A Kingdom Torn in Two
My sermon from Sunday, January 12. Check it out!
It’s always an honor when I get to guest preach at my home church, First Presbyterian Church Grand Junction. If you’d like to watch or listen to my sermon, do so HERE.
It is always a bit tricky to post the writing for a sermon that is part of a series that is being taught by multiple preachers, or a section from the text that is part of a greater whole. You can use the link above to get plugged into Chapters 1-13 from The Story, and of course to follow along from here on!
For context…
During the service, we watched the Video from The Story Chapter 14. Retells the chapter, including parts of the story from 1 Kings 11- 1 Kings 15 and probably beyond. I reference this story section in my sermon but do not include the scripture. Here is a link if you would like to read the scripture. Also, in adding this link I realize that the text actually does tell us why God chose Jeroboam to be King – messed that up in my sermon!1
Asa King of Judah 1 Kings: 9-14
9 In the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa became king of Judah, 10 and he reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. His grandmother’s name was Maakah daughter of Abishalom.
11 Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done. 12 He expelled the male shrine prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his ancestors had made. 13 He even deposed his grandmother Maakah from her position as queen mother, because she had made a repulsive image for the worship of Asherah. Asa cut it down and burned it in the Kidron Valley. 14 Although he did not remove the high places, Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.
Prayer Time
Did you know that Tom didn’t preach on chapter 14 last time we studied the Story? And when I asked Tom to send some commentaries on this section of scripture, he had none to send! I didn’t realize when Tom gave me this date that I said yes to preaching on the chapter Tom refers to as the “Worst chapter to preach on in all of The Story!”
At first I felt overwhelmed, but then a memory of Kings surfaced. My freshman year of college I took a class called Faith in the Old Testament. And I remembered how BORED I was in that class. One class period, my professor wrote the names of Kings on the board while my bestie SJ and I sat in the back row of the classroom writing down a list of names. Our list did not include names like Jeroboam or Asa. No, we weren’t critically evaluating the leaders of two kingdoms as it seems the author of 1 and 2 Kings is doing. No, friends, we were compiling a list naming the cutest guys on campus.
This is my first memory of encountering this text – a total disregard for the story. Who knows what I could have learned if I had been a little more curious about these corrupt Kings and a little less interested in all those cute boys. Twenty some years later, I bring to you the deep dive into Kings my professor wished I’d have taken all those years ago. (Also, if you find yourself drifting into your own mental list making session today, don’t worry – as this story shows- you are loved by a God of many chances!) I also want to mention that you may have noticed a second scripture listed for today. It will come a little later in the sermon.
Thankfully, I was able to find a few snippets from other scholars that have helped me. Along with the video we just watched, Tom sent me to the Bible Project’s explanation of major themes from 1 & 2 Kings which addressed this section in less than two minutes. I did appreciate seeing a map of the two literal Kingdoms that are created in this part of Israel’s history.
My next stop was my favorite Bible teacher Marty Soloman from the BEMA discipleship podcast. His discussion on this section was minimal, but he said something about the list of Kings and their behaviors as a continuation of the narrative of two Kingdoms – the Kingdom of Empire and the Kingdom of Shalom. This reference which stirred within me and added another layer of meaning to chapter 14’s title: A Kingdom Torn in Two.
Marty first introduced the thematic concept of two Kingdoms during his teaching on the transition from Genesis to Exodus. He said, “From Exodus, all the way through Revelation and into church history and all the way to today, we find ourselves in a tale of two Kingdoms. There’s a Kingdom of Shalom and there’s a Kingdom of Empire. And every day you and I get to choose which narrative we buy into.”
Let’s clarify what Marty Solomon meant by the Kingdom of Empire and the Kingdom of Shalom.
Kingdom of Empire: Kingdom of the World – characterized by fear, putting trust in “pharaoh” or other human leaders over trust in God, the belief that people are expendable, Kings create order (not God), oppression, idolatry
Kingdom of Shalom: God’s Kingdom (upside down) – characterized by trust, order is put into chaos by God alone, trust in God, belief that people and other elements of creation are not expendable but cherished, freedom for the oppressed, hearts committed to God alone.
I also wanted to review that definition of Shalom or Peace provided by the Bible Project in this context – The Kingdom of Shalom is the Kingdom that makes something complete, restores to wholeness and reconciles and heals broken relationships and makes right all wrongs.
When examining the Kings chosen by the compilers of The Story, it’s easy to see that the majority of these guys (and gals) were bought in and sold out to the Kingdom of Empire. However, I noticed a few details that led me to consider how knowing more about these kings might influence the Kingdom buy-in choices you and I get to make every day.
Let’s begin by considering the Kings first mentioned in the video. The ones who get credit for the literal geographical split of the Kingdom. Solomon’s reign is ending because he is dying. Like Tom mentioned last week, Solomon was not leaving his Kingdom with a contented people, but instead with subjects who were tired of suffering and were crying out for a change.
By the end of his reign, Solomon had broken all of the laws God put in place when the people begged for a King. Three Kings in, God’s mercy and grace continue to be highlighted as these Kings struggle to follow God’s will, but God keeps giving these leaders and his people chances to get it right.
Even though Rehoboam – Solomon’s son was the heir to the throne, God tells “a rising young star in Solomon’s administration named Jeroboam that he would be the future king …to all but one of the tribes of Israel.” However, Solomon wasn’t a fan of God’s choice so Jeroboam had to flee and wait for Solomon to die.
The text doesn’t tell us why God picked Jeroboam, so I began to wonder why. Was Jeroboam choosing the Kingdom of Shalom? Did God choose him because Jeroboam heard the cry of the people and wanted to promote justice for their lives? The text says that after Solomon died, the people “sent for Jeroboam, and he and the whole assembly went to Rehoboam and said to him, “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you.”
Jeroboam was the leader of the people who had been oppressed under Solomon’s rule. He heard their cries. Like Moses before him, Jeroboam partners with our loving God, hears the cries of the people and moves in a way to end oppression. That sounds like the Kingdom of Shalom.
Yet, Jeroboam’s pleas don’t work because Rehoboam listens to his best buddies, (who were probably making lists of hot girls) instead of the wise advisors in his administration, and he not only refuses to lighten up – he promises to make things worse. The people follow Jeroboam, and the Kingdom splits in two.
I wondered. Did Jeroboam have his heart in the right place at one point? He was the voice of the people. He advocated for the ending of oppression. So what caused his Kingdom buy-in switch? Was it fear that led him from Shalom to Empire?
God said he’d have a position of power and he did. He found himself the leader of 10 tribes of Israel. But Rehoboam was still in power, and still just as oppressive. Even so, Jeroboam worried that people would easily be swayed to return to the old ways if they visited the Kingdom in the south. So, to keep his power, he jumped on the idol worship bandwagon. Idolatry: a quick exit to Kingdom Empire.
Leadership in and of itself does not correlate to following the ways of God. Positions of power do not guarantee consistency of character. God can even place a leader in a position of power and trust, but the leader must choose between the Kingdom of Shalom and the Kingdom of Empire every day. This lesson is just as important for us today as it was for the Israelites.
Just because God gives someone leadership, or allows for someone to be in leadership, it doesn’t mean that person’s heart will be committed to the work of God’s Kingdom.
It would be easy to make this sermon all about examining and holding accountable the big-dog leaders: the presidents and politicians, the CEOs and CFOs, the principals, or executive directors. I could point a finger to show how easily someone with that kind of power strays from the Kingdom of Shalom and how this leader or that leader will let fear dictate decisions that result in Golden Calf Construction projects.
It wouldn’t be so far-fetched to keep on pointing the finger, ensuring that they carry the responsibility for my decision to visit the Golden calf they placed in front of me. This chapter gives us a pretty gruesome picture of what finger-pointing can lead to – a shriveled-up hand. Also, like Tom reminded us last week: easy isn’t usually the way to growth.
Without redirecting an unhelpful, shame-inducing, finger-pointing practice to myself, how can I use this text to examine my leadership? Many of you know I am participating in the Transforming Community 20 Leadership Cohort with the Transforming Center in Chicago. This spiritual transformational journey is all about learning and applying different spiritual practices in my everyday life as a way to invite God to do transformational work that only God can do.
This last year, I found myself in a new leadership position that was reminiscent of a leadership role I honed in my teens and twenties: coaching women’s soccer. Though I had once dreamed that coaching would be my only profession, in my thirties, with the new leadership role of motherhood, I instead stopped coaching and thought I’d never coach again. Yet here, as this spiritual transformation journey began, my response to an unjust situation resulted in the opportunity to coach an incredible group of middle school girls.
I tried to be intentional. To lead with a heart committed to the Kingdom of Shalom. And yet, after only a month and a half of this new leadership role, I had to face a very real, very old and very difficult part of myself: my craving for Empire. I had to face the truth that even though I said I wanted the Kingdom of Shalom, I struggled, among other tendencies, to trust God’s timing and Kingdom design. Fear beckoned me toward the belief that I could create something bigger and better than what God was inviting me to do. Thankfully, my Golden Calf construction was only in the planning phase when I became aware of this deep-seated pattern to take on more than was mine to do. I still had time to make a different choice. A choice more like Asa’s.
Asa is one of the few leaders mentioned in Kings who does not buy into Empire.
“Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.” Asa wasn’t perfect, and he didn’t even remove all of the idols, but Asa’s heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. Committed to the Kingdom of Shalom. Asa shows us that even when the majority of people around you– even your own grandmother – are buying into Empire, you don’t have to. You can choose a response that leads to completion, restoration and healing. This certainly must be the harder path. Definitely the path least chosen by the Kings examined here.
This leads us to that second scripture from today. The one that closes out chapter 14. I’ve been praying over and pondering this part of the message for the last two days. I have become aware of how easily this part of The Story could be used to shame us about our choices. I feel like God wants you and me to know that shame is a tool used to build the Kingdom of Empire. God will not use shame to bring us to Shalom. This chapter of The Story highlights many kings with Empire-loving behavior. God’s heart is deeply impacted by these choices because God longs for the Kingdom of Shalom.
When we are ready, God can use examples from the text to move our hearts into sweeter alignment with His. Just this week, I read this passage a bit differently. With the emotion of a broken-hearted King, longing for his people to choose mercy, justice, and love. A King who promised that he did not come with the intent to condemn us, but with the promise to save us.
Ahab Becomes King of Israel 1 Kings 16: 29-33
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him. 31 He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to arouse the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, than did all the kings of Israel before him.
Ahab is fully bought into the Kingdom of Empire. More evil in the eyes of the Lord than ANY before him. Sounds like he didn’t take sin seriously, he married someone who was also intensely bought into Empire, and he really gets into idol worship. Ahab’s choices were so devastating to God that the just anger of God was aroused more than from all of the Kings before. This situation must have been pretty dire.
Let’s take a minute to examine the behavior most clearly identified by the author - idol worship. What is an idol? In his book, Counterfeit Gods, author Timothy Keller says that an idol is, “anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”
Perhaps idolatry can be a helpful identifier for which of the two Kingdom’s we are choosing at any given time.
My friend Molly shared with me that one of the discussion groups for The Story, explored how the role of the King itself created an idolatry predicament because the only King a person NEEDS is God. People can be idols. Sports teams and community programs can be idols. Busyness and other forms of emotional numbing can be idolatry. Old patterns like fixing and rescuing and craving worldly success can be idols.
When God reveals parts of our humanness that we turn to instead of God, the revelation is not meant to shame but to sanctify. Even so, the process can be painful. I’m learning that the invitation to practice spiritual disciplines can provide the tender wrapping to help release shame and embrace awareness as a renewed step toward choosing to lead out of Kingdom of Shalom.
It was the end of September, when the evening I shared about earlier, the one in which I recognized and grieved my desire for the Kingdom of Empire took place. Earlier that day, I was on the Grand Mesa practicing silence and solitude. Among other things I watched a mole dig out his hole. For a long time, I sat and watched him, and I thought about Parker Palmer’s quote that says the soul is like a wild animal that will only come out when we are still enough and quiet enough for it to feel safe.
My time on the Mesa didn’t really “feel” like anything was happening, but I was quiet and I was still, trusting my teachers who said that God would be at work in that space. That evening, as my grief rose to the surface, God placed a friend on my path. She encouraged me with some just right words. Over the next week, as I continued to practice silence and solitude with God each day, there was no chastising or shaming.
Instead, God expressed gladness at my awareness that could lead to the release of my idolatry. God also wanted me to remember my heart and gifts for the Kingdom of Shalom so that my heart could be confident and free to love and be loved.
In her book, Tarry Awhile, Selina Stone closes out a chapter titled Quiet with these thoughts,
“As with the weaned child sitting with its mother, so stillness often accompanies quiet. In our spiritual practice, a still body and tongue can sometimes enable a still mind and give room for spiritual communion with God. As we focus on the movement of our breath, a gift from God, we are reminded that we are living by the simplicity of our inhale and exhale. In this we remember that we live by God’s grace and mercy alone.
We shed the forms of idolatry that tempt us, as we realize that these created things cannot be the source of life. As we sit and attend to quiet, we might even have the opportunity to reflect on the urgency of our daily movements. In resisting the urge to move and be busy, we exercise restraint, a spiritual discipline.
We refuse to be conformed to patterns that demand we produce as much as we can. We deny the idolatry of busyness, growth at any cost and extraction. We declare with our bodies that we are more than objects, workers and producers. We are human, created by God, and for God first and foremost and forever.”
Today, in this moment, would you take a minute to be still and silent with me. Breathing in God’s love. Breathing out your love for God.
Silence.
Every day we choose. And even if we don’t get it right and if we don’t get it all done, when we wake the next day with breath in our lungs, we get to once again choose. May we choose to have hearts committed to God all the days of our lives.
Will you pray with me?
note to self to be sure to read the entire text from the Bible if I preach again from The Story’s abridged version - setting down the shame on this one and moving on!