Wow Grace - A LEAP Day Post
If God's grace does not seem unfair and/or too much for you at times, you may have never experienced its fullness.
I bring you to the second to last chapter of 1 Kings where we find the ruthless, evil, wicked and abominable king Ahab rebuked by Elijah for his acts toward Naboth and his response:
1 Kings 21:25–27 (ESV) (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.) 27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
I bring you to the second to last chapter of 1 Kings where we find the ruthless, evil, wicked and abominable king Ahab rebuked by Elijah for his acts toward Naboth and his response:
1 Kings 21:25–27 (ESV) (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.) 27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly.
Look at the beginning and end of this passage. This moment seems so out of place for Ahab's character commentators figure Ahab's repentance was only a show. Seeing Bible scholars have a hard time believing Ahab was repentant says something significant about the passage in light of what comes next from the Lord.
1 Kings 21:28-29 (ESV) And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
1 Kings 21:28-29 (ESV) And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son’s days I will bring the disaster upon his house.”
No king was as evil and yet God is moved by HIS repentance enough to spare him disaster.
I think the scriptures give us this moment because it helps us confront what is a glaring weakness in our Christian faith. We are masters of grace toward ourselves and masters of judgment toward others. In my opinion, Ahab is beyond forgiveness. He has stolen, he has led the nations down a path of wickedness, he has rejected God's Word on several occasions and pushed back against the words of the prophets. Yet this man of all the people in the Bible narrative is able to receive the grace of God!
I think the scriptures give us this moment because it helps us confront what is a glaring weakness in our Christian faith. We are masters of grace toward ourselves and masters of judgment toward others. In my opinion, Ahab is beyond forgiveness. He has stolen, he has led the nations down a path of wickedness, he has rejected God's Word on several occasions and pushed back against the words of the prophets. Yet this man of all the people in the Bible narrative is able to receive the grace of God!
So I think this man is the perfect choice to visualize God's grace for us. Why? Because the grace of God overwhelming for all of us. NONE of us, NO ONE deserves God's forgiveness offered to us in Christ Jesus. You weren't seeking God, He sent Jesus to die you and Jesus sent His Church to come and get you. If you are anything like me, there are days, weeks and months where you wander from Him in various ways, most often, very subtly. Sometimes we wake up to months of seeking only our own interest or years of being rude and unkind to those around us.
Then we should look at his repentance. Is it real? Is it enough? Who can say? Is our repentance ever enough? How much must we do? Who can say? I know this for sure: we can never repent in a way that is always totally pure. Even here Ahab repents because he fears judgment. Is that self-serving? Yes! But God forgives.
The process of Christian discipleship is to come to terms with our own trend toward wandering and our feeble attempts at coming back. Then we see the amazing grace John Newton wrote about in the song that sings, "that saved a wretch like me."
Ahab is the archetype of filthy wretch sinners who did not deserve God's grace. And here he is on display for all of us so that we can see a bit of ourselves in him and come face to face with the unlimited grace of God offered in Christ.
So maybe you're still mad about God being gracious to this man's ho-hum repentance. Maybe it's time for a deeper look at yourself. And if that offends you, your need to feel morally superior to others may be a great place to start looking.
Then we should look at his repentance. Is it real? Is it enough? Who can say? Is our repentance ever enough? How much must we do? Who can say? I know this for sure: we can never repent in a way that is always totally pure. Even here Ahab repents because he fears judgment. Is that self-serving? Yes! But God forgives.
The process of Christian discipleship is to come to terms with our own trend toward wandering and our feeble attempts at coming back. Then we see the amazing grace John Newton wrote about in the song that sings, "that saved a wretch like me."
Ahab is the archetype of filthy wretch sinners who did not deserve God's grace. And here he is on display for all of us so that we can see a bit of ourselves in him and come face to face with the unlimited grace of God offered in Christ.
So maybe you're still mad about God being gracious to this man's ho-hum repentance. Maybe it's time for a deeper look at yourself. And if that offends you, your need to feel morally superior to others may be a great place to start looking.
Comments
Post a Comment