August 16, 2009 - Proper 15, Year B (RCL)
There’s a new movie coming out on Friday,
one that has trailers constantly showing on TV.
It’s called “Shorts”
and apparently
it’s about an eleven year old kid,
who lives in the suburbs
and is miserable.
All he wants
is to make some friends.
And then suddenly
a mysterious rainbow colored rock
falls from the sky
hits him on the head
and changes everything.
And what he discovers
is that the rock
grants wishes
to anyone who holds it.
That’s the first thing that came to my mind
when I read our Old Testament reading today.
King Solomon
had a dream.
And God said,
"What I should give you? Just ask."
It’s what fairy tales are made of.
A free wish, for anything in the world.
Of course, the tradition in fairy tales,
is that wishes go wrong.
That’s how it works out in “Shorts”.
It’s not long
before the suburb is plagued with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies, and giant boogers.
And the rest of the movie
is about how they unravel the mess.
The obvious temptation
given the chance to have anything you want
is to choose something material.
Most often, it’s wealth.
After all, who wouldn’t want
to not have to worry
about money?
And most of us assume
that if we had more money, we’d be happier.
Although studies have shown
that the relationship between wealth and happiness
isn’t so clear cut.
It seems that money only buys happiness
if the additional income raises you from poverty to the middle class.
Once you’re there, it doesn’t make any appreciable difference at all.
Which of course, you might equally guess by reading people magazine and following the lives of the rich and famous. The only ones who seem to be happy
are the ones who give
a substantial part of it away.
And a survey found
that on a scale of one to seven, where 1 is not being satisfied with your life, and 7 is being completely satisfied,
American multimillionaires had an average happiness score of 5.8.
Homeless people in Calcutta came in at 2.9. But on the other hand,
the Inuit of northern Greenland, who do not exactly lead a life of luxury, and the cattle-herding Masai of Kenya, whose dung huts have no electricity or running water, both averaged the same as the multimillionaires, 5.81
Which means
that maybe Solomon
had the right idea.
Because when he had his dream, and
God offered him whatever he wanted,
he didn’t ask, like we might, for wealth;
instead he asked
for wisdom.
And to understand why,
we have to go back a bit.
Solomon
was the son of King David.
One of the younger sons
of King David
and the notorious
Bathsheba.
Under normal circumstances
he wouldn't have been next
in line for the throne.
But two of his elder brothers
were dead.
Another one
tried to seize the throne when David was on his deathbed.
And in any case,
Israel had only had two kings
and the second, David,
wasn’t even related to the first, Saul,
so there was no tradition of succession.
And then there was the fact
that Solomon was the son
of David’s favorite wife.
And so, on his deathbed,
David declared Solomon
to be his successor.
And so now Solomon is king,
though not without some politicking and fighting
to ensure his place on the throne.
But when things settled down a bit,
and the throne was secure,
then he began the normal routine
of leading the people.
And that included
setting an example for them
in worship.
And so it was, that on one occasion
when he was visiting one of the traditional places of worship,
that God came to him on the dream and asked him what he wanted.
Now Solomon knew
that his father David
had been a great warrior
and a great king. He had united the country;
he had established it
as a nation to be reckoned with
and defended it against all threats.
But David’s reign
was also marked
by failures,
among them
his affair with Bathsheba.
He was not always
exactly wise.
Too often
his emotions
and his physical needs
ruled his head.
So perhaps it’s not surprising
that Solomon asked
for what David
so clearly
didn’t
have.
Wisdom.
And it was something
that would benefit not just him,
but the whole nation.
And so what did this wisdom look like?
According to 1 Kings,
Solomon wrote three thousand proverbs
and over a thousand songs.
He knew about animals and plants;
leaders came from all over the known world
to get his advice.
But where it was most important
was the wisdom he used
in ruling his people.
It began just after his dream
when he still wasn’t sure if
the promise of God
had just been
wishful thinking.
Two women came to him, let’s call them Rebekah and Rachel,
not the sort of women
you would normally see
in a king’s palace, or not officially, anyway.
But they came for the king’s justice.
Rebekah said,
“We both live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child.
Three days later, this other women, Rachel,
also gave birth.
But her son died in the night;
and she took my son, and left her baby
in his place.
But when I woke up, I found the baby, and I knew it wasn’t mine.”
Then Rachel had her turn.
“No, it’s not true. Her son died; mine is fine.”
Then Rebecca answered,
“You’re lying! It’s your son who died!”
And they kept arguing, while King Solomon sat
and wondered
what to do.
And of course
there were no
witnesses.
Finally Solomon said,
“Bring me a sword.”
So they brought a sword.
And then he said,
“Cut the child in half, and give half to Rebekah, and half to Rachel.”
But Rebekah cried out, “No! Let her have him. Please. Don’t kill him.”
Where as Rachel said,
“Do it your way. At least this way, she
won’t get him.”
And it was clear to the the king
that Rebekah really loved the baby,
and so he said,
“Give her the baby;
do not kill him. She is his mother.”
That was wisdom in practice.
The ability to look at a problem
and not just make an arbitrary decision,
but to get some perspective
and look for a creative way to solve things.
It’s wisdom like this, I suspect
that is most needed
in our time.
Every so often
I turn on the TV on my day off
and get sucked into watching Judge Judy
or one of the other courtroom shows.
And every time I come away thinking,
“How could they be so stupid?!!”
Wisdom often seems to be
in short supply in our world.
It seems that more of our public figures
whether they’re politicians
or media figures
follow King David’s example
than Solomon’s.
And yet we need it so much.
So where does wisdom come from?
Most people assume
that it develops
over time,
that it comes with experience.
And that’s true to a point.
But as Christians, we believe there is another source of wisdom.
Recently the Tuesday night bible study
has been reading 1 Corinthians. In chapter 12,
it talks about spiritual gifts,
the gifts that God gives to each and every one of us
for the good of the church.
one of the gifts
is to speak wisdom.
So it’s a special gift, one given by God
to some of us
who are followers of Christ,
alongside faith and healing and prophecy.
But wisdom isn’t just for a few people. For while some of us might be given that particular gift, time and time again in the New Testament,
the writers of letters, Paul in particular,
pray for wisdom for those who will receive the letters.
Wisdom is something
that each and every Christian needs,
that each and every Christian
can strive for.
Because
wisdom
is the very character of God.
In the Old Testament,
Wisdom
is one of the names for God.
The beginning of 1 Corinthians
focusses
on the wisdom of God.
And as Christians, we know that God’s spirit lives in us,
and with it comes
the wisdom of God.
If only we’re willing
to listen.
The church
just as much as the world
needs wisdom.
We find ourselves
marginalized in society.
We’re caught up in disputes
over theology and Christian living.
And we need wisdom in our own lives
as we deal with the complexities of our families,
and the difficult economy
and the the practical details
of living day by day.
Whether it’s in the church
or in our families
or in society
we need wisdom,
the wisdom of God.
And what scripture suggests
is that it is the gift of God,
a gift that is given in large measure
to a chosen few,
and in smaller measure
to each and every one of us.
So ask God for wisdom.
Pray to God to help you
in those everyday decisions
and in the bigger, more complex problems.
Invite God’s wisdom
into your life.
And then try to find, like Solomon did,
not the easy answer, but new, creative ways of looking at things.
Go beyond
the simplicity of yes and no, for and against,
to seek out new perspectives,
different understandings,
ways of approaching things
that might be unusual
but might just be
the wisdom of God
at work.
© Raewynne J. Whiteley 2009