Getting Wise

July 26, 2020
Proper 12
1 Kings 3:5-12
The Rev. John Reese

Some of us of a certain age remember the days when “research” involved heading down to the local library, scouring the card catalog (which had actual paper cards), and searching by topic, author or title. And perhaps we had to ask the librarian for help to get the information we needed.

The advent of the personal computer and the Internet changed all that, and now “Googling” a question is a quick way to get an answer. In fact, it’s the first step for most. But even this involves physically typing some words on a keyboard and, well, in an age when information comes at us fast and furious, who has time for that?

These days, all we need to do is to punch one button and ask the robotic assistant in our pocket-sized smartphones to probe the questions of the universe.

And not only can we generally get the information we’re looking for right in the palm of our hand, we can also get it in the voice, accent, and language we prefer. Want the answers to your questions to sound smarter, for example? You can give your phone an English accent which, to most Americans, automatically seems more intelligent.

Even though your digital assistant can help you with a lot of information, such as the weather forecast, it’s a lot less helpful with questions that are ambiguous or open-ended. Ask a question like, “What’s the meaning of life?” and your phone is more likely to act like a politician and duck the question. Here are some examples from Siri, Apple’s digital assistant:

+ Question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Siri’s answer: “I checked their calendars. They both have the same birthday!”

+ Question: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Siri’s answer: “Just because it could, doesn’t mean that it would.”

+ Question: Where is Elvis Presley? Siri’s answer: “My sources say he has left the building.”

See? Cute, but not terribly helpful!

Sure, these are the kinds of questions you might fire off at your digital assistant if you’re really bored. It’s clear, though, that Siri and her ilk are not privy to all the answers in the universe, and certainly not the answers for some of the questions that keep us up at night — questions like, “Why is there suffering?” or “What is the purpose of life?”

For answers to these kinds of questions, you need to go with a voice that has a lot more bandwidth than your phone can access. You need to ask Yahweh.

Obviously, King Solomon didn’t have a digital assistant at his disposal to muse on the big questions of life, but he did have a relationship with God. And God made an offer to the young king that makes Siri’s “What can I help you with?” offer seem exceptionally lame by comparison. The God of the whole universe says to Solomon, “Ask what I should give you” (1 Kings 3:5).

Wow, holy jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! Can you imagine God coming to you tonight and saying to you, “Ask for whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you”?

What would you ask for? Some would ask for wealth, no doubt, others for a Covid-19 cure. Some may ask for a relationship, others for talent, still others might ask for more wishes!

The question, however, is whether we’d know what to do if we actually got what we wished for. Lottery winners, for example, see their wishes come true when they hit the big jackpot, but most lottery winners wind up miserable because they don’t have a good plan for the money. We might ask God for a Covid cure and good health, but then continue on with our Henry VIII-style diet. We could request a special talent or ability, but then squander it in the wrong place.

Maybe this is why this incident stands out in the Scriptures. After all, God doesn’t seem to make this offer very often!

Solomon asked for wisdom, which is a really great response to God’s offer. Instead of asking for something temporary to benefit himself, Solomon wanted a framework for managing his life and his leadership as the king of Israel. He recognized that, on his own, he was young and inexperienced and “did not know how to go out or come in” (v. 7). 

How many young people would admit that? He needed help and a background from which to make decisions, so he asked for wisdom. “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?” (v. 9).

Wisdom was also offered to the first humans, but they chose to take a shortcut to get it. Discernment between good and evil was something that Adam and Eve wanted when they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3). They listened to some bad advice, hoping to “be like God.” They forgot that true wisdom only comes from God, and is only cultivated in humans through a relationship with God.

Adam and Eve had wanted to make themselves the source of wisdom. Humans have been making the same mistake ever since, which is why the difference between good and evil is often misconstrued in a fallen world. You can’t get real wisdom from a human source, even a digital one created by humans. For real wisdom, you have to lean into the best and only source – God.

Solomon understood this truth, which he had no doubt learned by watching his father, David (v. 6). He didn’t treat God’s offer like that of a magic genie, offering wishes that would benefit only him, but understood that real wisdom is given to God’s people so that it might be exercised on behalf of others. Solomon was more concerned about his people than he was about himself. He wanted to do right by them and do right by God. His full attention was on asking God for the one thing that would bring real peace and prosperity to the kingdom.

Solomon’s request for wisdom pleased God so much that God also offered him the things he didn’t ask for: riches and honor, an incomparable royal reputation, and long life. But there was also a caveat. All these things would be added to Solomon “if you will walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and my commandments” (vv. 13-14). For God, wisdom wasn’t a one-time offer but the product of a long relationship – a constant asking and constant conversation between God and the king.

We know how this eventually turned out, however. Solomon became known for his wisdom and his riches, but he gradually began turning his attention away from God and away from wisdom toward the lesser things God had given him. He turned to his gold, to building up military might and to alliances via marriage to foreign princesses (10:23-11:13). These were the very things that God had warned the kings of Israel to avoid (Deuteronomy 17:16-17).

Solomon eventually became ineffective and unwise because he stopped connecting with God.

Solomon’s story is a cautionary tale for the people of God. We need wisdom, to be able to discern good and evil, but are we asking for it? Are we cultivating it daily in our relationship with God? James warns us to ask the right questions. “You do not have because you do not ask,” he says. “You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3). 

Without wisdom, our desires become twisted, as Solomon’s eventually did, and we fail to ask for what we really need. James, in a manner of speaking, invites us to follow the example of the young Solomon. “Submit yourselves therefore to God … Draw near to God and he will draw near to you … Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you” (James 4:7-10).

Our approach to the questions of life will be altered if we ask for a daily dose of wisdom, drawing near to the Lord in prayer and in reading the Scriptures. When we cultivate a lifetime relationship with God, we will learn to ask the right questions and be ready for the answers God gives.

No need to ask Siri!