Transcript of Sermon 16th August 2015
St Anne’s Brown Edge
1 Kings 2.10-12; 3.3-14 Ephesians 5.15.20 John 6.51-58
What is the difference
between wisdom and knowledge?
Knowledge knows a tomato
is a fruit and wisdom tells you not to put it into a fruit salad.
Solomon is chosen by David to succeed him to the throne, to the great displeasure of his older brother, Adonijah.
Solomon had knowledge
about the ways of God. He had knowledge about how his father King David ruled,
who despite all his failings was greatly loved and revered. Solomon also knew
that the tribes of Israel were a loose confederation and that something needed
to be done to unify them.
Solomon also knew that
David desired to build God a house, a temple, a place fitting for the Ark of
the Covenant.
So when God asked Solomon
what he most wanted, Solomon asked for wisdom to ‘govern this great people of yours.’
Knowledge precedes wisdom
– both are necessary.
So, using the materials
amassed by his father for just such a purpose, Solomon sets about building the
First Temple.
Quite a good deal of the
early chapters of 1 Kings outlines the building project and the final
dedication.
This isn’t the Temple that
Jesus knew; the First Temple was destroyed some 400 years later by Nebuchadnezzar
and the Jews carried off into exile.
Building began on the Second Temple with the return of the exiles some seventy years later. King Herod began a massive reconstruction about 20 BC.
This was the temple Jesus
knew and said would be destroyed.
Following the incident of
the cleansing of the temple, which occurs earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus said ‘destroy this temple and in three days I
will raise it up again.’ John 2.19
Jesus was Israel
personified. Jesus was the Temple, Jesus was the Torah, the Law and Jesus was
the Prophets – all embodied in his very person.
We don’t have a Last Supper account in John and this passage is about as close as we get.
Note that it follows the
feeding of the five thousand.
Bread from heaven to feed
the body and bread from heaven to feed the soul.
If Jesus’ words of feeding
on his flesh and drinking his blood are strange to us then we can only imagine
what they must have sounded like to the Jewish people of his day.
Abstaining from blood was
one of the key teachings and there was elaborate ritual and slaughter of
animals to ensure no blood was taken.
Leviticus 17.14… because the life of every creature is its
blood. That is why I have said to the Israelite's, "You must not eat the
blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone
who eats it must be cut off."
In Hebrews 9.22 we read ‘In fact, the law requires that nearly
everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is
no forgiveness.’
If you think back to the
story of Adam and Eve you will see after the fall God’s clothes them with
skins, presumably from animals and presumably from slaughtered animals.
So Jesus dies and sheds
his blood willingly that we might be clothed with a robe of righteousness.
Isaiah the prophet wrote… ‘I
delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me
with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a
bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with
her jewels.’ 61.10
Therefore as our passage
from Ephesians exhorts us we should - ‘Look
carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise…’
With an encouragement to
meet together regularly and ‘speaking to
one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music
from your heart to the Lord…’
Solomon’ wisdom became
proverbial and yet Jesus says, ‘The queen
of Sheba will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn
it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone
greater than Solomon is here--but you refuse to listen. ‘
Greater than Solomon –
that can only mean Jesus.
Solomon’s knowledge of the
disparate tribes of Israel and the need to unify them was certainly one factor
for building a temple.
It was a place that all
the tribes could come to and be united in their worship of the one true God.
However Solomon says ‘come’
and Jesus says ‘go…’
‘And
he said to them, therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…’
“And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Then from Acts “But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 1.8
Do you see the pattern…
We come to worship and
then go out to witness – to proclaim the Gospel to all creation.
Solomon’s knowledge of the Israelite's and the situation he found himself in helped him make wise decisions.
What knowledge do you have
of the people in this community of Brown Edge?
What do they like to watch
on TV?
What kinds of jobs do they
have?
What Radio Station do they listen?
What about their age
profile?
What about family set ups?
You see you can find a lot
of this out and then acquire a certain knowledge that you can use wisely in
seeking to proclaim the Gospel.
Jesus challenged the
Temple worship because it had become self-serving instead of life affirming and
life giving. It has become bound up with
ritual and formula that had to be strictly adhered to so that God could be
approached and sins expunged.
Jesus says that they have
become like blind guides and have missed the true vocation of ethnic Israel,
which was to be a light to the Gentiles.
We need to be very careful
we don’t do the same.
Archbishop William Temple
said ‘the church exists for the benefit of its non-members.’
Jesus invited us to become
‘fishers of people’ – but so often we have become an aquarium of a rare breed
of fish rather than a fishing boat.
“But
you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth." 1.8
Let me close by suggesting
that this church is Jerusalem and it is right and proper that you invite people
here to taste and see that the Lord is good.
However can I challenge
you to think about where your Judea might be, and what kind of people live
there, what Gospel message should we be proclaiming to them? And then where is
your Samaria and finally the ends of the earth.
Let us pray....
Holy God, the one who calls,
accompanies and sustains,
so use our hearts and minds
that honour may be given
to your faithful witnesses
past and present;
and, as new patterns of living
flow around us,
draw us into your pattern
for offering new life in Christ
to all peoples and nations,
now and in ages to come.
By the power of the Holy Spirit
make us courageous, creative,
gentle and obedient to go where you are
and give glory to your name.
Amen.
From CMS Emerging Mission Study
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