Invocation
O God, whose promises are true; help us to discern rightly what is your will; that we might stagger at your goodness and love, not stumble over our egotism and pride. Amen.
Worship: Psalm 119:2
Happy are those who keep God’s decrees, who seek God with their whole heart.
Reading: 1 Kings 8:22-30
“Therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep your promise to your servant my father David saying, “There shall never fail you a successor before me to sit on the throne of Israel…’
Silence
Reflection
Wes Howard Brooke (2010:6ff) suggests that in the Judeo/Christian scriptures there are two ‘magnetic poles’ of competing religious worldviews, vying for dominance. On the one hand there is the religion of Empire; this tends to see the human king as God’s appointed representative. Allegiance to the king means allegiance to God. Fighting for the King means fighting for God. This religious pole often propagates hierarchical patronage and class distinctions, and then theologically justifies the inequalities that accrue. Relationships with the ‘other’ are generally violent with enemies destroyed.
The religion of Creation, on the other hand, sees God quite differently; as uncontained, wild, mysterious yet everywhere, except possibly in the royal temple. Egalitarian kinship is preferred to hierarchy. Unknown others and even enemies are treated with hospitality. God’s abundant provision for all is trusted over systems that create scarcity for the poor, and lavishness for the rich.
Questions
Viewed from within Howard Brooke’s interpretive framework, do we see in 1 Kings 8 an example of the Religion of Empire or of Creation?
Which religion would Jesus tend towards and why?
Which religion does our theology generally support?
Which do our lives, decisions and actions end up propagating?
How might my community become more conscientised about these two ‘pulls’ in scripture?
Wes Howard Brooke: 2010. Come out my people! God’s call out of empire in the bible and beyond. New York: Orbis.
Prayers for the earth, for the world, for my community and myself
Hymn
For the Healing of the Nations Fred Kaan
Benediction
We go sure in the promise of God who never leaves nor forsakes us. Amen
