Remembering the Past...
        Planning the Future

    Park Christian Church
                                                                    (Disciples of Christ)

August 16, 2009

Scripture:         1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14

Sermon:           “Eyes to See”

            It’s good to have the choir back.  Good.

            Of course that means the summer is over, doesn’t it?  The summer is over and school is under way.  Blessings and curses.

            I like this scripture lesson as the new school year begins.  Turn with me to 1 Kings where we’ll introduce the story of Solomon in chapter 2, verses 10 through 12.  Then we’ll hear of the origins of Solomon’s great wisdom in chapter 3, verses 3 through 14.

            Don’t you think wisdom is appropriate for the beginning of school?  I like that.  You can find this easily on page 370 in the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures in the pew Bible.

            One detail might be helpful here.  It is mentioned that Solomon walked in the statutes of his father David…except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense at the high places.  It used to be, especially before the Temple was constructed in Jerusalem, that folks might worship in a variety of places—usually altars that were up on hills.  High places.

            Now, not everyone had a good opinion of these other high places.  Might be that these high places were not controlled by the official priesthood of the nation.  So, how do you control what goes on there?  See why some folks didn’t appreciate that?  And you’ll find snide comments here and there throughout the Old Testament regarding these high places.  Even in this story.

            Another problem with various high places without much control over them is that the gods of all of the other people living nearby would find their way into these shrines.  So, you’d have a place with an altar to the God of Israel.  And then you might find a statue to the bull god of the Canaanites.

            You might find it interesting, then, that God met Solomon at one of these high places in a dream.  God will do unexpected things now and again, you know.  This is the word of the Lord…

            Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David.  The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.  So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.

            Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places.  The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.  At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give you.”  And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to you servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.  And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.  And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.  Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?”

            It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.  God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word.  Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.  I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor all your life; no other king shall compare with you.  If you will walk in my ways, keeping my statues and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.”

            Julie and I were shaken out of bed a few months ago.  Must have been two o’clock in the morning.  Lightning and wind and rain and all kinds of fury outside the window.  That clap of thunder had just about sent the two of us through the ceiling.  And do you know that our daughter Maddy slept right through it like nothing happened?  Shook us up, though.

            Now, when the tornado siren at the firehouse up the street started to blare a few minutes later, I had to go and wake Maddy up.  So, I reached down into her crib and cradled her close to my chest and told her, “It’s okay, baby.  Everything’s going to be all right.”

            She was groggy as we made our way down the stairs towards the basement.  There we would be safe where nothing could hurt any of us.  And I thought she just might fall back to sleep in my arms.  But, once she realized that I was carrying her away Maddy started to reach back over my shoulder.  “Daddy!  Daddy!  No!  I want my monkey!  I want my monkey!”

            And no matter how much I tried to tell her that it was okay and that we could get her monkey later, Maddy was just terrified.  She was shaking and crying and reaching back towards her room.  “My monkey, Daddy!  My monkey!”

            I realized that my daughter was not going to be okay unless I rescued her stuffed Curious George doll from the crib upstairs.  So, I left my wife and child in the safety of the basement.  And I courageously marched up the stairs as who knows what kind of weather was descending upon us.  And I grabbed the monkey, took it downstairs, and watched my daughter clutch the monkey so tightly until everything was calm and at peace again.

            Moments like that can clarify very quickly what is important in our lives.  Family.  Life.  Monkey.

            A good friend of mine lives down in Pensacola, Florida.  And it wasn’t that long ago when hurricane Ivan was bearing down on the city.  Folks had about a day and a half to board up their houses, pack up their stuff, and get out of the way.

            There’s only so much you can put in your car, you know.  And you have no idea what you’re going to return home to once the storm passes.  You might lose everything.  You might not lose anything.  The only thing you know is that it’s too dangerous to stay and you’ve only got a little bit of room in your car to take stuff with you.

            My friend, Steve, came back to a boarded up house that the storm had not touched.  So, everything inside was just as he’d left it.  Unlike some others, he hadn’t lost anything in the storm.  And I was able to get in touch with him by phone to see how he’d fared.

            “The weirdest thing,” he said, “was trying to decide what to pack up in the car.  It was like I had a few hours to think about what I would save.  I went through everything I owned and you know what?  When it came right down to it, there wasn’t much that I couldn’t replace.  All of that stuff in my house and there really wasn’t much worth saving.  It was so weird.  I left town with my pet birds, some money, and a couple of family heirlooms.  The rest?  I let it go.”

            That story has stuck with me ever since.  I often think about the stuff all around me in my life.  I wonder what it would be like to stand in front of it all and just let it go.  Moments like tornados, hurricanes, fires—they’ll clarify what really matters to us.  Do you wonder what moments like that might reveal about you and your life?

            There’s an old folk tale in the Middle East that kind of gets at the same question.  What’s really important to you?  A young man comes across a ceramic oil lamp, you know.  And when he polishes the side of the lamp with his sleeve, a genie appears and offers to grant him any three wishes of his choosing.  So, Aladdin has to consider what’s really important to him.

            You can’t read this story, or watch the movie without asking yourself:  What would you have the genie do for you?

            I guess the modern equivalent of that is the lottery.  What would you do if you won the lottery?  You’d find out pretty quickly what was important to you if you had so much money that you didn’t have to think about it.  Would you quit your job?  Would you give any of it away?  Would you save for the future?  Would your life change at all?

            One in three lottery winners find themselves bankrupt within 5 years.

            You know when God told Solomon one night to ask for anything he could imagine, Solomon found himself in that very situation.  Like rubbing Aladdin’s lamp.  Like winning the lottery.  That’s kind of where Solomon found himself with God.  “Ask what I should give you.”

            It’s a question that clarifies what’s really important in your life.  How would you respond?  And what would it reveal?

            One in three lottery winners find themselves bankrupt within 5 years.  Isn’t that something?  Reveals a lot doesn’t it?

            By the way, I got this fantastic fortune cookie a couple of weeks ago.  I kept it to share with you.  You probably can’t read it up there.  But it says:  “The secret of vast riches begins with a single penny.”  I like that.  The secret of vast riches begins with a single penny.  Dave Ramsey would love that.

            And then underneath that wonderful little proverb are suggestions for six lucky numbers.  Six “lucky numbers” like you might use on a lottery ticket!  So the top says that the secret to vast riches begins with a single penny.  And the bottom says, go try to get rich quickly.  It’s the picture of irony!

            Anyway, one in three lottery winners find themselves bankrupt within 5 years.

            There’s a financial planner who has studied this.  Susan Bradley says that lottery winners get into trouble because they fail to address the emotional connection to their windfall.  In other words, the sudden arrival of money exposes the reality that all of the stuff on the inside of many people isn’t quite right.  The money only reveals it.

            Solomon said to God, “I’ll tell you what I really need.  More than anything, I need for you to give me wisdom so that I can do this thing you’ve called me to do.  If I’m going to be king of your people, I’m going to need some eyes to see.  I need your help.  You want to know what you can give me?  Give me wisdom.”

            It’s a clarifying question.  What’s important to you?  If you could have anything, what would it be?  What’s important to you?  And what do the important things to you say about you?

            Solomon asked for wisdom.

God liked Solomon’s answer so much that God decided to give him all the things he didn’t ask for.  Money.  Health.  Respect.  Long life.  That’s all the stuff we’d like to chase after if we had the chance.  Those are the things we might find important if we won the lottery.  And Solomon didn’t ask for any of them.

God liked Solomon’s answer so much that all of that other stuff was given to him anyway.

Now, what was so impressive to God about Solomon’s request for wisdom?  Why did that make God so happy?  You think it had something to do with Solomon seeing the bigger picture of his life?

He said, “Give me wisdom, God, so that I can govern your people.  Give me what I need in order to do what you would have me do.”

What was important to Solomon?  Do you see it?  And do you see why God loved his answer so much?  Solomon wanted to be a part of what God was doing in the world.  Maybe for the first time in his life.  But, Solomon wanted his own life to be part of something bigger.  That’s what was important to him—making his own life mean something.  It wasn’t all about him.  And he knew it.  He wanted to be part of what God was doing.

Now doesn’t that sound like what Jesus taught those who would follow him?  “Strive first for the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)

What’s important to you?

Rev. David James Brown

Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)