1 Kings 8:16-66, Dedication Sunday

Theological Proposition/Focus: In spite of transcendence God hears His people.

Homiletical Proposition/Application: We should go to God in prayer confident that He will hear and listen.

Body

Our God: the loving promise keeper (23-26).

Like no other, God’s love is always faithful (23).

God’s חֶסֶד deserves special attention.

One writer notes that it is not obligation, legalism, or a desire to control others for personal gain that motivates God, no it is His loyal love.

Therefore, we can count on God to keep the promises he has made (25-26).

Solomon’s request, in light of God’s loyal love, is that he would keep the ultimate promise.

Yet, Solomon asks God to keep this significant promise.

The request Solomon made was a request for God’s promise, based on God’s character, without fully realizing what it even would mean for God to keep that promise. I once heard a sermon where someone advocated to stop asking God for things he has always promised. However, as I think about Solomon here, David in the psalms, and even the Lord’s prayer, I am reminded that time and time again people ask God to keep his promises. Maybe the point is not so much the request as it is an act of submissive worship. Asking God to keep his promises forces us to acknowledge God’s promises and admit that we need them. However, in order to do this we must know what God has promised us.

Image: Non-owned insurance, when reading the small print matters

A month or so ago I was talking with a guy at the airport. He had loaned a friend his airplane and his friend made a mistake on take-off crashing the airplane. Nobody was hurt, but the airplane was destroyed. To make a bad situation worse, the insurance company declined the claim because the friend to whom the airplane had been loaned did not have an instrument rating (a big safety factor in the world of aviation). Just when it looked like there would be no recourse and they were on the line for replacing an airplane, it was suggested the gentleman who had borrowed the airplane look at the fine print in the insurance agreement for his own personal airplane. There in the fine print was a clause “coverage is extended to non-owned aircraft of a similar type when owned aircraft is undergoing maintenance.” That promise right there in the fine print turned a bad situation into a manageable situation. Knowing the promise matters and knowing the non-promise matters. The insurance had not promised to insure a non-instrument rated pilot, but the other insurance had promised to honor their pilot.

In order to function well as christians, we need to know God’s promises.

Our God: transcendent and holy yet intimately involved (27-32).

No creation can ever measure up to our God (27).

Here is the ultimate reality, a reality that I want us to take some time to consider today. We are worshiping the God of creation. Since God created all and is omnipresent, nothing created can ever contain God. This was the predicament that Solomon found himself in and this is the predicament that I want us to spend some time in today. As wonderful as our sanctuary is, it pales in comparison to God. It is only through God that anything in our sanctuary is worth looking at. In order to properly worship God, we must ensure that we recognize the unfathomable shortcomings of our work! Only then will we truly be worshiping God!

Nevertheless, God does condescend to hear the prayers of His people (28-30).

Solomon’s recognition of God’s transcendence is met with his knowledge of his condescension. The God who transcends all also has regard for his servants. This is amazing and should cause us to fall on our knees in awe of our God.

Image: It is not always about the beauty but sometimes the thought really is what counts.

My nieces and nephews, both adopted and not adopted, love to make me artwork, and I love their artwork! In fact, I keep it all! No really, I have a folder and it is all stored in that folder. But I also put some of it out to display. About 6 months ago, one of my nieces walked into my office here at the church and said, “oh, you have my picture up.” Yes, I said, I have everything you have drawn me. Why? Because you took the time to make it for me and your effort matters. Is it the most beautiful picture I have? In my mind it is, to others, probably not, but I was proud to have received the gift and so I display it for others to see!

On a whole new level I wonder if this is sort of how God responds to our sanctuary, to Solomon’s temple. I am sure both solomon’s temple and our sanctuary pale in comparison with God’s throne room. But, I wonder if God values our sanctuary more because of the love that it represents?

In any case, the point we need to see is that God condescends to hear us, to enjoy what we have created for Him. And since God hears us we should pray and our prayers should be representative of our status, completely below God in need of his transcendent condescension. Look at the prayers of Solomon and let’s turn them into action steps.

MTR: Pray that God notices and remembers His own (52-53).

This is not actually a prayer for God to take notice, but rather an acknowledgement that everything is futile if God is not involved. Why do I say this? Because God does notice and does remember His own. We don’t need to remind God to be faithful, but we do need to remind ourselves that God is faithful. This is the point here. By praying and asking God to remember His own we are reminding ourselves and humbly acknowledging that we need God to remember us.

Our God: worthy of your heart (62-66).

A proper response to God is offering (62-64).

The numbers given here are extraordinary.

I grew just down the road from a feedlot. The feedlot was a mile long and just under a mile wide, that feedlot hold 60,000 cattle and I will admit, when the wind blows the right direction it stinks!

22,000 cattle is a an incredible sacrifice

If we went with a low price of $1500 each we are talking about 33 million dollars in Today’s world where mass production means we all have access to cows. And Solomon made this sacrifice after having already paid for the temple!

Fellowship offerings emphasized unity before God.

In the fellowship offering the animal was often slaughtered and the blood, fat, and entrails were devoted to God while the people in an act of great fellowship joined together to eat the meat and enjoy God’s blessings.