Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today’s first reading captures the most inspiring moment of Solomon’s life. For reasons I will explain later, Solomon’s success is not where I want to begin this homily. I would like to begin with the tragic later-half of his life. Solomon was only the third king of Israel. He inherited the throne because David had promised Bathsheba (the wife he had illegitimately gotten) that her son Solomon would inherit the throne rather than Adonijah, the legitimate heir. God honored David’s promise and today’s reading tells the story of Solomon’s beginning to fame. But it is what happened afterwards that is appalling. Solomon made two major errors. First, in direct disobedience to God’s covenant with Moses, he employed Canaanites as forced laborers, and in this way did what the Egyptians had done to the Israelites. Second, he took about 700 women as wives and 300 concubines from most of the neighboring cultures. To make it worse, Solomon erected altars to the alien gods of these wives. He was personally involved in the construction of some of these shrines. This was in direct violation of the first commandment. God was angry with Solomon. Twice before, God had appeared to him and warned him of the dangers of disobedience (1 Kings 11:9-10). And that is exactly what happened. Solomon’s son Rehoboam succeeded Solomon but under his rule ten of the twelve tribes formed the northern kingdom. Tragically, Israel was split in two because of Solomon’s deeds.
How could Solomon fall from unparalleled fame to utter shame? What happened to the wisdom God gave him? The understanding that God gave him, what did Solomon do with it? I would like to interpret Solomon’s failure from the perspective of today’s second reading and gospel. I want to propose three reasons whey Solomon failed and the lessons we can learn from them.
1. Above All, Love God! Paul, in today’s second reading says, “We know that all things work for the good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” This simple verse reveals both the purpose and destiny of believers. What is our purpose? To love God. This is the first commandment. Jesus repeated this commandment in the New Testament: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul and all your strength.” And what is our destiny? The very God we are invited to love is also our destiny. And even though life can throw many curve balls, Paul says, “Everything works out for the good of those who love God.” At some point in his career, Solomon lost focus on both his purpose and destiny. In spite of the wisdom and grace he had received from God, his loyalty shifted. Perhaps, by taking numerous wives and concubines he was exhibiting his own power and influence, but he forgot that his power and fame were gifts from God. And then, by building altars to other gods he had dethroned the very God who had enthroned him. His love for God had waned. He began to love his gifts more than the giver. Had he loved God above all, all things would have worked out for the good. The tragedy is that he did not.
What happened to Solomon can happen to any one of us. I am not sure about the things that compete with God in your life but I sure know my issue. I find it very easy to trust me than I trust God. I so often want to control the outcome of my efforts. It is easier for me to rely on my own abilities rather than trust God’s providence. I know that today I am being invited to make Christ more central to my thinking and my actions. If you need to do this in your life – please take the hint from Solomon.
2. Seeking the Pearl of Great Price. Today’s gospel reading has two parables that encourage us to be the early (young) Solomon. His original request to God was, “Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.” The parable of the treasure buried in the field and the parable of the pearl of great price are telling us to be like young Solomon. He was able to keep his focus on things that really mattered. When he was offered the opportunity to ask for ‘anything’ he wanted, he did not ask for wealth, power, fame or the destruction of his enemies. Rather, he sought what really mattered – wisdom. The young Solomon was like the man in Jesus’ parable, who gave away everything else to get the pearl of great price. Ultimately, Solomon squandered away the pearl of great price for disobedience; however, did he began well.
What does this mean for us? In his life time Jesus tried his best to make our world like heaven. He invited us to be part of this work by teaching us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven!” For us today, the pearl of great price is the life and work of Jesus and what it takes to accomplish that mission. How often, though, do we settle for smaller goals? Wealth is a necessity to of life but how often people kill, die and ruin relationships for it! Power helps us have control over our surroundings but how often people misuse this power. Child abuse, spousal abuse, infidelities, addictions are examples of settling for less than the kingdom of God. To work with Jesus on his mission is the pearl of great price? Are we in this work with both feet?
3. The Choice is Ours. There is a less popular parable in today’s gospel - the parable of a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When the net is full, Jesus says, the fishermen haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Even though this parable has eschatological (end times) connotations, it also tells that our choices in the here and now are crucial. Each day, our life is like a net. Both good and bad come our way. Unlike Solomon, we must learn to keep the good and throw away the bad. Each day we have the choice between sin and grace, resentment and forgiveness, love and hatred, compassion and judgment, keeping our heart clean and allowing it to be tainted, to spend time with God in prayer and not to, to treat others with respect and not to. If there in one thing the Solomon story teaches us it is this – that God’s grace and wisdom is not lost because God takes it away from us, but rather, because we can make choices that are inconsistent with God’s gifts. The choice really is ours.
- Fr. Satish Joseph