Plaster Saints
Reformation Sunday – Narrative Lectionary 1
October 28, 2018
Grace, Mankato, MN
1 Kings 3.4-28
I have two images or metaphors swirling around in my head as I think about the text from 1 Kings 3. The first is that things need to be done in their proper order and the second is what happens when things are left unfinished. First, there are some things that just need to be done in order or they don’t work. For example, if you want to change your bed sheets you have to take the old ones off before you put the clean ones on. Similarly, you have to put your socks on first and then your shoes, not the other way around. Or, you could pour a foundation after you build a house, but it would be far more difficult and actually quite silly. Likewise, it would be sad if you poured that foundation but never built the house, or even partially built it. Remembering the proper order of things and finishing what you started are important for life.
Both of these are operative in our reading from 1 Kings 3, the story of Solomon attaining wisdom from God. Now, it’s important to remember that the development of kings for Israel has not been easy. God finally gives in to their whining and anoints a king because “everyone else has one.” The first king, Saul, was a disaster and his successor, David was a mixed bag, as heard last week in the fiasco with Bathsheba. We have seen only a fraction of the family trouble David had as told in 2 Samuel, which the author of 1 Kings seems to overlook. As if that weren’t enough, there is political intrigue aplenty, involving of all people, Bathsheba! She convinces David that their son Solomon should be the next king.
As the story of Solomon and his successors plays out, it becomes clear that he and they forget the proper order of things which prevents them from finishing what God has started. Solomon begins well by acknowledging that it is God’s steadfast love—hesed— for his father David and now for him that he owes everything, including and especially his place on the throne. And he is wise enough to know he can’t govern alone and asks for wisdom to do so. Unfortunately, even Solomon’s wisdom in governing his people doesn’t transfer to governing himself. Mighty will be the fall that ensues.
When we read a story like Solomon (or David or Luther or any leader) we have a tendency to make them plaster saints, extolling their virtues and what they’ve done but minimizing their faults. Even worse, they seem to do it to themselves. More importantly, we (and they!) forget the proper order of things, that any good or wonderful things they have done is first and foremost because of God’s steadfast love and grace in their lives. When that happens, life gets messed up and we fall short of where God intends for us to be.
The Reformation reminded (and still reminds) us that any chance we have of making something of our lives depends wholly on the grace of God before anything we could possibly do on our own. Although that grace assures us of our relationship to God, we are continually in need of it as we go. The Reformation reminds us that we all need to be accountable to each other, to remember our utter dependence on the God’s grace and mercy that comes through Jesus Christ. The antidote to that malady is to live with gratitude for everything that God gives us, remembering each and every day of our total reliance upon God’s steadfast love.
The same is true for the church, whether local or beyond. We’re doing the best we can, but we forget sometimes and get off track, and when we do we need to proclaim the love of God for all people, not just some. So, no more plastic saints but people who are reminded daily God working in, with and through us, living lives of gratitude. Thanks be to God. Amen.
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