Texts: 1 Kg 2:10-12; 3:3-14; Psalm 111; Eph 5:15-20; Jn 6:51-58

One of the less felicitous aspects of the lectionary is its highly selective use of Hebrew Bible texts. It strives to give an overview of an enormous amount of text, but unavoidably some stories or parts of stories must be omitted. And there are times, as in the readings for today and next Sunday, when the choices bias the readings.

In these two weeks, we hear how King Solomon sought wisdom before all else, and how he built the temple that became the centre of religion and life for the people of Israel. These two stories on their own tend to give us an idea of a great and wise king, reigning over the "golden age" of the kingdom.

What we do not hear are the political machinations that brought him to the throne, and the systematic way in which he eliminated his rivals. And then, how his great work, the building of the temple, was achieved through forced levies of workers, and heavy taxation.

Solomon had inherited the kingdom of Israel at its high-water mark. His father David had captured much territory, but Solomon was more politician than soldier. He made alliances with the kings from whom the land had been captured, typically by taking their daughters as wives. (Remember that he was the king who had 700 wives and 300 concubines.) Foreign princesses bring their customs with them, including their religions, and Solomon indulged them all. Far from being a land of pure devotion to God, Israel soon became a hodge-podge of various cults. And Solomon turned away from the Lord. (See 1 Kg 11:3ff)

What is the point of this? Just that promising beginnings can come to naught when we lose sight of the "main thing," following that which is not God. We call that idolatry.

The psalmist wrote:

"Fear" means the awareness of God’s awesome reality, of what God requires of us, of who we are before God, and of the consequences of losing that awareness. The unwise person forgets—but always finds something other than God to worship.

It may be power.

It may be money.

It may be addictions or physical urges.

It can be many things—it can even be religion.

Last month, Joanne and I attended the National Worship Conference, jointly sponsored by our church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church. One of the speakers was Dr. Richard Leggett of the Vancouver School of Theology. In the first of his talks, employing images from the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan 3:1-30), Prof. Leggett explored the tension in which the church lives, between the "golden statue" of contemporary culture, and the "blazing furnace" of God’s mission.

Dr. Leggett’s central point was that God’s mission for the church must always be the "main thing" in our life, most especially in our worship life. Mission is "a place of uncertainty, a place of risk," a furnace of blazing fire where faith is put to the test, as we stand firm and trust in God’s purposes—not ours!

All too often, we retreat into the familiar and the comfortable. Churches naturally seek to preserve their institutional existence. We find ourselves tempted either to hold on to old forms in the name of "tradition," or to buy into entertainment models. Either way, we place our corporate existence before God’s mission, and risk losing sight of the main thing—just as Solomon did. Either way, we make an idol of our religious practices, when their purpose is always to focus our attention on God, to foster in us the fear of the Lord, and to empower God’s people for God’s mission.

We are gathered to celebrate the Eucharist today, as we do every Sunday. Today, we heard a reading from John’s Gospel that lies near the heart of some of the most violent disagreements in church history. People have fought and died over the meaning of the Eucharist, making idols of particular interpretations of the meal that was given for our life, and the good of all of God’s people. What was intended to bind together has often ended up dividing, even in that synagogue in Capernaum, when Jesus’ opponents found his words so offensive.

As someone once said, "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." And the main thing for the church is God’s mission, in which we are called to participate. Whatever books we use, whatever songs we sing, whatever ritual acts we employ, however much we may treasure some aspects of our worship, let us never forget that they are not the main thing. God is the main thing, at the centre of our life, inviting us to participate in his mission, to share in his life, to step forward in faith into the blazing fiery furnace of God’s purposes for this world.

Let me pose some questions:

May we keep ourselves focused on the main thing—
the glory of God, to whom praise be given,
now and forever.