Rev. George Miller
Oct 27, 2019
1 Kings 12:1-17
(Today’s message is character-based.)
We are at an interesting time in our nation’s history. For the past 200 years we’ve been divided and now it seems as if either we are going to stay that way or something good is ‘bout to happen.
My name is Simon, from the tribe of Simeon. My people have been living here in the North for as long as we can remember.
It is here that our ancestor Abraham heard the call from God to get up and go. It is here that the bones of Joseph are buried.
Our nation has a rich and complex history; a soap opera some will say.
We are a people of the promise, who were originally brought together by our Impossibly Possible God…but somehow, we have been torn apart, led astray, repeat breakers of God’s heart.
Let me tell you our story-
300 years ago everything seemed just right. After a troubling time, God gave us a new king named David.
It was a glorious day.
The north and the south came together. The elders acted as ONE. There was no “You” or “I” but instead there was “we” and “us”, bone and flesh.
Before God, before one another, we entered into a covenant with our King in which he was called to be our shepherd-
to care and protect, feed and comfort,
follow God’s commandments, and walk in God’s ways.
Everything seemed possible; we were certain all wrongs would be made right.
And King David was a great King… except when he wasn’t.
He coveted, he lied, he committed adultery; some say rape.
He was followed by his son Solomon, who led with God’s wisdom. He built the holy temple in Jerusalem.
He spent tons of money, employed tons of workers, used up tons of resources, and the results were magnificent-
a gleaming, golden House of the Lord in which everyone from the north and south could go to worship.
How beautiful upon the hill it looked, becoming a beacon of hope to all.
Like any nation, there were those who liked our leaders, there were those who did not.
Those in the south enjoyed the prestige of having the Temple in their vicinity. But those of us in the north? Not so much.
We felt that King David and Solomon played favorites. We noticed how there were certain parts of the nation they taxed more than others; that certain people were more likely to be forced into labor than others.
Often times it was us in the north who paid the most and worked the hardest while King Solomon and his crew were off having fun or making more money.
Then there was the issue of Solomon’s wandering eye. Just like his dad, one woman was not enough. Solomon had a thing for exotic women who worshipped other gods, so to please them he built them shrines and temples and worshipped their false idols.
Imagine- the same man who built the Holy Temple was the same man who worshipped Astarte and Milcom all for the sake of a pretty face.
Imagine how this broke God’s heart…
Then 200 years ago something happened that we still talk about today- Solomon’s son was crowned. His name was Rehoboam, but I call him Jr.
The people from the north came to Jr. and said “We loved your dad, but he worked us really hard. If you show us respect and give us some rest, we will serve you forever.”
Jr. went to his father’s council of elders for advice and they said “Do what they ask. If you serve the people, speaking to them with kindness and compassion, they will be your biggest fans.”
Then Jr. went to his drinking buddies, the ones who worked on Wall Street, and asked the same question.
They said “Heck no! Tell them your little finger is bigger than your father’s you-know-what! Tell them that since they’re complaining about how hard they work, they will now have to work harder and be punished greater.”
Can you guess whose advice Jr. took?
And just like that!, the nation split. The men who came to Jr. simply seeking kindness from their leader, waved goodbye, and 10 of the 12 tribes went with them.
This left Jr. with a country torn in two. Sure, he still had the Temple, but now he was King of only 1 tribe.
God’s heart broke even more.
Sadly, the soap opera doesn’t stop there. The north called their own king, Jeroboam. I call him JoJo.
JoJo is given a great opportunity. God told him that if listens to God’s voice and walks humbly in God’s ways, then he’ll have everything his soul desires.
God tells JoJo “Do what I ask and I will build you the same thing I built David and the nation will be yours!”
Guess what JoJo does: somehow he gets it into his head that if people go down south to worship God at the Temple, they’ll end up liking Jr. more.
So he builds two golden calves, tells everyone to stop going south to praise God, and to worship these idols instead, claiming they were the ones who set us free from slavery.
And like that!, over a thousand years of faith in the Lord is flushed away and we were expected to turn our back on our Impossibly Possible God.
And God’s heart broke even more.
That was 200 years ago, and here we are, in a nation town in two. In the south is the Temple and the tribe of Judah.
In the north we don’t really know what we are. We’re Jew but not Jew, Gentile but not Gentile. Outsiders, yet insiders.
We see those in the south as all uppity. Those in the south see us as robbers and rapists.
How it must hurt God’s heart to see the beloved nation of Israel torn into two.
Yet, there is hope. I can’t help but to feel there is a change coming in the air,
That God is getting ready to do something new.
There’s a prophet in town called Isaiah. Most folk think he’s out there, but I like what he says.
Isaiah seems to have finger on the pulse of the nation and he’s been busy warning us that if things continue as is, something bad is bound to happen.
Yet, he also offers hints of hope.
He speaks about someone we have yet to meet, someone we don’t know, named Immanuel.
That God will take what remains and bring forth new life.
That God will bring forth a new kind of leader, someone who will truly be filled with wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, who is filled with knowledge and delight in the Lord.
Isaiah talks of this new leader as someone who will care for the poor, decide what’s right for the helpless, who will be righteous and faithful.
A new kind of leader in which even the wolf will rest with the lamb, cows and bears will eat side by side, and children shall be safe from harm.
A leader in which kindness, care and love for the Lord will cover the earth just as the waters of creation did.
Imagine such a day! Imagine what sort of peace that will create!
Imagine getting to the place in which wrongs are made right, the north is reunified with the south, and God’s heart is truly made glad!
I don’t know who this Immanuel is. I don’t know when he’s set to arrive. It could be in my lifetime; it could be in the next.
But it does not matter. I am willing to wait; for the love of the Lord, I wait.
Who can this Immanuel be? Just what, exactly, will this Immanuel do?
What does our Impossibly Possible God have in store for us all?
And can we, will we, this time, do what needs to be done so God’s heart will no longer be broken?
Amen.
A UCC Pastor's walk through the spiritual waters of Scripture, pop culture and life.
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