Wednesday
of Lent 2
7 March
2012
Seventh
Commandment: You Shall Not Steal – what does
this mean? We should fear and love god so that we do not take our neighbors
money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve
and protect his possessions and income.
Bible
Narrative:
1
Kings 21:1-16
MF
Global! Bankrupt! $1.2 billion of investments just goes
missing! Everyone knows it’s been
stolen! But John Corzine, the head of it
all, would only say before a Senate hearing on the matter: "I simply do not know where the money is, or why the accounts have
not been reconciled to date."
I.E. that’s legalese for: “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the great John Corzine! Former United States senator and New Jersey
governor! I can do whatever I want. I am above the law! Now let’s get this sham over with so that I
can carry on with my billions and steal more billions from someone else!”
Sinners
do not fear and love God. And so they brazenly
rob their neighbor’s money and possessions.
And they’ll do it in any dishonest way that they can! Even if it means that they have to rig the
legal system by making robbery permissible – through legislation. Or by greasing judges’ palms or buying off lawmakers! Whatever it takes!
Help
folks improve and protect their possessions and income? Look out for your neighbor? Do what is best for him? For her? You’ve got to be kidding! Yeah right! John Corzine. $1.2 billion! Gone-di! Pulls a Bernie Madoff and gets away with it!
Oh,
and by the way, there was another incident!
Did you hear about it? It didn’t
get any headlines on CNN or Fox News.
You didn’t read about it in the Hankinson
News. But it is recorded in 1 Kings!
Yes, that’s right, it’s in the Bible!
And it involves another bigwig politician! This time it implicates the king of the
northern kingdom – Samaria – his majesty - Ahab!
And
what a piece of work Ahab is! “Did evil in the eyes of the LORD”
24-7-365! Out-eviled every previous
Samarian king before him! Didn’t fear,
love, or trust in God above all things!
Didn’t fear, love or trust in God at all! For starters, he married a non-Israelite, Phoenecian
unbeliever, and fanatic worshiper of idols – Jezebel! That was strictly forbidden by the LORD!
So
Jezebel’s beloved national idol, Melkart, the Phoenician Baal, became the
officially endorsed god and Baalism became the protected religion of the land
of his majesty king Ahab! Syncretism –
the mixing together of different religions like a salad and calling it Food
Network good -- was the rage! Still is! “We’re
all going to the same place Reverend! We
all believe in the same God! Doesn’t
really matter what religion you choose!
Just choose! Just be sincere! Now that’s authentic!”
That
sure floated Ahab’s boat! And so all
things religious were tolerated – except the worship of the one true God – the
God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses who brought the Israelites out of Egypt
and redeemed them! That God? Yahweh?
The great I AM? Intolerable!
Watch out for the all-things-tolerant -crowd! They are the most intolerant, the most tyrannical
people you’ll ever meet!
But
his majesty isn’t done yet! He also makes
an Asherah pole! Asherah, of course, was
the female consort of Baal, the female queen idol. Can’t just have male gods! Got to go the whole nine yards! When it came to idolatry, his highness Ahab
made the northern kingdom eat the whole enchilada of pagan delicacies!
And
then his majesty made political alliances that the LORD strictly had forbidden![1] Apostasy – idolatry – spiritual adultery –
the cause of Israel’s fall and her exile a century later reached a new high
during Ahab’s reign!
But
now his majesty has his eye on a vineyard!
A vineyard he doesn’t own. It belongs to citizen and fellow countryman
Naboth, his next-door neighbor. Therefore
it’s a vineyard that not even the king can have![2]
But
Ahab’s into vegetables. Vegetable
gardening. And we all know the benefit
of veggies! Got to watch your
cholesterol! Need more fiber. Less red meat. Can’t let our children become obese! Got to set an example for the children of
Samaria! The first family needs more
land for royal veggies! It’s all the
rage! Let’s move!
“So
I’ll make Naboth an offer he can’t refuse!
Hey, Naboth! I’m on a veggie kick these days! Give me your vineyard! I want to use it to raise my carrots, peas, potatoes,
spinach, and green beans. I’ll pay you
top dollar for it! And I’ll even give
you a better vineyard. You have nothing
to lose! So much to gain!”
Except
the land of his forefathers. So even
though the offer was extremely sweet and outrageously generous, Naboth refuses
his majesty! “The LORD forbid that I should
give you the inheritance of my fathers.”
King
Ahab is chagrined. Peeved. Irked.
He goes home and pouts. However,
even as he sulks on his bed he won’t let a private citizen keep his ancestral
vineyard. He will deprive Naboth of his
inalienable right to keep his land. He
will let wifey queen cohort in crime Jezebel steal it by the most unscrupulous
of maneuvers!
First
she taunts him. “Honey, is this how you act as
king over Israel? Do I have to do
everything? I guess so! I’ll get the vineyard for you!” Very quick witted! In a matter of moments she puts a plan into
place. Foolproof! Brilliant!
She
puts out a royal proclamation from his majesty King Ahab. With his own seal! Declares a fast! For an entire day! Everyone has to go without food! Gather all the people! The nobles and elders too! Court will be in session! For a very serious matter has come to the
king’s attention! And everyone should
know about it! There are witnesses to
this capital crime! And the perpetrator
must be punished!
The
charge? Oh, yes, the charge! Blasphemy and treason! Citizen Naboth has cursed God! And He has cursed his majesty Ahab! Got to
get rid of the sinner Naboth! Otherwise
God’s judgment would be unleashed on the whole country.
So
let us all humble ourselves with our day of fasting! And let us put notorious Naboth and his boys
to death! We’ll show God that we don’t
tolerate such sinning here! And God will
be most pleased with us! So gather all
the rocks you can everyone -- the size of tennis balls, volleyballs, and
basketballs outside the city gate! It
will be death! Death by stoning!
As
soon as Jezebel received word that the grisly affair was over, she drew up the
proper paperwork, contacted the appropriate attorneys and sent his majesty to
take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. “Now
be a good little boy Ahab! Naboth’s
dead. And so are his heirs.[3] The vineyard’s all yours! It reverts back to you! Aren’t I brilliant? I sometime surprise myself with my genius!”
And
humanly speaking who would object? After
all, you can’t go around cursing God and the king! That’s just not right. So go ahead your majesty! Confiscate the vineyard! Naboth and his boys got what they deserved.
Except
that the testimony was completely false.
The witnesses were liars. Paid
off. Bribed. Just so that Ahab could get what he wanted!
But
this horrific crime did not go unpunished.
The LORD dealt with the king through Elijah the prophet. Elijah had a Word from the Lord. And it was this: DOOM!
Doom of extinction on the royal husband and wife for the unparalleled
wickedness! Right as Ahab was taking
possession of the stolen vineyard Pastor Elijah showed up with a sermon in his
mouth. And the sermon was this: “This is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his
property?’ … ‘In the place where dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, dogs will lick
up your blood – yes yours!’”[4]
This
story serves as an example and warning to all of us! God is serious when he forbids stealing! From petty to grand! Any kind of stealing displeases the Lord. Seriously!
This is no joke!
What
have you stolen? You worked 30 hours but
got paid for 40! The cashier mistakenly
gave you $10.00 in change when you only should have received $5.00. And you kept the extra $5.00! You promised to do a job using topnotch
materials. But instead you installed
shoddy, worthless stuff. You failed to
report your proper income to the IRS.
And
then the biggest theft of all! And the
most common! You even try to steal
divinity for yourself! Yes, that’s
right. Divinity doesn’t belong to
you! Yet you want it for yourself. As if you own it! You act like you’re God Almighty
Himself! “I shall be as God” is
your mantra. Your M O! Dethrone the one true God and replace Him
with yourself! Even if that means taking
the God-man in the flesh Jesus and killing Him!
To take what we want as our own -- deity!
Oh,
the Idolatry! You, me, Ahab, Jezebel –
the sin is equally shared by all of us!
We’re all guilty as sin!
And
it’s all sin that needs to be repented of!
Before it’s too late. Hellaciuosly too late!
So
it’s time to repent and believe. To turn
away from your sin! Die to it! And turn to Jesus “who being in very nature God did
not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but MADE HIMSELF
NOTHING, TAKING ON THE VERY NATURE OF A SERVANT, BEING MADE IN HUMAN LIKENESS. And being found in appearance as a man he
humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”[5]
Death
on the cross as THE SIN-BEARER! The
bearer of your sin! Every last bit of
it!
Dead-on-the-Cross
Jesus is the only sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath from you as a
sinner! On that Good Friday He, and He
alone, endured God’s eternal wrath that you deserved because of your sin. “He who knew no sin was made to be sin” – FOR
YOU! On the cross Jesus took and
absorbed all your sin in His Body! He
endured all its punishment: death and
damnation! His blood, His divine blood,
spilled and shed on the cross purifies you from all sin!
Forgiven
and redeemed by His death, Jesus gives you back your humanity! He has good use for you. You are now His instruments in this world for
good. The good of your neighbor. Helping folks to improve and protect their
possessions and income!
