Sermon: “Whose Prayers Does God Hear?”

Text: 1 Kings 8:22-30, 41-43

21^st Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

August 23, 2009

Scripture introduction.  Our second reading this morning is from the eighth chapter of the Old Testament book of First Kings, a portion of the story of how Solomon, having built the Temple to God in Jerusalem, dedicated it with prayer and sacrifice with all the people looking on.  We will read only a portion of his extended prayer of dedication.  From the prayer it is very clear that, although God was thought to be present in the Temple, the ancient Israelites understood very well that the Temple could not actually contain God.  God’s actual dwelling was thought to be in the heavens, which themselves were too small to contain God.  God was understood to be present in both places—the heavens and the Temple. 

The preposition el, which we translate “toward” is important in our passage.  Solomon prays that God’s “eyes” would be “toward” the Temple and that God would pay attention when the people—or even a foreign people—would pray “toward” the Temple.  In all likelihood, Solomon did not intend that the ancient Israelites physically orient themselves toward the Temple during prayer, although perhaps some did this.  Modern Muslims, of course, face toward their holy city of Mecca when they pray.  But Solomon probably was suggesting a focus of mental and emotional attention, rather than a position of the body.  Since God was thought to be present in the Temple, orienting one’s attention toward the Temple during prayer would be similar to focusing mental and emotional energy on God.  Solomon asked that when persons pray this way, even foreigners, God would hear their prayers and grant them.

Sermon.  This may have been the biggest day of Solomon’s entire kingship.  He was dedicating the Temple that his father David had wanted to build but that the prophet Nathan had forbidden to David.  Solomon had finished the immense labors and expense associated with building the magnificent structure.  I find it amazing that now, in the middle of his prayer of dedication—a prayer on behalf of the nation of Israel—Solomon suddenly turned his attention to people from foreign lands.  “Likewise,” he prayed to God, “when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name—for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm—when a foreigner comes and prays toward this [Temple], then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you . . . .” 

I suppose we could think of several reasons why Solomon might have included foreigners in his prayer.  For one thing, Solomon seemed particularly open to dealing with foreigners.  The Temple itself was built with considerable assistance from non-Jews who lived in Lebanon to the north.  We also know that Solomon received and entertained the Queen of Sheba, who had come to Israel from the Arabian Peninsula to see Solomon’s kingdom and to witness his famous wisdom.  Solomon, it turns out, had many foreign connections.  And the text gives another reason—so that God’s name would be exalted and the Temple would be recognized as a place of God’s presence.  But still, it surprises me that Solomon would include foreigners in his prayers on this most holy and auspicious of days in the national life of his own kingdom.

As far as we can tell from history, in the ancient world most nations thought of their god or gods as limited to their own people and nation.  For example, when one nation defeated another in battle, from a theological perspective, it was assumed that the gods of the victorious people were stronger than the gods of the losers.  No one would have imagined that the god of one nation would have cared about—let alone helped—the people of another nation.  No one, it seems, but Solomon and others in Israel who thought like he did.  According to Solomon’s prayer that we just read, God was too big to be contained in the Temple, or even in one nation.  “Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain [God].”  God was not only the God of Israel, but also was the God of the entire earth—the God of all nations.  As far as the ancient Israelites were concerned, there might be other gods, but they were weak and puny in comparison to the God, who ruled over all.

Sometimes I think I see evidence that persons in our own time have forgotten, or have never learned, that God, the creator of all the world, is not the possession of any one nation—or even of any one faith.  I still remember the flap that occurred when I was a young man, when the Rev. Dr. Bailey Smith, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, asserted that “God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew.”  Within a week, television evangelist Jerry Falwell had recorded his agreement with Bailey’s statement.  What an ironic twist!  Solomon acknowledged, and even encouraged, God’s hearing the prayer of non-Jews.  And these modern Christian preachers claimed that God no longer hears the Jews.  Under public pressure from within their own circles, as well as from Jewish groups, both Smith and Falwell quickly recanted and qualified their earlier remarks.[1] 

Nowadays we hear this same kind of talk about Muslims.  Does God hear the prayers of Muslims?  I believe the answer is “yes.”  Consider the “foreigners” that Solomon had in mind when he prayed his prayer.  They would have been from countries whose conception of the deity was much further from the Judeo-Christian God than are current Muslims, who recognize Abraham as their spiritual ancestor and Jesus as a great prophet.  Some of those foreigners were from religions that believed in sacrificing human children.  Some of them worshipped bulls and lions and snakes.  If God could hear one of their sincere prayers, then why would God be unable to hear the prayer of a modern Muslim?  In our own Reformed tradition, we have insisted on ascribing to God complete sovereignty and freedom.  We, of all denominations, should understand that we cannot declare limits on God’s freedom to relate on a personal level with any of God’s own children.

Now please don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  I’m not saying that all religions are the same and that it really doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you are sincere about it.  I believe that God has revealed himself uniquely in Jesus Christ, who is our best evidence of God’s love, justice, and power.  I believe that in Jesus Christ, God absorbed all the hurt and wrong for which humans have been responsible and returned it to us in love.  God is not some abstract force or will.  God relates to us as a person, and this happens best when we open ourselves to that relationship in prayer.  It is imperative that we who have experienced this personal relationship with God in Christ Jesus share that essentially good news with anyone who will listen.  But please don’t tell me that God is incapable of hearing, or refuses to hear, the prayers of a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu or anyone else.  God loves them, too.

Well, maybe that is the most obvious application of Solomon’s prayer to our current times.  Yet I believe there is another message, just as profound and even more personal, in his prayer for foreigners.  It’s easy to forget, as we read the Old Testament, that we are not the children of Israel—at least not literally.  We may think of the ancient Israelites as our ancestors in the faith, but to Solomon we would be among the “foreigners.”  His prayer is that when we turn toward the presence of God, when we focus our attention on God, then God would “hear in heaven . . . and do according to all that [we might ask].”  Do you understand the power of this idea?  If God is so great, and if God’s concerns encompass all the peoples of the world, then we should be assured that, when we pray, God hears us.

At the risk of “preaching to the choir,” let me offer this observation.  Many of us here today have grown up in the church.  We attend week after week because we appreciate this opportunity to refocus our priorities, to worship God, and to think about God’s loving purposes for the world.  Many of us find in this place comfort in our own distress, and sustenance for our own needs.  Like the Temple of ancient days, our church building cannot contain God; yet we feel God’s presence here in a special way.  However, even for those of us who attend regularly, I suspect we yearn for a deeper, more personal relationship with God.  Although we certainly have needs in our lives, this desire for personal relationship with God is not driven primarily by our concerns for material needs, for health, or even for guidance in life’s perplexities.  It is simply that, as Saint Augustine said, there is a place in us that is empty and can only be filled by God.  If you feel that empty place in your own life and would like to have it filled, then be encouraged by Solomon’s prayer.  If God will hear the prayer of any foreigner, then God will hear your prayer, too. 

Also be guided by Solomon’s prayer.  Pray “toward” the presence of God.  That is, when you pray, focus your attention on God.  When we already have established an active prayer life, this can happen as we are washing the dishes, driving the car, or taking a brief break from our work at the computer.  But especially when we begin our prayer life, when we are learning how to focus our attention on God, it probably works better if we dedicate some specific time to prayer, avoiding as many distractions as possible.  Prayer itself is not hard; it’s setting aside the time that we find so difficult.  It may help to begin our prayer time by reading from the Bible, asking ourselves not so much how the passage can guide our decisions, but more importantly, what it may tell us about God.  Perhaps we will chose a Bible story about Jesus, for in him we see God most clearly.  Since our hymns are based on scripture, we might want to begin our prayer time by remembering the words of a favorite hymn.  However we do it, the process may feel awkward at first, but we should keep at it.  We may not hear the voice God in our ears, but gradually that empty place in our lives will begin to fill up.  And as we are filled with God’s Spirit, that empty place, now full, can become the center that directs our actions and thoughts in daily life.

God wants to have a personal relationship with us.  Solomon was right: if we focus our attention on God and pray, God will hear and respond.  If a foreigner can do it, so can we.