Friends, this week in our journey through the Old Testament, we are visiting the early period of the reign of King Solomon. King Solomon was the son of King David and his wife, Bathsheba. At the end of King David’s life, there was a lot of fighting among his sons over who would rule Israel and Judah after his death. God spoke to David about who to crown as the next king – Solomon was chosen. He wasn’t the oldest of David’s sons, but he was considered the best leader.
We enter the story of his life just after the death of King David. Solomon was installed as king….he went to a holy site to pray and make offerings to God. Listen to the story as we pick up our Bibles and open them to First Kings, chapter 3, starting at verse 4:
The Scripture 1 Kings 3:4-28
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.
8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number.
9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.
11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice,
12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.
13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings.
14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”
15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.
17 One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me.
18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.
19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.
20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast.
21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”
22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”
But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.
23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”
But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”
27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”
28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray…
The Message Solomon’s Wisdom
In stories about Genies and magic lamps, the people who rub the lamps are granted three wishes. In the movie Aladdin, the villain Jafar wished for power and riches: to become the Sultan, to become a great sorcerer, and to become a genie – which led to his downfall because he was then trapped in a lamp. The hero Aladdin made slightly better choices: to become a prince, to be rescued from danger, and to free the helpful genie. And, Aladdin got to marry the beautiful princess and become part of the royal family in the end, so it all worked out for him.
We all have thought about these kinds of opportunities – what would I ask for if I could get three wishes from a genie? – what would I do if I won the lottery? There is even a whole reality tv show on HGTV, “My Lottery Dream House,” that shows recent lottery winners using their riches to buy a new home. Most people have a plan – things like: “I would pay off my mortgage.” or “I would travel.” or “I would give money to the church.”
But, we know that there are not always happy endings for the suddenly rich. Ned mentioned at Lunch Bunch on Tuesday the statistics – 70 percent of lottery winners have gone bankrupt within 10 years of winning – they spend all of their riches and then some….
This morning, our scripture reading for the day starts with Solomon’s answer to the question “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” But, instead of a mythical genie asking Solomon what he wanted and granting his wish, the deity who offered Solomon his heart’s desire was God. And, Solomon’s request comes down through history as the best answer to the question – Solomon asked for wisdom. He didn’t respond like a Disney villain and ask for riches and power, but since Solomon was already a prince and a king, perhaps he didn’t need power and riches.
Wisdom is the ability and knowledge to make good decisions. Solomon was considered wisest ruler of Israel – there are a few examples of his wisdom in scripture, and the book of Proverbs is attributed to him.
Wisdom is complicated. Sometimes we are wise in some areas of our lives and are a mess in other areas. Even Solomon, a wise and fair ruler, apparently had hundreds of wives…in our society when marriages are complicated for just two spouses, it doesn’t sound wise to us to take on hundreds more. 🙂
Today, we celebrate All-Saints Day. On this day, we remember the Christians who have reunited with God and have passed away from this life-time. Many of them were exemplars of Christianity for us – our parents and grandparents, our Sunday School teachers and choir directors, our former pastors and faithful people who helped us grow to accept our faith for ourselves. Many of these wonderful people also demonstrated wisdom – they had the ability and knowledge to make good decisions. Also, they were willing to share about their failures and disappointments – times when perhaps they didn’t act with wisdom and what they learned as a consequence.
Part of what we are doing in this life-time is learning how to become wise – to learn how to live out our faith in God. Unlike the Disney characters with the magic lamp, part of our work is to learn to be humble, to learn that the temptations of the world only lead to temporary pleasure, and that true wisdom comes from God. As the letter of St. James says: “ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”
Following Jesus is not always simple. When we take on the Christian faith as our own, it doesn’t mean we will be showered with riches and power. But, the faithful witness of other Christians who endured challenges and continued to trust God guide us as we also face unexpected problems in our lives: uncertain diagnoses, wounded relationships, financial uncertainty. We have witnessed other faithful people endure the arrows that life shoots at them; like they, we will endure them as well. As we grow in wisdom, we also grow in trust for our God.
Let us seek to live out true wisdom like the saints of the church who have come before us. Let us work to live lives of faith and implement God’s teachings in how we live. Let us be considerate, merciful, and wise, today and forever.
Amen.