Solomon's Wisdom

August 18, 2024 13th Sunday after Pentecost 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 Solomon’s Wisdom Year B Prelude Greeting Call to Worship (Inspired by Psalm 111) One: Praise the Holy One! Give thanks to God in the congregation. Many: God’s works delight us, inspire us, challenge us, and uphold us. One: Praise the Holy One! Give thanks to God in the congregation. Many. Righteousness endures forever. The covenant is everlasting. One: Praise the Holy One! Give thanks to God in the congregation. Many: Honoring God leads to wisdom. Let us praise the Holy One forever! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Invocation Holy God, we come together in your presence to offer worship, thanksgiving, and praise. We remember your covenant and acknowledge your abiding presence. Envelop us in your glory, strengthen us to confront the weariness of the world, challenge us to spread the good news, and empower us to be the church you have created us to be. Amen. (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Cheryl Lindsay) Song Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah UMH 127 A Sermon for all Ages Lesson Opening: This lesson discusses the meaning and importance of wisdom, and the story of King Solomon. Consider some activities involving choice or moral dilemma to introduce the topic. To get started, select from one of the following openers, or select another of your own choosing! • Following instructions: wisdom comes from following God’s instructions. Play a simple game like “Simon Says” or “Follow the Leader” to practice following directions. • Ask: Have you heard of wisdom? Who do you think of as wise? • Bible Lesson:1 Kings 3:3-14; Ephesians 5:15-21 • Use whatever translation best suits you and your audience. This passage is one that could be acted out dramatically or simply read and described in turns. Most of the verses here are from the Old Testament, with a follow-up portion from Ephesians. • Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and made offerings at the high places. -1 Kings 3:3 • Set the stage by reminding students of who King David was, and explaining that his son Solomon had now taken over the throne. Solomon followed God for the most part, though he sometimes made mistakes…in this story, Solomon meets God. • Ask: If someone offered to give you something, anything in the whole world, what do you think you would ask for? • Describe how wisdom comes from God. We might think we are wise, but in our own eyes that just amounts to pride. True wisdom comes when we ask God for it, and He is happy to grant that request! God wants us to want wisdom. When we pray, listen to God, and study His word of truth (the Bible), we’ll know more about making positive choices and doing things that will be a blessing to ourselves and others. • Turn attention to another passage that reminds us of the importance of wisdom. Remind students that Ephesians is an “epistle” or letter, and that Paul is writing a letter here to remind people to be wise rather than foolish, and live for God and for others, celebrating what Christ has done… Pray: Say a prayer of thanksgiving to God for HIS wisdom and might. Ask for help in making decisions and doing what’s best. (Kristin Hughley) Affirmation of faith (from the Confession of 1967) In Jesus of Nazareth, true humanity was realized once for all. Jesus, a Palestinian Jew, lived among his own people and shared their needs, temptations, joys, and sorrows. He expressed the love of God in word and deed and became a brother to all. The risen Christ is the Savior of all humanity. Those joined to him by faith are set right with God and commissioned to serve as his reconciling community. Christ is head of this community, the church, which begins with the apostles and continues through all generations. God’s sovereign love is a mystery beyond the reach of the human mind. Human thought ascribes to God superlatives of power, wisdom, and goodness. But God reveals his love in Jesus Christ by showing power in the form of a servant, wisdom in the folly of the cross, and goodness in receiving sinners. The power of God’s love to transform the world discloses that the Redeemer is the Lord and Creator who made all things to serve the purpose of his love. (Presbyterian Outlook, Barbara Chaapel) Scripture 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14 Sermon Solomon’s Wisdom Song Now Thank we all our God UMH 102 Prayers of the People (Presbyterian Outlook, Barbara Chaapel) (don’t print the whole prayer) All-loving God, creator, redeemer and sustainer of our lives, you are Truth, Grace and Love. For your presence with us, we are deeply grateful. Grateful for this earth, our home. For this church, our sanctuary and our community. For each other, our neighbors and for strangers that would become neighbors. And for our calling, our vocation to go into all the world in your name to serve those in need, to companion the lone and the lost. To befriend the friendless. To try to speak and do what is just, and what is loving. We are thankful for music, for the beauty of color, for silence, for the truth of diversity and variety in the fabric of your world. We are grateful for the changing seasons of the year, for growth and for fading, for sea and sky, for the cycling of days. For those with whom we share the world, and for those we love and those who love us. We pray that there may be more places of sanctuary in the world. Safety from the horrors of war. Safety from the violence of guns. Safety from the ravages of power that excludes the poor, the hungry, the old, the sick, the differently abled. Safety for those who feel unseen, unheard, unattended by love. We pray especially this day for the safety of children, whether they are in Israel, in Gaza, in Ukraine, in Darfur, or in our own towns and cities. And for the safety of the world’s seas and lands and wildlife, that they may have places of sanctuary from destruction and extinction. We honor the Indigenous peoples who lived here and loved this land long before we were here. May we hold their sorrow and face honestly the damage our ancestors perpetrated. May we honor the beauty of their tradition and learn its wisdom. As the natural world around us comes to its season of fullness and harvest, we are grateful for food, for daily bread, for the abundance of the land, for those who farm and harvest its good fruits. May all your people and creatures feed in abundance, and taste and smell the fragrance of earth’s produce. Show us ways to share the bounty that we have. We pray today for those who have recently lost those they love. For those who approach the end of life. For those who are sick and long for healing. Comfort them, calm their fears, heal their bodies and their spirits with your loving presence. May they see the sure sign of resurrection in the tiny seed planted in the earth, now grown to abundant harvest, and may they experience the hope of new life promised by your Son. For we know, dear God, that we are never alone; that peace touches our hearts; that love holds our hands; that you are near, our living heart. And so, on this Sabbath day, prepare our way into the ministry you call us to take up. We pray this and all our prayers, in the name of the One who taught us to pray, saying together, “Our Father …”. Lord’s Prayer Response to the Word (John 6) We have heard the word of God today. It is a taste of the bread from heaven. We have experienced the joy of worship. It is a taste of the cup of salvation. We have experienced God’s provision for our life. It is a taste of eternal life. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Jamie Greening) Stewardship Moment In the letter to the Ephesians, believers are instructed how to live: “not as unwise people but as wise.” Sometimes, it takes the wisdom of a child for us to grasp how to live as faithful stewards of all we’ve been given. The story is told of a little boy in church for the first time, who watched as the ushers passed around offering plates. When they came near his pew, the boy said loudly, “Don’t pay for me, Daddy, I’m only five.” Gratefully, in this place, we don’t pay on the basis of being members of a club or observers at a concert or ball game. Instead, we share from the abundance God has already provided for us. When we listen to those who are truly wise, child or adult, we’re able to recognize so many of the true gifts we’ve been given — the air we breathe, the food we eat, the love which surrounds us. Our natural response becomes one of gratitude. So this morning, in true appreciation for the gifts we’ve been given, no matter what our age may be, let’s offer our tithes and gifts to God. Prayer of Thanksgiving Remembering how Jesus invited his followers to love one another, we offer these gifts as signs of our love for our sisters and brothers. Because we have received much from your bounty, God, we ask you now to accept these gifts, to multiply them and allow us to use them so your presence will be known more fully in this congregation, in our community, and in your whole cosmos. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for those on Facebook Beloved of God, go from this place blessed with: Peace! Yes! Joy! Yes! Wisdom! Yes! And grace to share with all! Yes! Thanks be to God. Amen. Written by Dr. Lisa Hancock, Discipleship Ministries, May 2024. Community Time Joys and concerns Benediction Filled to the brim with the goodness of God; the nourishment of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, and the power of the Holy Spirit, go now in peace to serve God in all that you think, do and say. God’s peace will always be with you. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional illustrations