October 26, 2014: Solomon’s Wisdom

1 Kings 3:4-9, (10-15), 16-28

⁴ The king went to the great shrine at Gibeon in order to sacrifice there. He used to offer a thousand entirely burned offerings on that altar. ⁵ The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”

⁶ Solomon responded, “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you. You’ve kept this great loyalty and kindness for him and have now given him a son to sit on his throne. ⁷ And now, Lord my God, you have made me, your servant, king in my father David’s place. But I’m young and inexperienced. I know next to nothing. ⁸ But I’m here, your servant, in the middle of the people you have chosen, a large population that can’t be numbered or counted due to its vast size. ⁹ Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.”

¹⁰ It pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. ¹¹ God said to him, “Because you have asked for this instead of requesting long life, wealth, or victory over your enemies—asking for discernment so as to acquire good judgment— ¹² I will now do just what you said. Look, I hereby give you a wise and understanding mind. There has been no one like you before now, nor will there be anyone like you afterward. ¹³ I now also give you what you didn’t ask for: wealth and fame. There won’t be a king like you as long as you live. ¹⁴ And if you walk in my ways and obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did, then I will give you a very long life.”

¹⁵ Solomon awoke and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood before the chest containing the Lord’s covenant. Then he offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices, and held a celebration for all his servants.

¹⁶ Sometime later, two prostitutes came and stood before the king. ¹⁷ One of them said, “Please, Your Majesty, listen: This woman and I have been living in the same house. I gave birth while she was there. ¹⁸ This woman gave birth three days after I did. We stayed together. Apart from the two of us, there was no one else in the house. ¹⁹ This woman’s son died one night when she rolled over him. ²⁰ She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I was asleep. She laid him on her chest and laid her dead son on mine. ²¹ When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, he was dead! But when I looked more closely in the daylight, it turned out that it wasn’t my son—not the baby I had birthed.”

²² The other woman said, “No! My son is alive! Your son is the dead one.”

But the first woman objected, “No! Your son is dead! My son is alive!” In this way they argued back and forth in front of the king.

²³ The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead.’ The other one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and my son is alive.’ ²⁴ Get me a sword!” They brought a sword to the king. ²⁵ Then the king said, “Cut the living child in two! Give half to one woman and half to the other woman.”

²⁶ Then the woman whose son was still alive said to the king, “Please, Your Majesty, give her the living child; please don’t kill him,” for she had great love for her son.

But the other woman said, “If I can’t have him, neither will you. Cut the child in half.”

²⁷ Then the king answered, “Give the first woman the living newborn. Don’t kill him. She is his mother.”

²⁸ All Israel heard about the judgment that the king made. Their respect for the king grew because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him so he could execute justice.

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How many jokes or stories begin with a person meeting a genie who gives them three wishes? 

How often have we thought to ourselves, “If I could just have _________.” 
At the beginning of this story, Solomon gets the chance to live this out.  What would you ask for? What would you be tempted to ask for?  

At a different time in my life there was the temptation to answer a question like this with “A lifetime supply of Skittles!”  or “The Cubs winning the World Series!” (I’m starting to believe that it will take divine intervention that that blessed event to occur.)  Lately, however, there are more pressing matters: “A Cure…for Cancer, Alzheimer’s, and Congenital Heart Defects.” You name it.

I once asked my catechism kids to list one super power they would want to help them spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One girl chose the ability to “speak really fast” so she could talk to the most people in the least amount of time. You could debate whether or not this would be effective, but I really loved the way she thought about the assignment.

There are many things that are good to ask for. 

Here’s the thing about Solomon: when this story takes place his father, King David, has died. David was a mighty warrior and powerful king.  The score after his first appearance was David 1, Goliath 0 and it keep going from there.  That’s quite a legacy to live up to.

What’s more, Solomon was not David’s eldest, or most powerful, son.  There were plenty of reasons he shouldn’t have become king and now that he IS king, there are plenty of ways he could be dethroned.  Solomon’s position is far from secure.  He could use a little insurance.  It must have been tempting for Solomon to ask for the death of his enemies, powerful armies, tons of riches or…whatever.

Instead, he asks for wisdom and the ability to govern the people of Israel well.  Way back in Genesis we talked about a very important Biblical Theme: being blessed to be a blessing.  Having a purpose for our talents.  Here it is again. I believe this is why God is pleased with Solomon’s request and grants him much more.  God cares about how people are governed, how they are protected and treated.  It is God’s will that rulers should govern with justice.

May we all pray constantly that God would give us wisdom and the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong.  May we all put our trust in our God who desires justice in the world.  God’s Kingdom is coming, may we be a part of it!

 

October 19, 2014: David and Bathsheba

2 Samuel 12:1-9; Psalm 51:1-9

So the Lord sent Nathan to David. When Nathan arrived he said, “There were two men in the same city, one rich, one poor. ² The rich man had a lot of sheep and cattle, ³ but the poor man had nothing—just one small ewe lamb that he had bought. He raised that lamb, and it grew up with him and his children. It would eat from his food and drink from his cup—even sleep in his arms! It was like a daughter to him.

⁴ “Now a traveler came to visit the rich man, but he wasn’t willing to take anything from his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had arrived. Instead, he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the visitor.”

⁵ David got very angry at the man, and he said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the one who did this is demonic!^{[a] 6} He must restore the ewe lamb seven times over^[b] because he did this and because he had no compassion.”

⁷ “You are that man!” Nathan told David. “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I anointed you king over Israel and delivered you from Saul’s power. ⁸ I gave your master’s house^[c] to you, and gave his wives into your embrace. I gave you the house^[d] of Israel and Judah. If that was too little, I would have given even more. ⁹ Why have you despised the Lord’s word by doing what is evil in his eyes? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and taken his wife as your own. You used the Ammonites to kill him.

Psalm 51:1-9

Have mercy on me, God, according to your faithful love!
    Wipe away my wrongdoings according to your great compassion!
² Wash me completely clean of my guilt;
    purify me from my sin!
³ Because I know my wrongdoings,
    my sin is always right in front of me.
⁴ I’ve sinned against you—you alone.
    I’ve committed evil in your sight.
That’s why you are justified when you render your verdict,
    completely correct when you issue your judgment.
⁵ Yes, I was born in guilt, in sin,
    from the moment my mother conceived me.
⁶ And yes, you want truth in the most hidden places;
    you teach me wisdom in the most secret space.^[a]

⁷ Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean;
    wash me and I will be whiter than snow.
⁸ Let me hear joy and celebration again;
    let the bones you crushed rejoice once more.
⁹ Hide your face from my sins;
    wipe away all my guilty deeds!

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Intrigue.  Illicit sex.  Set-ups and betrayal.  Murder. You’d be forgiven for thinking that these are the tag-lines for the latest show on HBO.  The kind of salacious details that get people talking online or on their lunch break.  Instead, they describe what has just occurred in 2 Samuel right before our lesson for today.  David has been King of Israel for some time now.  The young man who made a name for himself on the battlefield (you might recall that stand-off with Goliath) has risen to be the “Big Guy.”  He seems to have it all.  But then his eyes fall on a very beautiful woman who is already married.

David commits adultery with her, attempts to cover it up, but ultimately feels he has to have her husband Uriah the Hittite killed in battle.  Uriah is a soldier in the army of Israel. It’s a chilling scene when David writes a letter with instructions to his general Joab that say to put Uriah in the hardest fighting and then draw back so that he’d be killed.  Uriah is the one who carries the letter.

Let’s pause for a second here.  We also don’t know Bathsheba’s part in any of this: if she was willing to it or not.  When the King has you come over to his house, you don’t have much of a choice. It’s quite possible that Bathsheba was coerced into this intimate relationship.  So that means David is guilty of adultery, murder and quite possibly rape as well.

When our story starts today, the Lord has sent the prophet Nathan to David with the message that what David had done was absolutely wrong.  If you’ve ever wondered if it’s easy to be a prophet, this story should give you an answer. Can you imagine Nathan’s thoughts as we walked up to the palace? Kings don’t like to be told “no” and they certainly don’t like to have their crimes brought to light.  Kings also have a habit of relieving people who do this of their heads.   

But never underestimate the power of a good story. Nathan has David hooked by his tale of the two men and the lamb.  When the “punchline” of “YOU ARE THE MAN!” hits David it must have actually felt like a punch to the gut.

We often prefer to have our characters and stories be black and white struggles between the good guys and the bad guys. We wish that we could just kill all of the bad guys and the world would be okay.  This story shows us it’s not that easy.  To think that we aren’t susceptible to David’s weaknesses is also a mistake.  We might not be kings, but each of us has the chance to take advantage of someone else a little lower than ourselves. 

David is a pretty despicable character, no way around it. But now he does something truly phenomenal.  He COULD have said, “Forget you Nathan! Off with his head!”  He could have said, “Hey, I’m the King, I get to make the rules and say what’s right and wrong!” He doesn’t do this. He acknowledges his guilt and sin.  He utters words like, “I’ve committed evil in your site.”  May we all be able to come to God when we are guilty and say “Purify me with hyssop and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow.”

And let’s take something else from this story.  May we all remember that God cares.  God cares about how we treat each other.  God cares how kings and bosses and pastors and parents treat the people under them.  God cares.

October 12, 2014: Joshua Renews the Covenant

Joshua 24:1-15

Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders of Israel, its leaders, judges, and officers. They presented themselves before God. ² Then Joshua said to the entire people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Long ago your ancestors lived on the other side of the Euphrates. They served other gods. Among them was Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor. ³ I took Abraham your ancestor from the other side of the Euphrates. I led him around through the whole land of Canaan. I added to his descendants and gave him Isaac. ⁴ To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I gave Mount Seir to Esau to take over. But Jacob and his sons went down to Egypt. ⁵ Then I sent Moses and Aaron. I plagued Egypt with what I did to them. After that I brought you out. ⁶ I brought your ancestors out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. The Egyptians chased your ancestors with chariots and horses to the Reed Sea.^{[a] 7} Then they cried for help to the Lord. So he set darkness between you and the Egyptians. He brought the sea down on them, and it covered them. With your own eyes you saw what I did to the Egyptians. You lived in the desert for a long time.

⁸ “Then I brought you into the land of the Amorites who lived on the other side of the Jordan. They attacked you, but I gave them into your power, and you took over their land. I wiped them out before you. ⁹ Then Moab’s King Balak, Zippor’s son, set out to attack Israel. He summoned Balaam, Beor’s son, to curse you. ¹⁰ But I wasn’t willing to listen to Balaam, so he actually blessed you. I rescued you from his power. ¹¹ Then you crossed over the Jordan. You came to Jericho, and the citizens of Jericho attacked you. They were Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites, and Jebusites. But I gave them into your power. ¹² I sent the hornet^[b] before you. It drove them out before you and did the same to the two kings of the Amorites. It wasn’t your sword or bow that did this. ¹³ I gave you land on which you hadn’t toiled and cities that you hadn’t built. You settled in them and are enjoying produce from vineyards and olive groves that you didn’t plant.

¹⁴ “So now, revere the Lord. Serve him honestly and faithfully. Put aside the gods that your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates and in Egypt and serve the Lord. ¹⁵ But if it seems wrong in your opinion to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Choose the gods whom your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But my family and I will serve the Lord.”

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“You’re gonna have to serve somebody,” sings Bob Dylan. 

“You may be an ambassador to England or France. You may like to gamble, you may like to dance.  You may be the heavyweight champion of the world.  You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls…but you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed you’re gonna have to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

As usual, Dylan gets it right.  No matter who you are or what you do, we all have to answer to someone.  Perhaps what we ‘serve’ isn’t even a ‘somebody’ but rather a ‘something.’  You have a lot of money? That’s great, but I bet it means that you spend a lot of time and energy working to keep it or increase it.  You have a lot of power and influence? Wow! But I bet you have to do the same.  Quite often we don’t mind the things or the people we have to serve. If you are a parent you are going to ‘serve’ your children. If you are married, you’ll be serving your spouse.  If you are a firefighter, police-officer, or soldier you’ll be serving your community and country.

In our lesson today we hear from Joshua, the leader of the people of Israel who comes after Moses.  To bring you up to speed, the LORD liberated the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt through Moses. Moses led the people to Mount Sinai where they received the Ten Commandments.  Despite the LORD’s constant provision through manna, quails and water-spewing rocks, the people grumbled against both the LORD and Moses.  For this and their overall lack of faith, the LORD says that only two individuals (Joshua and Caleb) will enter the ‘Promised Land.’  The people wander for 40 years until finally entering Canaan under Joshua.  They conquer many cities and establish themselves in the land.  When our lesson begins today, Joshua is reminding the people of all of the scrapes, near-misses, and hair-raising adventures the LORD has brought them through.

He then says, “Revere the LORD!” They have good reason to! But he also adds, “If you’re not going to do that…at least be clear on who you choose! Make it clear right here and right now...and just to show you how it’s done I’ll tell you: “My house and I will serve the Lord.”

He doesn’t even both to imagine that they will serve NO ONE because he knows that’s impossible. Once again…you’re gonna have to serve somebody.  We can all take a break now and then and ask ourselves: who do I serve…REALLY?  What would my calendar, my checkbook and credit card statement say I serve?  Cause it’s someone/something, guaranteed. 

Who are you going to serve?