As we celebrate our new building, I thought it would be good to look at Solomon’s dedication of the Temple. It was a long-awaited milestone in Israel’s history. From the earliest days in the desert out of Egypt, this Ark of the Covenant represented that God, YHWH was with them. This Ark was in a tent called the Tabernacle. It was so holy that many parts were accessible only to the priests, and the Holy of holies was accessible only to the high priest once a year.

The Israelites wandered in the desert for a generation setting up and taking down this Tabernacle. Then another generation conquered the land of Canaan. Then the 12 tribes were a disorganized group, and “everyone did as he saw fit” (Judges). Israel asks for a king, and Saul is anointed, but he didn’t follow God very well. So God anointed David to be the next king. Throughout the reign of Saul and David, aside from Saul constantly trying to kill David, Israel is at war with the Philistines and other nations. Throughout this entire time, many centuries, the Ark remained in this Tabernacle for centuries, until David wanted to build a permanent Temple for God. God promised that as long as David and his descendents followed God’s ways, David would always have a descendent on the throne. God also promised that though David was not permitted to build this Temple, his son would. Now, finally, Israel is in the land of Canaan, the tribes are united, the wars are over, and Solomon is on the throne and builds the Temple.

There is a story, a long journey. In the 1 Kings account, Solomon repeatedly notes how God kept his promise to David, that David’s son would build the Temple. But the story goes much back much father than that. God had promised to make Abraham a great nation and to give them the land of Canaan. He promised Israel that He would be with them, and now, the Temple physically represents God’s dwelling with His people.

There’s history; there’s a story of faithfulness, deliverance, provisions given, promises kept over many generations.

We want to pause to recall not just how God had been faithful to Israel, to David/Solomon, but how He has been good and faithful to us, to Renewal. We have a story too. Some of you have been here for a long time and may remember some of the stories. Some of you might be newer but you’re become part of our story.

From my side, I graduated seminary in 94 and became the college pastor here. By the summer of 95 the prior English Pastor had resigned and the job fell on my lap. I was 26, single, and completely overwhelmed [picture]. I’m now 40. In the last 14 years, we’ve gone through a lot of growing pains: we had a few building projects, went from 1 service to 2 to 3 back to 2, we sent Steve and Dan and others to plant Cityline. In the spring of 2006 we ordained our first elders and officially became our own church, Renewal.

We’ve had good times and bad times: we’ve had lives changed, leaders raised, souls saved, we had some great retreats & conferences, great small groups and worship services. As part of our move, I’ve been cleaning out my office, and found these letters/notes I had saved over the years of people saying thanks for the ministry here. I saw pictures of hundreds of people who have come through our doors.

But we’ve also had criticisms, conflicts, complacency, cliques. Many of you have seen my own shortcomings and inadequacies over these many years. I know there have been many who’ve been hurt, who’ve fallen through the cracks, who’ve not been well shepherded, and there are many out there who’ve not been served, loved, who’ve not heard/experienced the Gospel. For these shortcomings, I am sorry. We are an imperfect church with an imperfect pastors.

But throughout this story, God has been faithful. I believe God had been leading us. Despite our inadequacies, God had worked in and through us. I believe He’s been teaching us more about the Gospel, more about Himself. I believe He’s been shaping our community, ministry, our direction.

For us, this building is also a milestone. We had been looking for a building for over 6 years. At the time we bought the building last winter, we all (session, members) really saw this as God’s provision for us. And now, as we move into this building and look to becoming a multi-site church, we recognize a new chapter in the story, a story we believe God is writing.

Renewal, we are at a milestone today. I want to celebrate the past, but I also want us to consider the future. There is a lesson in this Temple Dedication story.

This Temple Dedication was a huge, huge deal. We read that Solomon sacrificed 22,000 cattle and 120,000 sheep (1 King 8:63). If they slaughtered an animal every minute around the clock, it would take over 3 months to sacrifice all those animals! We probably can’t imagine the amount of blood and how big these sacrificial fires must have been. Before this, we read that when the Ark was brought to the Temple (before the Temple dedication), they sacrificed so many sheep and cattle that they couldn’t count or record the number (1 Kings 8:5)! After the Ark was placed in the Holy of holies, a cloud filled the Temple, “for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.” The priests had to withdraw because of this cloud of glory.

At the Temple Dedication there were grain offerings and other offerings too. The celebration was 14 days. When the people left, they were “joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel” (1 Kings 8:66).

This was a big celebration

Those who celebrated this Dedication probably realized how this moment was far bigger than their own lives, or the lives of the entire generation. God was near, God was real! Worship and celebration was deeply moving. Imagine for Solomon, to have built this Temple and have God appear before you. It surely must have been a life-changing experience. You’d think this would have set Solomon’s course to serve and follow God with an unwavering passion.

It would be easy to focus on this highpoint, but if you read the rest of the story, things turn out as we might have hoped.

The Bible isn’t explicit about Solomon’s heart here, but it seems to me that there’s something amiss. It took Solomon almost twice as long to build his palace, and the palace is more than 4 times as big.

For David, as he was in his palace, his heart was troubled that God’s Ark was in a tent. For Solomon, he wanted to build a great Temple for God, but he also wanted to build a great palace for himself.

It wasn’t that Solomon didn’t want to build a great Temple for God. I’m sure that desire was there. It wasn’t that Solomon had no heart for God. But Solomon had other desires too, and some of those other desires seem to have been stronger than his desire to serve and honor God. Solomon had a divided heart. His devotion to God was compromised.

Solomon also married 700 women (not to mention the other 300 concubines), some of who turned his heart to their gods. Solomon built temples and shrines for those gods too (1 Kings 11:7).

The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD's command. ¹¹ So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. (1 Kings 11:9-11)

It’s so tragic. Solomon had amazing experiences with God, even having God appear to him not once but twice. Solomon had the promise of an enduring dynasty if only he would be faithful to God. Solomon was blessed by God with enormous wisdom and stupendous wealth. God has given him everything a human could possibly want and asked only that Solomon be faithful to Him. And Solomon turned away.

We’re at a milestone of our own, celebrating God’s past faithfulness, but also looking forward to a new chapter for us. As we look to our future, there are exciting possibilities, but I want us to heed the warning.

My concern for Renewal is not that one day we’ll abandon Jesus and all become atheists or Buddhists. Solomon never stopped worshipping God, he always “went to church.” The problem is that he had a divided heart.

The warning for us is that we have other competing desires. We spend 7 years building God’s Temple, but we spend 13 years, 30 years building our own palace. In the book of Haggai, God condemns His people for “living in paneled houses, while this house [Temple] remains a ruin.” Do we panel our homes while neglecting God’s Temple? Last spring we talked about living for the Big Kingdom of God versus the small kingdom of self. For us, the problem is we want to worship Jesus, but we also worship money, marriage, kids, comfort, etc. The fear is that like Solomon, we have many wives, perhaps as many as Solomon himself.

We want to heed the warning, but the reality is, we’ll probably fail. I pray we will always have a full and undivided heart for our Lord, but my guess is that despite our best intensions, our hearts too will wander. The truth of the matter is, even now, many of us are building our own palaces and marrying many wives. We’re already have divided hearts. This is a problem.

And if I leave you with, “Don’t mess up like Solomon did, You better work harder and stay devoted,” I haven’t given you the Gospel. That’s another problem. So let’s get back to the story.

There is something important to notice about this story. This Temple dedication and the story of Solomon needs to be understood in the context of God’s covenant (pact, sacred agreement) that Solomon would build the Temple.

God promised David that his son would build the Temple. Solomon understood that. He saw this as “God has kept his promise.” Covenant fulfillment.

God also promised David and also to Solomon that they would always have a descendent on the throne.

If you follow my decrees . . .

Who continue wholeheartedly in [God’s] way . . .

If you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness . . .

The LORD became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. ¹⁰ Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the LORD's command. ¹¹ So the LORD said to Solomon, "Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. (1 Kings 11:9-11)

Solomon’s divided heart wasn’t just a mistake, it was breaking the covenant. It’s like the marriage vow was violated. Solomon didn’t keep his end of the covenant, and so God divided the kingdom and took 10 of the 12 tribes away from the house of David.

What about us? We also have a covenant with God. We also have been called to be wholehearted and faithful to God as well. But the difference between Solomon and ourselves is this:

For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Philip 3:8-9)

In our covenant with God, in the Gospel, Jesus says,

God will not abandon us the way He abandoned Solomon. He will always love us, not because we’re faithful. He will always show his love, kindness and grace upon us, not because we’ve always obeyed and remained faithful. No, its because Christ has always obeyed and remained faithful. The covenant is fulfilled by Christ, and so God cannot ever stop loving us!!

When we understand God’s grace, even though we are not wholehearted, not full-devoted, we are humbled and grow to love this most kind God. It is God’s love that makes us want to build His Temple, to be more wholly devoted to Him. Not out of fear of consequences, not out of obligation/duty, not out of our own goodness. It is out of love. He demonstrated His love, and now we, His people, love Him too. And in loving Him, we actually fulfill the law.

In the coming weeks, we want to look at what we believe God is calling us to do as we move forward in our new chapter. We want to flesh out how we believe the Gospel changes our lives and our world, both in depth and in breadth. We want to recommit ourselves to Christ and to the high call of Gospel ministry.