15th August 2021 Pentecost 12 (Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost)
Give Thanks to God in The Name of Jesus Christ
(Scripture Reading: 1 Kings 3:3-14, Ephesians 5:15 – 20)
By Heeyoung Lim
After David’s death, the role of leadership passes to his son, Solomon. Intimate relationship with God is required to lead the people of God. He sought relationship with God by going to worship. This was not a private ceremony but a national act of worship with the massive number of sacrifices such as a thousand burnt offerings. Solomon, as a king, made the Lord a priority. In response to Solomon’s worship, the Lord appeared to him in a dream with an amazing offer: Ask for whatever you want me to give you. (1 Kings 3:4) It was a divine revelation and God’s offer was a remarkable generosity.
Solomon’s response was a mixture of gratitude and humility because he focused on God and his own weakness. He felt incompetent because he does not know how to carry out his duties. He faced a responsibility that overwhelmed him and realized himself the king of the people God has chosen.
He made a request that brought pleasure to the heart of God: Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people. He wants to provide good leadership with a posture of servant leadership for God’s people. Solomon is very much aware of his own inadequacies as far as serving in the role of king. He asks for the ability to fulfill the role of governing God’s people well. He does not ask for wealth or power, he asks for wisdom that he might lead the people in accordance with God’s desires. His hope pleases God so that God gives him even the riches and honour he did not ask for. God provides beyond our expectations or even deserving. We are called to serve God and community with God’s wisdom. May we be equipped with God’s wisdom.
A theologian, Dora says, “We need to seek wisdom and equip ourselves to build communities in which every person is valued; where the reality of justice and peace is experienced by all; where the vulnerable are protected, where power is used for the good of all.” It can be our wishes and prayer topics.
Today’s text continues our lives are to be lived in constant imitation of God and explores what it means to have wisdom in our lives. It draws the distinction between wisdom and foolishness. How do we discern what is wise and what is foolish in the choices we face?
It is not always easy to live a transformed life even when we want to because the world is filled with dangers and deceptions. We can get tripped up by people and temptation without even being aware of risks. Therefore, we must be fervently in our efforts to stop committing evil sins. We must be very careful to live our life rooted in God’s wisdom, for our own wisdom is biased and limited. God wants us to live in accordance with His words and to use our time wisely. The time we are given is not our own, it is God-given.
We are often not good at time management. When I was a Uni-student, I tried a time audit for myself for 4 months. I was shocked by the differences between the plan and actual use whenever I reviewed how I spent my time. However, through that experience, I was able to see how much I was wasting my time in vain, reflect how much I trying to seek God, and change into a person who can use my time a little better.
Having turned away from the old self to the new, Christians are called to being of the body of Christ. Verse 17 says, “not get drunk with wine … but be filled with the Spirit”. Unwise behaviour harms the body of Christ, and it wastes the precious time left before Christ comes again.
Paul tells us about how to commune with God, how to live for Him, and how to serve and obey Him. He contrasts between how the god of Ephesus is served and how the God of heaven is served. (18) We can discern God’s will and serve Him faithfully by being filled with the Holy Spirit. In Acts, in the miraculous instances of the filling of the Spirit which resulted in speaking in tongues and other extraordinary activities. In Ephesians 5:18, when we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit, it has no extraordinary events occurring with it. “Be filled” in this verse means directed, influenced, and governed by the Holy Spirit.
The second half of this passage emphasizes living wisely with giving thanks to God and speaking to others with music from the spirit. “Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (19-20) It describes that there are three characteristics of the person filled with the Holy Spirit, which are the way of speaking, importance of music, and attitude of gratitude. Paul urges his listeners to be “singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts” (19) True worship begins in one’s heart and the centre of one’s being. God delights to respond to our prayers that come from the bottom of our hearts.
The Scripture tells us that thanksgiving is a way of shifting toward the will of God or opening to God’s guidance. The attitude and practice of thanksgiving in worship and life keep our mind and direction to God. Praising God is our privilege and responsibility at the same time. God is the only one who deserves our praise, but today the Bible tells us to respond to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. This list indicates that singing is an important part of worship in our community of faith.
When the faith community is living out worship and praise of God together, its life will be transformed wisely. Worship contributes to unify, sustain, and develop the community a way that permeates all aspects of life. Worship is not a weekly event, but a way of daily living.
Today’s text invites us to speak and sing just like giving music each other by blessings, comforts, and encouragements. The harmony by speaking and singing in a community would be beautiful if the members of community are filled with the Holy Spirit. I believe that being filled with the Spirit results in mutual love and service to one another.
God is our source of wisdom and life, and true wisdom begins in the recognition of God’s presence. We can warmly embrace others by blessings just like music and can give thanks to God all the time and for everything because our lives have been new, forgiven, and transformed as followers of Jesus. God’s offer to Solomon resembles Jesus’s invitation of “ask, and it shall be given.” In what ways do we seek wisdom in our relationship with God?
We face many challenges as we strive to follow Jesus in our lives. Some of us have recently lost loved ones. Some of us are struggling with relationship issues. Some of us have serious health problems. Yet today’s text tells us, “Give thanks to God at all times and for everything.” All of us face challenges in life, but I believe that we can still give thanks to God. That is not our duty, it is our privilege.
Now we can pause and think about our lives, all the opportunities we’ve been given, all the gifts given by God, the presence of the Holy Spirit, and Living worship and wisdom. May we can give thanks to our Saviour for the gift of salvation we have received and praise and glorify God. We do not know what challenges we may face, what pain may come our way. But I believe it is possible for us to thank God as followers of Jesus, anywhere, anytime. I pray that we can give thanks in the name of Jesus no matter where we are or what we are doing.
Thanks be to God! Amen. (Ref. Bible, commentaries, theological books, UCA materials)