King Ahab of Israel ruled the Northern Kingdom for 20 years. He was a great builder, administrator and military strategist, but a lousy human being. One day King Ahab looked out of palace in Jezreel and saw his Naboth working in Naboth’s vineyard. The king decided he wanted that vineyard and offered to buy it from Naboth. But Naboth was a man of integrity and said he couldn’t do and wouldn’t do it—it was in the family and it was his duty to keep it. Well, King Ahab went to his room pouting. Queen Jezebel came in and asked, “Why the long face?” When Ahab told her, she basically said, “Aren’t you king? Have some nerve. I’ll give it to you. We’ll just take it.” So the queen paid so scoundrels to lie and say that Naboth had blasphemed God. For that trumped-up crime, Naboth was executed, and the king took the land that he had coveted.

 

The prophet Elijah found Ahab in the very vineyard he had stolen and confronted him with God’s word. Elijah declared that in the very place where poor Naboth had died and the dogs had licked up his blood, so the dogs would lick up Ahab’s blood. Now I’d like us to push the pause button and freeze the frame right here. This is a historic moment. Elijah is establishing that great Hebrew tradition of truth speaking to power. He is establishing that great prophetic emphasis on social justice. It would be continued by Isaiah, Micah and Amos. And by Jesus, who would teach us about caring for the least, the last and the lost. But it wasn’t original with Elijah. He simply got it from the Ten Commandments (Ahab and Jezebel broke at least four of the Big Ten: lying, coveting, stealing and killing). 

 

After Elijah’s confrontation, King Ahab did repent, after a fashion, but then he foolishly went into battle against God’s counsel and he was mortally wounded in the fight. And consistent with Elijah’s prophecy, the dogs came and licked the blood of the once arrogant king. Some time later, scripture records (2 Kings 9:30) that the wicked Queen Jezebel met her death as well. All that cruelty to others, all that arrogant use of power, was silenced. There is something about injustice that causes it to fall by its own weight. It carries its own seeds of destruction.

 

Years ago, there was a noted Baptist pastor in Memphis, TN, R.G. Lee, who preached his famous sermon, “Pay Day Some Day”, all over the country. It was on this very text. Pay day some day. How true. There is something built into the fabric of the cosmos that comes unraveled when we mess with it.

 

Here is another way of saying it: “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” What a quote. Do you get it? Sometimes, it takes a long time for God to make things right, but eventually, God will see to it that they come around right…the arc bends toward justice. The quote is often attributed to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., though there is disagreement as to whether he coined it or just repeated it. It doesn’t matter. It’s a great line. There is something in the fabric of the cosmos that says wrong will be exposed and right will be vindicated.

 

A good way to study the Bible is to often ask yourself, “Why did this story make the cut? Why is it in the sacred text?” Why this story? To remind us when we have been wronged by others, when we have endured injustice, when suffering has been mounting, when innocent, the weak, the powerless have been exploited, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” But it’s also to remind us to be “Elijah’s”, not “Ahab’s”, to speak up for the poor, the weak, for those with no voice.

 

Isn’t this the theme of Psalm 37? “Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of the wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb.” This simply means that evil is like bananas. It has a short shelf life! It cannot be sustained. Isn’t this the message of The Book of Revelation? God’s side is going to win! We may not experience that vindication soon, and maybe not in our lifetimes, but God will have the last word!

 

Isn’t that why we sing (and I quote often) these words? “This is my Father’s world,/ O let me ne’r forget/That though the wrong seems oft so strong,/God is the ruler yet./This is my Father’s world,/The battle is not done;/Jesus who died shall be satisfied,/And earth and heaven be one” [Maltbie B. Babcock].

 

Isn’t this the story of the Cross? That evil, sin, injustice and hate, when they have done all they can do, when they are spent and finally done, will be overcome. God’s love will still be standing. God’s power will still be in place. Love is greater than hate. Justice is greater than injustice. Good is greater than evil. The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.