WHO SPEAKS FOR NABOTH?
A sermon preached by
Rev. Dr. Randle R. (Rick) Mixon
First Baptist Church, Palo Alto, CA
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Text: 1 Kings 21:1-21a
For those of you who dozed through last Sunday’s sermon, I just wanted to let you know that preacher was not pleased with it either. I said something about how these texts from Hebrew Scripture are both fascinating stories and challenging texts. I alluded to the sense in which the writers of these works were engaged in their own struggle to understand God and that some of what we find in these old stories is the evolution of a people’s view of the holy. It was difficult to find good news in last week’s text.
After the service, Jim Alexander underscored the ways in which Yahweh was a tribal deity himself and wondered why Yahweh should be worshiped any more than Ba’al. Each in his own right was wrapped up in the cultural life and expectations of a particular people. Each may be seen as one of many faces of God. Much in Hebrew Scripture is an attempt to establish God as the ruler over other deities in great clashes of religion and culture. In this evolution of God-consciousness, there are times when God comes across as less than, shall we say, God-like. For those of us with a different experience of the holy, Yahweh too often appears petty, demanding, mean-spirited, even cruel. At last night’s annual dinner for the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County, our featured speaker encouraged us to live beyond the constraints of a “Bronze age theology” that often is expressed in what Phyllis Trible has labeled “texts of terror.” Either the tale itself is full of terror or the text becomes one that is terrifying to handle because it expresses a view difficult to justify in light of modern understanding of God or creation or both.
Today’s text is frightening in some ways though Yahweh does not appear on the scene until the end of the story when it is too late for Naboth. (One may wonder why Yahweh revives the widow’s son but lets Naboth be stoned to death. It makes Yahweh’s interventions seem arbitrary.) Still it would not be a huge stretch to argue that this is a text that could be taken in some form from today’s headlines. The abuse of power by those who hold it is a theme which we encounter all too frequently. The arrogance of those who hold power is known to us in the world in which we live. Even the fate of Naboth sounds vaguely familiar – the story of an innocent victim whom no one defends.
Another thing that Jim said last week was that these kings of ancient Israel were probably no better or worse than kings anywhere. Their stories are used to make the case that these monarchs were in constant violation of the sacred covenant between Yahweh and his people, thus bringing one calamity after another on their people. These kings may not have been as evil as scripture portrays them, but we have no way of knowing because the accounts in Hebrew Scripture are the only ones we have the monarchs of Israel and Judah. It’s not like they were ever really major players on the world stage, so their stories do not fill ancient history books.
This record says Ahab and Jezebel were scoundrels. Today’s story of Naboth and his vineyard certainly seems to cement that image. Again this is a great story, dramatically told and full of details that bring the characters alive. First we have Ahab. Surely we have known petulant, demanding characters like him, so full of themselves, with such a sense of entitlement that they has no consideration for others. We might diagnose him with narcissistic personality disorder. “I” is the key word in his life. Ahab comes over the hill singing the old song, “I want what I want when I want it.” Have you ever known anyone like that? How often do power and privilege lift one above the law, or at least above consideration of others around them? If we consider the contemporary political scene, do we see any characters that operate with such self-centeredness? I suppose it is difficult to rise to power without reading and believing one’s own press. Politicians have to sell themselves. Maybe they come to believe their own ads. Kings ruled by divine right and were raised in a privileged environment. Part of the difficulty with the kingship in the Hebrew story is that the writers posit a god who never wanted his people to have a king, who believed they needed no king but god himself. So there is this centuries-long struggle between a jealous god and inept or inadequate human monarchs.
Ahab, at his summer palace in Jezreel decides, it seems on a whim, that he wants a vegetable garden and that Naboth’s vineyard, right next door is the ideally convenient spot for it. Apparently this was before the state could simply exercise the right of imminent domain. So Ahab goes to Naboth with what, on the surface, seems like a perfectly reasonable offer. He’ll either give Naboth a fair price or another vineyard of equal value. It seems like an acceptable way of doing business unless you know that the Hebrew relationship to land was unique. For Naboth to give up this particular vineyard was to give up his ancestral heritage, his father’s plot of the land of promise which Yahweh had given his people. The sacred symbolism of the land was powerful, and, for Naboth, it was more powerful than the desires of the king.
In this story, Naboth is a person of faith and righteousness. Over against the power of the king, he asserts the ways of Yahweh and Yahweh’s people. This king seems to have forgotten or abandoned any relationship with Yahweh and the ancient law of the covenant. He should know better than to ask for Naboth’s patrimony. What he doesn’t bargain for is Naboth’s integrity. We might think that Naboth is rather foolish to hang on to an old vineyard and risk the ire of the king. Why doesn’t he just do what’s asked and avoid the conflict? What would you do in Naboth’s shoes? Can you imagine a situation or even remember a time when you were placed in such an ethical quandary? Whatever we make of Yahweh as god in this story, Naboth believed in the rightness of Yahweh’s ways and stood firm in the practice of what he believed. Whatever you may think of him and his situation personally, here was a man who “walked the talk.”
It does not sound to me like Naboth is antagonistic or harsh in his response. He simply states his beliefs. In a straightforward way, he eloquently speaks his truth to power, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.” I suppose Naboth could have shown more umbrage, could have ranted and raved against the request, could have behaved insultingly toward the king. Instead he gives a measured response, grounded in a theological and cultural perspective that Ahab should have recognized immediately as his own.
It may be that that was exactly Ahab’s understanding and that’s why he goes to bed to pout. Naboth represents everything that Ahab is not – strong, faithful, considerate. The contrast is almost comical. Here is the king, the ruler of the country, sulking because someone actually said “no” to him. Clearly this is not someone who is used to being denied, this is not someone who has ever learned to live with “no” for an answer. His behavior is childish and weak, as we shall see when Jezebel enters the scene.
She has little patience for her simpering spouse. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?” When he tells her his sad story, her disdain deepens, “Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.” Her approach to power is not tempered by a Hebrew upbringing. In her native Phoenicia the land belongs to the king. The king can claim whatever he wants without explanation. Though this may be her understanding of how the world ought to operate, she’s been in Israel long enough to know that these people see things differently, so she hatches an elaborate plot in which Naboth is accused cursing God and the king. She seems well aware that the penalty for this is stoning. Once she has succeeded in having Naboth killed the way is cleared for the king to claim the vineyard.
In our own lives and times surely we have seen people scheme schemes and hatch plots to get their own way. Character assassination has and remains a tool of those who cannot get their way through civil argument or right behavior. It is peculiarly useful to those who want what they want when they want it and anyone who gets in their way be damned. Literature, history and contemporary life are all filled with stories of those who have been unjustly accused and unfairly imprisoned or executed. Jesus himself is hung on a cross because he refuses to back away from the truth of his message and his personal integrity in proclaiming it. Of course, Naboth is not only condemned on false charges, he seems to have no opportunity to defend himself. Where do we see such injustice in our own world and how can we speak out against it?
When I was working through this story for the sermon, the one element that struck me as being particularly contemporary is that no one speaks up for Naboth. Maybe Naboth wasn’t well-liked in Jezreel. Maybe he was too faithful to Yahweh, too rigid in his practice of the law, too good to cut corners like his neighbors and colleagues, too independent with too much integrity. The text doesn’t give us any of that except perhaps in his response to the king. So why don’t his friends and neighbors, the elders and nobles defend him? Who speaks for Naboth? No one. Why is this? Are these people and their leaders so craven that they will let an innocent man die based on an act of chicanery? Do Ahab and Jezebel hold so much power that the elders and nobles are terrified to cross them? Is Naboth the only man in Jezreel with the courage of his convictions?
The parallels to our own times may not be direct but I think we still might ask ourselves, who speaks for our own Naboths, those wrongly accused, vilified, smeared, condemned without a fair hearing? Who speaks for justice and righteousness? We know there are places in this world where evil reigns and injustice rules. We know there are times that wrong is condoned in our own back yards. Today’s words of preparation remind us that “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” It is only the tip of the iceberg, but we have just gone through a political campaign in which literally millions of dollars were spent slinging mud and yet we rejected a modest proposal to experiment with campaign finance reform.
Last night Frank Schaeffer warned us that incivility and hatred in public discourse, whether it comes from the right or the left, help to create a culture of violence in which we may yet inherit the whirlwind. Xenophobia, fear-mongers, abuse of power, economic inequity, greed, all these and more threaten the very existence, let alone the quality, of our too comfortable way of life. Who will speak for Naboth? Who will speak for justice? Our other words of preparation observe that “Justice is what love looks like in public.” Do we believe that? Can we practice it? Is the power of love in our lives strong enough to lead us to speak up for justice? At the ballot box, through letters and emails, in everyday conversation with family, friends, neighbors and colleagues we can speak up. We can still take to the streets to march. We can still channel our resources for just causes and people in need. No one spoke up for Naboth. No one spoke up for Jesus. Both died, perhaps feeling that God had abandoned them. But the God we worship is a God of second chances. Naboth and Jesus died alone because no one stood with them. We have been given the opportunity to speak for Naboth, to speak for justice, to speak for Jesus. Silence, even in the face of terror, will not save us. We must always be speaking our truth, speaking ourselves into the beings we were meant to be, the people God made us to be and calls us to be. Will you join me in speaking up for Naboth?
1Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 2And Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.” 3But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance.” 4Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, “I will not give you my ancestral inheritance.” He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat.
5His wife Jezebel came to him and said, “Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?” 6He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it’; but he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’” 7His wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 9She wrote in the letters, “Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 10seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, ‘You have cursed God and the king.’ Then take him out, and stone him to death.” 11The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 12they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. 13The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth cursed God and the king.” So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death. 14Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned; he is dead.” 15As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, “Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.
17Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 18Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19You shall say to him, “Thus says the Lord: Have you killed, and also taken possession?” You shall say to him, “Thus says the Lord: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood.” 20Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord, 21I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel;