The 10th Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 12A), July 24, 2005
BCP: 1 Kings 3:5-12; Psalm 119:121-136 or 119:129-136; Rom. 8:26-34; Matt. 13:31-33, 44-49a
RCL: Gen. 29:15-28 or 1 Kings 3:5-12; Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 119:129-136 or 128; Rom. 8:26-39; Matt. 13:31-33, 44-52
Solomon is widely regarded as having had a great gift of wisdom. The account of how he discerned which of two women who claimed to be the mother of an infant was indeed the rightful mother (1 Kings 3:16-28) is well known. This incident directly follows the lesson appointed for today in which Yahweh comes to Solomon in a dream shortly after the new king had secured the kingdom as his own after the death of his father, David.
In the dream God urges Solomon to ask what he wants God to give him, and Solomon asks for wisdom that he might govern the people well by discerning “between good and evil” (3:9). Yahweh is impressed by Solomon’s humility and the nature of his request, and grants him “a heart wise and shrewd as no one has had before and no one will have after” (3:12). Almost as well known is the regrettable matter of Solomon’s thousand wives and concubines, most of whom were from foreign nations and who imported the worship of foreign deities into the heart of the kingdom. Eventually, even super-wise Solomon was seduced to the worship of abominations.
In sharp contrast with this lesson, the gospel presents us with five pithy lessons about finding the kingdom of God. The kingdom is compared to a mustard seed that grows from very small to enormous, yeast that leavens three full measures of dough, a treasure hidden in a field that someone discovers by chance, a standout pearl worth the purchaser’s entire fortune, and a dragnet cast into the sea that hauls in all kinds of fish that are then sorted between good and bad. The comparisons Jesus uses conjure up scenes his hearers would have encountered daily. No great wisdom is required to get the point; it is accessible to virtually everyone. Verse 51, which follows the appointed lesson, has Jesus asking, “Have you understood all these?” and his hearers reply, “Yes.” Rarely in the gospel accounts does understanding come so easily.
Solomon asked for ability to discern between good and evil; in the last of the five “mini-lessons,” the fishermen sit down and separate the good fish and bad fish. What Solomon was given in great measure — and later lost — Jesus’ hearers are also granted, in sufficient though not extravagant degree. Anyone, even the simple and uneducated and outcast, can find what is needed to enter the kingdom; and anyone, even the highborn and well educated, can lose it.
Look It Up
Reflect on Psalm 119:133 from today’s appointed lessons. It is a suitable prayer for keeping on track with the teachings in the readings.
Think About It
What seduced Solomon away from his exceptional wisdom? How could such a thing happen to the faithful today? What forms could it take?
Next Sunday
The 11th Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 13A), July 31, 2005
BCP: Neh. 9:16-20; Psalm 78:1-29 or 78:14-20, 23-25; Rom. 8:35-39; Matt. 14:13-21
RCL: Gen. 32:22-31 or Isaiah 55:1-5; Psalm 17: 1-7, 16 or Psalm 145:8-9, 15-22; Rom. 9:1-5; Matt. 14:13-21
