WARPPED PERSPECTIVES
Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-21

FOCUS: Like so many in our society, Ahab was obsessed with accumulation to the detriment of others and ultimately himself.

As we consider this morning’s scripture we are shocked and disgusted by Ahab’s callousness and complete absence of compassion. How could one who was so privileged be so cruel? He certainly didn’t need Naboth’s vineyard, but he wanted it none the less and was determined to get his hands on it. He wasn’t even at his primary residence. The Jezreel Valley was a fertile spot known for its lush agricultural offerings and natural beauty. Going from Samaria where he reigned to the palace in Jezreel was for Ahab like going to a second home in the mountains or at the beach for those in the Wiregrass fortunate enough to have them.

Perhaps taking a break from the grueling duties of ruling over the Northern Israel, Ahab was in Jezreel, away for a few days from all the pressures of his daily routines. I imagine it being late afternoon as he goes out on the veranda for an afternoon beverage and snack. It is an invigorating time of day, cool breezes rustle through the trees, and the filtered light of early evening adds its muted beauty to the landscape.

Down below, just past the elaborate fence which forms the protective boundary around the royal palace, lies a lovely and productive vineyard. Its picturesque rows of ancient twisted vines are lush, green and brimming with ripe, premium grapes. But Ahab’s imagination isn’t captured by the lovely scene before him. The cool breezes, fresh fragrances and marvelous landscape don’t calm his restless spirit as he had hoped they would. All he can think about is that the lovely vineyard isn’t his. It was in a perfect spot, right by the kitchen complex, a great place to plant an herb garden, the perfect spot for lots of vegetables which his chefs could use to conjure up the sumptuous meals which he demanded every day.

So, he decides to take care of the situation, to satisfy his craving. Maybe he sees Naboth out in his vineyard trimming up the vines. Whatever the situation, he pays his neighbor a visit. “Lovely evening isn’t it. Nice looking vineyard you have here, but I know where I can get you one even better, it’s just down the road. Let me do you a favor and swap out with you. Or maybe you would just as soon be rid of the responsibility of all those vines all together. If you would prefer I’ll buy your vineyard outright, even pay you a premium for it, that’s how badly I need it.” Ahab didn’t really need the vineyard, but he did covet it. 

Thanks, but no thanks, came Naboth’s swift reply. He didn’t ponder the offer for even a second, didn’t ask where the better vineyard was, didn’t ask how much cash the king was ready to offer, he just made it clear that the property was not for sale, at any price, for to him it was priceless. Priceless not because of some rich mineral rights or because it was prime real estate, though it probably was. It would have been the perfect location for a new Hilton Grand Vacation Club site. There it was nestled near the river in a lush valley surrounded by rolling hills, and right next to the summer White House.  

But to Naboth the property was priceless because it was his familial inheritance, the family home place. That vineyard was filled with memories. Perhaps Naboth had spent childhood days there with a grandfather planting and trimming vines. Or maybe he had played hide and seek there with his cousins. It wasn’t just a vineyard it was a treasured inheritance. But it was more than just a family connection which made it so easy for Naboth to refuse the offer, it was a matter of faith.

I have recently been reading through the book of Joshua. Now I would not recommend that book as a starting place for those who seek to glean the fundamental principles of the Christian faith, but it is interesting to be reminded of some of the history recorded there which. History plays an important part in the Old Testament. One of the things you find in Joshua is a detailed account of the way the land of Israel was divided between the twelve tribes upon the entrance of God’s people into the Holy Land. To the faithful Jew it was important to honor the ancient divisions of the land. For them it was not a suggestion it was a command that they keep the tribal lands in the family. For Naboth, to sell the property, even to the king, even at great profit, especially at great profit, would be pure heresy.

“God forbid that I should give you my ancestral land!” Naboth’s response was more than a strong indication of family values and sentimentality, it was also a firm religious affirmation. Literally, God had forbidden the Hebrew children from bartering with any of the land they had been given by God. Ahab was familiar with the religious nature of the property rights which were so treasured by the Hebrew people. Ahab was not accustomed to being told “no”, by anyone, about anything. He was large and in charge and in his mind there was nothing beyond his reach. So, Ahab did what any self respecting type A guy would do when told no by a simple commoner, he went home climbed in bed, refused to eat and began to sulk.

Enter Jezebel! “What are you so ill about? What’s with all this pouting? It really is annoying you know.” “Naboth wouldn’t give me that vineyard I wanted to turn into our vegetable garden. I wanted it for you honey. I offered to give him an even better vineyard, one with finer grapes and higher property value. I offered to pay above market for it if he would prefer just to be out of the grape business. I was more than fair, not seeking to take advantage of anyone, you know me I would never do such. Why won’t he just let me have my vineyard?

Clearly unmoved by Ahab’s moping about, Jezebel replied, more than a bit sarcastically, “Let me get this straight, aren’t you the king, the head guy, the big Kahuna? He nods. “Then act like it,  get up,  get out of bed, stop acting like a baby and eat something, you are really getting on my nerves here.” The king, who has been lying in bed with the pillow over his head slowly comes out of hiding and looks up at his wife with pitiful eyes. “Good grief, responds Jezebel, if you can’t take care of this I will. You just stay here get over you huff and cheer up for goodness sake, I’ll take care of getting your precious vineyard.”

She handles it to be sure, but in what a ruthless and underhanded way. Notice that Ahab doesn’t ask any questions. He doesn’t want to know, doesn’t want to be in any way implicated should she do something illegal or immoral and get caught in the act. After all she is just one of many wives and if she were to get caught he could always just throw her under the bus and be done with it. Isn’t that the way we are often tempted to deal with sticky situations?

Though we may never participate in deception and intrigue at the level Ahab and Jezebel did, who among us has never turned the other way when confronted with inappropriate, even hurtful behavior? Who here has never taken advantage of a situation which benefited us at the expense of another? We may not go looking for ways to take advantage of others, most of us don’t do that, but we are not as good about refusing to take advantage of situations which simply fall in our laps. We may even talk about our good fortune when it happens, at our worst we may even credit God with gifting us with good fortune, forgetting that it came at the expense of another.

There are enough villains in this tale for several good novels. Of course there are Ahab and Jezebel. Then there are the scoundrels who, certainly for a stipend, did Jezebel’s evil bidding. And what about the civic authorities? I know it could never happen today, but in those days occasionally those in high office were more than willing to compromise their principles to keep their jobs and to please their superiors, often at the expense of the most vulnerable in society. And that is exactly what happened in the story we have before us. It all began with greed, was perpetuated by selfishness, accomplished by deceit and finally concluded with violence against the innocent. Couldn’t possibly happen today, could it?

It was a trumped up indictment, very loosely based on the comment Naboth had made about God forbidding him to sell the vineyard. There was no truth to the charge of cursing God and the king. Quite the contrary when it came to God, it was in order to honor God that he refused the king. And Naboth never cursed the king, only had the audacity to speak the truth to him and to tell him “no”. But when greed motivates, the truth doesn’t really seem to matter much and when we see the whole world from the warped perspective of our selfishness our view of reality is profoundly distorted.

On the wall is an intriguing photo, it is of something called an Ames room. Of course it is an optical illusion. Such rooms are intentionally constructed in such a way as to make things look as they are not. While the room appears to be of normal construction, it is actually not normal at all the walls are not straight, the side walls are of distinctly different lengths and great pains have been taken to so paint the walls and floors in such a way as to make things appear to be as they are not, and it works.

Ahab was under the illusion that the world revolved around him, that he could have anything he wanted and deserved to have it all. But he was viewing life from a decidedly warped perspective and things were not at all as he perceived them to be. Despite what we might like to think, the world does not revolve around any of us, never has and never will. It didn’t revolve around Ahab and it doesn’t revolve around you. God is at the center of all being and seeks to be the focus of our living.

In the end Ahab came face to face with the ironic truth that power tends to weaken those who are most eager to exploit it. The powerful are vulnerable not only to those who would wrest power from them but also to the corrosive force of their own greed. I’m reminded of the Greek legend of King Midas, who had his wish granted that everything he touched would turn to gold. Many of you know the story. While he certainly was able to surround himself with vast wealth, his greed robbed him of those things which are essential for living. He could no longer eat, for all food became gold. He could no longer drink, for all liquids would turn to gold as they touched his lips. Most tragic was the loss of his beloved daughter as he, without thinking, embraced her one day only to see her life drained out of her as she was transformed into a golden statue. The Midas tale reminds us that the joy and vitality of a godly life are frequently extinguished by unchecked greed and selfishness.

Ahab wasn’t able to savor his “good fortune” for long. As soon as the execution of the innocent was accomplished he strolled out to the vineyard, probably with a sketch in hand detailing his plans for the herb and vegetable garden, certainly with no thought of the travesty which was the story behind his new acquisition. And it was a travesty on many levels. You see the reason Jezebel plotted to have the civic authorities party to the crime was that the only way the plot would be transferred to anyone other than a family member upon death was if the owner had been found guilty of a capital crime and put to death by the state. In that case property went to the crown. Ahab was the crown.

Ahab felt no remorse as he went, but soon he would be challenged. God once again called on Elijah and sent him to condemn the king. The message he was given was clear and unmistakable. “God says, ‘What have you done Ahab? Killed an innocent man just so you could gain a scrap of land you really don’t need? You will pay for your greed in the end, die a humiliating death.’” Ahab didn’t argue. He had already had firsthand experience with Elijah who, given a message from God, had correctly predicted the terrible draught which had once afflicted the land. He knew that Elijah had a gift of prophecy. He also knew that the accusations were true. So he reacted as we might when caught with our hands in the proverbial cookie jar, he lashed out at the messenger. “Well, my bitter enemy, you found me, tracked me down. I hope you are happy now.”  Elijah’s answer was as short as was it convicting. “I have found you, and because you sold yourself to do what was evil, evil will be brought on you.”

Sounds harsh, and it is. Ours is a God of justice. Actions have consequences. Unrepentant evil will ultimately bring condemnation. But as Jesus taught, ours is also a God of grace, a God of second and third and seventy times seven chances. Unrepentant evil always brings dire consequences. But when we repent and seek to move forward, by God’s grace our slates are wiped clean, our sins forgiven and we are set free to begin again, to seek to live more as the Master has taught us to live.   

I fear we often build metaphorical Ames rooms in which to live our lives. We move walls and rearrange angles in an effort to support the illusion that we are in charge. We encourage others to view us from vantage points which allow us to distort the reality of our less than perfect lives. We seek, not to take God out of the picture, but to have God stand at the end of that longer wall so that we appear to be larger than life, so that we feel less guilty about striving for that which we don’t really need.  

We need to move the walls back to where they belong, need to square the corners, need to perfect the angles. And when we do, when we begin to see things from the perspective of godly truth we will be able to yield to the lordship of Christ in our lives. We will be able to see and address the greed and the selfishness which so distort our perspective. And we will be able to serve as God calls us to serve, as we commit to put aside our tendency to use others so that we might become those willing to be used instead, as we come to recognize that in the end, it really isn’t all about us, it is about God and God’s children of whom we are surely some. It is about community and the common good.  For your sake and for the sake of the kingdom of God, let it be so. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.