“Solomon’s Temple”

1 Kings 5:1-5; 8:1-13

(sermon note: 10-26 sermon note)

¹King Hiram of Tyre had always been a loyal friend of David. When Hiram learned that David’s son Solomon was the new king of Israel, he sent ambassadors to congratulate him.

² Then Solomon sent this message back to Hiram:

³ “You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord his God because of the many wars waged against him by surrounding nations. He could not build until the Lord gave him victory over all his enemies. ⁴ But now the Lord my God has given me peace on every side; I have no enemies, and all is well. ⁵ So I am planning to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord my God, just as he had instructed my father, David. For the Lord told him, ‘Your son, whom I will place on your throne, will build the Temple to honor my name.’

^8:1Solomon then summoned to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes—the leaders of the ancestral families of the Israelites. They were to bring the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to the Temple from its location in the City of David, also known as Zion. ² So all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon at the annual Festival of Shelters, which is held in early autumn in the month of Ethanim.

³ When all the elders of Israel arrived, the priests picked up the Ark. ⁴ The priests and Levites brought up the Ark of the Lord along with the special tent and all the sacred items that had been in it. ⁵ There, before the Ark, King Solomon and the entire community of Israel sacrificed so many sheep, goats, and cattle that no one could keep count!

⁶ Then the priests carried the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple—the Most Holy Place—and placed it beneath the wings of the cherubim. ⁷ The cherubim spread their wings over the Ark, forming a canopy over the Ark and its carrying poles. ⁸ These poles were so long that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place, which is in front of the Most Holy Place, but not from the outside. They are still there to this day. ⁹ Nothing was in the Ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Mount Sinai, where the Lord made a covenant with the people of Israel when they left the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ When the priests came out of the Holy Place, a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. ¹¹ The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of the Lord.

¹² Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness. ¹³ Now I have built a glorious Temple for you, a place where you can live forever!”

In honor of Reformation Day, I’m reminded of the one about a physicist who walked into a bar, ordered a beer, turned to the stool next to him and offered it a beer. He finished his drink and then left. The next day he returned to the bar, ordered a beer, and offered a beer to the stool next to him before finishing his drink and leaving. This went on for a week before the bartender finally asked, “Why in the world do you keep offering that stool a beer?” The physicist replied, “The laws of physics dictate that there is a slight possibility that at some point the matter above this stool could reform into a beautiful woman, who would then accept the drink.” The bartender was puzzled for a second before replying, “The bar is full of beautiful women. Why not see if they will accept your drink?” The physicist quickly laughed before saying, “Yeah, but what are the odds of that happening?!”

I know, I know it’s a silly one. Poor physicists always getting stereotyped as the dweebiest, most undesirable men out there. As if through sheer brainpower they could come up with a way to reform matter into a beautiful woman who would then want to be their companion. It reminds me of that movie from the 80s, “Weird Science,” in which a couple of geeky teenagers got a computer to do just that. Jump forward to modern day AI technology and they’ve sure found a way to create beautiful, woman-like dolls. But only God knows how to create a beautiful woman. Just as only God knows how to create a temple to reside in.

So it’s Reformation Sunday and we’re presented with this reading about Solomon building the first temple to house the Ark of the Covenant and thus God himself. It’s an interesting choice of reading for this Sunday; one I’ve been reflecting on all week. Why reflect on the building of the temple? Perhaps because it was the temple/church and all its abuses that spurred Martin Luther into seeking reform. Temples/churches are nothing more than man-made structures and because they’re man-made, they have flaws. No person is without flaws. And everything we create is imperfect. Only God can create with perfection. We, on the other hand, can only create imperfect things. Solomon was a man who created an imperfect temple. The people within his temple were imperfect people. They were prone to idol worship and false teachings. Throughout the temple’s history, it was repeatedly corrupted by false idols and false teachings. King Hezekiah first cleaned it of its blasphemous idolatry under King Ahaz. Several years later, King Josiah was tasked with cleaning out the idolatry. Nehemiah and Ezra served to rebuild it after the great exile. And we can’t forget Jesus returning to the temple over and over again to clean it of its false teachings and money changers. Yes, the temple has always exhibited imperfection. The church is no different. Just because we have the teachings and witness of Jesus doesn’t mean we’re not going to argue and misinterpret them. No, we’re going to argue over and over. And you know what, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It leads to the church being reformed.

Now then, Solomon may have created an imperfect temple made up of imperfect people, but God had created the perfect temple all along: us. Even in our imperfection, God chooses to place his Spirit within us. Paul asks us in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (3:16) And a little later on he says, “You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” (6:20) Friends, even in our imperfection God places his Spirit within us. We just have to go off and create imperfect churches. I pray that one day our churches will eventually reflect our perfect bodies, but we have a long way to go. Yes, the Spirit is within us and that makes us holy. I like what Paul also says, “God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” (3:17) God created us and will destroy anything or anyone who tries to destroy us. It’s like what we say in our wedding vows, “Since they are no longer two but one, let no one split apart what God has joined together.” (Matthew 19:6)

Solomon created the first ever imperfect temple that eventually needed to be reformed by great leaders like Martin Luther and others. God, however, created the perfect temple: us. We just need to figure out how to create churches and temples that are as perfect as us. We need to form and reform our churches as many times as necessary. Back in 2017, we celebrated the 500^th anniversary of the Great Reformation and hopefully the pastor of this congregation at the time mentioned how throughout the temple/church’s history, times of great reformation have happened every 500 years going back to 2,000 BC. Which means we are in another great time of reformation in our church. It is exciting to wonder what the church will look like in 50 years. Every 500 years it has undergone a great transformation or reformation. What will our church look like in 50 years? I think the pandemic helped jumpstart the reformation. God has great things in store for his church! Let us keep listening and discerning his will for our church. Perhaps more importantly, let us give thanks for his church. Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.