Preaching with Moral Courage

2:57 And sometimes I look in the mirror and wonder what a young man like me is doing in an old body like this. But occasionally people say to me, what's the quality that a person needs, a preacher needs, to speak to the 21st century? Not a very good question, because there isn't a single quality that you can have that will make you an effective preacher. But if I were thinking of a quality that people need in order to preach the word, at least at the top of the list would be moral courage. When I speak of moral courage, I'm not talking about Rambo, throwing yourself into a fray, risking your life and taking the lives of others. I'm not talking about an athlete who gives herself to the contest of risking everything she's got for the team, for the school. I'm not even talking about the courage that it takes for a young soldier to risk his life or to give his life for the sake of his country now moral courage is something else hard to define but when you see it you know what it is in order to give you an example of moral courage that may speak to our condition.

4:28 I'd like to talk about a prophet in the Old Testament by the name of Micaiah. Micaiah steps out of the pages of the Bible in 1 Kings chapter 22. He bursts upon the scene with all of the suddenness and the splendor of a tropic sunrise. He appears at a time in Israel's history when life was incredibly dark. On the throne was a king by the name of Ahab. And the biblical historian in 1 Kings three different times says he was the most evil king that the northern kingdom had ever had. He was a vicious, violent, temperamental man. He reigned for 22 years, and at the end of his 22 years, The people of the north enjoyed three years of peace.

5:27 The people enjoyed it. Ahab did not. He wanted to have some action. He decided that he wanted to go to battle against Ramoth Gilead, a city on the east side of the Jordan River, because he thought that that belonged to him by a treaty that he had made. and so he decided to go to the fight and he felt it would be good to have an ally Jehoshaphat the king of Judah Jehoshaphat was relatively young and new to the throne but there was already an allegiance between the two because of a marriage that they had of a son and daughter. And so Ahab had a summit conference up in the north, up in the city of Samaria, his capital. And Jehoshaphat was eager to join him. Ahab laid out before Jehoshaphat his plans for battle. And Jehoshaphat agreed that would be a good thing to do. My people are like your people. My horses are your horses. But then Jehoshaphat said, but first, could we seek the counsel of the Lord? And Ahab knew his man. Ahab had already prepared the answer. He had assembled in the city the National Council of Prophets of Israel, 400 strong. And so they laid the proposition before them. Shall I go against Ramoth Gilead or shall I refrain? And so the prophets got together. They came back with an answer unanimous. Go and the Lord will give the city into your hand. But Jehoshaphat still wasn't satisfied.

7:33 perhaps he had been around the block enough to know that if 400 people speak unanimously the chances are just one or two are doing the thinking and the other 398 are just murmuring amen and so he said isn't there another prophet of god that we could consult it's an insulting question you would think that ahab would say to him look if you can't believe 400 prophets what makes you think you're going to believe 401 but ahab doesn't say that because ahab knew those prophets that they had consulted were not god's prophets they were his prophets if they had a motto it's we aim to please a secondary motto is the customer is always right, even if the customer is wrong. And so Ahab said, well, yeah, there's one, but I don't invite him to state functions. I don't ask him to pray in public.

8:42 In fact, the truth is I hate him. His name is Micaiah. I'd rather not even talk to him because he never prophesies good concerning me, always prophesies evil. But Jehoshaphat pushed. And so Ahab got a soldier, a messenger, to go to find Micaiah and bring him to the assembly.

9:10 Evidently, the messenger was a friend of the prophet because he gives him some advice. he said look the king wants you at the council at the assembly and he's been planning to go to battle against Ramoth Gilead he's determined to go and the 400 prophets have already agreed that he ought to go look I don't make waves I advise you say what the prophets have said go along with them.

9:50 Make peace. Micaiah responded in words of moral courage. As the Lord God lives, what God says to me, that I will speak. Micaiah spoke those words under incredible pressure.

10:18 There was the pressure of Ahab, the king. Political pressure. And Ahab was a man who got his way. In the previous chapter, there's a story about a man by the name of Naboth. Naboth happened to own a vineyard near the palace and Ahab wanted that vineyard for a vegetable garden.

10:45 So he went to Naboth and said, look, I'll buy it from you. Naboth said, it's not for sale. He said, I'll trade with another piece of land. It's as good as that is or even better. Naboth said, no, it's been in my family for generations. I just don't want to trade it. In fact, I think it would be against the law of God for me to give that land up.

11:13 And so Ahab was despondent. He was a moody king. And so he went to his room, lay in the bed, turned his face to the wall. And Jezebel, his wife, knew there was something wrong. and once he found out what it was he said do you want that land? I'll get it for you and under Ahab's signature she sent a message to the leaders of the town in which Naboth lived she said have a feast expose Naboth up to public view and get some men to accuse him of cursing God and cursing the king.

12:03 And then when they've got that charge against them, stone them. That's exactly what they did. At a kangaroo court. Naboth was accused by liars of cursing God cursing the king he was stoned Ahab asked no questions he went to claim his garden he'd do anything to get his way.

12:40 So when Micaiah uttered those words, as the Lord God livers, what the Lord says to me, that will I speak. He was going against a king who already hated him, who could easily kill him. you see Ahab had the idea that the prophet made up the truth didn't simply report it he believed that if he could get the prophet to change his mind and say what the king wanted him to say then the truth will be changed. people have felt that for centuries 400 years ago Galileo swept the heavens with his telescope and came to the conclusion that Copernicus was right that the sun was the center of the solar system Galileo went out announced what he said found that Copernicus was right and in doing that he went up against the considered opinion of his time.

14:00 He went up against the theologians who were sure that the earth was the center of things. Went up against the philosophers who went back to Aristotle who had said the earth was the center of things. Actually went up against the considered opinion of the scientists of his time. And they were furious. They threw Galileo in prison. They tortured him. and finally Galileo got the force of their arguments and he recanted. I was wrong. The earth is the center of things.

14:37 Of course, that night when Galileo climbed into his own bed and the philosophers went to their beds and the theologians to their beds, the earth continued to revolve again around the sun. Galileo didn't make up the truth, just reflected it. there is a way in which people don't like the truth but they attack the prophet I mean I know the temptation a few years ago when we were living in Massachusetts we had 108 inches of snow and we didn't have a single hurricane I mean it was just day after day after day after day after day after week, just snow.

15:34 Towards the end of that, during the month of March, in what was supposed to be spring, the weatherman on Channel 4 reported we were going to have 11 more inches of snow. So I got a band of people together and got a noose. We went down and decided we would lynch the weatherman.

16:04 But when he died and they replaced him, the snow still came down. I discovered that the weatherman doesn't make up the weather. He just reports it. Ahab thought if he could change the prophet's speech, he could change the truth.

16:28 Machaah also had to face the pressure of his peers. All of the prophets had gone with Ahab. He was a lone voice. nothing much more difficult than to go up against your peers. If you're in the academy and you go to the regular meetings, you find yourself wanting to agree with whatever they say because you want to be accepted. If all of the religious people you know are saying one thing, it's incredibly difficult for you to say another. I heard of that mother who went to the parade ground to see a parade in which her son was a participant.

17:27 She came home and announced that everybody was out of step except her Henry. You smile at a mother like that until you recognize that there are times in which Henry is the only one walking in step.

17:49 Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, naturalist, in the 19th century. He loved to be out in nature. and it was not the way his colleagues lived. Somebody said to Thoreau, how come you're so out of step with everybody else?

18:18 To which Thoreau responded, I'm not out of step. I just marched to the beat of a different drum. But it's tough to be in the parade, walk to a different drumbeat. So, Micaiah not only had to face the threat of the king, a political threat, the threat of peers, but he was also faced with going against his friend.

18:51 This messenger wanted to help Micaiah. And so he says to him, look, go along to get along. king has already decided to go to battle what he was saying is this look Micaiah it won't do any good Ahab has made up his mind and what is more you can cover your back side because if you go along with those prophets and all of you are wrong at least you can say wow I mean 401 of us were wrong won't single you out for special mention and yet to that messenger to the kings to the prophets Micaiah says it's only as the Lord lives what the Lord says to me that I will speak.

20:01 But he didn't only talk a good game, he played the game. He went before the assembly and Ahab asked him the same question he had asked his prophets. Should I go up against Ramoth Gilead or should I refrain?

20:22 And Micaiah gives him the same answer the prophets gave. except with a different tone of voice. He said, yeah, go. Yeah, attack the city. Lord will give it into your hands. And Ahab responds, how many times have I told you to tell me the truth? He didn't want the truth. But he knew that he was being mocked. And so Micaiah said, well, he wants the truth. I saw the people like sheep scattered across the hillside it was a proverbial way of saying the sheep are scattered it means that their leader their shepherd has been killed go to battle you're going to die and Ahab says to Jehoshaphat I told you didn't I tell you that's why I hate him He never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.

21:26 And then Micaiah goes on. He said, well, let me put it in an illustration. I had a vision of all the hosts of heaven gathered for a meeting. The agenda item was, how do we destroy Ahab? Got a lot of good suggestions. But one spirit said, I have a suggestion. I'll become a lying spirit in the mouth of his prophets God said yeah you go that'll do it what that strange little story is simply saying is this Ahab would not be killed by some lightning bolt of judgment from without Ahab would die because he chose to believe prophets who would lie to him it's as though you had cancer you go to a doctor who examined you and it keeps telling you you're healthy. Oh you look good. Don't worry about that soreness you feel. Don't worry about it.

22:44 You know he is making you feel good. But if you believe his lie you will die because you have accepted wrong counsel. and Ahab heard what Micaiah said and decided he was going to go to battle anyhow. he had Jehoshaphat dress up in his royal robes, but Ahab felt he could get rid of the word of God by simply disguising himself as a soldier. They went to battle. They didn't take Jehoshaphat with his robes, but they didn't know where Ahab was. And so the text says, a soldier shot an arrow into the air.

23:40 Where it fell, he knew not where. But that arrow went between the flanks of Ahab's armor, deep into his body. And they kept him in his chariot throughout the day, but by evening he was dead. Took that chariot back to Samaria, they washed it by a pool where prostitutes bathe.

24:10 And as they washed, the dogs came and licked the blood, rich blood, the blood of a man who chose to believe a lie. The question I have, because I'm something of a wimp, is where in the world do you get that courage? where does it come from?

24:39 I think the answer comes from that declaration of moral courage. As the Lord God lives, what the Lord says to me, that will I speak. If you know anything about communication, you know that one of the major factors is the audience, and you do an audience analysis.

25:04 Makah had done that. He knew Ahab. He knew how Ahab thought. but in his audience analysis, he included an audience that other people sometimes admit. The audience was God. For Micaiah, when he went to preach the word, he had an audience of one.

25:31 And that was God. That was the living God. And whatever he would say to the king, he had to say before the living God. That's where courage comes from. don't mishear me. It takes discernment. You've got to be sure that what you've got is indeed the word of the living God, not just three points and a pawn.

26:05 You have to be sure that the issue that you're going to defend is really an issue that God wants you to defend. It takes a certain humility. We're not talking about arrogance. Thank you. We're not talking about getting back at people that you don't like. but when you know you've got a word from God,

26:33 and you know you're delivering it before God, that gives moral courage. Back in the 16th century, during the Great Reformation,

26:55 there's a preacher by the name of Hugh Latimer. On my wall in my office, I have a large picture of Latimer preaching to Edward VI. Edward VI was the boy king. He was in his teens. And he loved to hear Latimer preach. Latimer used stories, illustrations, used object lessons. and as a result of the preaching to Edward VI, there was a great revival.

27:31 But what impresses me is that in 1530, he stood before Henry VIII. One historian says of Henry VIII, he never spared a woman in his lust. and never spared a man in his anger.

27:57 He was an Ahab if there ever was one. And so when Latimer went to stand before Henry VIII, who had had people killed for getting in his way, he began his sermon by saying, Latimer, Latimer, remember before whom you speak. it is King Henry. And if he chooses to do it, he can take your life. but Latimer Latimer remember before whom you speak it is the living God and if he chooses to do it he could throw you into hell and then he preached with courage to the king you're going to preach to a secular age to men and women who don't buy the values of the Bible who do not buy the uniqueness of Jesus Christ who dismisses as bigots when we stand to preach the truth.

29:20 you need moral courage. And remember when you preach, if you're preaching his word, you have to be faithful to an audience of one. As the Lord God lives,

29:46 what the Lord says to me, That I will speak.