“Solomon’s Wisdom” 1 Kings 3:4-9, (10-15), 16-28

 One thing I have heard time after time over the past several years is, “I wish things could go back to “normal””. I’ve said that as well. Maybe you’ve said a vacation of this statement as well. We have been in a day and time that has been longing to return to a time of tradition. A time of “normalcy”.

The problem is that traditions change. While we crave for “normal”, we forget that normal has shifted over time. Case-in-point, Solomon. 

Solomon was one of the sons of David and he was chosen by God to follow David on the throne. It would be really easy to think that Solomon entered into his time of Kingship and kept everything the same - kept all of the traditions going. But that wasn’t the case. 

The first thing we hear in today’s scripture lesson is that King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices. Friends, this was not where David offered sacrifices to God. David worshiped God in Jerusalem. And even now that the ark of the covenant, signifying God’s presence with the people, had been returned to Jerusalem, Solomon still went to Gibeon, marking a change, a distinction between the his leadership and his dads.

Lest we think that this was the only change Solomon made, God appeared to him in the night, in the form of a dream, and asked him what he desired for God to give him. Now, friends, God is not a genuine who grants wishes. But God effectively came and asked Solomon what he needed from God in this point of his leadership of God’s people. 

And Solomon didn’t ask for what other people needed before him. He doesn’t ask for military might or protection - because he is in a relatively calm time in history compared to his father. No, he asked for wisdom - what he needed to lead the people. An understanding mind to govern the people. A spirit of discerning between what is good and what is evil. Because the task before him of governing is greater than what he could do on his own. 

As I’ve been sitting with this text this week, I’ve been wondering what I would ask God for. If God said he me, “Ask what I should give you,” what would my response be? I think most of us probably have some sort of wish lists in our heads. Things where we think “if this was just a little different” or “I had a little more of this or a little less of that” than my life would be better. 

A more direct question is - would your first thought be to ask for wisdom? 

I think wisdom and a spirit of discernment are things that we often misunderstand, even within the world of the church. It’s more than simply having a sharp mind for facts or knowledge. It’s wholly different than getting what you want out of life. Wisdom is seeking after the heart of God. 

Which goes hand in hand with discernment. There are some words that we use a lot in the Church, but from time to time I have to wonder if we have actually considered what they mean. One such word for me is discernment. Discernment is actually linked to the verb, the action, of discerning, to distinguish or perceive. Whenever I think of discerning, I think of making God’s choice. Seeking God’s will. Following the path that God would want me to go.

Because the truth is that god gave us individually and collectively, free will. God gave us the ability to make choices. And let’s be honest, there are a lot of things that we have to choose every day. What time am I going to get up? Am I going to hit the snooze button? Where will I go throughout the day? What am I going to eat? What am I going to wear? The list goes on and on. And most of those are rather simple choices. But we also know that there are a lot bigger choices that we have to make as well. What am I being called to as a job? Where am I going to live? And for us as a Church, who is God calling us to be and how is God calling us to reach out?

 Individually, there are some people that are just super good at discerning. Folks who seem to have their heart directly connected to God’s heart, and who seem to be right in line with God’s will. Other people, and I would venture most of us, need people in our life who can help us discern God’s will at certain points in our lives. But what this looks like in every day living may be different for each of us. 

Solomon knew that he was not just making decisions for himself as an individual, but was seeking to do so of behalf of a people. Therefore, he needed the gift of wisdom and spirit of discernment. 

Many of us may not make such weighty decisions in our own life, but that doesn’t meant that we still do not need wisdom and discernment. 

  An example from my own life: Once a month for over nine years, I met with Renee, my spiritual director. Renee and I sat in silence, praying that God spoke to us. I shared with her about the past month, knowing that without fail she is going to ask me where I experienced the movement of God. Renee held me accountable while challenging me to listen to the Holy Spirit. Because of her powerful example, I also serve as a spiritual director for folks, asking them that same powerful question about where they saw the movement of God.

Another place of accountability that leads me to discernment in my life are deep friendships. Some of these friends I am blessed to see once or twice a month, sitting in each others presence and asking how it is with our souls. Others live too far away to sit across from each other so we connect via video-chatting on the internet and emails asking for prayer requests. There are three such friends who I know are praying for me daily, and I pray for them, asking that God helps them continue to grow in their faith and ministries.

Friends, Solomon was known for his wisdom, which yes, was a powerful gift from God. But he was wise even in his asking for wisdom and discernment. A request that came out of humility that said - Lord, you’re asking me to do this thing that I cannot do on my own. Lead me. Fill me. Use me. 

Sometimes we can incorrectly think that God is like the genuine in Aladdin. Giving us what we wish for. But Solomon wasn’t asking for a wish. He wasn’t asking for something on behalf of himself or out of his own ambition. No, he was asking to be equipped for what God had called him to do.

Which required wisdom and discernment. 

Friends, what is God calling you to do this day and how are you asking God to equip you to live into that call? When you come to God, bearing your heart, is it out of what you want or what you know, deeply know, that you need? Who are surrounding yourself with to help you discern and what does a posture of seeking after the wisdom of God look like in your life? 

May we pray for those things that bring meaning to our life and helps us live into the identity of our calling from God, all for the sake of the Kingdom. Amen. 

“Joshua Renews the Covenant” Joshua 24: 1-26

 As a pastor, I am honored to be invited into people’s homes. I am also someone who admires beautiful art in folks homes, especially things that are homemade. There is always a story behind them. Is believe me when I tell you that there was an era when folks made beautiful wall hangings often by counted cross stitch that were one of two things: either the ten commandments or a verse from today’s scripture lesson that says “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

The problem is that as powerful as that verse is, we sometimes don’t know why Joshua is saying that or how we got to this profound moment. See today’s scripture lesson - its a fulfillment of a promise. And not just any promise - but the promise of God that has stretched over generations of people. 

Way back in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, we find God calling Abram to leave his family and homeland to go to a place that God would show him. And if he trusted God in doing so, then God would make a covenantal promise with him - to give him a land to call his own and more descendants than the stars in the sky or sand on the seashore. 

That promise wasn’t fulfilled in Abram’s time. He was blessed with Isaac, but not countless children. He also didn’t have land to call his own beyond the burial cave for himself and Sarah. 

But God is faithful to his promises. 

And Isaac had children - two of whom we know well - twins, Jacob and Esau. Only they became estranged from one another over a birthright and a blessing. Jacob ran away to another land for safety, where he ended up with thirteen children, including twelve sons. But even though through Jacob the number of descendants started to expand, he, too, did not have a land to call his own. In fact, he spent his later years in Egypt escaping famine. It wasn’t until his death that his body was carried back to the land he once knew. 

But God is faithful to his promises. 

It was one of Jacob’s son’s, Joseph, who helped spare the land of Egypt from the immensity of the famine sweeping over so many peoples and lands. But after he died, the people of Egypt forgot about Joseph and his God. It got to the point, where the God of Jospeh was no longer revered and the Israelites were taken into slavery. But God would not leave them in that position. He raised up Moses to take his people out of Egypt and into the land promised once to Abraham. A land flowing with milk and honey. 

But the people had some severe doubts along the way. They started to quarrel with Moses that they should go back to Egypt - not remembering their captivity or how they cried out to God to save them. As a result, a whole generation perished in the wilderness as they wandered for forty years. 

But God is faithful to his promises. 

When Moses time as the leader of the Israelites was drawing to a close, God raised up Joshua, son of Nun, to lead them into the promise land. And now, today is that day. And lest they are apt to forget how faithful God has been to them, Joshua tells them their story. The story tracing back to when this promise of God was first made with Abraham. The whole way down to them, standing on this threshold. 

But Joshua doesn’t just let them boldly enter, claiming the promise of God. He asks them what their response will be. Will they serve their God who has been so faithful to them, throughout the ages? This is the moment when Joshua declares that he and his household will serve God alone. 

As I was sitting with this text this week, the following stanza from the hymn “O God Our Help in Ages Past” came to mind: O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home. Joshua is trying to get the people to truly see and respond to the fact that it was God that brought them this far. If not for God, where would they be? Still in the wilderness? Still in Egypt? 

Joshua wants the people to truly understand that this moment - this is the culminating work of God. Not their work. Not their victory. God’s alone. God who took the family of Abram and transformed them into his people alone. And from that moment, it has been God who has been the main actor in their story. And any pretense where they would try to claim that they made this journey by their own strength - well, that would be false. 

And once they recognize that what could they do but serve God alone? Because no one deserves to be served more than the Lord. Because no one has been faithful like their God. So no one should be glorified more than God alone. 

Friends, we do not often hear many texts preached from the book of Joshua, and as a result, we can miss out. We can miss out on the story of our God who keeps his promises in awesome ways. 

You can tell a lot about what promises people hold to as true by the story they tell. And the story we tell, well, it can also reveal how quickly we are are prone to forget the promises of God. Are we telling the story of our God who has saved us? Do we proclaim the story who has been working for our salvation throughout ages and generations? Or do we get caught up in the story of the world that is a whole lot more about us than it is about God?

And do we proclaim that our God keeps his promise that we understand when sometimes those promises do not get fulfilled in our lifetime? Do we trust God enough to keep moving, keep praying, for the generations to come? Do we live in such a way where we step into the belief that the prayers we are praying here and now today will be born to completeness in God’s timing? Not ours - but God’s.

When Joshua stood on the cusp of the promise land and told the people their story - he was declaring that our God is able. When he reaffirmed for them the decrees and laws - he was lifting high the name of God. And when he declared that he and his house would serve the Lord - well that was him glorifying God’s name, not just with his lips but how he was living his life - as an act of trust and obedience. 

What about us, church? Are we the people going forth to stand firm in the promises of God? Are we the people who are living our lives for the glory of God? Are we the people trusting God in all times and places? Let it be so. Amen. 

“Rescue at Sea” Exodus 14:5-7, 10-14, 21-29

 The last Sunday that I was with you, we talked about raging waters. Waters that covered the whole earth and the only life that was sustained was Noah, his family, and two of every kind of water. Now, after a few Sundays away, I have returned to you and once again to the waters in scripture. Only this time we aren’t talking about the ark and Noah, but have moved to the second book of scripture, Exodus, and to the waters that covered the Egyptian army. 

To set the scene. The Israelites were slave laborers in Egypt. The same Egypt that Joseph, one of their own, had served and saved by his obedience to God. But  new Pharaoh came to power and forgot what Jospeh had done. So the people of Israel were no longer honored, but were put to work doing hard labor. 

The people of God prayed that God would hear their cries and intervene. And intervene God did. He sent Moses, an Israelite who had been raised in Pharaoh’s house, to tell him to let God’s people go. Moses however, didn’t think that he could do such a weighty task - listing to God all of the reasons why - chiefly that he is slow of speech so who would listen to him. But such excuses did not stop God’s instance and he sent Moses’s brother, Aaron, to accompany him on this mission. 

Only Pharaoh’s heart was stubborn - he would not respond to what Moses and Aaron were saying. He would not let God’s people go. So one after another, God would send a plague upon the people of Egypt, until Pharaoh relented. But the relenting didn’t last long and he would return to his stubborn ways. 

Until the last plague came - where the first born of all Egyptians was killed. Including Pharaoh’s own son. Heartbroken, Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go. 

Or at least, he started to. Until we get to today’s scripture passage, where he looks around and realizes that he has let the people go who were working in the land. In his words, “we lost their service.” So he decides to pursue them, until they turn around and come back to again be slaves in the land of Egypt. 

Pharaoh, was a man of stubborn heart because he did not know the Lord. If you go back to chapter 5, verse 2 of Exodus, we find him asking “who is the Lord?” Because he does not know the Lord, he leans into his own understanding. 

The last Bible study that I led prior to leaving my previous appointment was on the book of Exodus. Almost week-in and week-out, we would comment on how we could recognize Pharaoh’s stubbornness in our own hearts. Times that we failed to listen to God. Times we trusted our way and will more than God’s.

Pharaoh was learning the hard way what it meant to recognize the power of the Lord. He may think that by his title alone that he had authority, but his authority was nothing compared to that of the Lord. So with each of these plaques, when Pharaoh did change his mind, God was giving him the opportunity to repent. Not just change his mind or what he was saying, but really to turn around and change his heart.

What Pharaoh failed to recognize was that knowing, truly knowing God, was about more than knowing about God. It was about knowing who God is, what God has done and what God is doing. In other words, knowing God is more than just acknowledging God’s existence. 

Pharaoh was not the only one having trouble around what God was doing. The people of Israel - the same people who had cried out to God and had seen how he responded and were now on their way to freedom - they didn’t know how to respond when they looked behind and saw Pharaoh and his army marching towards them. 

All of the sudden - the boldness with which they painted their doorposts, packed their belongings and fled Egypt seemed to disappear. They turn to Moses, for what will not be the last time and asked if he brought them out of the land of Egypt simply to die. 

And Moses has to remind them that it is God who has brought them this far and it is God who will fight for them. 

If Pharaoh’s crisis was that of stubbornness, the Isralites crisis came in the form of fear. 

Fear rooted in what the future may hold. 

What happens next truly was God fighting for the Israelites - for he opened up the waters of the Red Sea - pushing them to the side so that the Israelites could walk on dry land. 

I sometimes wonder how the Israelites could have experienced this powerful act of God and still have time after time that they would come to doubt him in the wilderness. But then again - aren’t we the same way, brothers and sisters? God was trying to set the Israelites free from their bondage and all they could see were the hurdles. Hurdles that often didn’t lead them to cry out to God, but to place blame about who brought them into this situation in the first place. 

It is as if our human minds quickly forget what and who has sustained us in the past, as we concentrate only on what we see as insurmountable in front of us. 

Have you been there? Have you been in that place where you were focusing so much on the obstacle or the task that you forgot that it was God who brought you this far in the first place? 

The story of Exodus is one of coming to know God in his fullness. The God who holds our fears, but also tells us to keep moving for him. The God who turns darkness into light. The one by whose actions alone can grant us safety and freedom. 

But God didn’t just desire that the Israelites be set free and be transformed, friends. He wanted that for Pharaoh and the Egyptians as well. Time after time he sent the plagues in hopes of changing hearts to him. And if repent means to turn around - he even gave them the opportunity to repent at the Red Sea, yet they continued to trust themselves more than God. Which ultimately led to their destruction. 

I wonder who you identify with the most in today’s scripture passage. Do you find yourselves forcing your own will and way over God’s - like Pharaoh? Or are you paralyzed by fear - like the Israelites standing before the Red Sea? Are you like Moses - trying to guide others because God is guiding you?

The truth is - it was God who brought the Israelites safety to the other side of the Sea. And the Egyptians thought they could save themselves. May we lean into the God who saves us this day. And may our hearts and lives be transformed through him. Amen.