Sermon 18th August 2024 – 13th Sunday after Pentecost
Text: 1 Kings 2:10-12;
3:3-14 – Discerning good and evil
There is an old saying of
the difference between wisdom and knowledge. Knowledge is knowing that a tomato
is actually a fruit – But wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
Wisdom is a big topic in the
bible with King Solomon renowned for his gift of wisdom given to him. The Lord
appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I should give
you. Imagine what Solomon could have asked for.
He could have been selfish,
like a person granted 3 wishes using the first wish to ask for more wishes. Solomon
could have asked for personal gain - long life or riches, or success over his
enemies. But instead he asked for an understanding mind to govern God’s people,
able to discern between good and evil; Solomon will go on to become the King
known for his wisdom that will astound the world and will even have the queen
of Sheba visit him to see if his wisdom was as great as the rumours that had
reached her.
Knowledge of God and wisdom
of God are also 2 different things. Knowledge is knowing ABOUT God – wisdom is
having faith in God as James talks about in his letter where he says: You
believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder
without faith. We see that in the Gospel readings when Jesus approaches demon
possessed men. Their initial response- we KNOW who you are. They KNOW who Jesus
is but they have no faith in him. As a result they fear his judgment – don’t
send us into the abyss – send us into those pigs.
What Solomon asked for was a
heart for God and as a result received the things he could have asked for but
didn’t. In much the same way that Jesus speaks about in the Sermon on the Mount
where he says: Do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall
we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear? Your heavenly Father knows that you need
them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all
these things will be added to you. So wisdom is about faith in God which is
also what St Paul talks about in our 2nd reading: He says: Be careful then how
you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time,
because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will
of the Lord is.
Knowing the will of the Lord
is where wisdom comes in. So here Paul makes a distinction between wise and
foolish: And our Psalms tell us what is the difference between wise and
foolish: King David, Solomon’s father, writes in Psalm 14 - The fool says in
his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is
no one who does good. So as Christians, knowing God is different to trusting
God. Trusting God is living a life where we look to God to guide us even if it
goes against the ways of the world. We trust God even if it goes against our
will – as Jesus said – not MY will be don’t but YOURS.
The church is regularly
challenged to fit in with the ways of the world so that the world will accept
us. That leads us to very shaky ground because we have nothing to stand firm on
as Jesus says in his parable when he compares a wise and foolish builder: A
wise man built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and
the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had
its foundation on the rock. A foolish
man built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the
winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” So
Jesus is saying that wise and foolish people will face the same challenges in
life – the wind and the storms. The difference is the foundation. The wise had
his foundation in his faith in God’s Word. He built his house on the rock – and
Jesus has built his church on a rock and therefore not even the gates of hell
can overcome it. The foolish built his foundation on sand.
So the question is – what is
your foundation built on? Is it built on an earthly foundation like your
possessions, your career and so forth. Or is it built on faith in Jesus Christ
as your Lord? Solomon could have asked for a secure earthly foundation –
military power, long life, riches. Instead he asked for wisdom in knowing good
from evil. This is necessary because of sin that entered into our world when
Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit – the knowledge of Good and Evil. Because
of sin we know Good and Evil.
Faith in Jesus enables us to
DISCERN between Good and Evil. Solomon seeks to be able to discern between Good
and Evil in a world that calls evil good, and good evil. As Paul speaks about
in our 2nd reading Be careful then how
you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time,
because the days are evil. Our world no
longer discerns between good and evil but between what brings me pleasure or
not..It’s the old, what was known as – the epicurean lifestyle – eat, drink and
be merry for tomorrow you shall die. Paul says “NO”. That’s is the wrong
foundation:
Do not get drunk with wine,
for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the
Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for
everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The epicurean lifestyle – eat,
drink, be merry has its foundation on “because tomorrow you shall die”. So it
doesn’t matter what I do – just enjoy. Wisdom – faith in Jesus Christ – has a
different foundation, as we hear in our Gospel reading:
Jesus said, “I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever
and never die. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that
which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will
live forever.” Jesus had made a distinction between the manna that came down
from heaven when the Israelites were wandering through the wilderness and the
bread of life that he has come to bring that brings eternal life. What is the
difference? The difference the foundation we build on – death or eternal life.
The manna came to feed them
for their physical journey to the Promised Land and they still died. Jesus’
bread of life has come to feed us for our spiritual journey to eternal life in
heaven. It is the difference between knowing Jesus and having faith in Jesus. Knowing
Jesus with head knowledge and knowing Jesus with heart knowledge. Which is the
difference between the demons who proclaimed “we know who you are” to Peter’s
proclamation of faith – you are the Christ, the son of the living God.
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