Being a Butler in a House of Evil
“Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab had summoned Obadiah who was in charge of his palace. (Obadiah was a devout believer in the LORD.)”
- I Kings 18:3
Sure Christmas morning, with its snuggly pajamas and the aroma of sentimentality, garners its share of the popular vote, but it can’t compete with the aura of nighttime. The cover of darkness only serves to make more brilliant the light of Christmas. Take an evening stroll down a carefully decorated lane and drink in the magic of the yuletide as twinkling lights pierce the darkness and chase away the shadows. Perhaps more than any other metaphor or theme, the idea of light penetrating the darkness captures our imagination at Christmas. The Light of the World enters our cold, dark planet, proclaiming hope and peace to all.
This theme of light in a dark world is one on display in I Kings 18. At the end of verse 2, the author explains that Ahab summoned Obadiah, his chief palace official. Before talking about Obadiah and his labors, we need to recognize the management under whom he toiled. If the Old Testament forces of evil had a power couple, it was Ahab and Jezebel. Their names synonymous with wickedness, they epitomized the suffocating darkness of evil that we too often feel encroaching upon us in our world. And in the midst of that darkness, we have a light named Obadiah. Jeremiah, the writer of Kings, makes it clear what we need to know about him: “Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord.” Such a line is somewhat astonishing. It’s easy to envision Ahab and Jezebel’s palace teeming with evil minions and underlings, a true den of iniquity, but if there’s a lesson of Christmas, it’s that God plants light in the midst of darkness. Obadiah, a devout believer, serves as the chief butler in a house of evil.
We might be tempted at Christmas to focus on the big picture light show of thousands of angels heralding the arrival of the Messiah, and while it’s indeed worthy of celebration, God calls us to, like Obadiah, faithfully reflect his light in our own corner of this world.
Maybe in the midst of selfishness and camouflaged truth, it’s simply standing with integrity for what we know is right. Maybe being light means swallowing the contentious words dancing on the tip of our tongues at a family gathering instead of giving in to a temptation to explode. Maybe it’s the quiet, unnoticed words we pen to someone struggling in the shadows.
Indeed it’s not easy. Obadiah’s decision to hide 100 of God’s prophets from the crosshairs of Jezebels’s wrath undoubtedly caused him sleepless nights. Maybe though, he understood the blessed truth of one of Christ’s most powerful names: “Immanuel.” Light incarnate left heaven’s throne of brilliance and stepped into our cold darkness to be with us - to stand beside us when we dwell in the midst of woe and give us strength to reflect his light to the world around us.
And maybe, like Obadiah, we’ll be found faithful and the parentheses after our name will tell a similar simple story of being light in a dark world, just like his: “He or she was a devout believer in the Lord.”
~ Blake Hiemstra