Scripture Focus: 1 Kings 3.3-4
3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
From John: Many have wondered over this long period of pandemic if our worship of God would suffer from fewer physical gatherings. As we look back at this post from 2019, we remember and reassure ourselves that God is a seeking God—seeking those who worship in spirit and in truth. Whether our buildings have been open physically is less important than whether our hearts have been open spiritually. Wherever we truly seek him, there we will be found by him. May he continue to give us wisdom.
Reflection: Seeking After a Seeking God
By John Tillman
People in scripture often worshiped God wherever they happened to be and God accepted them. But the “high places” in Israel were different. They were pagan sites of worship before the Israelites conquered the land.
Israel drove out most idol worship but some still survived. Joshua warned the people of “traps and snares” saying that these practices would be “whips for your backs and thorns for your eyes.” Worship at “high places” was expressly forbidden by God, because God knew that the old, cultic practices would return to pollute and subvert true worship.
However, people in Solomon’s day still worshiped at these places. The worship of God in Israel at this time was scattered. This was partly for convenience. People could worship near their homes rather than traveling to Jerusalem. But it also had to do with tradition and an emotional and cultural connection to these locations.
David had taken the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and set up a tent for it there in anticipation of the Temple being built. But the tent of meeting constructed by Moses was still at Gibeon. Possibly what made Gibeon the “most important” high place was the emotional, traditional, and historical connection to Moses. This empty tent, filled only with nostalgia, remained in use as a place of worship and is where God spoke to Solomon.
James tells us that God grants wisdom to all, without finding fault, and that includes young king Solomon who asked for wisdom even while unwisely worshiping God at a questionable place. God will do the same for us.
God, throughout the scriptures, is a God who seeks. God, of course, desires us to seek him “while he may be found” and to seek him in his Temple. We should care deeply about worshiping in ways that are proper and biblical. But because God is a seeking God, he is always ready to meet us where we are.
He will meet us in hiding in the wilderness, as he met with David.
He will meet us wrapped in nostalgia, as he met with Solomon.
He will meet with us singing new songs, as he met with Asaph.
He will meet with us in a corrupted Temple, as he met with Isaiah.
He will meet with us in a corrupted land, as he met with the woman at the well in Sychar.
Wherever and however we draw near to God, he will draw near to us.
Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and then we shall be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? What I say to you I do not speak of my own accord: it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his works.” — John 14.8-11
– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.
1 Kings 3 (Listen – 4:29)
Ephesians 1 (Listen – 3:10)
Read more about Take Up Your Mat
Jesus sought us out when we were paralyzed and deformed by sin…He still seeks us out. To warn us, to call us to continued repentance, to transform our lives.
Read more about Hope on a Limb
We can be assured as we stand on Zacchaeus’s hope-filled Sycamore limb, that the King of Glory we hope for will not pass us by.
"Mstari wa 4 wa 1 wa Wafalme 3:4 ""Sulemani alionyesha upendo wake kwa Bwana kwa kutembea kulingana na maagizo aliyopewa na baba yake Daudi, isipokuwa kwamba alitoa dhabihu na kufukiza uvumba katika mahali pa juu.""" 4 Mfalme akaenda Gibeoni kutoa dhabihu, kwa kuwa hapo palikuwa mahali pa juu pa ibada pa maana zaidi, na Sulemani akatoa sadaka elfu moja za kuteketezwa juu ya madhabahu hiyo. "Mambo mengi yamejitokeza katika kipindi hiki kirefu cha janga hilo, kama ibada yetu kwa Mungu ingeathiriwa na kukusanyika kwa watu wachache.""" Tunapotazama nyuma kwenye chapisho hili kutoka 2019, tunakumbuka na kujihakikishia kwamba Mungu ni Mungu anayetafuta - anayetafuta wale wanaomwabudu kwa roho na kwa kweli. Kama nyumba zetu zimefunguliwa kimwili ni muhimu kidogo kuliko kama mioyo yetu imekuwa wazi kiroho. Popote tunapoitafuta kwa kweli, tutapatikana. Na aendelee kutupa hekima. "Mwanzo: ""Kutafuta Mungu"" na John Tillman: ""Watu katika Maandiko mara nyingi walimwabudu Mungu popote walipokuwa na Mungu aliwakubali." Lakini "mahali pa juu" katika Israeli vilikuwa tofauti. Maeneo hayo yalikuwa mahali pa ibada ya kipagani kabla ya Waisraeli kushinda nchi hiyo. Waisraeli waliondoa ibada nyingi za sanamu lakini baadhi yao bado waliendelea kuishi. "Yoshua aliwaonya watu kuhusu ""mtego na mtego"" akisema kwamba mazoea hayo yangekuwa ""mchoko kwa mgongo wenu na miiba kwa macho yenu."" 10 Ibada katika ""mahali pa juu"" ilipigwa marufuku waziwazi na Mungu, kwa sababu Mungu alijua kwamba mazoea ya zamani ya ibada yangerudi kuchafua na kuharibu ibada ya kweli." Hata hivyo, watu katika siku za Sulemani bado waliabudu katika mahali hapo. Ibada ya Mungu katika Israeli wakati huo ilikuwa imetawanyika. Jambo hilo lilitokana na urahisi. Watu wangeweza kuabudu karibu na nyumba zao badala ya kusafiri kwenda Yerusalemu. Lakini pia ilikuwa na uhusiano na utamaduni na uhusiano wa kihisia na kitamaduni na maeneo haya. Daudi alikuwa amepeleka Sanduku la Agano Yerusalemu na kulijenga hema huko kwa ajili yake, akingojea hekalu kujengwa. Lakini hema la kukutania lililojengwa na Musa lilikuwa bado huko Gibeoni. Yaelekea kile kilichofanya Gibeoni liwe mahali pa juu pa "mahali pa maana zaidi" kilikuwa uhusiano wa kihisia-moyo, wa kitamaduni, na wa kihistoria na Musa. Hema hilo tupu, lililojaa tu tamaa ya zamani, liliendelea kutumiwa kama mahali pa ibada na ni mahali ambapo Mungu alizungumza na Sulemani. "Yakobo anasema kwamba Mungu ""anawapa wote hekima bila kuwachambua,"" na kwamba Mfalme Sulemani aliomba hekima hata alipokuwa akimwabudu Mungu mahali ambapo hakukuwa na hekima." Mungu atafanya vivyo hivyo kwa ajili yetu. Mungu, katika Maandiko Matakatifu, ni Mungu anayetafuta. Bila shaka, Mungu anataka tumtafute <unk> wakati anapopatikana <unk> na kumtafuta katika Hekalu lake. Tunapaswa kujihusisha sana na ibada kwa njia inayofaa na ya Kibiblia. Lakini kwa kuwa Mungu ni Mungu anayetafuta, yeye yuko tayari kukutana nasi kila mahali. Atakutana nasi katika nyikani, kama alivyokutana na Daudi. Atakutana nasi akiwa amefunikwa na nostalgia, kama alivyokutana na Sulemani. Atakutana nasi akiimba nyimbo mpya, kama alivyokutana na Asafu. Atakutana nasi katika Hekalu lililoharibiwa, kama alivyokutana na Isaya. "Atakutana nasi katika nchi iliyochafuka, kama alivyokutana na yule mwanamke kwenye kisima cha Sikari.""" Kila mahali tunapomkaribia Mungu, yeye pia anatukaribia. "Kama ilivyoandikwa katika Injili ya Mathayo, ""Filipu akasema, Bwana, tuonyeshe Baba, nasi tutaridhika."" (Yesu akamwambia, ""Je, nimekuwa pamoja nawe muda huu wote, Filipo, na bado hunijui?" Aliyeniona mimi amemwona Baba; Basi unasemaje, Tuonyeshe Baba? "Je, huamini kwamba mimi niko ndani ya Baba na Baba yuko ndani yangu?""" "Nayo ninayowaambia, siwasemayo kwa nafsi yangu; Baba ndiye anayeishi ndani yangu, afanyaye kazi zake."" - Yohana 14:8-11; The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime, na Phyllis Tickle." 1 Wafalme 3 (Sikiliza) Waefeso 1 (Sikiliza) Soma zaidi kuhusu Kuchukua Kitanda chako Yesu alitutafuta wakati tulikuwa tumechoma na kupooza na dhambi...Bado anatutafuta. Tunapaswa kujihakikishia, kuwahimiza tuendelee kutubu, na kugeuza maisha yetu. "Hata hivyo, tunaweza kuwa na uhakika, tunaposimama juu ya ""mti wa mti wa sikomoro"" wa Zekia, kwamba Mfalme wa utukufu tunayeutumaini hatatupita."