Tenth Sunday after Pentecost – August 17, 2014
1 Kings 3:5-12
Rev. Jeremy Cares
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, O 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.”
What does it take to be great? Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, winning 6 NBA championships, leading the first “Dream Team” in the Summer Olympics, and leading the entire league in scoring 10 times. Bill Gates is another that many would call great. He has been the richest man in the world for much of the last 20 years. He owns a home worth $125 million. He is worth over $75 billion. Looking a little further back in history we come upon the name, Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was the king of the Greek kingdom of Macedon in the inter-Testamental period of the Bible. He commanded his military through Asia and Northeast Africa and even into Pakistan to create one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Alexander was also tutored before he became king by the great philosopher Aristotle. And then going back to very ancient history we have Methuselah. Methuselah lived longer than anyone ever has or ever will. He died at the age of 969 and as ancient history records he died 7 days before the biblical flood. All of these individuals are considered great by many and for all different reasons. Fame, fortune, strength, and length of life all contribute to greatness.
In our First Lesson for today from 1 Kings, chapter 3 we hear of Solomon. Solomon was also a great man. What made him great might surprise many. He had 1,000 wives. His wealth was well enough known that the distant Queen of Sheba made a long journey to visit him. Solomon also completed the building of the Temple of the Lord. These accomplishments and wealth are certainly terms for greatness in the world, but these worldly things are what really took away from his true greatness. Solomon was great because of his humility. His humility led him to greatness according to the standards of the world.
Humility is the beginning of greatness. Humility is the beginning of wisdom; true, God-fearing wisdom. Look again to the account of 1 Kings, chapter 3, beginning with verse 5.
When Solomon became king he is estimated to be only 20 years old. He was very young according to the status of being a king and really didn’t have much experience in ruling an entire nation. He took over the role of king from his father David. David was a great king, but he had many of his foul-ups too. Now Solomon was stepping in at a critical point in Israel’s history, the building of the Temple. The whole nation was turning to him, a 20-year old to lead them.
In many ways I have felt like Solomon. I have been entrusted to shepherd a congregation. I have been tasked with caring for infants, children, teenagers, college students, young adults, families, middle aged, the wiser, the more educated, the successful, etc. I have been called by many of my fellow pastors as the missionary in West Texas, and that’s a large area. I’m only 33. What am I supposed to do? How am I going to be able to care for people of all walks of life and reach out to such a large area? It’s overwhelming! It’s quite a trust God has put in front of me.
Now I’m not saying this asking for sympathy. Far from it. The reason why I illustrated this for you is to tell you that God has put quite a trust in front of all of us. Each of you is in your own place in life. He has entrusted you to take care of yourself, to keep healthy, to let Jesus shine through everything you do, to be a good student or an A+ employee. He has also entrusted to many the responsibility of others; to care for a family, to support the mission work of a congregation, to remain faithful to him in everything you do. It’s a lot and God asks us to handle it well.
So what do we do? How may we be considered great in all of this? How may we gain wisdom to balance and fulfill everything in front of us? Well, it starts before you even look at all of the responsibilities that seem to weigh you down. It all starts with faith. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10). Knowing that you cannot do it all on your own, or even any of it on your own is where it begins.
Solomon was wise beyond his years. The Lord appears to him in a dream and says, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Now, having been a 20 year old I know the first things that I would have asked God for: pay off school, a beautiful girlfriend, a new car, a great job; something like that. But no, Solomon responds with thanking the Lord for showing his great love to his father, David. Then he still doesn’t ask for anything, but rather begins listing all of his concerns of carrying out his role as king.
Do you see what Solomon was doing here? He was openly admitting to God that he just didn’t feel ready. That he was not confident in carrying out the duties as king of God’s people. He was humbly confessing to the Lord that he didn’t know if he could do it.
It’s not wrong to do what Solomon was doing. In fact, Solomon’s confession is such a healthy example of what we all need to do on a regular basis. We need to swallow our pride and trust in God to provide. Solomon was doing just that and asked God for “a discerning heart to govern God’s people and an understanding between right and wrong.” He was putting his faith in God knowing that God would follow through and cancel out all the concerns he had.
And that is exactly what God did. He gave Solomon the greatest wisdom of all time. And because he wasn’t selfish, but asked for this in faith, God blessed him with many other things as well. Solomon testifies later in his life as he writes in Proverbs 11:2, “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
Dear friends, today we look to Solomon and his example. Solomon didn’t know what to do in his life and the Lord was right there to bless him. In good times and in bad times the Lord is right there with you. When you feel overwhelmed and do not know what to do, the Lord is ready to bless you. When you know you’re just not capable of accomplishing all of the responsibilities before you, the Lord is there to pick you up and cause you to succeed. The Lord is always ready and willing. It just takes us to swallow our pride and realize that we need him in everything. It is a disgraceful thing to believe that you can do it all on your own. It is a very wise thing to turn to the Lord and trust in him to provide.
It’s the faith that matters. It’s the complete trust in the Lord that he is with you and will always prevail that is true wisdom. You have that basic wisdom. It begins with a humble heart. A humble heart that let’s go of your sinful pride and boasts in the Lord who is at your side.
Feed your humble heart of faith. Strengthen it all in the Lord’s promises. Enrich it as you grow in the love of your Savior through the forgiveness of sins that he showered on you in your baptism and offers you regularly in his Holy Supper. This is true wisdom. This is complete trust in the Lord’s words.
Michael Jordan, Bill Gates, Alexander the Great, Methuselah were all great based on accomplishments that they personally had done. But their greatness contributes nothing to what happens after they die. Faith, true saving faith in Jesus Christ as the substitute for you sins, is what makes you eternally great. And that accomplishment is not on you, it has all been done by the Triune God and the Holy Spirit working through you. You are great. You are wise. And it all began and continues to grow through your humble heart of faith.