“Solomon Loved the Lord”

Meditation on 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14      

Aug. 16, 2015

    “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 for 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 your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards 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 statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your life.’”

***

    I shared with you a while back that, although I felt certain the Lord was leading Marylynn Aalderks and me to organize a joint-church mission trip to Spirit Lake Indian Reservation in North Dakota this summer, we were anxious about it. Ebenezer and First Pres, Rochester, had never done anything like it before! Then, Marylynn and I drove to Spirit Lake in May and saw the condition of the rec center where we planned to host our community VBS. It was filthy! And so many flies! Without air conditioning, the doors would have to be propped open or it would be like a sauna inside.  Every day our noon meal for the children and volunteers would have to be prepared at Bdecan Presbyterian Church on the Reservation and driven to the rec center. And there were other challenges and complications.

    Still, Marylynn and I felt the Lord saying, “Go!” and trust that God would provide the wisdom, strength and joy we needed day by day for this work. For His sake and for the sake of the needy children and families at Spirit Lake. We arrived without mishap on Aug. 5 with our awesome ministry team--20 or so adults and youth with a variety of gifts and talents, all of which were needed for this mission. Then, on the first day of our program, we had great attendance. About 40 children participated. But they were wild and undisciplined, just as the youth pastor for Bdecan Presbyterian had warned us. “This will be a VBS like you never had before,” Joe said. They were defiant and uncooperative. They climbed flagpoles, under and over tables, and up and down the bleachers folded for storage. They wrestled, chased each other and got into fights.

    After the children left at the end of the first day, I gathered the exhausted volunteers from Ebenezer and Rochester and we held hands and prayed. I was amazed by their faith and resilience! None of them were ready to give up! I asked them to share something they had seen that day that had touched their hearts; everyone had something precious to say. Children who had never used pipe cleaners before or tasted chocolate milk. So many things were new and exciting to them.  And they were hungry. Even the littlest ones piled their plates. They ate everything without complaint, including raw vegetables! What they couldn’t finish on their plates, they wanted to take home with them. Very little was thrown away.

      On the second day, all the children came back and more came, besides. Something had changed in their demeanor. They greeted us with hugs and smiles, delighted when we knew their names. They wanted piggyback rides, to sit on our shoulders and rest in our laps. Most of them stayed in their groups and cooperated with their teachers; they sang the songs with the motions and listened attentively to the Bible lesson. They loved jumping rope and the parachute games. They kept wanting to do more and more crafts!

     The third day was the best of all! Joe shook his head in amazement at the peaceful scene of face painting, just before the family program began. “This is really good,” he kept saying. “This is really good.” He confided that he worried we might not stay after that first day. Other groups had had similar experiences in previous years --and had packed their things and gone home. I think the children may have been testing us. Many have been abandoned by one or both parents and are left alone to care for themselves or be cared for by other relatives. Maybe the children wanted to see if we cared enough to stay. It wasn’t enough to talk about the love of God; we needed to show it.

    But maybe it wasn’t just the children who changed. I think the Lord worked in our hearts, providing His wisdom, joy and peace--more and more, day by day. Despite the dirt, flies, heat, fatigue and aching legs, we learned to trust in Him--and obey.

 ***

      Our reading in1 Kings chapter 3, though it tells the story of Solomon, points to our need to seek the Lord for wisdom. The promise is this: it is a gift to those who humbly seek it for God’s purposes. Solomon, the wisest human being that ever lived, was not born that way. He was also sinful! Solomon suspects his brother is scheming to gain control of the kingdom, so he has his older brother killed. But after his father dies, Solomon is faced with the overwhelming responsibility of being king of Israel. He humbles himself before the Lord, seeking God’s help. “O Lord my God,” Solomon prays, after the Lord appears to him in a dream and invites him to make his request. “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?’

     When Solomon refers to himself as a child who doesn’t “know how to go out or come in,” it is just an expression of humility. Solomon at this point, is not a child; he has a child of his own! It might surprise you that when Solomon asks for “an understanding mind” to govern God’s people, the Hebrew phrase literally translates as a “hearing heart.” How different God’s wisdom is from the human concept of wisdom. Having God’s wisdom is not a matter of the head; it is a matter of the heart and listening for God’s voice!

       Solomon’s humble request pleases the Lord. God gives Solomon wisdom to govern, and because he doesn’t ask for them, Solomon receives long life and riches, too. But there’s another important message in this reading. In 3:3, we read, “Solomon loved the Lord, (comma) “walking in the statutes of his father David.” Love and obedience to God’s commands are connected! Love must be shown through obedient action. Solomon sought to live out the same faith as his father, who sought to follow God’s Word.  Of course, David was sinful, too! But David was ultimately known as a “man after God’s own heart.”

 ***

     On Sunday morning, we gathered at Bdecan Presbyterian Church on the Reservation for worship and the children’s program. They sang their songs with the motions, retold the Joseph story and the gospel using 4 “clues”--a manger, lamb, cross, and tomb.  When they said their memory verse, one by one, you could have heard a pin drop! The congregation clapped after each child, some as young as 5, recited Matt. 28:20: “I am… with you always… even to the end of the age. Watching the joy on their faces, it seemed to be the perfect message for a community struggling with a host of problems, such as poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, violence, depression, suicide, teen pregnancy, unemployment, and perhaps worst of all, a sense of hopelessness--that things will never get better. Most of the more than 5,000 people who live at Spirit Lake do not go to church. The mission field is HUGE! I felt sad to be leaving after only a few days. Had we done enough? Would our VBS make any difference in their lives?

      But Joe shared a message from Isaiah about those who have “beautiful feet”-- those who take God’s Word, salvation and love to the world. Then, he told the story of the starfish. I will share a version of it.

      A man walks along a beach at low tide and sees a starfish washed up on the sand. He throws it way out into the water so that it doesn’t dry out in the sun--and die. He sees another starfish washed up on the sand. And another. And another. He gently throws them as far as he can, one by one, out into the sea. An observer asks him why he is throwing the starfish back into the water. The man answers, “Because they will die if I don’t.” Then the observer says, “But there are thousands of starfish washing up on the beach! You couldn’t possibly save them all.”

    The man answers, “Even if I saved just one, it would be worth it.”

    Friends, our mission work, though brief and challenging work for our volunteers, touched hearts and strengthened our faith. We shared the Word of God and the hope of Christ with more than 40 children! Just think how many other people these children will come into contact with throughout their lives. Thousands of hearts may potentially be changed because of our 4-day visit! Because we loved the Lord, and despite our fear and uncertainty, we were willing to trust God for His wisdom and obey!

    We will talk more with you about the mission trip as a group in September. But as I look back and remember our experiences, the children keep coming to mind. One little girl, Chloe, has been especially in my thoughts. After worship on Sunday, before we said goodbye, Chloe wanted her picture taken with our mission team. In our group photo on the church’s Facebook site, you can see Chloe standing with the volunteers who served the Lord at Spirit Lake.

     Isn’t it worth it, even if just one child is saved?

Let us pray. Faithful God, thank you for forgiving us for our many sins and giving us your spiritual gifts, including your wisdom, to use for your Kingdom building purposes. Give us strength and joy to continue to give from our abundance, to reach out with the love and hope of Christ, again and again, to the many needy people in this world. Help us so that we would not grow weary in doing well! And we pray that you would bless the children and families at Spirit Lake who attended our VBS. May the seeds we sowed take root, down deep in their hearts. Draw them nearer to yourself and nourish their faith. Bring other Christians to them to feed them on Your Word. Help them to walk in your ways. May they be lights to their families, friends and communities as they grow to spiritual maturity. May the relationship that blossomed between Rochester, Ebenezer, and Bdecan Presbyterian churches because of this mission trip grow and bring us together again in worship, service, fellowship and love. In Christ we pray. Amen.