A Wise and Discerning Heart

1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 2

Then David slept with his ancestors and was buried in the city of David. 11 The days that David reigned over Israel were forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12 Then Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 3

Solomon loved Yahweh, by walking in the statutes of David his father; only he was sacrificing and offering incense on the high places. 4 So the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice, for the great high place was there. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

Solomon’s Request for Wisdom

5 Yahweh appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night, and God said, “Ask what I should give to you.” 6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great loyal love with your servant David my father, as he walked before you in faithfulness and in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with you. You have shown for him this great loyal love, and you have given a son to him who is sitting on his throne as it is this day. 7 So then, O Yahweh, you are my God. You have made your servant king in place of David my father though I am a young boy. I do not know going out or coming in. 8 Your servant is in the middle of your people whom you have chosen; a great people who cannot be counted or numbered because of abundance. 9 Give to your servant a listening heart to judge your people, to discern between good and bad, because who is able to judge this, your difficult people?”

10 The word was good in the eyes of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and you did not ask for yourself ⌊a long life⌋ and you did not ask riches for yourself and you did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself ⌊the ability to make wise judgments⌋; 12 behold, I do hereby do according to your word. I hereby give you a wise and discerning heart; there was no one like you before you, nor afterwards will one like you arise. 13 Too, what you have not asked I give to you: both riches and honor, so that no man among the kings will be like you all of your days. 14 If you will walk in my ways by keeping my statutes and my commandments, as David your father walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

The word of the Lord.

King David had ruled over Israel for forty years- a nice round biblical number, which was often not a precise measure of time more more of a euphemism that meant a *really really long time*. Think Noah’s Ark and the rain that lasted 40 days and 40 nights or the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years before they reached the promised land. When David died his son, Solomon, took over. David had already made a big name for himself in the lineage of God’s people.

He had his fair share of low moments, but overall he is remembered as a good and faithful leader. Each time he stumbled, he turned back to God in repentance, always seeking to follow God’s guiding hand.

Solomon had some big shoes to fill.

One night after Solomon had gone to make a sacrifice at Gibeon, God came to him in a dream and asked Solomon to make a request.

We might imagine the kinds of things we would ask for if a divine being offered to fulfill any wish—wealth, power, beauty, vengeance, influence. And we all know the ultimate wish loophole: wishing for unlimited wishes. But Solomon restrained himself, and the request he made was pleasing to God. He asked for the wisdom to lead God’s people.

Solomon passed the test! Not only was his request helpful for his own reign as king, but it came from a desire to serve God and the people of Israel. Thomas W. Blair writes, “The marks of true wisdom have to do with the acknowledgment of our need, our want, and our emptiness. This is not an exercise in selfishness, seeking a quick fix for a newly found need, but an open, honest, and long-term quest to be other serving and not self serving. It all goes back to our “alignment” with God—that is, how our souls are aligned with what God wants and intends for us.”

Blair also points out that the human soul is not a geyser, but it’s more like a bucket that constantly needs to be filled. How do we fill that bucket so that we can pour ourselves out for others? That brings us to today’s gospel reading...

John 6: 51-58

The Lexham English Bible Chapter 6

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live ⌊forever⌋. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 So the Jews began to quarrel* ⌊among themselves⌋, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves! 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats* my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so also the one who eats* me—that one will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. The one who eats* this bread will live ⌊forever⌋.”

For the past several weeks, our lectionary readings have been leading us through the 6th chapter of John’s gospel, and it’s all about bread! First Jesus fed a multitude with miraculous loaves, then Jesus challenged the people to think more deeply about whether the bread they eat is perishable or eternal. Last week, Jesus asserted that he, himself, is the bread of life!

Michael K. Marsh, an Episcopal priest in Uvalde, TX sums up this week’s scripture like this:

“Today [Jesus] says, “Eat me. Drink me.” This is the only way we ever have life within us. Jesus is very clear and blunt about it. His flesh is true food and his blood is true drink. Any other diet leaves us empty and hollow, hungry and bereft of life. ‘Very truly, I tell you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in you.’”

I know. I know that it sounds gross. This is a passage that we might want to skip over because it brings up uncomfortable questions and images. The image of eating flesh and drinking blood makes us squirm, but it’s right here in our holy scripture, and it’s the foundational idea of the sacrament we most often practice- communion.

Jesus is speaking metaphorically, but he uses such evocative language because he wants us to understand how real he is and how essential he is to our life. If we want to have eternal life- the life God intends for us- within us, we have to consume Christ.

John says that the Word became flesh and moved in with us. That flesh and blood of who God became is integral to our ability to connect with and relate to God. The incarnation, the “enfleshment” of God in Christ is what allows us to participate in eternal life as we walk with Christ with one another, here and now.

When we pray the Lord’s prayer, which we do each Sunday, we ask God to, “Give us this day our daily bread...” Have you ever stopped to ponder what that line means? Give us this day our daily bread?

Maybe it’s about asking God to provide physical nourishment for us. Like we’re saying, “God, please provide the food I need to keep my belly full and my body moving today.”

But after hearing these words from Jesus- that he is the bread of life- and his commandment to eat his flesh and drink his blood- I wonder if this prayer that Jesus taught us can serve as a reminder that he is our daily bread. This prayer is a helpful tool for those of us who strive to have wise and discerning hearts like King Solomon. It is a way of asking God to be present with us each day as we partake of the bread of life, God’s son--Jesus Christ. When we continually eat of the bread of life and drink from the cup of salvation, we are inviting Christ to be at the very center of our lives.

It’s tempting to ask God for quick fixes to life’s problems. We want to fill our buckets with things that bring us temporary peace or comfort, but God’s test of Solomon teaches us that the most faithful request we can make is for God to give us the wisdom and discernment to seek his guidance in everything we do and to fill ourselves up with that which does not perish- the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. Amen.