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Worship Resources for August 19, 2018—

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
1 Kings 2:10-12 New International Version (NIV)

10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned forty
years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne
of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

1 Kings 3:3-14 New International Version (NIV)

3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father
David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

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.”

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Proverbs 9:1-6 New International Version (NIV)

Invitations of Wisdom and Folly

Wisdom has built her house;

she has set up[a] its seven pillars.

She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine;

she has also set her table.

She has sent out her servants, and she calls

from the highest point of the city,

“Let all who are simple come to my house!”

To those who have no sense she says,

“Come, eat my food

and drink the wine I have mixed.

Leave your simple ways and you will live;

walk in the way of insight.”

Footnotes:

Proverbs 9:1 Septuagint, Syriac and Targum; Hebrew has hewn out

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Psalm 111 New International Version (NIV)

Psalm 111[a]

Praise the Lord.[b]

I will extol the Lord with all my heart

in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

Great are the works of the Lord;

they are pondered by all who delight in them.

Glorious and majestic are his deeds,

and his righteousness endures forever.

He has caused his wonders to be remembered;

the Lord is gracious and compassionate.

He provides food for those who fear him;

he remembers his covenant forever.

He has shown his people the power of his works,

giving them the lands of other nations.

The works of his hands are faithful and just;

all his precepts are trustworthy.

They are established for ever and ever,

enacted in faithfulness and uprightness.

He provided redemption for his people;

he ordained his covenant forever—

holy and awesome is his name.

10

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

 all who follow his precepts have good understanding.

To him belongs eternal praise.

Footnotes:

Psalm 111:1 This psalm is an acrostic poem, the lines of which begin with the successive letters of the
Hebrew alphabet.

Psalm 111:1 Hebrew Hallelu Yah

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Psalm 34:9-14 New International Version (NIV)

Fear the Lord, you his holy people,

for those who fear him lack nothing.

10

The lions may grow weak and hungry,

but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

11

Come, my children, listen to me;

I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

12

Whoever of you loves life

and desires to see many good days,

13

keep your tongue from evil

and your lips from telling lies.

14

Turn from evil and do good;

seek peace and pursue it.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Ephesians 5:15-20 New International Version (NIV)

15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every
opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s
will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,
19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from
your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ.

New International Version (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used
by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

John 6:51-58 New International Version (NIV)

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This
bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?”

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats
my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live
because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that
came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live
forever.”

By Rev. Mindi On August 10, 2018 · Leave a Comment

Revised Common Lectionary: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 and Psalm 111; Proverbs 9:1-6 and Psalm 34:9-14;
Ephesians 5:15-20; John 6:51-58

Narrative Lectionary: Stewardship/Generosity Series, Matthew 6:19-34 (Psalm 51:6-9)

In this season after Pentecost, in the first selection for the Hebrew Scriptures we have followed the rise
of the Kings of Israel, from Saul to David, and now to Solomon. Solomon seeks to follow God’s ways, and
when God asks Solomon what gift Solomon would like to receive from God, he replies with “an
understanding mind.” Solomon knows the task is great—his father united a divided people, and he
wants to able to rule wisely, to discern between good and evil. God is pleased with Solomon’s answer,
and not only gives him what he asked for, but also give him riches and honor, so that no other king can
compete with him.

Psalm 111 is a song of praise to God who has provided for the people. The psalmist sings of God’s ways
of justice, faithfulness, and generosity to those who are faithful. God is the redeemer and the one who
made and keeps the covenant with the people. The awe (often translated as fear) of God is the
beginning of wisdom, and those who are in awe of God have a good understanding for life.

Our second selection in the Hebrew Scriptures focuses on Proverbs 9:1-6, Woman Wisdom. Spinkled
throughout the wisdom literature in the Bible, wisdom is personified as a woman. Wisdom has prepared
the way for us, and calls to us to leave the ways of the world behind, and to walk in the ways of insight.
The way of wisdom nourishes and satisfies us, unlike the ways of the world.

Last week’s reading included the first part of Psalm 34. The reading continues this week with verses 9-
14, the second third in an alphabetic acrostic poem in Hebrew. In this section, the psalmist sings of the
“fear of the Lord” or the awe of God. For those who seek God, they will lack nothing. Wisdom comes
from seeking God and understanding the awesomeness of our God. If one desires life, they will seek
God’s ways, leave evil behind, and pursue peace.

The Epistle reading continues in Ephesians with 5:15-20. Continuing with the theme found in our other
readings, this portion of the letter focuses on wise living, being filled with the Spirit rather than the ways
of this world, seeking God rather than the fleeing pleasures around us. The writer calls upon the listener
to give thanks and praise to God, who has given us everything.

The Gospel lesson continues in John’s discourse about the Bread of Life in John 6:51-58. Jesus speaks of
himself as the bread and wine of life, to eat his flesh and drink his blood. The religious leaders around
him take him literally, but Jesus speaks of abiding spiritually in us, and we in him. This is a difficult
passage to understand, but John’s account of Jesus’ life does not mention the Last Supper. By the time
this gospel account was written, communion was an established practice of the early church, so these
words are reflecting back a theological understanding of the Last Supper that came much later after
Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The Narrative Lectionary begins a three-part series on Stewardship, with Matthew 6:19-34. As part of
the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that we are not to store up treasures on earth that are
temporary, but instead, treasure in heaven. We are not to worry about what we have, but rather, how
we use what God has given us. Jesus speaks of having a healthy view, using the lamp of the body, to see
the world full of light rather than darkness. For if we are devoted to wealth, we cannot be devoted to
God. Having a healthy view leads us to understanding the resources God has given us, and that all has
been given to do God’s work in this world. If we have an unhealthy view, we only see scarcity, and we
hoard what we have rather than sharing with others.

Psalm 51:6-9 seeks wisdom and truth, to be made pure and clean, to hear joy and gladness. These three
verses are about cleansing from within to be made whole again.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fear is a harsh word—and the reason it is used is that
God is the God of all creation, mighty and powerful, the one who holds our lives in hand. There is fear,
but also this awe-inspiring nature of God, who is beyond our understanding. Holding that tension of awe
and fear is what grounds us into living God’s ways. Because without the fear of God, we seek our own
ways, our own satisfaction, and come up empty. But for Solomon, seeking God’s wisdom showed that
he understood who God was and what his place was as an earthly ruler. For the early church, seeking
God’s wisdom showed them how to live their lives as a minority religious group under oppression.
Seeking God’s wisdom leads us into the way of life, rather than the ways of this world.
Call to Worship (from Psalm 96:1-4)

O sing to the Lord a new song;

Sing to the Lord, all the earth.

Sing to the Lord, bless God’s name;

Tell of God’s salvation from day to day.

Declare the glory of God among the nations,

God’s marvelous works among the peoples.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

God is above all, and through all, and in all.

Prayer of Brokenness/Confession

God of Wisdom and Insight, we confess our foolishness. We confess that we have sought to conform to
the world instead of Your ways. We seek worldly comforts and possessions to satisfy a hunger within us
that only You can fulfill. We fumble after worldly measures of success to satisfy desires that fall away
when we see the awesomeness of Your work in creation. We confess our foolish ways, and confess our
inner longing to follow You. Help us to turn away from the temptation for temporary gains and ease,
and to live into Your ways of love, justice, and peace. In the name of Christ, who laid down his life, giving
up the ways of the world, so that we might know eternal love and life. Amen.

Blessing/Assurance

All around you are the wonders of God’s creation. All around you, God has done mighty things for you.
All around you, God is doing something new. All around you, God is at work. Behold the awesomeness
of our God. Behold God’s love and forgiveness. Embrace it. Let God’s peace be within you. Seek wisdom,
walk in the way of insight, and love one another. Amen.

Prayer

Wisdom On High, You have built a home within us. You have prepared a table before us. You have made
the invitation, and You call our name. You whisper to us to leave behind the simple ways of the world
that lead us into temptation, that cause us to seek worldly measures of success. We were taught that
the wages of sin is death, and indeed, the ways of the world lead us to dead ends. Wisdom on High, lead
us into life. Breathe in us Your Spirit, and call us to Your ways of love, justice and peace. Amen.

Preaching on Sunday’s Old Testament text, 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14, might feel like investing in a startup
venture or flipping a house: high risk with the possibility of huge rewards. Solomon, for me, is a pastel,
two-dimensional kind of figure in the Bible. You don’t get a sense of his heart like you do with David.
What shocks me is that the Bible both reveals the dirt on Solomon and tries to paper over it so we don’t
notice — but unsuccessfully. It’s always Solomon was great! But…

Solomon is humble, but then arrogant. Solomon is wise, but then foolish. Or as 3:3 puts it, “Solomon
loved the Lord… but he sacrificed at high places.” If the preacher wants to make this text into a lesson
for how an individual leads the life of faith, I guess you could say we are all mixed like this. We love God;
we fail God. We a holy; we are horrible. So the moral of such a sermon would be… what? Be like good
Solomon, not bad Solomon?

Or is it young Solomon versus older Solomon? Perhaps the Solomon of our text, the Solomon of the
dream, was humble and holy, or not yet jaded and corrupted by the world. Heather Murray Elkins
articulates this approach wonderfully:

"This story may be a conscious attempt to remember what is lost and in the telling regain it... This story
seeks to return a people to a trust in YHWH, God of creation and liberation. The outcome is determined
by the memory of what was known to be true at the beginning and what is hoped for at the end of the
struggle."

I like that. But I'm jaded, and I see primarily the corrupt Solomon. It’s truer to the text — and to reality,
to God, and to our current situation — to detect what is clearly going on in this text. God makes an
extraordinary offer to Solomon: ask what I should give you. Jesus suggested to the disciples that
whatever they ask, he’d do it. But he did add “in my name,” which isn’t a magical formula but an
invitation to be close to God’s heart in our asking.

I think of Thomas Aquinas on his deathbed. A voice from above said “Thomas, you have spoken well of
me. What reward do you want for yourself?” Aquinas replied, “Nothing but your self, O Lord.”

"Weak Enough to Lead: What the Bible Tells Us about Powerful Leadership" (Abingdon Press, 2017).
Order here: http://bit.ly/2rYxHac

Good answer. Solomon gave the best answer ever. He began with immense humility: I am like a little
child, I do not know what I am doing. 1 Kings says this “pleased the Lord.” My question is, was the Lord
really fooled by this faked humility? Didn’t the Lord detect the BS? Or is the BS in the editor who passed
along the story of Solomon to us? Solomon has for some time, and with a shockingly aggressive cruelty,
been conniving to seize the throne. Immediately, his kingship was about accumulation, expansion,
forced labor, massive taxation, as if he was bound and determined to prove Samuel right when he
warned the people about why they should not want a king (1 Samuel 8).

God’s response to all this is lovely and something we might aspire to: “Because you have not asked for
long life or riches, or the life of your enemies, I will give you a wise mind.” But then the editor, clearly
propping up the absurdities of Solomon’s real reign, jams these additional words into God’s mouth: “I
will also give you what you have not asked for — riches and honor.” Seriously?

I’ll never forget a short period of time in seminary when a huge light bulb popped in my head when I
heard about “hermeneutics of suspicion.” We peek behind the official, sanctioned curtain of the text
and ask what was going on that got hushed up. Our suspicion is that power trumped, that God got
domesticated, that the story got tailored for public consumption to the advantage of the winners, the
powerful, those who manipulated the system to their advantage.

I read Stefan Heym’s amazing The King David Report, a novel about Ethan, a court historian, who was
instructed by Solomon to write “The One and Only True and Authoritative, Historically Correct and
Officially Approved Report on the Amazing Rise, God-fearing Life, Heroic Deeds and Wonderful
Achievements of David.” The deeper, cynical purpose of crafting such a slanted tale is to vindicate
Solomon and justify his reign.

Clearly, 1 Kings is kin to Heym’s novel, and most good scholars (with Brueggemann leading the way, I
suppose) see the vested regal interests dominating Solomon’s story. And yet the real story, the
theologically sound angle on the story, wasn’t totally suppressed. There is a condemnation of all that is
Solomon’s impressive but theologically troubled reign.

I will try to talk about this and about what goes on in our culture. The preacher must be equal-
opportunity and bipartisan on this — which isn’t difficult. Politicians put forward their preferred story.
They vainly mix their thin and usually faked piety into the official narrative, but we who know the heart
of God are rightly suspicious. All the more reason to warn our people not to bow down to the great
idolatry of our day, which is political ideology.

***

The Epistle, Ephesians 5:15-20, is a fine text rich with preaching possibilities less controversial and risky
than 1 Kings. Be wise. Good idea! You can explore wisdom in a world where people know people who
are smart but aren’t sure if they know anyone who is wise.

“Make the most of the time” intrigues. The culture might say that and mean grab the gusto, cram your
time full, stay busy, maximize your life… but making the most of the time might mean being still,
‘wasting’ time in prayer and worship, etc. The Greek, as spun by Frank Thielman, exgorazo implies buy,
or buy up, or even buy something to gain its release from where it is.

We hear the phrase "buying time."

Thielman envisions the phrase implying “buy the time away from what has a grip on it.” What has its
grip on time? Corporate life? The entertainment/diversions world? Fears and anxieties (which are
entirely fixated on time)? Paul says “the days are evil,” well worth exploring in the context of how our
time gets strangled and how it needs liberation.

Careful attention is required to parse “Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.” It’s
not, Don’t do this, but do this other thing. The two are interrelated. People drink to achieve what the
Holy Spirit is supposed to provide, what only the Holy Spirit can provide: we seek joy, we want good
company with others, we need recovery from a bad day, we want to celebrate a good day.

Alcohol plays an outsized role in life, and so much of it is destructive. For our purposes today, it’s not
just destructive, but actually subs in and blocks our way to the Holy Spirit.

Our church tried a cool program a few years back. We asked people to give up alcohol for Lent, then
take the money they would have spent on beer, wine, cocktails, and contribute it to the “Spirit fund”
(get it?), which would then go to support recovery ministries. Huge wrestlings and great conversations
ensued. I know of four people who went into treatment programs because we did what we did.

Finally, Paul urges us to sing to one another. This is not hard to explore in preaching; I’m reminded of a
story Tom Long told in a sermon I was lucky enough to be present to see and hear. He told about visiting
an older person in the hospital, fairly unresponsive, until his family gathered around the bedside and
began singing old hymns. The man’s eyes flew open, he smiled, and sang along as best he was able; he
died not long afterward. Tom said he left the hospital and phoned his non-church-going son and said,
“You’ve got to learn these songs” — anticipating the day he would long to hear them in his own hospital
bed.

***

The Gospel, John 6, is covered in my blog treating the whole 5 week run through that chapter.

https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/9201/weekly-preaching-august-19-2018