Pentecost +13, thoughts going in, Sunday August 23rd 2015

1 Kings 8:[1, 6, 10–11] 22–30, 41–43:  Then King Solomon summoned into his presence at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes and the chiefs of the Israelite families, to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Zion, the City of David.  6 The priests then brought the ark of the Lord’s covenant to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple, the Most Holy Place, and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.  10 When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place, the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today. 25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true. 27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. 41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name— 42 for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,43 then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.

            In our final week of the David Saga, we find David's son Solomon completing and dedicating the structure that will bear God's name on earth. This is a passage very rich in meaning. For one, the ancient Israelites believed they were the 'apple of God's eye,' and that the temple atop Mt. Zion was the very center of God's universe; it was the direct link between heaven and earth; the place where heaven met earth. Vs 11 of this week's reading reflects this idea: 11 And the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple. In other words, the temple was first and foremost about PRESENCE. It was the locale of God's presence, on earth, among his people. One theologian puts it this way: From a theological and liturgical perspective, for Jews, the Temple was at least four things: (1) the dwelling-place of God on earth; (2) a microcosm of heaven and earth; (3) the sole place of sacrificial worship; (4) the place of the sacrificial priesthood.

            Sadly, for the sake of space, the lectionary has truncated Solomon's prayer. He does go on and on somewhat, but a refrain that he hits time and again is the idea that (a) the people will sin; they will wander from God, but (b) when that happens, and when they pray for forgiveness in this temple, or even toward this temple, that (c) God will hear in heaven. Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon over and over again in 1Kings chapter 8 declares the temple to be, in essence, the hotline to God's forgiveness. Solomon says this both eloquently and beautifully in vs 30: Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

            With all of this in mind it's no wonder, then, that early Jewish Christians considered Jesus to be the new temple. He was God, come to earth, God dwelling on earth; He was the ultimate of sacrifice and worship combined; and he was the ultimate priest of God (read the New Testament book of Hebrews for more along this line of thought). And, of course, building on Solomon's thought that the temple was the hotline to God's forgiveness, in Jesus we find God's forgiveness personified. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved (Jn 3:17). The David Saga began with a man, a boy, and it ends with a Savior and forgiveness.

Cheers,

T.M.