I can safely say that our text from 1 Kings 21 this week is not one of my favorites. Actually, it reads a bit like the script for a Sopranos episode. Except here Tony is played by King Ahab, Jezebel is Sil, Naboth is the poor schmuck who ends up whacked, the two witnesses are Paulie Walnuts and Christopher, and Elijah is Carmella.
Silvio Dante is Tony's right hand man. He's usually the voice or reason, and he's also the guy who does what needs to be done to make Tony happy. Paulie and Christopher are there as Tony's goons, making sure the blame gets put right where it needs to be and ready with muscle just in case something goes awry.
I figured Carmella would be good for the role of Elijah because she was always on Tony's case. On more than one occasion she told him, in all seriousness, that he was going to hell for the things he did. That's the same message Elijah gives to Ahab in this account. "You may have gotten away with this cold-blooded killing today, but you will have to answer for it."
Why put the Sopranos in this little biblical drama? Because it proves the point that evil stuff like this is not too far removed from our own day and age. Still can't picture it happening? What about Tonya Craft right in our own back yard of Ringgold, GA? Vindictive accusations made against her, ruining her life, her family, her reputation, and her profession. You want it on a slightly smaller scale? Walk down the halls of one of our local high schools--yeah, even the prestigious private ones.
So what do we make of this? Are we just supposed to say, "Bad things happen, good people get screwed, and that's the end of it?" Should we just sit back knowing they'll get it in the end? Or is this a warning about greed, and covetousness as well as a call to repentance for our participation in evil. I'd be naive, if not outright stupid, to believe that we all didn't have thoughts along these lines every now and then. Is it time to step back, look in the mirror, and be challenged to live differently?
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