Guard Your Hearts

1 Kings 21:1-16

1 Some time later there was an incident involving a vineyard belonging to Naboth the Jezreelite. The vineyard was in Jezreel, close to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 Ahab said to Naboth, “Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.”

3 But Naboth replied, “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.”

4 So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.

5 His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?”

6 He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”

7 Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city with him. 9 In those letters she wrote:

“Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them bring charges that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death.”

11 So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth’s city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. 12They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 13 Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, “Naboth has cursed both God and the king.” So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death. 14 Then they sent word to Jezebel: “Naboth has been stoned to death.”

15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned to death, she said to Ahab, “Get up and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite that he refused to sell you. He is no longer alive, but dead.” 16 When Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, he got up and went down to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard.

Guard Your Hearts

King Ahab was never much of a role model for the Northen Kingdom of Israel. In fact, just after this section, the history tells us that “There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord.”[1] Ahab and his pagan wife, Jezebel, used their political power to spread idolatry all over Israel, wiping out followers of the true God everywhere they could. When God sent prophets to scold the king for his self-serving dealings, Ahab’s reaction was more often resentment than repentance.

Naboth, on the other hand, was by all accounts a fine, upstanding Israelite who happened to own a vineyard next to Ahab’s summer palace up north. Ahab clearly saw the real estate value in his neighbour’s land, and, to his credit, he offered Naboth a more than generous deal. “ ‘Let me have your vineyard to use for a vegetable garden, since it is close to my palace. In exchange I will give you a better vineyard or, if you prefer, I will pay you whatever it is worth.’ ”[2] No catch, no strings attached; this was a buyout that could skyrocket Naboth’s net worth. A no-brainer, right?

And yet, Naboth responds pretty harshly: “The Lord forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my ancestors.” Yikes! Why would Naboth react so strongly to such a good deal?

The truth is, Naboth’s land had more than just sentimental or even monetary value. This “inheritance” went back more than 500 years, when the Israelites first came to the Promised Land. Even before they arrived, while they were still wandering in the wilderness, God laid out specific instructions on how the land was to be divided up. Essentially, whatever was assigned to your family, your clan, your tribe—that would stay in your family’s line forever. Even if you were flat broke and had to sell something to stay afloat, every 50 years all the boundary lines were reset and all debts were cancelled.

That was how God designed his chosen nation to work. Not because God opposes capitalism or business deals—it was because none of them owned the land in the first place. All of it was God’s property, and he wanted them to take care of it without getting too caught up in building their net worth or becoming real estate moguls. Their inheritance was about more than just property. God was guarding their hearts from covetous desires—because he had an even better inheritance in store for them.

Naboth understood the true value of his inheritance from the Lord. Ahab didn’t. And so, when Naboth rightly refused his deal, Ahab threw a tantrum. “So Ahab went home, sullen and angry because Naboth the Jezreelite had said, ‘I will not give you the inheritance of my ancestors.’ He lay on his bed sulking and refused to eat.”

This behavior is hardly appropriate for a child, let alone the king of Israel. It’s the type of entitlement that gets your blood boiling. What right does he have to put his desires over others’? Why should he get to profit from someone else’s loss?

But this type of entitlement isn’t only something you see in kings and princes. We all feel like we deserve to get more or to give less. We might not come out and say it, but we do often play the comparison game as we try to measure out exactly how much we deserve. If you don’t believe me, think of the times you’ve compared your junky old car to your neighbor’s third upgrade in three years. Or what about that extra-long paid lunch break you gave yourself for having such a tough morning at work, hoping your boss wouldn’t notice? Or maybe it’s even more subtle, policing what qualifies as one’s “fair share.” Because really, how many times do you need to ask your spouse to pull their own weight? So-and-so never even has to ask—why can’t my marriage be like that?

Maybe it doesn’t ever go much farther than a few words or private thoughts—but that’s no better. Because it’s not enough just to seem honorable. Luther pointed out, as we all read together just minutes ago, the 9th and 10thCommandments are addressed “precisely to the most respectable”—to those who have made it through the first 8 Commandments and are still feeling comfortable. You may not have stolen and broken the 7th Commandment. But to covet, to chase after what belongs to others or to become sullen and angry over what we can’t have—that’s just as dangerous.

Because when we look to the treasures of this world for our comfort and contentment, it means we’re not looking to God for the comfort or contentment that he offers. We start to worship the things we want, not the God who gives all good things. Like the wicked King Ahab, we become guilty of idolatry. In our Second Reading, Paul warns that “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”[3]To harbor these cravings in your heart is more than just a childish tantrum. It’s a rejection of God’s will, insisting that we know what we really need. And if you follow your heart’s desires after what the world offers, you may end up on a path that wanders from God and ends in eternal death—because in the end, that’s all this world can offer you.

For all his schemes, Ahab could never truly lay hands on Naboth’s inheritance. Because while Ahab saw the potential for a vegetable garden, something infinitely more valuable would grow from that Promised Land—a shoot from the stump of Jesse, the True Vine, the Messiah. He saw our desperate need, not for more wealth, but for a Saviour. He saw our hearts, defenseless against temptation, and so he came to fight for us. To guard our hearts and to make us heirs of eternal life. Not by our subtle plans or crafty deals, but a gift by his grace.

God had every right to refuse us, to leave us to the worldly riches that we chose over him. But in his love for us, Jesus, the all-powerful Son of God, didn’t get sullen and angry when we sinned against him. He didn’t sulk back into heaven and pout on his pillow. Instead, he gave up every material good, taking the very nature of a servant, because the true desire of his heart… was you. Your eternal good. He valued what truly matters, and he paid far more than what Ahab was willing to pay for Naboth’s vineyard. His blood, poured out for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. So that he could have your heart. So that he could give you an inheritance—eternal life as a redeemed child of God.

Ahab was so focused on what his heart desired that he missed all of this. But we don’t have to. Because we have one who guards our hearts with us. In his mercy, God always gives us a way out when we are tempted. Just think about all the ways that the rest of this tragic story could have played out better if more people had used their escape hatches from sin. Think about it: His wife Jezebel came in and asked him, “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat?” He answered her, “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell me your vineyard; or if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard in its place.’ But he said, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ” Jezebel his wife said, “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”[4]

Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, like the devil on Ahab’s shoulder, Jezebel came in and took control. Even here, Ahab could have, should have realized that Jezebel was not going to find some honourable solution that he overlooked, and that he needed to stop her before she went through with her plan. But he didn’t. If she was going to get him what he wanted, he didn’t care what it took. As Paul warns, “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”[5]

Maybe we couldn’t expect much more from the wicked Ahab and Jezebel. But again, think of how many ways this could have been prevented. The elders and nobles of Naboth’s own city, people who knew him and were responsible for seeing that justice prevailed. The scoundrels, who, if they had just an ounce of integrity, could have refused to lie, no matter what their queen commanded. Nobody needed to pick up a stone. Any one of them could have spoken up or resisted. Maybe it wouldn’t have worked—Jezebel certainly could have put the whole town to death, if she wanted. But better to die with Naboth than to live with his blood on your hands.

That’s what God asks of his heirs. Not just that we have “squeaky clean” hands, like Pontius Pilate, as if we can stay innocent by refusing to get involved. But a clean heart. A heart that stands firm and pure against the tainted desires of this world and seeks to do what is right, even when it seems hopeless or even dangerous.

Maybe you’ve found yourself a in vicious loop like the people of Naboth’s city. It rarely feels so dramatic; often it’s just a matter of how busy you were in the moment, so that you felt you couldn’t spare the time. It could be at work, and you notice something that isn’t quite right, but you think, “Someone will catch the mistake later. I’ve got more important things to do.”  Or there’s a coworker or family member that just refuses to do what they should. And you end up wondering, “Why do I have to be the one to do the right thing?”

The 9th and 10th Commandments teach us to guard our hearts not just against covetous desires, but against the callousness that lets us think our neighbour’s needs are none of our concern. But Jesus was our perfect substitute there, too. Jesus didn’t let the tyranny of a busy timetable distract him from what was eternally important—your soul.  He didn’t complain about our failures to do the right thing or resent the fact that he had to be the one to right our wrongs. Instead, he willingly put himself in Naboth’s place and suffered even worse injustice: falsely accused of blasphemy, sentenced by an angry mob, mocked and beaten, executed in place of the true scoundrels and criminals. All to spare you the just punishment for your sin. All to give you an inheritance that no one, not even death, can take away from you.

Jesus doesn’t leave you without a means of defense. Paul speaks the truth when he says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”[6] True contentment is your weapon against a covetous heart, and Christ gives it to you. He gives you the knowledge that your sins are forgiven. He gives you his own body and blood for you to taste and see that his death was for you. He gives you the confidence that no matter what injustice you face in the world, you have been made righteous before the one who will come to judge all things. He gives you the peace of knowing your Father who graciously provides you with your daily bread, from the literal bread you eat, to the clothes you wear, to the friends and family who cherish you. What reason do we have to be sullen or angry, when our God gives us so much?

All of this he gives out of an abundance of love for you and your soul. And he does the same thing… for your neighbor. Their earthly blessings may not look identical to yours, but they share the same status as coheirs in Christ—the same blood washes their sins away and offers them the inheritance of eternal life. But in this world, he also sends them neighbours who can help defend what blessings he has given them. He sends them… you. So that you can be yet another blessing in their life, showing them yet again how gracious and loving our God is, who has us always and forever at the centre of his heart’s desire.

So, guard your hearts. Guard your hearts from the desires it longs to chase after—because you have an inheritance worth infinitely more. Guard your hearts from the unfairness that threatens to overwhelm you—not because it’s easy, but because God gives you all you need. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.[7] Amen.


[1] 1 Kings 21:25

[2] 1 Kings 21:2

[3] 1 Timothy 6:20

[4] 1 Kings 21:5–7

[5] 1 Timothy 6:20

[6] 1 Timothy 6:6

[7] Philippians 4:7

The Truth of the Trinity Saves You

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

The Truth of the Trinity Saves You

Can I ask you a potentially obvious question? By show of hands, how many of you want to go to heaven someday? (OK. It’s always good to know what I’m working with.) Let me ask you a less obvious question. How do you get there? That’s a loaded question. Christians have been trying to clarify the answer to that question since Jesus went to heaven.

In a few minutes we’re going to recite an answer to that question together when we read the words of the Athanasian Creed. Let’s do a little bit of it now. Read this with me:

Whoever wishes to be saved, must, above all else, hold to the true Christian faith. Whoever does not keep this faith pure in all points will certainly perish forever.

So far, I don’t think that what we just said would surprise too many people, especially the kind of people who would come to a Christian church on a Sunday. You would hope that Christians would have a certain level of conviction in the Christian faith. But we’re going to get more specific. Finish this sentence from that same creed:

Whoever wishes to be saved must have this conviction of the Trinity.

I said before that of the 50 major and minor festivals throughout the Christian calendar, only 1 celebrates a doctrine. To think of it another way, these are the doctrinal statements – the theology – of the Lutheran church; only one concept contained in all these books merits an entire Sunday’s focus.

So, the question for today has to be, Why? Why is the Trinity so important? Why is a proper understanding of the Trinity necessary for eternity?

To answer that question, we have to answer another first. Thankfully it’s an easy one: What is the Trinity? Simply put, the Trinity is the biblical truth that there are three persons in one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

That’s a simple sentence, but it’s a complex thought that’s trying to balance seemingly contradictory statements from the Bible. One the one hand, you hear God say this to the Israelites:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[1]

But then you hear God say strange things like,

“Let us make man in our image…”[2]

or, even what we heard last week at the Tower of Babel,

“Let us go down and confuse their language.”[3]

So, which is it? Is God one, or is he more than one?

The answer is, Both. There is only one God, but there are 3 distinct persons within that God, and yet, as we will also confess today, you cannot mix the persons or divide the divine being. It’s a mystery. People have tried to explain it. “The Trinity is like a clover leaf or an egg – three parts, one whole.” But that would be too distinct a division to define the Trinity. “The Trinity is like the phases of water – solid, liquid, gas – three different expressions of the same thing.” But that would be mixing the persons together.

The Trinity is a mystery: three persons in one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The longer you think about it, the more your brain hurts. The math doesn’t add up, but thankfully the meaning does.

And that’s where our reading from Romans 5 gives us a hand. It’s not a dry, doctrinal dissertation about the Trinity. It’s not a dictionary definition for the Trinity. You might even struggle to find the Trinity in this passage. But what Paul does tell us about the Trinity is immediately practical and eternally relevant.

Paul starts this way:

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.[4]

The Trinity matters – the Trinity is necessary for salvation – because it give us peace with God.

Peace is nice. Show of hands, how many of you would like to live in peace? We all would. The world craves peace, precisely because peace is so rare. Iran and Israel. Ukraine and Russia. Tariffs. Trade wars. Florida Panthers. Estranged children. Enraged neighbours. There are so many things in this world that threaten or prevent peace.

But this is peace with God, which means that there was a time that we didn’t have peace with God, i.e. that there was hostility, animosity, enmity between us and God. And there was. We call it sin. It’s the natural condition into which we were all born. And even if you recoil at the idea that you are by nature sinful, rotten to the core, I want you to think about the scenario that Paul paints for us here.

Paul talks about the impact of suffering in our lives – and praises it for its ability to produce perseverance and character and hope. But is that always true for you? When you experience suffering are you always patient? Or are you quick to complain or to blame others or to blame God? Does stress build character in you, or does it draw out anger from you? Can you feel your fuse getting shorter? Your temper getting hotter? Or maybe stress does the opposite for you; it makes you withdraw into a shell of anxiety and worry, and ultimately a distrust that God can or will do good for you. Does pressure provide you hope? Or does it lead you to despair and depression and resentment and bitterness at the situation, at yourself, at God?

Pressure often robs us of peace – not this internal feeling of calmness, but peace with God as we point the finger at him or turn our back on him. There was a time when we didn’t have peace with God, when we were estranged from him, when our relationship was strained or even broken and through no one’s fault but our own.

But that’s why Paul says what he does:

Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.[5]

That’s the Trinity at work! Not some dry, doctrinal definition or a vague, conceptual abstraction, but a personal God who took a personal interest in you. The Father who loved you so much that he sent his Son Jesus to be your Saviour. To justify you, which just means to forgive your sin.

Those times that we lose our patience, that we blame others or God, that we lose our temper, that we lose our trust, that we grow anxious, afraid or worried – those aren’t neutral. They’re negative and sinful. They drive a wedge between us and God and destroy our relationship with him. You can’t be at peace with someone you’re angry at. You can’t have peace with someone you don’t trust.

But God the Father restored peace through Jesus. He took the initiative. He did all the work. God didn’t wait for you to make the first move; he sent his Son. Jesus didn’t ask for your help; he went through life – he endured so much pressure and suffering – without breaking. He never lost his patience. He never lashed out in anger. He never lost his trust in his heavenly Father. Instead, even under a load of suffering that you and I can’t even begin to understand, he remained faithful and loving and clean of conscience and pure of heart until that heart stopped beating. So that by his death he could give you access by faith into this grace in which we now stand[6] and into this hope of the glory of God.[7]

You get to look forward to heaven, i.e. to an eternal life in your heavenly Father’s home because of the salvation that the Father accomplished through his Son. But you also have been granted access to him now by faith in Jesus. Where there once was a barrier, Jesus tore it down. Where once God turned his face away from us in sadness over our sin, he now smiles at us because of the peace won for us by his Son. Which means that now we get to go to him for every problem – every stressor, every worry or concern. We get to pray to him, have daily conversation with him, and receive a blessing that can only come from him. Paul says,

God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.[8]

The Father didn’t just send his Son to die for us. He also sent his Holy Spirit to live in our hearts by faith. It’s the Holy Spirit who creates faith. It’s the Holy Spirit who teaches us to know the love of God through the Word of God. It’s even the Holy Spirit who equips us to overcome our sinful weakness and to find strength in suffering.

Patience without problems isn’t patience; it’s privilege. And it’s privileged people who struggle most when problems come, because they don’t have practice. But the beauty of what God does for you through his Holy Spirit is that he gives you opportunity to exercise your faith until you excel in it.  

With the Holy Spirit’s help, stress, pressure, adversity, affliction, trial, temptation can all be blessings for you because they teach you to see the goodness of God even in evil situations; they teach you the value of trust in the Lord when your strength fails; they teach you the personality and the practicality of the Trinity – that you have a Father who loves you; that you have a Brother who gave everything to give you peace and grace; that you have the Holy Spirit to give you strength in times of trouble and a hope that does not disappoint.

The Trinity is the biblical truth that there are three persons in one God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But this is the truth of the Trinity: your God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – pours out blessing after blessing into your life – justification, peace, grace, faith, perseverance, character, hope – all because he loves you.

That’s the truth we confess today. That’s the conviction that will save you. That is the source of our joy and the hope of the glory of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – three persons in one God, united in love for you. Amen.


[1] Deuteronomy 6:4

[2] Genesis 1:26

[3] Genesis 11:6

[4] Romans 5:1-3

[5] Romans 5:1

[6] Romans 5:2

[7] Romans 5:2

[8] Romans 5:5