Who gets the glory?
A few times throughout my lifetime, I have heard people point the finger at large churches with massive budgets and accuse them of spending too much money on something and that “all that money could have fed the homeless” or “helped cloth so many children” or a hundred other beautiful ways to show God’s love. The thing these accused churches are doing is often building a building or planning an extravagant event. In today’s passages, we see Solomon (David’s son) doing something extravagant.
We arrive at Solomon’s reign and see God’s covenant with Abraham fulfilled. They are a massive people. Earlier in the story, Solomon asks for wisdom and receives it. The kingdom is doing well, and he decides that he is the one to fulfill the promise God made to David about establishing an enduring kingdom. So Solomon builds an extravagant temple for God (I encourage you to read 1 Kings 5-9 to see the extravagance of the temple and Solomon’s palace. Looking at the details, I realized this isn’t just hiring a contractor and ordering supplies like we did today. It impacts all the people. Israel is paying taxes, giving of their resources and labor to make this temple a reality. Even other nations are providing and giving labor.
This raises a few questions for me. Who asked for the temple? Who is the temple for? Who gets the attention from the temple? God never asks for the temple. Solomon claims the temple is for God. Solomon dedicates the temple to God. While I think, like most humans, there is a lot about the temple Solomon is building for selfish reasons, he at least speaks the “right” reasons. In his dedication, there is a desire to make God’s Name clear to Israel and all the other nations.
I don’t want to neglect those who are homeless, poor, or parentless. I want us to listen to God’s leading on how we use our resources, and I think, more often than not, he isn’t going to ask for temples and extravagance. He will ask us to build things that meet people with his message of saving grace from sin and restoration and hope in the one true King. But if we do create something, it better be for the glory of the Lord and not ourselves.
I’ll admit today that much of my identity is wrapped up in being who God has called me to be. Sadly, I can sometimes go down a path that points to what I’ve done or understand as proof of being a “good person” and misses the point of being a child of God. My identity is in Christ, but I don’t have to make a name for Christ by pointing at what I have done and allowing pride to show. God makes His name known all on His own.
Today, how can you humbly serve the Lord and let His light shine beyond you?
Lord, lead us to surrender our extravagance to you and see true extravagance in who you are. Amen