7/27/2008                                                                           I Kings 3:5-12

“A Wise Request”

Rev. Jonthan Rumgurg

            Our text presents to us an idea that we’d love to get the opportunity to have.  In verse five God appears to soon to be King Solomon in a dream, and says to him, “Ask what I should give you.”

            Last week, after Jim sang in his sermon the song, “I Want It All”, I told him that I never thought I would hear a song by the band Queen sung by a preacher from the pulpit.  Yet with our text for today, and the request it posses from God, I can’t help but think that if God’s voice boomed forth right here and now, and made the same request to me, that I too might break out in my best Freddy Mercury impression and sing…  Sorry, not going to happen.  I know just how bad a singer I am, and to get me to sing a solo would take an act of God.

            Solomon’s dream was the very dream all of us have.  We dream of the chance to be asked what it is we want from God.  We dream of the chance to have that which we know we could not get unless divine intervention was granted to make such possible.

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            Once I was visiting friends as Vanderbilt’s Divinity School, and a student there asked me, rather randomly, what my dream job would it be?  Quickly and impulsively I replied, “Center fielder for the Cleveland Indians.”  (I had thought about just such a question for years.)  The budding theologian was impressed by the speed at which I responded and was equally impressed by the unique job. 

            Now, I wouldn’t want to be made into Grady Sizemore.  Rather I would want the skills and abilities to play the position, knowing that when one does such a job, with great success, it comes with fame, fortune, and induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

            So what would you request of God is God said to you, “Ask what I should give you.”

            I’m sure all of us can easily and immediately come up with a mile long list of material goods we’d request, like big screen televisions, cars, boats, houses.  I’m sure we all can think of the dream job we would want, or perhaps even the request to not need a job. 

            But I am even surer that our actual request would likely not include any material item or lofty dream job.  I’m certain, instead, we’d likely request: good health for ourselves and loved ones, safety and prosperity for our children, peace in our world, perhaps a restored environment.

            But I’m certain, if given the chance to respond to God’s statement, “Ask what I should give you” we wouldn’t want to answer too quickly or too impulsively.  No, our request would require a lot of thought and consideration.  We’d first have to weigh all the things we needed in life, with all that we were trying to do and accomplish.  This would probably be our one and only chance to get exactly what we wanted and needed.  It would have to be a wise request.

            Imagine for a moment that you have just been named the new Chief Executive Officer of the largest corporation in the United States.  Suddenly, in your charge, working for you, you have thousands of employees.  You are the one who sets the tone for your business, you are the one who makes the decisions, and ultimately, how your employees, and their families, are effected.  You are “The Man” or “The Woman” and everyone is depending on your for success.

            What would you need to do your job effectively?

            Now imagine, while at the same time you are serving as the country’s top CEO, you are also appointed as the Commander in Chief of the United States Armed Forces.  You are now the one who maneuvers our troops around the world.  You decide where and when they go to serve.

            What would you need to do your job effectively?

            Now imagine, while you are making decisions that effect thousands of employees, and their families, and while making decisions about the safety and welfare of our country and our troops, that at the same time, you are elected as the new General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada.  With that job you are suddenly a pastor who is responsible for the spiritual growth of your church denomination.

            What would you need to do your job effectively?

            What would you need to do your job effectively if you were a CEO, Commander in Chief, and a Pastor all at the same time?  I would imagine you’d need a lot of aspirin and Pepto-Bismol.

            Well, at least you can find some solace in the fact that if you achieved such lofty positions that you would at least have years of experience and probably numerous educational degrees from prestigious universities, because certainly, years of experience and education have made it possible to get to such positions and, therefore, would most defiantly have to be an answer to the question, “What would you need to do all these jobs effectively?”

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            The imaginary scenario that I just gave you is not unlike the real life scenario that Solomon, son of King David, was going through at the beginning of his reign over Israel.

            Solomon was the third king of Israel.  He would be in charge of the affairs of the nation, much like that of a CEO of a large corporation.  As king he would have to make sure that the livelihood of all his people was cared for and maintained.  Access to basic necessities needed be made available, commerce and communications had to run smooth.  He would have to oversee some incredible and critical building projects, such as the construction of the temple in Jerusalem.

            At the same time, he was the commander in chief of his nation’s army.  As King of Israel he would have final say over military maneuvers and, if necessary, lead his army into battle.

            And at the same time, while doing all that, King Solomon was to be the spiritual leader for his people and keep an eye on the spiritual welfare of his nation.  He was to guide them in true worship of God, and make sure that pagan influences didn’t infiltrate his people, and lead them astray.

            Can you even imagine the feelings that would come with such overwhelming tasks?  Can you imagine the anxiety, the dread, the fear?

            The interesting thing is that King Solomon did all this without years of experience or education.  In fact, when all this responsibility was thrust upon him, Solomon was probably in his early to mid-twenties.

            We can only imagine what was going through the mind of young King Solomon.  But all of us here can relate with how King Solomon must have been feeling.  We know what it is like to be overwhelmed with responsibilities.  We know what it’s like to be inundated with the multiple tasks of one job as well as the multiple tasks of a second job, or perhaps a third job.  We know what it’s like to have people look to us and depend on us to lead, take care of, protect and direct them.

            We may not be kings and queens who have to rule and lead a nation, but we are:

            Parents, who have to take care of children; clothe, educate, spiritually direct, and discipline them,  All while there are pay bills to pay, repairs to be made, and food that needs to be put on the table.

            We are spouses who need to tend to our marriages after a long day of work and after the kids get their due attention.

            We are older adults who have to wait weeks for a doctor’s appointment, then weeks more for test results to explain yet another health complication, while wondering how a new medication will be paid for on an already stretched thin fixed income.

            We are young adults who see the bleakness of a failing economy and wonder what the future will hold for us, let alone the children we want to bring into the world.

            We are Jr. High and High School students who wonder how much longer we can say no to drugs and sex, keep getting the grades our parents demand, and then get into the college we want to attend.

            No, we may not be kings and queens who have to rule and lead a nation, but we are human beings who have to figure out, day in and day out, how to manage the long list of duties and responsibilities that are heaped upon us.  And rarely is it easy.

            But in our text for today we see clearly how King Solomon answered the question “What would you need to do all these jobs effectively?”  We are shown what a king of a great nation, and a faithful follower of God requests when God says “Ask what I should give you.”

            There is a long list of obvious things that Solomon could have asked for—things that make sense and things that no one would fault him for requesting.

            Perhaps he ought to have asked for a great network of administrative assistants or for health and long life so as to firmly, over time, establish a strong nation. 

            Perhaps he ought to have asked for huge military victories that would advance the supremacy of his nation. 

            Perhaps he ought to have asked for power and riches because after all, his job was going to be tough enough so he might has well enjoy the finer things in life.

            But Solomon doesn’t request any of these things.  He first, in verses seven and eight recounts what he really is— a little child and not a king— and then just how big a job he is being asked to do.  It’s in verse nine where he makes his request.

            “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil…”  

            Solomon’s request of God was to have a mind that understood his people, to understand what those under his care needed.  His request of God was to be able to see and know clearly good from evil, right from wrong, what should be done and what should not be done.

            Solomon is saying to God, and to us, that the most important, can’t live without, thing that he and every aspect of his life and duty needs is to have a mind and heart that seeks out God for spiritual guidance.  Solomon realizes that anything he does will be a disaster if it’s not done without first seeking God’s help and spiritual wisdom.

            Solomon is saying to us that what we need, to do all we have to do, effectively, is wisdom.  Not just book wisdom or wisdom gained from experience.  Far more important is the wisdom of God.  And that is what Solomon requested of God.

            At the beginning of this sermon I said that Solomon’s dream was the very dream all of us have—to have God show up and say to us, “Ask what I should give you.”  I also said that if such a request was made it would probably be our one and only chance to get exactly what we wanted and needed.

            The thing is—God is saying this very thing to us every day.  God is present, ready to hear our requests, willing to respond.  We only have to take the time to do so.  But that does mean we have to take the time to do so, even amidst all the other things being pressed upon us and demanded of us. 

            Tending to our relationship with God our creator, Jesus Christ our Savior, and the Holy Spirit who sustains us, has to be first thing on our “to do” list each and every day.  Because if it’s not, then everything else we try to accomplish will be a disaster.

            So what is it we need to live our lives effectively?  What is it we need when life is overwhelming us and it seems like we have more to do in a week than we could in a lifetime? 

What is it we need when we are trying to raise a family or survive health complications or endure a world that is trying to hurt or take advantage of us?

            We need to respond to such situations as Solomon did.  We need to hear God say to us “Ask what I should give you.” and not request the things that will only mask our pain or bring about temporary relief.  We need to request from God the very thing that will help us in anything this world throws at us.  Wisdom.

            But not just wisdom that comes from years of experience or educational institutions.  We need to request the wisdom of God that will empower us to understand our real needs and the real needs of our loved one.  We need to request the wisdom of God that will enable us to know right from wrong, to know what to do and what not to do.

            When we pray like Solomon, when we pray for wisdom from God, then we can rest assured that our wise request, will in fact give to us exactly what we need.  The wisdom of God.    Amen.