1 Kings 8:22-30
We have a beautiful prayer today, from the wise and powerful King Solomon, who built a magnificent Temple for Yahweh, God of Israel. His humility is astonishing. It would not be out of place for such a king, especially after such an accomplishment, to celebrate. But no, Solomon 0ffers a prayer of worship, thankfulness, remembrance of God's past deeds, and a petition for God's continuing guidance and support. This is a model that we could all follow in our own prayers!
It is hard for us to 'get' how important the Temple was in Jewish worship at the time. At that point in history, sacrifice was the primary form of religious practice, and this occurred in the context of the Temple. Though the Temple also played a role in prayer, even for those who were not based in Jerusalem. Prayers were 'aimed' at the Temple, which Michael Carasik has described as a sort of antenna for God's presence (The Bible's Many Voices, 123-124).
44 “If your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name,45 then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.46 “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near;47 yet if they come to their senses in the land to which they have been taken captive, and repent, and plead with you in the land of their captors, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done wrong; we have acted wickedly’; 48 if they repent with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies, who took them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their ancestors, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name; 49 then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, maintain their cause 50 and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you; and grant them compassion in the sight of their captors, so that they may have compassion on them 51 (for they are your people and heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron-smelter). (1 Kings 8:44-51)
While we do have the notion of sacred places and spaces in our Christian tradition, such a view as expressed in the above passage is hard for us to fully appreciate. But it is well worth giving some consideration, that is, trying to walk a mile in different shoes. Out of this we might better understand the impact of the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE (and then again in 70 CE, around the time when the Gospels were written!), and the famous story of Jesus' cleansing in the Temple.
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Today in the Church calendar we remember Cyprian, a bishop from North Africa in the third century. After a wave of persecution, Cyprian allowed deserters back into the Church. It would have been understandable for him, whether out of hurt or out of a sense of justice, to refuse such apostates. However, in his wisdom, Cyprian welcomed people back to the flock, like Christ welcomed sinners, and like the father celebrated the return of the prodigal son. Cyprian was killed in a later wave of persecution, but his message can live on in the Church and in our hearts and actions.
Almighty God, your love strengthened holy Cyprian to guard the purity of your Church and to let his own life be struck down by the sword of persecution. Teach our hearts the discipline of your Spirit, that we may conform ourselves to the image of the Crucified and show forth in our lives the power of his glorious resurrection; who is alive and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.*
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Michael Carasik, The Bible's Many Voices (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2014).
* Stephen Reynolds, ed, For All the Saints (Toronto: ABC Publishing, 2007), 277.
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