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1 Kings 3: 3-15
3Solomon showed his love for the LORD by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David…
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.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream.
He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
All through Lent we've been talking about difficult, yet glorious, journeys in life. Our Wednesday night speakers have talked about raising children, going to school, graduating from same. On Sunday's we've talked about suffering, sacrifice, the road to the cross.
Now here we have young King Solomon, just a lad, expected to take over the throne of his father David, the greatest king his people had ever known. How did he feel about this? The way any of us would if we took the responsibility seriously: alone, afraid, inadequate to the task.
The Lord appears to Solomon in a dream and tells the young king he can ask for anything he wishes. Most of us can think of a hundred things we'd request: wealth, power, freedom from our suffering. Instead Solomon asks for God to give him the wisdom to do the job the people expect of him. He knows the people will look to him for judgment, to lead them in decisions of right and wrong. He asks for God to open his eyes and enlighten his spirit, not for his own sake but for the sake of those he will serve.
God is so pleased with this unselfish request that he promises Solomon not only what the young man has asked, but everything else besides.
Now reflect on the way your life's struggles make you feel. Alone? Afraid? Inadequate? Can you feel the kinship with Solomon here? Most of us do at one time or another. No life is trouble-free. Anyone waiting for that big moment--growing up or getting the right job or getting married or retiring--where things will finally click and all troubles are gone waits in vain. It never happens. When we're young we feel afraid and alone and inadequate because we don't know what's going on and we're under the thumb of others. When we get married we feel the same way as we struggle to learn a new way of life. Having kids redoubles this feeling. Getting a job and trying to make a difference brings it anew. Then just when we feel we've got it handled, our kids are grown, our jobs are second nature...we get old and our bodies (and sometimes lives) fall apart. Then we get that alone-afraid-inadequate feeling all over again. And this is just the normal course of life, not even counting things like illness or death or divorce or the hundreds of things that can happen in between.
When we feel this way--which we all do--what do we really want? Few of us expect our troubles to vanish magically. Nothing good in life happens without wrestling with each other, God, the universe. Most of the people I know echo some form of the wish of Solomon: "Lord, I can't fix this and I don't know if you will, but please give me strength to make it through one more day...to do the things I need to do for those around me so I don't let them down." Oddly enough, when this prayer is answered everything else seems to fall in place. The pain and fear remain, but we're able to work through them instead of losing ourselves to them. In many ways the gift that Solomon got--being able to serve those who depend on us no matter how weak we feel today--is the only one that matters. Unselfishness is the greatest strength.
We need to remember this, not only each of us personally but as a church. When I see people at church I usually ask, "How are you doing?" I do this even when I know the answer is probably going to be some version of, "Really badly!" Often people who have gone through the most dire of circumstances will respond, "Well, I'm here." At that point I try to offer a comforting word or hug, all the while knowing that it may be the best answer of all. "I'm here" implies strength, endurance, the ability to do what one needs to do even when the world is weighing down. It's the gift of Solomon come to life.
As we talked about last week, we're not called to be a church of "everything's perfect". Sometimes we're the church of, "Well, I'm here." And you know, all of us "Well, I'm here" people get together and we're stronger for it...stronger for being truthful about it...stronger for knowing that we're enduring together. That kind of acceptance, the ability to be faithful even on those "Well, I'm here" days and to communicate that to each other, is a badly-needed gift. It's not been shared often enough in the Christian community. We need to start.
I pray for each of you the gift that Solomon got: the ability to fulfill your duties even in those moments when you feel weakest and least able. I pray our church will reflect Solomon's unselfish request and his blessed and wise gift as we spread comfort and hope to all who are in need.
--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)
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