Our Sermons

Bible Passage: 1 Kings 10:1-9
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  January 6, 2022

British science fiction author Arthur Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Any time there is a big enough gap between what we observe with our senses and what we understand with our minds, it has a profound effect upon us. It stops us dead in our tracks. It takes our breath away. It has the same effect we experienced the first time we saw a good magic trick. 

This explains why, when we are young, the world is full of magic. There is so much that defies explanation and exceeds understanding. As a result, the world is a glimmering, awe-inspiring place. It also explains why, as we get older, the magic starts to fade. We know more. We understand more. For similar reasons, modern mankind often views wisdom as something which uncovers the end of mysteries, which pulls away the curtain of superstition. As a result, our secular world is a very disenchanted place to live. Little by little, life loses its luster.

But Epiphany changes all of that. Epiphany uncovers the wisdom of God, which far from ending all enchantment, shows us that there is much more to this life than meets the eye. It’s the deeper wisdom which reveals just how much we have yet to learn. It’s the type of wisdom which only God can give. Epiphany uncovers truths about God’s kingdom, and reminds us that it is precisely that which cannot be observed which is the most important. This is the wisdom that takes your breath away, that fills life with meaning. 

Which brings me to our first reading about the Queen of Sheba and her visit to Jerusalem in about 1000 B.C. There has been quite a bit of debate over the years as to who this Queen of Sheba may have been and where her kingdom was located. Today, we think that Sheba is somewhere on the Arabian Peninsula along the shore of the Red Sea, most likely in modern-day Yemen. Likely through trade, this great Queen had heard stories of the incomparable wisdom of King Solomon. And more than that, she had heard that this great wisdom was specifically connected with his God! From a great distance, God’s wisdom exerted an irresistible pull on her. The Queen of Sheba heard about Solomon’s fame, which was connected with the fame of the Lord, so she came to test him with hard questions. 2 She came to Jerusalem with a very great entourage—with camels carrying spices and a large quantity of gold and precious stones. She came to Solomon and told him everything that was on her heart. 3 Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her.

It simply says that she came, but this journey was about 1,400 miles and would have taken 3-6 months over difficult terrain. To say the least this was a massive undertaking, including hundreds of servants, soldiers, and animals. Not to mention thinking of the implications of leaving her throne in Sheba for likely a full year! She really wanted this wisdom! In fact, by the way the narrative reads, it seems that before she would see anything of Solomon’s kingdom, she wanted to speak with him. She wanted time with Solomon alone, before the royal feasts, before the grand tour, before relaxing. She didn’t come because of the riches he had, although they were impressive. She desired God’s wisdom. She came to ask him hard questions, and to tell him all that was on her heart. Now, the heart is the locus of intellect, not emotion, in Hebrew. So she didn’t come all these miles to get relationship advice or something like that. She is asking him the hard questions, the big questions of life, the questions that no one else could figure out. The questions that required deep wisdom and experience to answer, not just a collection of memorized facts. Certainly some of her questions must have spilled into the realm of religion and spirituality, as well. Also, King Solomon, who wrote Ecclesiastes and Proverbs, knew well that the beginning and end of wisdom was faith in God. I’m sure that every answer in some way included his trust in the God who first granted him wisdom.

What an example this Queen gives to us! She valued God’s wisdom so highly that no inconvenience or distance was going to stop her from attaining it. And when she finally did arrive she valued God’s wisdom by putting it to the test with her questions. 

I wonder if we value God’s wisdom as much as she did? We would all say that we value God’s wisdom, but do our lives back it up?  There’s a proverb, written by King Solomon (Pr 27:19) “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” Does your life reflect what you want in your heart? Too often we take it for granted that we understand ourselves. The Bible is clear that whatever we value is what we love. And the sobering reality is that you might not value what you think.

If you could take a step back and look at your life just in the past month, what percentage of that time was focused on God’s wisdom? What would your life reflect about your heart? Imagine someone who didn’t know you at all, came and assessed your time, your money, your conversations, even your thoughts…what do you think they would say you value most? Let me ask again: Do we value God’s wisdom?

To turn the proverb into an analogy, what would the water of your heart reflect if you looked into it? Would it be what you expect? What do you value most? Your body, your health? A fantasy of a certain blessing, or life here on earth? Would it be your children? Would it be money? Pleasure? What do you value most?

Once, the Pharisees came to Jesus to request a sign from him, they wanted a show, they wanted to see something impressive from Jesus even though he’d already done many miracles. They hadn’t come to heard him teach. They were the type of people who seemed like they valued God’s wisdom, but they really didn’t care about it. They just wanted to amuse themselves. Even though the promised Messiah, whom they were supposedly waiting for, was right in front of them, they didn’t actually value him. In response, do you know who Jesus brought up? The Queen of Sheba. Jesus said, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Matt. 12:42). Jesus told the Pharisees that if this gentile queen went to such great lengths to get God’s wisdom from King Solomon, then what were they doing? Because One greater than Solomon was here! Solomon was wise, but Jesus is himself the Wisdom of God. The earnestness of the Queen of Sheba to seek God’s wisdom condemned the Pharisees. I don’t doubt that she could also point her finger at us too, for all the times we’ve run after such trivial things. 

In the end, only those who were blessed with an Epiphany would understand the wisdom of Jesus. Only those whom God the Father drew to Christ, by his Holy Spirit would understand what the rest of the world called foolishness. Christ knew that if the Pharisees only valued what was outwardly impressive, then they could never value him rightly. They would never value the wisdom of God…The apostle Paul wrote:  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” 20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 22 For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Jesus is the wisdom of God. His cross is our salvation and he uncovers what is truly wise in his Word. Just think about how Jesus taught, he spoke with wisdom like no one else the people had ever heard. I think of Matthew chapter 6, where Jesus himself mentions king Solomon, again talking about value. He said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:26-27) Just like the Queen of Sheba desired to go to Solomon’s kingdom, we are to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness. And if you truly value the wisdom of God, then the excuses will fade and you’ll make time for his Word. Just like the Queen of Sheba, you’ll make the journey. You will prioritize God’s wisdom and no inconvenience will stop you from finding time to search the Scriptures and ask God all that is on your heart. 

Augustine gives us a great illustration to understand this dynamic. He compares what we value, what we love to gravity. Although he wrote it centuries before Newton’s insights, so the language is slightly different. He writes: “A body by its weight tends to move towards its proper place. The weight’s movement is not necessarily downwards, but to its appropriate position: fire tends to move upwards, a stone downwards. They are acted on by their respective weights; they seek their own place…Things which are not in their intended position are restless. Once they are in their ordered position, they are at rest.”

We all know this principle he’s talking about. Have you ever tried to hold a beach ball under the surface of a pool? It wants to rise to the surface! It is “restless” so to speak under the water. I remember one time my brother and I were in a pool and he told me to come look at something in the water. Little did I know he was holding one of those long nerf footballs under the surface. You know where this is going, when I got close enough he let it go and it came up and smacked me in the face…Anyway, Augustine would go on to explain his illustration by saying that whatever he really loves, what he values is like gravity. It carries him, it drives him. Today, let us consider what we really value, because if we are absorbed by material things, then our value is a weight that drags us downward to inferior, vain concerns. We will always be restless. But if we value God’s wisdom, we are lifted up to what God wants for us. We see what is truly wise, we are elevated about this world to the kingdom of God. We see that true wisdom does not leave us dry and disenchanted, but hopeful and confident that this world is not all there is. We are elevated out of our sinful selves to serve others as God has served us. We have peace for our restless souls as our hearts settle upon the solid rock of Christ. God’s wisdom uncovers our Savior. Amen.