Title: Enough is Enough!
Text: I Kings 17:8-16 (17-24)
Thesis: We can trust God for enough.
How much is enough? I read in Mary Winter’s Right at Home column in the Rocky Mountain News (Saturday, 6/9/07) that the average home built in Boulder County last year was 6,290 square feet.
She cited that the average square footage of a home in Japan is 1,000 square feet. In Ireland, the average home has 930 square feet. In the UK, it is 815 square feet. In comparison,… officials in the Aspen (Colorado) are considering banning the building of homes over 15,000 square feet.
King Ludwig II, who was King of the German state of Bavaria, was known as “Mad King Ludwig.” Mad King Ludwig reportedly died under mysterious circumstances three days after he was officially declared insane. However, the eccentric king was also known as the “Fairy Tale King” because of his love for beauty and fantasy.
I read recently that he spent twenty-three years building an extravagant royal residence, complete with hot air, running water and automatic flush toilets – and that was in 1869. The castle overlooks the Pollat Gorge – thought to be one of the most beautiful vistas in the world. Sadly, it is reported that he only lived in the castle eleven days. King Ludwig lived large.
I once heard that the determining factor in deciding if someone’s house is too large is this: If it is bigger than your house, it’s too large.
We tend to be a little hard on celebrities and the rich and famous who are extravagant in their lifestyles and live large in their behavior. Excessive living and excessive privilege is off-putting and offensive.
God was offended when he observed the large living of several of the kings of Israel, but particularly so with King Ahab. God essentially said, “Enough is enough!”
I. Sometimes, God says, “Enough is enough!”
As though it were not enough to live like Jeroboam, Ahab married Jezebel. First, he built a temple and an altar to Baal in Samaria and set us an asherah pole. He did more to arouse the anger of the Lord than any other king of Israel before him. I Kings 16:29-33
In a way, we can understand what God was thinking. I think God was thinking what the Judge who sentenced Paris Hilton to 45 days in the Los Angeles County Jail was thinking. Okay… we have a person of great privilege who has violated the conditions of her 36-month probation for alcohol-related, reckless driving charges. Here she is again… driving with a suspended license. Enough is enough! Okay, maybe 45 days is too much enough… let’s make it 23 days. Twenty-three days is enough. Then the sheriff releases her after serving 5 days, which really irritated the judge who said, “Five days is not enough! Enough is enough!” Back to jail…
God had had enough of Ahab’s behavior.
The bible says Ahab was more evil than any previous king. I Kings 16:30
God speaking to Jeroboam, who was one such previous king said, You have not been like my servant David, who obeyed my commands and followed me with all his heart and always did what I wanted him to do. You have done more evil than all who lived before you… and since you have turned your back on me, I will bring disaster to your dynasty. I Kings 14:9-10 Ahab was deemed more evil that even Jeroboam.
Ahab also practiced syncretism in that he combined different religious beliefs and practices. He wove pagan religions and practices into the religious fabric of Judaism. I Kings 16:31-33
He broke one of the first tenents of the 10 Commandments which states, Do not worship any other gods besides me (other than me). Deuteronomy 5:7 He disregarded the clear teaching of scripture in Deuteronomy 6:4-5, The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And, you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
In this story, we see that Ahab exceeded the limits of God’s patience… to his own detriment and loss. Though the story is not just about one sinner in the hands of an angry God, it is fitting that we consider how this part of the story might be applied to us.
I believe God is merciful and gracious; he is slow to get angry and full of unfailing love. He has not punished us for all our sins, nor does he deal with us as we deserve… (Psalm 103:8-10) But, I also believe that we cannot ignore God and get away with it. We will always reap what we sow! (Galatians 6:7)
This story is a reminder to us all that at some point, enough is enough! And if we are wise, we will turn our hearts toward God rather than turn our backs on God.
It is unfortunate that the consequences of Ahab’s self-indulgent, extravagant living too large and too loose, had a negative affect on others.
II. Sometimes there is not enough because of the actions of our leaders.
Elijah told King Ahab, “As surely as the Lord, the God of Israel lives – the God whom I worship and serve – there will be no dew or rain during the next few years unless I give the word.” I Kings 17:1
There would be no precipitation for an extended time… it was a prophetic judgment resulting from the attitudes and actions of one big man, but the consequences had a blanket affect on all of the little people.
We hear a great deal about the consequences of our activities. We have the consequences of: Global warming, smoking, obesity, drunk driving, abortion, unemployment, child abuse, deforestation, etc., etc.. Each of these consequences has an adverse affect on little people somewhere.
We’ve been hearing a lot about carbon footprints of late… particularly in regard to what some refer to as Al Gore’s “own” Inconvenient Truth. Though I recently read that he has taken all the necessary steps to make his home a truly “green” home, he has been accused of leaving a considerable carbon footprint on the environment because his home used twice the amount of electricity and natural gas as the average home in America.
A carbon footprint is the measure of the impact we have on the environment in terms of green house gases produced measured in units of carbon dioxide. The size of one’s footprint depends on how much stuff we release into the atmosphere.
You can take your own carbon footprint test at the carbon footprint web site where can calculate your carbon footprint, learn how to reduce or minimize your carbon footprint, or how to off-set your carbon footprint by paying someone to ride their bike to work or plant a tree so you can drive your guzzler or heat your turret towered colossus … in which case the carbon dioxide emissions are off-set by carbon dioxide savings.
The point is, we all leave a footprint… when world leaders declare war, the young men and women go and the citizens pay. When corporate-heads fall, stockholders loose. When parents are irresponsible, the children suffer. In our story, two of the little people who were impacted by King Ahab’s sin were a widow and her son.
No one in that culture was as vulnerable as the indigent widow or the orphan child. In our culture the indigent poor, children, the elderly, and the immigrants are the most vulnerable…
This story is also a vivid reminder to us that we are not islands unto ourselves. We are a connected people and none of our attitudes or actions are without consequence to others.
In our story, God instructed the man who delivered the bad news to King Ahab to skedaddle because it was just a matter of time before Ahab got sore and came looking for him. So, God sent Elijah to a campsite on the Brook of Kerith… it was a place devoid of the normal services required by travelers.
III. Sometimes there is enough when there is nothing.
Then the Lord said to Elijah, “Go to the Brook of Kerith, drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you…” I Kings 17:2-7
Bonnie and I have pretty much figured out where the best places to buy gas, eat, and get a good room between here and Chicago. We learned where those places were by reading the signs along the interstate before each exit. When we see a sign that says, “No Services” we don’t stop. When we see signs listing the options for Gas, Food, and Lodging… we know where to stop.
There was no Perkins or Village Inn at the Brook of Kerith. There was no truck stop where he could use the Men’s Room, buy a shower, or gas up his PT (prophet’s) Cruiser. There was no Holiday Inn Express.
What he had to drink was what he could lap up from the brook and some bread and meat God flew in on Raven Express.
The point is simple and quickly made. Sometimes, when God leads us into a particular situation, we have to trust God, because there is no one else to trust.
I have not been destitute very often. However when that has been the case… on the one or two or three occasions when I was, to the best of my ability being faithful to God’s call in my life, and found myself in need, God has come through in ways that only God could.
I don’t believe is was coincidental when one snowy day in St. Paul, Minnesota, while walking from the campus back to my room in the basement of the Hamlin Hotel, I stepped off of a curb into ankle deep slush and up popped a dollar bill and then another and then a five… I stomped around in that slush until it gave up twenty-eight dollars. I went from being the most down-and-out, discouraged, poor college student to the richest man in all of St. Paul. I look back at that day, which may well have been unfortunate for someone, as God’s way of blessing me when there was no blessing in sight.
And, our story reminds us that enough is enough until there is enough.
IV. Sometimes enough is enough until there is enough.
Elijah said, “Go ahead and cook that last meal but bake me a loaf of bread first. Afterward, there will be enough food for you and your son.” I Kings 17:8-14
No matter how much they used, there was always enough left in the containers just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. I Kings 17: 15-16
God prepared a person and a place in advance when the brook dried up and the ravens stopped flying in Omaha Steaks. God led Elijah to a poor widow and her son who lived in the village of Zarephath. Elijah asked the widow to use what little she had to prepare him a meal and promised that if she did so, God would always provide enough for her and her son until God sent rain and the crops grew again. (I Kings 17:14)
I recently found Hormel Honey Glazed, Spiral Cut Hams on sale for ninety-nine cents a pound. I got a thirty-seven dollar ham for nine dollars. That is eating high-on-the-hog… those folks were not eating high-on-the-hog. They were eating bread. But it was enough until there was enough.
In one of the churches I served, we were painfully aware that my salary was well below average. (Perhaps it was because they had a below average pastor…) Someone in that congregation felt that I was not being compensated enough and every Wednesday morning when I pulled out the top drawer of my desk, there was a twenty-dollar bill lying there waiting for me. It was not an easy place to serve but in time, the congregation made me an average pastor.
We were not living high-on-the-hog but the twenty was enough until there was enough.
It is good for us as individuals and as a faith community to be reminded that God is faithful and there will be enough until there is enough.
