yes, we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  Yes, we have been complacent when faced with the atrocities of our day.  Yes, we have failed to speak the truth to power in our world.  Thankfully, we have a God who hears and answers our prayers for justice.  And though we may not long for the bloody deaths of those who abuse power, we do long for change in our world.  As the people of God, we can call for that change.  We can tell the truth about what we see happening in our world.  We can do our best to make a difference for good.  And eventually we can gird up our loins, and speak the truth to power, as we as a church are called to do.

          Who is the God of the Old Testament?  He is a jealous, brutal God, who works on behalf of the little guy and who seeks justice in the world.  The God of the Old Testament is a God who calls us, as God’s followers, to speak the truth to power.

It is my prayer for us today that we will not be like the people of Israel.  We will not silently watch the murder of Naboth and the stealing of his land and just let it happen.  No, it is my prayer that we will be like Elijah.  That we will be bold enough to speak the truth to power.  It is my prayer that this church would encourage honest open conversations about war and guns and healthcare and the rights of all people in our world.  There is still time for us to amend our ways.  There is still time for us to speak the truth to power.  May God give us the courage to do so.  Amen.