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Solomon's Choice: Reflections for All Saints Sunday
What would you do in Solomon's situation? God appears to him in a dream and essentially hands him a blank check. Ask what I should give to you. I want it to offer, right? Just imagine the possibilities. God says that you can ask for anything, anything at all. You could ask for money. Riches that would make Scrooge McDuck jealous. You could ask for a beautiful house, palace or castle or all-threesome. You could ask for a long, healthy life full of adventure and experiences. You could ask for a winning football season, right, Philly fans?
Maybe a few of us would ask for world peace or an end to hunger or some ethical direction, but most people probably would have some sort of personal request near the top of the list. A wide open request from God is a pretty tempting proposition.
But Solomon does something different. He is the newly established King of Israel. He is young and faces the enormous task of leading God's people. There are plenty of things that he could request that would make his life super-superficially more comfortable. But he asks for wisdom.
But it's not just wisdom in that he will know a lot of things or be super smart. He asks for an understanding mind or more literally from the Hebrew listening heart. He recognizes that the responsibilities and pressures before him are bigger than his own abilities. He needs to sermon. He needs to listen, to understand, to make the correct choice between right and wrong for the people.
And the story with the two women, the baby and the sword, is meant to be a prime example of this wisdom. While we may ask a bunch of questions about how that whole episode played out, the underlying point is that Solomon's wisdom wasn't just theoretical. He was able to discern the truth in a difficult situation.
Solomon could have asked for the kinds of things that would make him an outwardly impressive King. Wealth, power, enemies, thoroughly smited, a really nice crown. But instead he asked for something less visible but far more important.
And when we think about our own lives, it's interesting how our perspective on what really matters can change. Of all the funerals that I have preached in nearly 20 years of being a pastor, I don't think I've ever stood up and said, you know, he sure had a whole lot of money in his bank account. Or she really had the biggest house in the neighborhood.
I mean, sure, we'll talk about person's career or accomplishments or hobbies because that's part of what made them who they are. But those things aren't the things that we connect with, the things that we latch onto, the things that make us smile through our tears. It's the stories. It's the relationships. It's the memories.
You remember how they used to always wear that ugly shirt or how they had that one annoying habit. Or how they could make you smile even on your worst day. How she'd never let you leave her house empty handed. How he was that constant unwavering support. How they loved you. How you loved them.
We remember the intangibles, the little things that looking back weren't so little at all. We don't remember everything that they owned. We remember who they were. So many things that matter most in life are the things that we can't count or measure.
And perhaps that's part of what makes All Saints Sunday so difficult. We remember all these wonderful things about the people that we've lost. We remember their love and their laughter, their presence in our lives. And we're hit with the realization that no amount of money or wisdom or power could keep them with us forever.
Death exposes the limits of everything that we try to accumulate and control. We can have every possession we ever wanted, every success imaginable, every comfort money can buy, but none of it can stop death. And none of it can bring back the people we love.
Today we remember people who were part of our lives and our congregation. People whose names we will say, sing and recognize. People whose absence we still feel. People who meant a lot to us. And both in and out of this congregation, they were parents, grandparents, spouses, neighbors, friends. Some of them may have done extraordinary things. Some may have had great fortunes. Others perhaps not. But they did leave a mark on our lives through their love, through the relationships that formed, through the ways that the God was at work through them.
And we remember them as saints today, not because of what they collected or what they did or what wise words they imparted. They are saints because God claimed them. They are saints because of God's grace. They are saints because God made it so.
We remember these saints because they were loved, loved by us certainly, but even more importantly, they are loved by God. And that's why all saints Sunday is about more than just remembering. It is about proclaiming the promises of God.
We don't simply remember the love that we received, but we also proclaim the love of God that holds both the living and the dead. In Jesus Christ, God has entered into death itself and overcome it. Christ is risen and because He lives death will not have the final word, not for the saints we remember today and not for us.
At the beginning of our story for today, God offered Solomon anything he wanted. And Solomon may be surprisingly asked for wisdom rather than riches or power. And now on this all saints Sunday, perhaps we can see Solomon's choice in a different light. Because we were reminded again today that the things that matter most aren't the things that we can buy possess counts for measure. Instead, they are gifts of love, grace, faith, relationship, and ultimately the promise of life in Jesus Christ.
And the best thing about that promise, it's not something that we have to ask for because God has already given it to us. God has given us Jesus Christ. God has claimed us in the waters of baptism, fed us at the table. God has promised for us resurrection and eternal life. And God will keep that promise.
That is a gift greater than even Solomon's wisdom. It's a love that will not let us go or promise that even death cannot destroy a life that does not end at the grave. That is God's gift for you. And for all the saints.
Amen.