The Alternative Imagining | Richard Foster | Pulse | LinkedIn

The Alternative Imagining | Richard Foster | Pulse | LinkedIn

DISCOMBOBULATED

Discombobulated. Great word that, sort of rolls around your mouth. I was enjoying a family holiday recently and I was trying to work out my state of mind or at least find a word that described it, and that was it. Discombobulated.

The problem was that I and a number of my family members (9, leaving the other 10 at home) were on holiday in what by local standards could only be conceived as luxury. We had a large villa to ourselves, staff to provide breakfast and other meals as required and our laundry taken and delivered daily. We had our own swimming pool and the air conditioning dealt with the tropical heat and humidity. All of this was behind a secure wall with a security guard just outside to ensure our safety. All in all in it was a fantastic place to be. So what was the problem?

On the other side of the wall lived those who served us and many others in comparative poverty. They depended on the wage they received and the tips given by those who used their services. The infrastructure was either non-existent or badly run down, traffic rules were suggestive at best and there was little joy to be seen on the faces of those who sat at the roadside or tried to convince us to buy their wares.

This for me created a sense of dis-ease. Here am I, an advocate for social justice, I write about it, speak about it, campaign, sign petitions and fundraise on behalf of those who are disadvantaged. But now I was sitting in the midst of it but separate from it because I had the financial ability to pay for a safe haven in the midst of the squalor and disappointment endured by the local community.

For those who haven’t figured it out, this was Bali. The chosen holiday destination of many Australians. They choose it because it is cheap and it is accessible. For years millions of dollars have been poured into this island by visitors, but it does not seem that much of it is serving to improve the lives of the locals. There are beggars who appear at car windows on major road ways, the hawkers in the shops and markets make the walk along the road way unpleasant and the need to constantly refuse an offer to buy something quickly turns the polite ‘no thank you’ to a curt ‘no’ or attempt not to make eye contact at all. We teach our children to beat these sellers down to the lowest possible price no matter whether it is reasonable or fair.

The people who served us in our villa were and are beautiful, friendly people. Always ready with a smile and offer to help. However I couldn’t help but wonder what was going on beneath the smile, did they have any hope that one day they too could enjoy the type of privilege we were enjoying? Was there any expectation for their children other than more of the same? Was there a sense of resentment there, or is that only the preserve of the well off and the entitled?

As a minister of the gospel I believe and proclaim that the good news is a message of hope, that this message brings transformation and expectation of an eternal inheritance. But as I sat in my villa I had to ask myself, how this message would or could be received in a place like Bali, especially as so many of those who visit from a so-called Christian nation are happy to maintain the social imbalance so that they (and I) can still afford our cheap holiday.

I returned to Australia on Australia Day, the day when we celebrate the place we live by drinking a lot (it’s the Australian thing to do) and spending millions of dollars on an hour or so exploding little coloured lights in the sky.

We had a great holiday, we enjoyed the places we saw and the people we met. The church we attended was gracious and enthusiastic. But for me, I was left with a great sense of frustration – what could I do to make the difference that needs to be made. What is the point of preaching a message of hope and engagement in the life of others if nobody listens and nothing changes?  I will get over it and get back to what I am called to do – but right now I am discombobulated.

I Resolve

It’s that time of the year again, when the mind turns to making good resolutions for the year to come. Generally I try to make one resolution, which is ‘don’t make resolutions’. Otherwise I think I am just setting myself up for failure. I always start well but the initial enthusiasm doesn’t sustain me and then I feel guilty that I haven’t followed through.

However it is a good idea to reflect and think about those core values that I want to commit to and give evidence of in the next chapter of my life. You never know, that may result in changed behaviour, almost resolution by stealth!

In a letter to a bunch of Hebrew Christians a couple of thousand years ago the writer gave a list of ten behaviours that seem to me to be a pretty good pattern to follow:

·         Love each other

·         Show hospitality to strangers

·         Identify with prisoners, the persecuted and the ill treated

·         Be faithful in your marriage and make it work

·         Let your character be free from the love of money, be content with what you have

·         Remember those people that got you where you are and copy them

·         Don’t get carried away by wacky ideas and strange teaching

·         Keep doing good to others and share what you have with them

·         Obey your leaders and submit to them

·         Pray for those who established you

In the middle of this list there is a statement that seems almost out of context, it is ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever’. It seems the writer was looking back to the first five items on his list which ended with the injunction to keep one’s character free from the love of money and to be content with what you have. This was based on the reminder that God had said in history that he would not desert nor forget them, and that if God is on their side, then what do they need to be afraid of? The Jesus that was faithful then will be faithful now. More money is certainly not the answer.

As he looked to the future the writer seems to be warning that there will be some strange ideas and philosophies and the demand to honour and protect those of proven character will increase. It will be increasingly important to focus on what we know to be true, and of course in doing so we will focus on the same Jesus who proved himself in the past and can be relied on in the future.

As I look at this list I find that in every case there is room for improvement and I can certainly address myself to them. Maybe a strategy or a SMART goal or two, or even a KPI might help to keep me on track. But the reality, for me at least, is that unless the Jesus Christ who is the same today as he was in the past and will be in the future is not the one who guides and motivates me then it is just another set of resolutions that probably won’t get past February.

They didn't know him

When the apostle John recounts the story of the coming of Christ into the world he makes the remarkable statement: He was in the world, the world was made by him, and the world did not know him.

Christmas is upon us and around the world people celebrate this event by having a holiday, giving and receiving presents and eating way too much food. It is reported that last year alone in Australia $42billion was spent on Christmas and $17billion of that on food! Of course in other parts of the world Christmas is remembered differently and in some cases the ‘Christ’ part of the event is removed entirely. In some cases people will turn up at church, it may be the only time of the year but they come to pay respect to the one whom the event is named after. In others regular church attenders take the day off in their rush to enjoy the holiday.

Wherever you go and to whomever you speak Christmas as an event is understood and acknowledged, yet for many they do not know him. Christmas is an event that marks the entry into the world of a child, an event that so changed the way we view history that calendars are based on his birth. This was no ordinary child but as the apostle said, one who was full of grace and truth and who reflected the glory of his Father in heaven. Everybody knows about Christmas but many do not know about Jesus.

John goes further, he said that even his own people didn’t receive him. In many so-called ‘Christian’ nations today Jesus is no longer received. We want the event, the celebration, the festivities, but not the saviour. We cannot separate Christmas from Christ, it is not about the myths that accompany Christmas, it is not about getting bent out of shape because some people talk about a large man in a red suit. It is about understanding that Christmas is the entry of God into our world, it is about an offer to all who would receive and believe in him that they could become sons and daughters of God.

The prophet Isaiah, 700 years or so before that first Christmas, said that those who were in darkness would see a great light, because a child is born, a son is given and his name will be called Immanuel which means God is with us. The apostle John declared that Jesus was this true light, the light that could illumine every person. This Christmas Jesus offers the gift of light and life to you, his light will illumine the dark places, dispel the gloom and bring hope where you thought there was no hope. This is his gift to all who would receive him, by believing in his name: Jesus, Saviour, Christ, Lord, Immanuel, wonderful counsellor, mighty God, everlasting father and prince of peace. 

This Christmas, make sure you know him of who the story is written and receive him by faith and you will know that Immanuel, God is with you.

In the Meantime

There is a parallel between the times of the prophet Jeremiah and our own days. The people of his day were living in exile, because of their collective disobedience they were taken to Babylon where they were to remain until God re-established them in the city and land of their inheritance. In the meantime they were to live in the place where God had sent them in anticipation of a future when they would live under the rule and authority of the King of Kings. While we have not been taken into a physical exile, as the people of Israel were, we are living under the authority of an alien ruler whose desires are contrary to the plans of God, and we live in anticipation of the time when Jesus will return and establish his reign.

The times we live in lie between Christ’s ascension into heaven and his return in glory, in the meantime our world is under the rule and authority of Satan, the one who stands in absolute opposition to God and his purposes for humankind. These times are appointed by God and will end when he decides they should. While there are things that we can and should be doing which God requires before the return of his Son, we cannot bring forward the day, it is an appointed time and part of God’s eternal purpose. When the disciples questioned Jesus about his return, he answered that it was not for them to know when and how this would happen but in the meantime there was work for them to do. That work was to be witnesses to the things they had seen and heard, to be heralds of the good news by the power of the Holy Spirit that would indwell them.

We live in anticipation of the return of Jesus Christ; we are living as aliens in a land under the authority of a ruler whose plans, purposes, values and intentions are in direct opposition to our king. This isn’t our land; we are strangers here. It is inevitable then that there will be a clash between our values and those that belong to this world. One of the challenges this poses for us is how to succeed in the world of work, family and community while having different purposes and motivations from those we live among. Is it possible to survive, let alone succeed, in the business world without conforming to the standards and expectations of those around us? The apostle Paul’s answer to this dilemma was to instruct his readers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds; he went on to say that this was the most reasonable form of worship they could offer. The solution to successful Christian living in the midst of alien land is not to enforce a set of rules and regulations but to do those things that will serve to renew our minds. Once our minds have been renewed then there will be no problem in deciding between the various choices with which we are faced. Rather than try to live under a set of prohibitions, most of which we will occasionally fail to keep, we should focus on filling our hearts and minds with those things that will serve to bring our lives into harmony with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Too often Christians put themselves under a tremendous burden of guilt by following self-imposed disciplines, assuming that this is what it means to live a righteous life. God puts the emphasis on the positive rather than the negative, instead of concentrating on what you shouldn’t do focus on those things that will renew your mind. Fill your thoughts with the word of God, communicate regularly with Him in prayer, seek out the fellowship of others whose desire is to grow in Christ, and commit yourself to doing his will in your home, community and place of work. In this way your mind will be renewed and the details of life will look after themselves. 

Prayer born of complaint

The Bible records that as the people of Israel journeyed from Mt Sinai to Edom they were provided with manna to eat. This food was ground and baked and had the taste of sweet cakes. However they became bored with the lack of variety in their diet and began to complain. In fact they started to act as if they were suffering some sort of adversity and on hearing it, God became angry. The fire of God’s anger consumed some of the people and they died, but Moses prayed on behalf of his people and the fire died out. But they continued to complain and even began to weep and moan over their hardship. This caused God to become angry again and because the complaints of the people were directed at him, Moses complained to God that it was not fair, God was being too hard on him. He felt that he wasn’t receiving the favour of God and as it wasn’t his idea to bring them out of Egypt in the first place it was all too much for him to bear, he just couldn’t carry the load by himself. He became so depressed that he asked God to let him die rather than continue in this misery.

God’s reply was to tell Moses to find seventy elders to stand with him and share his load. God did not rebuke Moses for his complaint, but he didn’t allow him to die either. In a sense Moses was justified as the burden of his office was excessive and he did have to endure it alone. God met this need, he provided Moses with the support of others but then he also answered the complaint of the people in such a way that demonstrated his power and holiness. The people complained that they had no meat, so God said that he would give them meat. In fact they would have so much meat that they would become sick of it, they would eat ‘until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him saying ‘why did we ever leave Egypt?”’ Moses was stunned; he didn’t believe God could do it. He questioned him suggesting that all the fish of the sea or all the herd and flocks on the earth would be insufficient. But rather than rebuke him for lack of faith or trust, God asked Moses ‘Is the Lord’s power limited? Now you will see whether my word will come true for you or not’.

Once Moses had selected the elders, God sent a wind from the sea and on that wind were thousands and thousands of quail. There were so many of these birds that they covered the ground to a depth of about 1 metre on all sides of the camp as far as one days journey in each direction. The people greedily went and gathered as much as they could and started to gorge themselves. But as soon as the flesh of the birds touched their teeth God struck them with a plague and many died.  The place became known as ‘the graves of greediness’.

We can learn from Moses’ exchange with God. While it would seem that Moses spoke out of turn when he complained to God, he cried out from genuine need. He would rather die than fail in his ministry and yet it was too much for him to bear. He poured his heart out to God and God heard him. On the other hand the people had no legitimate ground for complaint and their ungratefulness for the blessings of God on their lives was met with a righteous response from God. He punished them because of their complaining but also because they rebelled against God’s chosen leader. In rejecting Moses, they had rejected God. God gave the people what they desired but it proved to be at great cost to them. If they had gladly received the blessings of God they would have been led securely in to a land flowing with milk and honey, instead many of them perished in the desert.

When we pour out our hearts to God with legitimate concerns, he hears us and meets our need, usually in very practical ways. God’s power is not limited, even when the situation seems beyond our understanding we must simply trust him. On the other hand when we complain without cause, we may receive what we desire, but it will often be at the cost of forfeiting God’s blessings.

Chance Encounters

In three of the great religious traditions of the world the person of Joseph figures prominently. Joseph was one of twelve sons born to the Hebrew patriarch, Jacob. He rose to prominence as the governor of Egypt and by using his own ability and a prophetic gift from God brought about economic and agricultural reform that not only protected Egypt through a long period of famine, but secured safety for his family and their people. His story is told in the writing of the Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions.

Joseph’s life was not however always quite so rosy. He was not popular with his brothers, who thought him spoilt and condescending and knew that their father loved him more than them. He had dreams that seemed to suggest that he was going to rise to a position of prominence and his whole family would need to bow down to him and he told tales on his brothers. It got so bad that he and his brothers could not speak on friendly terms and actively hated each other.

One day when Joseph’s brothers were away working with the sheep, Joseph stayed behind. Jacob decided to send Joseph to his brothers to see how they were doing and report back, so off he went. But when he got to the place they should have been they weren’t there. As he wandered around Joseph encountered a stranger and so he asked him where he might find his brothers, the stranger replied that he thought they had gone off to a place called Dothan, so Joseph went and found them there. From that point on Joseph’s life was changed completely.

The identity of the stranger is not revealed. The Bible doesn’t say where he came from, where he went, what his name was or what he was doing in the fields. All we are told is that he found Joseph and had a short conversation that changed the direction of Joseph’s life. As I reflect on this story I also reflect on those one off conversations which have changed the direction of my life. Sometimes I know the identity of those people, some of them have faded from memory, but there are a number who have said something that has caused me to pause, or reflect or to change.

As a pastor and an educator it is my hope that I will have some of those conversations. Where something I say, even if unknowingly, has changed the course of someone’s life for the better. Joseph endured a lot of pain after his encounter with the stranger and it is likely that he didn’t see the change of direction as immediately beneficial. But it was necessary, not only for his sake for many others, even whole nations. It is possible that those words I sow into the lives of others will not always produce immediate benefit, in fact if acted upon they may even produce pain. But with God’s grace they may produce the right result.

You may look back and recall those whose words that have changed the course of your life. I remember a conversation with a business man in Argentina who changed my thinking about my ministry. I became convinced that I was called to pastor a community, not a congregation. That conviction led me to resign from my church and caused a lot of heartache and suffering – but it was the right call. I also recall a conversation with two young girls, also in Argentina, who asked if they could pray for me – that encounter caused in me a desire to understand the heart of the heavenly father toward children and the broken and changed my life. You may have similar recollections of those great and small who have affected you.

It may also be that you are the one whose words of challenge, encouragement or even direction will alter the course of someone’s life. Seek out those opportunities, use your words wisely – who knows your unwitting counsel may one day change the course of history and the fate of nations!

The Art of Zen Navigation

The hero of ‘Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul’ (the book by Douglas Adams),  Dirk Gently espouses the practice of Zen navigation when trying to find his way to a particular location. According to Gently this practice requires that if you become lost or unsure of your way you should follow someone that looks like they know where they are going and follow them. You may not get to your original destination, but you may discover some interesting things along the journey.

I have used this method when trying to navigate labyrinthine road networks or find a way home after a popular event, sometime successfully, and sometimes not. The consequences of those actions may have resulted in some time loss or disappointment but rarely more than that. However the same technique when applied to navigating through the more complex issues of life can have more significant consequences.

Yet, it seems that for many of us we are quite content to do that. In our search for meaning and truth we will often attach ourselves to some prominent and perhaps well-meaning individual who seem to have the answers and follow them. This is no more obvious than in the pursuit of religious truth and knowledge.

The recent panoply of celebrity religious leaders who have fallen into difficulty should serve as a precautionary notice, but if we know anything from history, we will probably take little notice. In recent times prominent leaders have fallen over for reasons ranging from tax fraud, misappropriation of funds, inappropriate contact with minors, verbal and emotional abuse of those under their care and questionable doctrine to name a few. What we can learn is that to blindly follow any religious leader (even those who profess the same faith that we do) is fraught with danger. All men and women are prone to disappoint and none can claim infallibility. Sadly, though, it seems that we would much rather take the road followed by many than make sure that it is the right road.

Following a leader who is convinced they know where they are going may be interesting, even exciting but it may also lead us to the wrong destination. History is littered with examples of sincere people who have blindly followed populist leaders in every arena of life, only to have their dreams and sometimes their lives destroyed.

Jesus offered an antidote to this malaise. He confidently declared that he was the way and the truth, and if you wanted to find your way to your father in heaven, your only option was to follow him. To aid us in this task he provided us with a road map for life that we call the bible. But just like in more recent times, not all of us are that good at reading maps so he also provided a navigational aid, which he called the Spirit of Truth. This Spirit was sent to those that received him on the day of Pentecost and for the years after that those new believers met together to discuss the journey ahead and to agree on the best way to take, with the benefit of this Spirit of Truth.

In more customary language we understand this to mean that a relationship with Jesus himself is the only way to discover truth and it as those who share this relationship meet together that the Holy Spirit discloses truth to them. Each of us has the privilege and responsibility to discover the pathway though the journey of life before us. We will not find it by simply following some enthusiastic, gifted and prominent leader but though a relationship with the author of life and in community with those that we share the road with. Christians are a privileged people, they have been told the way, in the bible, received the gift of the Holy Spirit and communion of others who share the same faith. These things working together will provide all the guidance we need to chart our way through the uncertain journey that lies before us.

God of the Gaps

In 1894 Henry Drummond wrote: ‘There are reverent minds who ceaselessly scan the fields of Nature and the books of Science in search of gaps. Gaps which they will fill up with God. As if God lived in the gaps?’

While this is possibly the first time ‘God of the gaps’ was used in literature, the concept was not new. Many years earlier Hippocrates wrote:  “People think that epilepsy is divine simply because they don't have any idea what causes epilepsy. But I believe that someday we will understand what causes epilepsy, and at that moment, we will cease to believe that it's divine. And so it is with everything in the universe”

For many God is simply the interim answer to those gaps in our knowledge that we have yet to fill with scientific discovery. An ‘act of God’ is a term used on an insurance claim to explain something out of the control of human kind. When we don’t understand or can’t find an explanation we invoke the name of God. This is very convenient but it relegates the whole idea or person of God to the limits of our understanding. It makes God a creature rather than the creator of our intellect.

God is real and he is personal. He does not want to be limited to the role of filling the gaps of our experience or knowledge. God expects to be a part of every aspect of our life and understanding. He is the reason for our existence and the ultimate purpose of our lives. How does God fit into our experience? Do we like so many others relegate him to finding solutions to those matters that we cannot solve for ourselves, or do we invite him to participate fully in all that we do and want to become? Is prayer a last act of desperation after we have exhausted our capacity and resources or do we turn to him first of all expecting him to engage with us in finding solutions to the problems we face? Has God become the God of the gaps in our life, do we limit him to ‘spiritual’ matters or is he an active partner in all of our experience?

The idea of a ‘God of the gaps’ was once a popular means of trying to prove the existence of God. But God doesn’t need to be proved, he doesn’t require the authentication of human, and necessarily limited, intellect. He needs to be honoured, acknowledged and worshiped. Don’t try to fill up the gaps in your life with God, instead enter a personal relationship in which he fills all of your life and gives new meaning and expression to how you live it.

Days of Elijah?

Elijah was a man chosen by God to bring change to the people of Israel. It was a time of religious ceremony, but corruption at every level.  During his life he confronted one of the most powerful men of the region, spent some time alone in the desert and then experienced the challenge of home life with a poor, destitute widow. After a remarkable demonstration of courage and tenacity he faced down the false prophets of his day only to fall into depression and in fear for his life into the wilderness. Alone in a cave he had an encounter with God which started with self-justification and ended with restoration.

Sometime later Elijah returned to confront the king because of his complicity in an act of murder. That confrontation ended with the changed attitude of the king but no lasting benefits. At the beginning of Jesus’ own ministry he referred to those tumultuous times as the ‘days of Elijah’.

In 1994 Robin Mark wrote a song, that has become well known to many, which he called ‘Days of Elijah’. He wrote this as a song of hope against the backdrop of the Rwandan civilian war in which one million people lost their lives. In explaining his song he wrote:

   How do you express the sense that these might be days, not of failure and submission, but of the sort of resilient, declaring, even arrogant trust and hope that Elijah had in his God? That these are not days of God stepping back and allowing the world and the church to roll uncontrolled towards eternity, but rather days when he is calling on his body to make a stand, to offer right praises and to declare that He is totally in control. Well, I reckon you may write the words “These are the days of Elijah”.

We live in a time that once again cries out for hope. There is conflict on every side and injustice carried out in the name of good government. The nation of which I am apart has justified its own actions of sending people seeking refuge to the poorest nations of the world rather than offer them a safe haven, even in the light of condemnation at home and abroad. Daily the media carries threats of terrorist attack and atrocities that have been committed, and there is barely a week that goes by without the report of some natural or man-made disaster that has taken the lives of many.

Against this backdrop, there is faith and confidence that God is in control. Whatever the crisis or the calamity, the indescribable God contains the universe in the palm of his hand. He brought the world into being with a word, he sustains it with a word and will bring it to conclusion with a word. His plans and purposes are beyond our understanding or even imagining and even in the midst of the most atrocious acts of barbarism he remains immovable and steadfast. Tersteegen once wrote that a God that can be comprehended is no God. Or to put it another way, when God becomes small enough for us to understand, he ceases to be big enough to be the God we need him to be.

These are the days of Elijah, God is in control, though the mountains rage, and thunders roar, he is still God. Where there seems to be no hope, there is hope. Together we must make a stand to declare our trust and hope in our eternal God and help to bring about the transformation we desire in our land and beyond by confronting injustice wherever it exists. Let us make a stand for righteousness and refuse to back down in the face of evil

When leaders fail

The historian that wrote the account of Ahab believed that he was the most evil of all the kings that had served Israel. He had done all that his predecessors had done and more. While he had introduced idol worship at the incitement of his wife, Jezebel, he was responsible and God was going to hold him accountable. But once Ahab had heard the judgment that had been pronounced against him it seems that he finally grasped the enormity of his actions. His response was to at least adopt the outward signs of repentance.

While there was no evidence of the changed behaviour that should accompany genuine repentance, it seems that he was sincere. God drew Elijah’s attention to the fact that Ahab had humbled himself and because of this had given him a short stay of execution. Whether or not we feel that Ahab was genuine doesn’t really matter. God accepted Ahab’s outward signs of repentance and extended mercy toward him, He did not take away the penalty completely however, just put it off until the next generation of Ahab’s family came to power.

This account reveals that God is ever willing to extend mercy but sin has consequences. Ahab had led the people away from God and while they had willingly gone along with him, the responsibility rested with him. God accepted Ahab’s repentance and withheld the penalty that he was to receive, but the judgment would come nevertheless. Sometimes when the things we do go unpunished or seemingly unnoticed we assume that we have got away with it, but God does not forget and he will bring to light the consequences of our actions. However he always allows us the opportunity to acknowledge our failure and genuinely repent. The apostle Peter writes ‘God is not slow about his promise…but is patient toward you not wishing any to perish but for all to come to repentance’. The promise he is speaking of here is the promise of judgment. The fact is that God is much more willing to forgive than we are to ask it of him. He wants to extend mercy but there is a condition. The apostle John writes that if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just and he will forgive us. But he requires us to acknowledge our failure and to genuinely commit to making the changes that are necessary to walk in fellowship with Him.

Ahab did those things which publicly demonstrated that he was aware of his failure. In that way he humbled himself before the people that he had previously oppressed. Even if his repentance wasn’t as thorough as it could have been it would still have cost Ahab dearly to humble himself in the sight of his people. There is no indication about how Jezebel responded to his apparent repentance but Ahab repented and God extended mercy. Perhaps if Ahab’s repentance had been more thorough or accompanied by acts in keeping with a change of life, such as the removal of the false gods or restoration of Naboth’s land to some remaining members of his family or tribe, then God would have relented from the judgment completely. As it was he secured a temporary reprieve.

God expects that his people act in a manner that is in keeping with righteousness. But knowing that we are weak and prone to failure he makes provision for the times when we fall short of his expectations. Even though we may feel we have let him down badly, or that we have acted in such a way that we have lost our position and privilege God is ever ready to offer mercy. Failure, even moral failure is not terminal. God delights in restoring the broken.

The tragedy of Ahab was that his moral failure had caused not only personal cost to him, but had drawn the people under his influence into this same web of deceit and loss. Those that are leaders have the God given responsibility to lead with integrity and righteousness, otherwise they too may cause the failure of those under their influence. There is only one way back from this precipice; that is to acknowledge the weakness, turn from it and seek God’s mercy. He is more willing to give it than we are to receive.

To whom much is given...

While Ahab rushed to take possession of the land he had had stolen from Naboth, Elijah was having an encounter with God. Ahab may have thought that he could get away with this crime, perhaps if he had stayed at arm’s length others would bear the guilt and he would be spared. Maybe God didn’t even know. If he thought this he was severely deluded. Nothing escapes God’s notice; he understands our motivations as well as our finished acts. He knows exactly what is going on in our hearts and minds and he will ensure justice is done.

The last time Elijah was in Jezreel  Jezebel told him that she intended to kill him and he ran for his life. Since then he had been in the wilderness of Damascus waiting on God’s latest instructions. Now, God spoke to him and told him to go to back. Elijah obeyed, there was no fear this time, no disobedience he had rediscovered the confidence that came from knowing he was in the centre of God’s will. He went to Jezreel and he met Ahab in the vineyard that he had taken from Naboth.

The message that Elijah gave Ahab left no room for debate. God placed the responsibility for Naboth’s murder clearly on Ahab and he was going to be judged because of it. Jezebel would not escape and neither would any of his descendants. When Elijah arrived Ahab addressed him as his enemy, in a sense he seemed to say ‘not you again Elijah, what do you want this time?’ Elijah responded by saying his appearance was due solely to the evil that Ahab had committed.

Not long before Ahab may well have been congratulating himself on his latest acquisition but before he had even had a chance to plant his first row of beans everything was being taken from him. His ill-gotten gains were of no use to him now, not only would he lose the vineyard but he was to lose his life, his reputation and his inheritance in the land. Elijah declared that Ahab had sold himself to do evil. This was no momentary lapse; it was a calculated plan to do what he knew to be contrary to the will of God and what would result in the death of a righteous man and his family. Ahab had become a slave to sin. Ahab had sold himself to his sinful desires and now could no longer resist the impulses to do those things he knew to be wrong. He may have thought that he could act as if God did not exist, he may have believed his own skill and craftiness would protect him from eternal threat and he may have believed that he would be spared the judgment he deserved, but he was wrong. God had sought him out and sent Elijah to deliver the message. His sins and his past had caught up with him. What he had sowed he was about to reap.

Elijah didn’t hold back when he pronounced God’s judgment on Ahab. He was going to be swept away, not only him but his entire family, every descendant. Jezebel too would feel God’s wrath and she was going to suffer the further indignity of being eaten by the scavenging dogs that roamed the city. Elijah told Ahab that he had been guilty of not only provoking God’s anger by the sins he had committed and the evil practices he had introduced to Israel, but he had caused the nation to sin as well. By his marriage to Jezebel he had introduced idol worship and even if this was not a new thing to the people of Israel he, by his support of his wife had sanctioned the practice, in a sense giving the people a license to that which was contrary to God’s will. But these crimes were not new and it was only now, after the murder and dispossession of Naboth that God declared his judgment. The question that Elijah asked Ahab went straight to the heart of the matter: ‘have you murdered and taken possession?’ Naboth was stoned outside the city walls and left there to die, the roaming dogs would have licked up the blood that was spilt and now God is telling Ahab that the same fate will befall him.

God is always the champion of the weak and powerless and expects his people to act in the same way. But Ahab murdered the weak and took from him something that was entrusted by God himself. God’s righteous indignation had been stirred and now he told Ahab what the consequences of his evil were to be.Instead of protecting the citizens of the country and safeguarding their rights Ahab allowed his desires to so affect his judgment that he conspired in an act of murder. When God places men or women in places of privilege and power he expects great things from them, to whom much is given, much is expected. The fact that a person has been used in the past or enjoys status or position does not protect them from the consequences of their sin. God is ever ready to forgive our failure and sin but when we will not willingly turn from it he will hold us accountable. It is true that Ahab’s sin was at the extreme end of the scale but in his day a king had almost an unfettered right to do as he pleased the people and resources of his country. At least pagan kings did. God demanded a much different standard from those that represented him. Jezebel’s actions were almost understandable given the times and the circumstances in which she lived but Ahab had no such excuse. Whether the kings of the surrounding nations acted that way or not was irrelevant, Ahab was appointed by God to shepherd the nation of Israel in the ways of God. He had failed in his task absolutely and this failure was shown up by the way that he had treated Naboth, a loyal and righteous citizen who was powerless in the face of the King.

God often entrusts his people with privilege and power and he expects that they will use it in the defence of the poor and the broken hearted. He assumes that his people will assist the poor and bring relief to the needy. He is provoked when those who are called by his name do those things that add burdens to the struggling or oppress those who are powerless. God will hold to account those that bring his name into disrepute by their behaviour toward those in need of justice.

The Set Up

King Ahab of Israel had set his heart on a particular piece of land on which to grow vegetables. Unfortunately for him the owner, Naboth refused to sell, and having his hopes frustrated Ahab went to his room and sulked. When Jezebel his wife heard what was troubling the king she immediately decided to take matters into her own hands. She was confident that this was a problem she could solve. Whether she had determined how she was going to do it at that stage is not clear, but she was in doubt that she could secure the vineyard that Ahab had set his heart on. Jezebel may have taken some time to come up with the right plan but eventually decided on a course of action that not only resulted in the death of a righteous man but also drew the elders and leaders of the city into her guilt.

Jezebel wrote letters to the city leaders under the seal of King Ahab. The leaders may even have believed that the letters came from Ahab himself but in any event they simply went along with what was asked of them. Jezebel instructed these leaders to proclaim a fast and place Naboth in front of the people. They were to act as if they were conducting a judicial proceeding with Naboth, the accused, on trial before them. Then they were to produce to accusers who would declare that Naboth had been guilty of blaspheming God and the King. As the King of Israel was the representative of God, any blasphemy directed at him was considered to be blasphemy of God himself, so the alleged offences could have been one and the same. That the allegations were false would have been clear to both the leaders of Jezreel and to Naboth, but before this group he had no chance of a fair trial. Any pretence of justice was removed with the instructions of Jezebel to take Naboth out and stone him to death without seeking a defence or entertaining any argument on his behalf.

The elders and civic leaders of Jezreel must have been fully aware of the injustice that was being committed; yet they remained silent. In the face of a command from the king they meekly accepted their role and joined in the guilt of Ahab and Jezebel. The politician/philosopher Edmund Burke once wrote ‘all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing’. This was certainly the case in the days of Jezebel, the good men of Jezreel knew that they were in the presence of evil but rather than take a stand for righteousness sake they did nothing and evil triumphed. In fact they did more than nothing; they joined in the conspiracy. Perhaps they were afraid of the consequences if they resisted, maybe they thought that some benefit would come their way if they agreed to the King’s proposal. Or perhaps they just blindly obeyed what they saw as a legitimate command. There is no question that we are called to live in submission to our political and civic leaders, and when we are in the workplace or at school the concept of rightful authority extends to those who are our superiors. And of course this concept extends to the family. But what happens when one of those with legitimate authority asks is to do something that is clearly wrong or even evil? Do we go along and claim that we are only obeying orders? Do we do nothing? Or do we take a stand for righteousness sake, even if it will mean almost certain suffering for us?

The leaders of Jezreel chose to engage in the conspiracy to not only defraud the descendents of Naboth of his land but to commit murder. By their silence and complicity they perpetrated injustice not only on Naboth but on the whole of Israel. The leaders and elders did as they were commanded and conducted their mock trial. These men were probably once the friends of Naboth, men who lived with him in the city. That Naboth knew them is clear. Twice they are referred to as having lived with him in Jezreel. They would have sat in the gate together and talked over the events of the world and probably discussed all the things that were happening: the drought, the amazing events on Mt Carmel and the appearance of that strange prophet Elijah. They might even have shared war stories following the recent triumphs over the Arameans, but now they were being told to set up one of their fellows, a neighbour and land owner who had done nothing wrong except refuse to sell his land to the King. He was a man who had placed his obedience to God above the prospect of material gain and now he was going to be betrayed by his friends.

Once the trial was over Naboth was taken outside and stoned to death. In the account of this tragedy it is revealed that Naboth’s sons were also killed at this time. The result of these acts of murder was that there was no one to claim the land,  a person who was guilty of blasphemy forfeited his property to God but if he was convicted of treason then the land was forfeit to the king. The way was clear for Ahab to come and take it for himself. Until this moment Ahab had remained apart from the conspiracy that was taking place but as soon as he received word from Jezebel that Naboth was dead he went with unseemly haste to take possession of his land.

Why Ahab would be so concerned with a vegetable garden is not at all clear. It is unlikely that he would have been out tilling the land and planting turnips or other crops for his own amusement. And as king he could have the best of land wherever he wanted as long as wasn’t part of the inheritance God had given to his people. But for some reason he had his heart set on this particular piece of property and he was prepared to allow others to scheme, defraud and murder on his behalf just so he could have it. Now Naboth and his family were dead Ahab could have what he wanted. I wonder how he felt when he took possession. Was it all worth it; did he feel satisfied? Or was there an empty feeling inside, a sense of disappointment that what he now had didn’t give him the pleasure that he had expected. All too often the things we set our heart on fail to give the fulfilment we think they will when we get them. This may be true of a new car or house, a career or academic success. More frequently than we would like to admit the gain of these things fails to fill the desires we have deep within. Jesus made it clear that we should seek his Kingdom before anything else and when we do he would satisfy all of our needs. The problem is that when we focus on our wants or what we see as our needs we will be left empty and still grasping for more.

Ahab was God’s representative in Israel. He had money, power and status, he had married into the wealthy nations nearby and secured himself against attack through the treaties he had made and yet he was unsatisfied. With all that he had his inability to secure a vegie garden left him sullen and vexed. Now that he had it, it is unlikely that he was anymore satisfied or fulfilled. If our lives consist of the sum of our possessions, then we like Ahab, are likely to be left disappointed and unfulfilled.