"Solomon Missed the Point."

"Solomon Missed the Point."

By: Pastor Jack Schneider

“All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, or the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”  [Eccl.1:8,9, NIV]

Wednesday night’s “Digging Deeper” class is now in Ecclesiastes, having a blast working with Solomon’s struggles. How could one man spend that much time, energy and resources blowing away life and yet come away so empty?!  Solomon unabashedly tells us he denied himself nothing his eyes desired and refused his heart no pleasure, yet still claims “In all this my wisdom stayed with me.” 

Oh, really? Hmm. That’s not the picture we get when reading 1 Kings 11, the windup of Solomon’s life, is it?. What I see there is a man overrun by pagan wives and concubines, hurriedly building idol altars to satisfy whoever is his favorite of the week. Somewhere along the line testosterone [or desperation] replaced wisdom, and God snatched the kingdom away from this son of David. The wisest man who lived forgot his own counsel from Eccl.2: “I see this from the hand of God -- without Him, who can eat or find enjoyment? To the person who pleases Him, God gives wisdom knowledge and happiness.”

One of our class members reflected that even today our culture echoes Solomon’s attitude of excess -- I want more, and I want it now! We’re unwilling to deny ourselves ungodly pleasures of life even though Jesus said discipleship requires denying things that pull us from Him, instead taking up our cross and following Him. What sort of fun is that?

The truth is, God is already pleased with you and the fun has already begun.

Forget chasing the wine, wo[men], and songs, worrying that death may be just around the corner. You’ve already died, in Christ through your Baptism and been raised to new life here and now. And that cross? It’s not so heavy, after all. The love of Christ makes it lighter as we serve others in His name. Solomon missed the point: he was placed as king to serve in God’s name, not to be served.

We simply cannot change how people will act in the marketplace or government, nor do we know what the future holds. We can, however, live in the present, firm in the assurance that Christ Jesus has given us life, abundant life both now and into eternity. The forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation -- these are the things Solomon needed to treasure more than all the riches and diversity of his kingdom, and they are ours to treasure now.

- Jack