Confession is just the beginning
We need God for renovations and repairs and the ongoing necessary maintenance
The journal of Ahab’s malicious reign, compared to the catalog of our many-faceted positions of authority, might not appear similar. Yet, as baptized Catholics and Christians, and as father/mother, son/daughter, friend/neighbor, supervisor, and so on, in both family lineage and anointed roles, we have as many responsibilities as this ancient man. His legacy is a warning signal for those of us who fail to recant, repent, reconcile, and influence those we love.
Tuesday of the 11th Week in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 21:17-29
Psalm 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 11 and 16
Matthew 5:43-48
Today’s dramatic report of repentance in the scriptures portrays God as merciful and just. That justice shivers our timbers. We hear the rebuke that forced Ahab’s hand, and cringe as we follow the trajectory of these biblical reports with our own lives in mind. It’s difficult to position ourselves within the frame of Ahab, as if we are similar to his ilk. Yet, our similarities are not such a stretch as you’d think.
Indeed, no one gave himself up to the doing of evil
in the sight of the LORD as did Ahab,
urged on by his wife Jezebel. (1Kings 21:25)
That’s not a list of evil doers we want to be on. Ahab tops it. His wife, Jezebel, does him no favors. Can we imagine this for us?
He became completely abominable by following idols,
just as the Amorites had done,
whom the LORD drove out before the children of Israel. (1Kings 21:26)
The journal of Ahab’s malicious reign, compared to the catalog of our many-faceted positions of authority, might not appear similar. Yet, as baptized Catholics and Christians, and as father/mother, son/daughter, friend/neighbor, supervisor, and so on, in both family lineage and anointed roles, we have as many responsibilities as this ancient man. His legacy is a warning signal for those of us who fail to recant, repent, reconcile, and influence those we love.
Ahab served as one of the 19 kings of Northern Israel for 20 years. Scholars debate the exact timeline, but their combined research confirms his existence sometime between 869 and 853 BC, 150 years and six kings after the united Israel under David split after Solomon’s worsening reign at the end of his life.
His foibles and fraught behavior, marked by deception and anger, are not far from the relationship and authority skirmishes we have had. How often have we exhibited behaviors that rolled God’s eyes? Maybe we’ve stopped short of murder, but sin is sin.
Ahab wasn’t alone in his immoral and murderous rule. Practically every King of both Israel and Judah was a cad, and only a few recanted. Sins of pride, pleasure, and idols drove a wedge, rupturing the loving relationship between God and the authorities he anointed. By Ahab’s time, God declared that the gig was up.
I don’t think I’m the only one who has felt God’s disappointment, though this next verse and a half hopefully won’t fit God’s anger with any of us.
Because you have given yourself up to doing evil in the LORD’s sight,
I am bringing evil upon you: I will destroy you
and will cut off every male in Ahab’s line,
whether slave or freeman, in Israel. (1Kings 21:20-21)
Jezebel, Ahab’s wife, was a deceptive and horrifying woman, aligned fiercely with Baal, the devil’s mocked visage of evil in a god. Jezebel’s name is famously attached to the worst of the worst in a woman’s character. Her fate surpassed Ahab’s. Biblical commentary cites her as a harlot and sorcerer. No repentant was she. In a religious community, her and Ahab’s rule was an affront to God.
“The dogs shall devour Jezebel in the district of Jezreel.” (1Kings 21:23)
Elijah, the prophet who listened to God, proclaimed this horrifying condemnation. As with many Old Testament prophets, Elijah did not enjoy an easygoing relationship with the nation he was appointed to mentor. If you’ve run a company, been lord or lady of a household, or a member of a family of more than one person, you likely know what unhappy wisdom and counsel will bring you if you speak up when you’re supposed to. What’s worse? That we didn’t speak up, or we did?
Elijah had just returned from a self-imposed exile. He did not expect joy from this encounter. Still, he did what God asked. Amazingly, and out of the blue, Ahab repents.
When Ahab heard these words, he tore his garments
and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh.
He fasted, slept in sackcloth, and went about subdued. (1Kings 21:27)
Hallelujah, right? Well, as God’s forgiveness plays out and his knowledge of the future becomes evident, we find that mercy encounters speed bumps we erect. If not laid by us, they will be by our descendants.
Since he has humbled himself before me,
I will not bring the evil in his time.
I will bring the evil upon his house during the reign of his son. (1Kings 21:29)
The failures of Ahab’s lineage explain the resulting consequences that follow repentance. So too with us.
God will repair everything that we fret about when we cry out for mercy. But repentance leads to cooperation with God, and unfortunately, repairs are often violent and destructive. If you’ve ever remodeled a kitchen or renovated a deck off the side of your house, you know what I’m talking about. The new build looks great, but the process of getting there affected you and your family, your neighbors, and your friends. “Will this ever get finished!” Almost always forgotten is that renovations require ongoing maintenance.
In Ahab’s family, no, the repairs didn’t get finished, and no one kept up any renovations that began with Ahab.
Such was the effect of Ahab’s damage, a pattern that didn’t get adjusted. God wasn’t able to repair any of it. The next 12 kings of the Northern Kingdom seldom called upon God. Ahab may have repented, but few others did. Eventually, the dastardly lives of Ahab’s descendants end in disaster. When Hoshea’s line ended in 722, so did any further generations of Ahab. The entire institution of the Northern Kingdom cratered.
Some of us look to our pasts and our roles as fathers, mothers, brothers, wives, and friends. It’s a long list with multiple and intimate connections. We are charged with orchestrating a loving leadership of a family, as husband and father, wife and mother. We also attend to follower roles in the orchestra of siblings and friendships. We are led by others. How are we doing as supporting members of a cast?
Calumny, foibles, and errors of all kinds force us into a constant string of apologies and reconciliations. We’re not ‘perfect’ is an understatement. Do we follow Ahab’s lead and publicly reconcile? Not always. Often, we ignore the apology, wishing the infraction and embarrassment away. By doing so, we leave behind wastelands.
The lessons of Ahab’s humbled penitance speak volumes. It’s not so much how many times we failed as it is how ignorant we’ve been when burdened by our miseries and not paid attention to the needs and necessary love those around us both need and wish to express. How do we respond to the Elijah who calls us out?
The psalm today properly expresses our chagrin over this, followed by what should be our desire for reparation.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness; in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense. Thoroughly wash me from my guilt and of my sin, cleanse me. (Psalm 51: 4-5)
We can get mired down in thinking that God was unfair in passing judgment on Ahab’s offspring. It’s a poor positioning of scripture’s framing of Ahab’s tale. God knows what the subsequent leaders of the Northern Kingdom would do. We can take some happiness in Ahab’s reconciliation with God, but the weight of repentance falls on all of us, all the time.
As Catholics, we regularly confess. That’s important, but we need to pray that those who witness our faithfulness and constant return to God are encouraged to do so also. It’s a public confession that prompts others. Sans the ashes and pesky sackcloth, true shame and regret when wrong, and submission to God’s will when penalized for our faith, becomes fuel for God’s graces for those leaning toward him.
Our families need repair. It’s a lot of work left for us to do. Repentance and penance aren’t the whole story. We must operate in love by cooperating with God as he rebuilds our broken decks and renovates our neglected kitchens. It’s not about us. It’s all glory for him.
Our love, expressed as coming from a merciful God, is the only salve for those we touch and encounter. In our stumbling, the plea for forgiveness that we voice is the only influence that can calm the waves we sent crashing into those that we love.