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Sermon - Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (B) - 16th August 2009
St Aidan's Anglican Church West Epping
Readings:1Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14; John 6 51-58
When was the last time that someone let you down? When was the last time someone made you a promise and failed to keep it? Its not hard is it, to find examples of people who let you down, who make promises and don’t keep them. Yet, if we are honest, we will recognise that we are guilty of the same offence. We too have let others down. We have made promises we weren’t able to keep for a whole range of reasons. We know in our hearts we have failed others. This is why I get uncomfortable at wedding services. The man and the woman are making such big promises to each other. Yet I know the divorce rate is approaching 50%. I comfort myself with the knowledge that it is not that high amongst those who get married in churches. In one parish I worked in, early in my ministry we did many weddings. It was not uncommon for the groom to arrive either under the influence or recovering from a night of heavy drinking. – hardly the condition for making such important promises.
But it reflects the human condition. None of us live up to the standards we would like to achieve. We are all aware of the times we have failed others. This is our story. But this is also the story of the Bible. This is the story of the Old Testament. God, having created the world, sees people turn against him. He sees people constantly failing in their relationships with one another. God rescues his people from Egypt, But what kind of community will they be. Moses life turned into one of agony as he put up with their day to day moaning and whining and complaining – always wishing they were back in Egypt. God assembled them before him at Mt Sinai and gave them his law. This was how they were to live. He would be their God and they would be his people. He would lead them using Moses as his intermediary. Then Moses was followed by Judges and then prophets who spoke for God.
But the people wanted a their own king. They wanted to be like the other nations. But God always taught them that they were not to be like the other nations. They were to be different from the rest of the world. Eventually, God gave Israel David and declared his kingdom would last forever. God gave David every blessing, every advantage. It all went well until the day Bathsheba decided to take a bath. And David let everyone down. The rest of his reign was stained with revolution and palace intrigue. But remarkably, when Solomon succeeded him peace had come to the nation. We are told that when Solomon sat on his throne his rule was firmly established. Of course he took the opportunity to kill off all opposition. But he did it from a position of strength. Here was a king with every opportunity. Israel was prosperous. It had no enemies threatening its boarders. Its central government was secure. It had a young healthy king.
And then we are told something of his heart. He showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the statutes of his father David. Here was a king who seems qualified to lead God’s people. And we are even more assured when we read of the events that happened at Gibeon. Here Solomon provided 1000 burnt offerings to God. And during the night, God appeared to Solomon in a dream and encouraged him to ask for whatever he wanted. Can you imagine an offer like that? You could ask for whatever you wanted. What would you choose? What would you like to choose? Good health? Long life? Riches? A cure for cancer? The list is endless. So what did Solomon ask for? Verse 9 “Give to your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” Solomon asked for wisdom to lead God’s people. And because he did not ask for wealth or long life or victory over his enemies, God gave him his request. Its one of those ironic moments in the Bible. Solomon already was wise enough to ask for the gift of wisdom, for the very thing he would need to rule his people.
But there was still more. Not only did God grant Solomon wisdom, he also gave him all the other things he had not asked for. He promised him riches and honour and great power over his enemies. Solomon would rule with amazing strength. For a king, you couldn’t get a better beginning. And all of God’s promises were fulfilled. Solomon got it all. He was famous for his wisdom. He enjoyed great health. He was excessively rich. He had the honour of building the Temple and no expense was spared. We are told that even the Queen of Sheba came to hear his wisdom and he was showered with many gifts. This was the ultimate when it came to Kingship in Israel. Solomon had achieved it all.
And at that point God appeared to him a second time. He pointed out he had answered every one of Solomon’s prayers. He would give Solomon what ever he asked. What was more, his sons would rule after him. There would be a great succession of kings. But there was one requirement. Solomon must obey God’s laws and not worship any other God. And this was where Solomon went wrong. He had acquired 700 wives and 300 concubines. What was worse, he had married daughters of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and the Hittites. All these nations had been enemies of Israel and enemies of God. God had strictly forbidden marriage with other nations because they would turn Israel’s hearts to follow other gods. Yet Solomon had married these women, and they had all brought their gods with them. And we are told that in his old age, Solomon worshipped these other gods and built temples for them in Israel. After his death his kingdom collapsed and the country was divided in two, Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The story of Solomon is the story of human frailty on a grand scale.
Yet Solomon’s weakness in keeping promises is a weakness we are all familiar with. It is so hard to be the people we would like to be. And that is why the life of Jesus stands out. He comes to do the will of his father. He is confronted with every temptation known to man. I think that Jesus 40 days in the wilderness are the most significant in his ministry. It was in the wilderness as he faced those temptations that he showed he truly was the new man who had come into the world, giving hope for a new humanity. This time the story doesn’t take the same familiar track. This time it’s a new story, for a new age, a new beginning that we are invited to join. We can participate in this whole new experience that comes with the life of Jesus.
And Jesus says those amazing words, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.” Solomon began with everything and ended with nothing. Such a contrast with Jesus who in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a Cross.” And this was his entry into his kingdom – his new life – and ours.