A FAITHFUL TRANSITION 1 Kings 3:3-9 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time; August 19, 2012 The Reverend Margaret Burnett Idlewild Presbyterian Church Today we come to the end of our series on David, the boy who killed Goliath, who became king, who was beloved by Yahweh, who killed Uriah and stole Bathsheba, who grieved his son s death, who was Found, Fallen, Forgotten, Freed. In the 2 nd chapter we learn that after reigning for 40 years, David died and his son Solomon became king. Then in today s text from 1 Kings, chapter 3, we learn about the transition of power from David to Solomon. Listen now for God s word to us: 1 Kings 3:3-9: Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David; only, he sacrificed and offered incense at the high places. The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the principal high place; Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt-offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I should give you. And Solomon said, You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart towards you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people? Many Augusts ago author/preacher/father, Bob Benson, wrote this in his journal: Nearly a week ago, Peg (his wife) and I had a very hard week. Wednesday night: Mike slept downstairs in his room where children belong, and we slept upstairs in ours, where moms and dads belong. Thursday night: We were 350 miles away and Mike was in room in Ramada 325 and we were in 323, in connecting rooms, and we left the door open and talked and laughed together. Friday night: 700 miles from home and he was in 247 and we were in 239 but it was just down the hall and somehow we seemed together. AUGUST19, 2012 A FAITHFUL TRANSITION PAGE 1 OF 5
Saturday night: He was in the freshman dorm, and we were still in 239. Sunday night: We were home and he was 700 miles away in Chapman 309. Now we have been through this before; Robert had gone away to college, so we thought we knew how to separation pretty well, but we came away so lonely and blue. Oh, our hearts are filled with pride at a fine young man and our minds are filled with memories from tricycles to commencements, but deep down inside somewhere, we just ached with loneliness and pain. Somebody said, you still have 3 at home. Three fine kids and there is still plenty of noise plenty of ball games to go to plenty of responsibilities plenty of laughter plenty of everything except Mike. And in parental math 5 minus one just does not equal enough. 1 Whether we ve taken our children to college or not, whether we have children or not, we can feel something of what that transition from home to far away feels like. In one way or another we all know transition. We might even be able to feel the fear, excitement, anxiety, hope, sadness, and expectation just thinking about the transitions we face. Our parent moves from being independent and capable to dependent on us for our care, guidance, and support. You go from being single to sharing your life with someone you love. You face surgery or take your child to the first day of kindergarten. You walk in for that first day at the new job or retire after 30 years on the job. You may even face your mortality in ways you find difficult to even talk about. It doesn t matter if the transition seems exhilarating or devastating, large or small change is change, and it does something to us as individuals and as a community. And here today our church community is in the midst of a big transition. After 9 years of gifted and faithful service, Ted Gibboney, our organist/choir director, will leave this afternoon to move with Robyn to Cincinnati. Ted has served not just musically but in outreach, study, administration, and fellowship. He has taught our children to sing, introduced us to new music and musicians, led More Than a Meal worship, offered concerts that welcome the entire community, taught classes and been a dear friend to AUGUST19, 2012 A FAITHFUL TRANSITION PAGE 2 OF 5
so many of us. Ted and Robyn s leaving is a place of transition for our community of faith here at Idlewild, and it makes an impact on the system. It brings us a mixture of sadness, gratitude, and hopeful expectation. We can all feel or remember feeling what transition in our lives is like. Looking back we might be able to see how good it was for us. But in the midst of transition our anxiety can run so high that we don t know how we ll make it!///////// That kind of transition is just where we find Solomon in the text we read today. I can t read this story of David s death and Solomon s rise to power without imagining it as a Disney movie like The Lion King, when Simba becomes king of the pride and stands confidently on Pride Rock, looking out over hundreds of lions, elephants, flamingos, and zebras. A beloved king dies, but his courageous son takes up the crown with heroism and confidence, and all the people in the land support him. But David and Solomon s story isn t a Disney movie. It s the real life of a father and son. We know that the death of a parent is never easy, and taking on responsibility for more people, land, and armies than anyone could count had to be terrifying. Solomon may have been heroic and confident, but he was also grieving and unsure. And during a fitful night of sleep, Solomon has a dream that God comes to him and asks what he would like for God to give him. Who wouldn t like for God to ask that question of us especially in the midst of a major transition? Couldn t we all think of a very quick and long list of things we d like from God health, the winning lottery ticket, a perfect partner... And Solomon could have quickly come up with a list for God confidence to lead, strong armies, lands and riches, many sons, the defeat of enemies, a good night s sleep But in the midst of his huge transition and surrounded by a people anxious with the transition of their entire community, Solomon doesn t panic or burst forth with a list of what he thinks God should do. Solomon stops, thinks and remembers, then he responds to God, you have shown great and steadfast love to my father, David, and you have kept for him a great and steadfast love, and have given him a son who can sit on his throne. Rather than panicking about the future and giving God a list of things to do, Solomon remembers what God has done in his past. He remembers that God showed great love to David, and even more than that God continued to show that love to David when David was painfully human when he sent Uriah to his death and stole Bathsheba, when he doubted God and when he was violent. AUGUST19, 2012 A FAITHFUL TRANSITION PAGE 3 OF 5
God s love was deep, strong, and steadfast no matter what. God was with David, guiding him, and protecting him even at times when David seemed unlovable, controlling, and sinful. And when Solomon is able to remember God s faithfulness in the past, he can breathe deeply and trust that God is holding him in the present, and God will take care of him in the future. If God has cared for God s people all those years, if God has cared for Solomon and for his father, then God can handle this transition in ways Solomon can t even imagine. Solomon doesn t ask God to fix the fears of transition or to make it go away or even to make it easy. Instead, he asks God for an understanding mind so that he can be a good leader and be able to know the difference in good and evil. ******************************* I believe it s no accident that this is our lectionary text for today a text about transition. For in one way or another most of us are in the midst of some transition even now. Solomon with all his wisdom offers us a way to take a deep breath. If we stop and remember where God has been with us in the past as individuals, as a community of faith, as a city and a nation, we can see that God is surely guiding us through today s transitions and is bringing us into a hopeful future. Many years ago after Idlewild s beloved pastor, T. K. Young, died, a search committee was formed to call a new pastor. When the PNC who called Steve Montgomery was meeting, a church member wrote a letter to the chair of that search committee, saying, when Dr. Young died, I thought the world was coming to an end. Then the church called Paul Tutor Jones, whose faithful leadership guided not just this church but also the larger community of Memphis. When we look at where God has been faithful in our past, we can breathe deeply and remember that God is surely with us now and has plans for our future. I want to leave you with a final thought that comes from William Sloane Coffin: The church at its best is a pilgrim people who have decided never to arrive. It is an exhausting thought, yet one true to our lives, where change is as insistent as sin and taxes. And it is true to our faith. Ours is a God, after all, who declares, Behold, I make all things new. Ours is a God of history who is ahead of us as much as above and within us. God gives us the growth choice as opposed to the fear choice. We are a pilgrim people, a people who have decided never to arrive, a people who live by hope, energized not by what we already possess but by that which is promised: Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. 2 AUGUST19, 2012 A FAITHFUL TRANSITION PAGE 4 OF 5
When God asked Solomon what he wanted, Solomon didn t let his fear and anxiety of transition paralyze him. He remembered that God had been with his father and with him, and that such a God as that had the present and future under control. So in the midst of the transitions of our lives, consider the words of the benediction Steve often gives us at the end of worship: Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to God. Amen. 2012 Idlewild Presbyterian Church, Memphis TN 1 Bob Benson, See You At the House, pp. 62-63 2 William Sloane Coffin, The Courage to Love, 86-88 AUGUST19, 2012 A FAITHFUL TRANSITION PAGE 5 OF 5