Sermon -- 9th Sunday after Pentecost (July 30, 2023)

1 KINGS 3:5-12

OUR GREATEST TREASURE IS GOD-GIVEN WISDOM.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Jesus told another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).  Occasionally, we hear stories about people who discover treasures.  Perhaps it is a work of art that was purchased at a garage sale.  When one family recently had to clean out their father’s house, they discovered one million pennies in the attic.  Perhaps the biggest treasure that has everyone’s attention right now is the MegaMillions jackpot, which has now exceeded one billion dollars ($1.05 billion as of July 29). 

     When we think about finding or winning treasure, we also fantasize about what we would do with it.  How fast would you quit your job?  Would you get a new house?  What beach front property would you be looking at?  What luxury items—sports car, in home theater, season tickets in a suite, months’ long vacations, and so forth?  Nothing in your fantasies would live up to reality.  Gobs of money do not satisfy greed or produce peace.

     Now consider Solomon, the son of David.  He grew up with royal privileges.  When he was perhaps twenty years old, he inherited his father’s throne.  Suddenly, Solomon had sovereign power over an entire nation with the state treasury and military at his disposal.  Then this happened: “The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, ‘Ask what I shall give you’” (1 Kings 3:5).  If you think the lottery is a big deal, imagine God offering you a blank check!  What would you do with it?

     Since you heard the lesson and since you are in church, you probably have gone straight to the answer that Solomon gave.  That is admirable, but I doubt it is honest.  What you fantasize about?  I’ll bet it is not about a greater faith or deeper knowledge of Scripture.  We lust after personal glory and gain.  We fantasize about pleasure.  But even if we got close to attaining our fantasies, they will never satisfy.  This is a world of thorns and thistles, pain and sorrow, death and decay.  The rich are not spared from these any more than the middle class or the poor.

     Solomon rightly understood his place in the world.  As king over a nation of a great number of people, he felt the pressure of his office.  Being sovereign does not make life easy; it is a burden.  The morning after his inauguration, the White House staff knocked on President Reagan’s door and said, “Mr. President, it is time to get up.”  He replied, “Do I have to?”  He felt the burden of the office.

      Solomon was not merely king, he was king over God’s people.  He confessed, “O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child.  I do not know how to go out or come in.  And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude” (1 Kings 3:7-8).  Solomon’s prayer was to serve in his vocation for the good of the people and for the honor of God.  Aware of his shortcomings, he sought the Lord’s help.  Greater than the treasures of his kingdom was the treasure only God could give. 

     Our greatest treasure is God-given wisdom.  Therefore, Solomon prayed, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9).  The phrase “understanding mind” is literally “a heart that hears.”  We limit our heart to emotions.  As the Hebrews understood it, the heart is the source of emotions, intellect, and will—our entire being.  Therefore, Solomon’s request was more than, “Make me smart.”  Solomon sought to serve according to God’s will with his entire being, namely, “that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). 

     Our greatest treasure is God-given wisdom.  If Solomon were to have “a heart that listens,” what he listened to was vital.  It is vital for us, too.  Many voices vie for our attention to instruct us on what is good or evil.  One problem is that the voices often contradict each other; some saying, “This is good,” while others respond, “No, it is evil.”  Both insist they are right.  People also pull at you to be “on the right side of history.”  Whoever says this assumes that he is in the right and that future generations will prove it.  It also assumes that the world always moves toward improvement and righteousness.  An honest look at history shows that the world has always been messed up.

     Another problem of the world’s assessment of good and evil is that it is a moving target.  What was called good in the past may now be called evil, and what was condemned in the past may now be celebrated and promoted.  At one time, many in our nation thought that slavery was good.  Not long ago, many in our nation called couples cohabiting before marriage “living in sin.”  The point I am making is not that all the changes are bad.  The point I am making is that what is considered bad can always be changed.  Morals change constantly in our world.  Pressure is applied so that you will get on board with the new morality.  The voices continue to instruct you in movies and music and societal attitudes.  And our hearts often have ears for such instruction so that we are no longer repulsed by worldly ways.  Nothing shocks us anymore.  Even if we don’t adopt worldly ways, we may be reluctant or even unwilling to call them evil.  Repent.

     What does your heart listen to?  King Solomon’s request was right.  He prayed for a heart that listens “that I may discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9).  To do this, we listen to the word of God.  God does not change.  Therefore, God’s word does not change—not because of the times, not because of the place, and not because the state passed new laws.  God’s word is firm in assessing good and evil.  His word is the treasure we need.  God gave us this treasure not so that we will be on the right side of history as some claim to be, but so that we will stand on the Lord’s right side at the final judgment.  The world may vilify you now, but God will vindicate you on the Last Day.  The world may tell you to you to go to hell for adhering to God’s word, but God will damn those who despise his word.  Our greatest treasure is God-given wisdom.  We pray that more people will treasure it, for only the Bible makes us wise for salvation.  Only the Bible has the words of eternal life, unbreakable peace, and everlasting hope.

     Our greatest treasure is God-given wisdom.  Solomon prayed, “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind” (1 Kings 3:9), that is, “a heart that listens.”  Solomon was good at listening to the word of the Lord to begin with.  Unfortunately, Solomon began listening to other voices.  He played the political games of his day, which meant ratifying treaties by marrying the daughters of foreign kings.  You are not likely to attack your father-in-law.  To keep these wives happy, Solomon built temples so they could worship their foreign gods.  Solomon joined them in this worship, deciding that having multiple temples and gods was not really that bad.  In giving his ears and then his heart to these gods, Solomon abandoned the Lord.  I don’t know if Solomon died in the faith or not.  I would like to think that Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s letter of repentance penned late in life, but I don’t know.  In either case, Solomon is a cautionary tale.  This son of David was enticed by seductive voices.  He turned a deaf ear to God’s word and hardened his heart to the Lord.  He lost his great treasure.

     The first son of David proved to be unfaithful, but the greater Son of David proved to be faithful in all things.  Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of David, dedicated his heart and mind and ears and mouth to the word of the Lord.  He delighted in divine wisdom.  He devoted his attention to it.  He taught it to others.  He lived it in his interactions with all people.  Giving his heart and ears to the word of the Lord also meant that Jesus would suffer and die for sins he did not commit.  The Son of David was faithful to that word.  He willingly took up our sins—our negligence of God’s word and prayer, our laziness in doing the good God calls us to do, our reluctance to call evil what God calls evil, our willingness to listen to lying voices which endorse our forsaking God’s ways to pursue our own, our fantasies for personal glory and pleasure.  For all sins, Jesus poured out his holy, precious blood as the atoning sacrifice which appeases God’s anger and delivers God’s mercy.  This is what makes you wise for salvation.  This is the treasure that brings peace and secures eternal life.  This treasure never loses value, can never be stolen, never fails you, and is not lost even when you die.  Our greatest treasure is God-given wisdom.

     “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).  Jesus Christ is our greatest treasure.  He was buried in a garden, but sprang forth Easter Sunday victorious over sin, death, and the devil.  Jesus bestows this victory to you so that you will have a resurrection to eternal life with a glory that will surpass your fantasies.  Let us be willing to suffer everything, even death, rather than forfeit the treasure that Jesus brings.  Let us be willing to dedicate our hearts and ears to his word so that God gives greater wisdom and so that we increase in heavenly treasures.  Where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also.  Our greatest treasure is God-given wisdom.  

     And our Lord’s treasure is you.  “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up.  Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44).  If we hope to give up everything to gain Jesus, we will be heart-broken.  Who could ever boast that he has forsaken all things for Jesus?  But Jesus has given up all things to gain you.  He gave up the glories of heaven to live in a world corrupted by sin.  He set aside the riches of heaven to be an impoverished peasant.  He sacrificed his innocence to bear our guilt.  He who is immortal gave himself into bitter death.  Why?  To gain you.  To win glory for you.  To rescue you from foolish and destructive ways and to lead you in paths of righteousness.  To deliver you from death to life everlasting.  You are the treasure which Jesus joyfully redeemed with his life.

     This good news is what makes you wise for salvation.  The words of Jesus make you wise for discerning good and evil, life and death.  With grateful hearts, we devote ourselves to hearing his words; for there is no greater treasure.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.