Solomon. The third king of Israel. The son of David and
Bathsheba. Solomon is remembered for a number of things: his
building program which included Jerusalem's original magnificent
Temple, his immense wealth generated through trade and
administrative reorganization, his 700 wives and 300 concubines
(or PORcupines, as some Sunday School students will tell you),
and his legendary wisdom, the result of the prayer we read in our
lesson.
If there is any single story commonly remembered of King
Solomon it is the account of the two prostitutes who claimed a
single surviving child.(1)
"He's mine," said the one.
"No, he's mine," said the other.
"Bring me a sword," said Solomon. "I'll cut the baby in two
and each one can have half."
"Fine," said the one.
"NO," screamed the other. "If that's the only way, give the
child to her."
And, of course, we know that Solomon, in his wisdom, saw
that this one who would spare the life of the child had to be the
mother, made the appropriate decision, and as scripture says,
"When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held
the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to
administer justice."
A more modern story. Two women came before wise King
Solomon, dragging between them a young man in a three-piece suit.
"This young lawyer agreed to marry my daughter," said one.
"No! He agreed to marry MY daughter," said the other. And
so they haggled before the King until he called for silence.
"Bring me my biggest sword," said Solomon, "and I shall hew
the young attorney in half. Each of you shall receive a half."
"Sounds good to me," said the first lady.
But the other woman said, "Oh Sire, do not spill innocent
blood. Let the other woman's daughter marry him."
The wise king did not hesitate a moment. He proclaimed,
"The attorney must marry the first lady's daughter."
"But she was willing to cut him in two!" exclaimed the
king's court.
"Indeed," said wise King Solomon. "That shows she is the
TRUE mother-in-law."(2) Uh huh.
We could certainly use statesmen with the wisdom of Solomon
these days. There are so many seemingly insoluble problems out
there. That would be challenge enough, but some of our recent
experience beggars the imagination. We went to war to preserve
the world's ability to prevent war. We ignored the United
Nations in order to make clear to Saddam Hussein that the United
Nations cannot be ignored. We are in the process of destroying
the weapons of mass destruction that we found but they are
located in Anniston, Alabama. And our leaders actually seriously
proposed the establishment of a futures market in terrorist
activities? Am I getting this right? Solomon, Solomon, where
are you when we need you?
The Middle East is certainly one of the areas that needs
Solomon's wisdom. Last month, the Executive Director of our
General Assembly Council, John Detterick, spent a week and a half
traveling in that area. He wrote an account of his trip and sent
it in his weekly letter to council members upon his return.
Listen to what he had to say:
"Uplifting, discouraging, provocative, overwhelming and
stimulating. Describing my whirlwind ten days in the Middle East
is still difficult as I continue to work through the incredible
and sometimes contradictory experiences. I can say for sure that
one thing I did learn is that everything I 'knew' about the
Middle East was either wrong or not exactly right.
"Victor Makari, Coordinator for the Middle East and Europe,
was a most gracious and patient guide and traveling companion.
He must have grown tired of the constant questions, the repeated
'tell me again about what this group does,' or the 'once again
tell me this person's name.' But Victor was always the gentle
teacher and efficient facilitator.
"The only problem in traveling with Victor was seeing the
hassle and intimidation he experiences at every Israeli
checkpoint when they looked at his USA passport and saw that his
birthplace was Egypt. That guaranteed he would be treated with
suspicion and little courtesy. Seeing Victor treated that way
was very frustrating for me. But through it all Victor was
patient and gracious. Under those circumstances I doubt I could
have done likewise.
"Here's an outline of our itinerary:
- a day in Cyprus where the Middle East Council of Churches
has a liaison office and I attended a young leaders
conference on reconciliation;
- two days in Beirut interacting with partner church leaders;
- drove overland through the Bekaa Valley to Damascus, Syria,
where we met with religious and governmental leaders and
members of the Evangelical (read Presbyterian) Church of
Damascus;
- drove overland to Amman, Jordan to spend time with mission
personnel;
- drove overland into the Jordan Valley, across the Jordan
River just north of the Dead Sea and up into the hills (much
more rugged hills than I had expected) to Jerusalem;
- a day in Bethlehem with partner church personnel (and a bit
of sightseeing for this wide-eyed, first-time visitor); and
- a day in Jerusalem visiting Israelis who are involved in the
peace movement and visiting sights where Palestinian homes
have been bulldozed.
"Each day was full of events and meetings from early morning
to late at night, so I'm still sorting out all the memories and
impressions, two of which I'll share with you here.
"DAMASCUS. The Evangelical Church of Damascus is located in
the heart of the Old City not far from Ananias' house where Paul
regained his sight and was baptized.
"Old Damascus is a maze of very narrow, twisting and crowded
streets. Nuhad Tomeh, one of our mission personnel who is
assigned to the Middle East Council of Churches, drove us into
the Old City through streets that I would have sworn were not
wide enough for the car, let alone the car and all the foot
traffic.
"After snaking through the streets in what felt to me like
going in circles, we stopped in front of a gate. Some young boys
who must have been watching for us pushed open the gates and we
drove into a stone-paved courtyard with a modest but impressive
church in the center. After the congestion and clamor of the Old
City, the courtyard seemed like a peaceful oasis.
"It was a hot Friday evening but still about 40 members of
the church gathered to welcome us. After a time of coffee, soft
drinks and delicious sweet snacks, we gathered in the sanctuary
for dialogue. I had expected a pleasant time of exchanged
greetings. We did exchange greetings, but they had much more to
say. One of the elders graciously led off with words of thanks
and appreciation. He and I had conversed earlier in English, but
for his public comments to me he spoke in Arabic.
"After more words of welcome, he paused and with passion
spoke eloquently about the America he knew in the past, the
America of FDR, of Harry Truman and General Patton. He lauded
the America that gave the democratic example to the world, the
America of Christian values, the America that he had admired.
Almost plaintively he looked me in the eye and asked, 'Why can't
you bring back that America?'
"He went on to lament what I came to understand is a common
perception held by Middle Easterners: the USA is seen as an
aggressive power unilaterally invading and occupying nations
without cause and a nation that does not reflect Christian
values. At the core of this perception is the absolute
conviction that Israel is pulling the strings and manipulating
the USA for its own benefit.
"'Whoa! Wait a minute!' I said in shock to myself. 'There's
no way Israel controls us.' But as others talked, I came to
realize that argument was fruitless. Their perceptions of the
USA are to them just as genuine as mine are to me. These sisters
and brothers in Christ were speaking the truth in love to me.
Their world view is the Arab world view. Their world view is
shaped by being at a very different point of the geographic,
economic and social spectrum than we in the USA are. Even so,
they spoke in love.
"Afterwards, we gathered in the courtyard for conversation
and good-byes. They couldn't have been more loving and
hospitable. I marveled at how the feelings of frustration and
anger, very real and deep feelings, did not stand in the way of
being sisters and brothers in Christ. Each of them would welcome
me, or you, into their homes and show us hospitality beyond what
we are accustomed to in our homes. The Middle East is so full of
contradictions.
"TEL AVIV. My final interaction in the Middle East was at
the Tel Aviv airport as we waited for the evening flight to
Cyprus. A pleasant, middle-aged woman asked if I would respond
to a survey for the Israeli Tourist Bureau. I agreed and she sat
in the vacant seat between Victor and me to open her laptop. I
looked over her shoulder to read the questions as she asked them
and watch her deftly enter the answers.
"About two-thirds through the survey she asked about the
purpose of my trip. With my mind full of images of the plight of
the Palestinians, I answered, 'To better understand the
Palestinian situation.' She keyed in the phrase, 'political
situation.' I said, 'No, please enter my answer, to better
understand the Palestinian situation.' With rueful glance at me,
she re-keyed the answer and went on pleasantly asking questions.
"Having finished with me, she began asking Victor the
questions. I continued reading the paper only to realize shortly
that they had stopped on the same purpose of the trip question.
Apparently Victor had given her an answer even more expansive
than mine and she was reluctant to enter it. Just then our plane
was called and I gathered my bag to head for the line.
"Rudely, I'm afraid, I inserted myself in the woman's
conversation with Victor by asking, 'Have you been in the
occupied territories?'
"'Yes,' was the abrupt answer.
"'Have you seen what happens to Palestinians at the security
check points?' I asked.
"Another abrupt 'Yes.'
"'Then how do you feel about the treatment of the
Palestinians?' I wondered.
"With fire in her eyes she almost spat the answer in my
face, 'How do you expect us to treat people who are determined to
kill us?'
"Taken aback by her intensity, I headed for the line
deflated by the huge emotional gap that exists in the Middle
East. Throughout the ten days, our encounters with Arabs,
Palestinians and Israelis were warm and enriching. On all
subjects but one we found openness and warmth. But on the issue
of Israeli-Palestinian relations the raw emotions consistently
overwhelmed me.
"So often the situation seems hopeless. But I know, and am
here to tell you, that there are people of faith on both sides
working tirelessly for peace in small but meaningful ways. I
pray every day for the peacemakers in the Middle East. Will you
please join me in that prayer?"
Indeed, we will, John. Indeed, we will. And we will add in
our prayers the hope for the gift of Solomon to be given to those
seeking to make this world as God would have it. We will pray
for wise leadership.
Amen!
1. I Kings 3:16-28
2. Ed Peacher's "Laughter for a Saturday" <ed548@yahoo.com>
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