THE REWARDS OF SEEKING GOD
“Knowing God-Part VII” I Kings 10:1-13,
Introduction: After a preacher died and went to heaven,
he noticed that a Boston cabdriver had been given a higher place than he had.
"I don't understand," he complained to St. Peter. "I devoted my
entire life to my congregation." "Our policy is to reward
results," explained St. Peter. "Now what happened, Reverend, whenever
you gave a sermon?" The minister admitted that some in the congregation
fell asleep. "Exactly, " said St. Peter. "And when people rode
in this man's taxi, they not only stayed awake, they prayed."
We
all like rewards, don’t we? These days we give away rewards so easily, just for
common things that are expected for anyone for example: teachers reward
students for just attending the school, parents reward their children for
brushing their teeth, and keeping their room clean. Churches’ give away Starbucks,
Dunkin Donuts gift cards for new comers just for showing up at church and so
on. Do they really need to be rewarded for what is expected of them? We can argue about the pros and cons of reward
based parenting, teaching and the whole system? But you will be pleased to know
that it is God’s perfect plan and will to give a reward to those who faithfully
trust and obey Him. And it is not unspiritual to expect and anticipate those
rewards, if we do so in a spirit of humility and gratitude.
We
have been on a journey to Know God, so far, we have looked into various aspects
of God’s nature and the way He relates to his people. Though this journey will
not end in our life time, but as we keep up with this Journey in the end it
will be richly rewarding. The best part is that we can already begin to enjoy some
of those rewards here and now. Today we will look at “The Rewards of SEEKING
God” based on the story of an African Queen who traveled great distances,
risking her life all because she wanted to know the truth. I Kings 10:1-13
Background
to the story: It was a crucial time in the history of
Israel. The kingdom now has been handed over to Solomon after the death of his
father David, Israel’s most beloved king.
Solomon, builds and dedicates the temple for God, to fulfil the desire
of his father. The fame and splendor of Solomon spreads far and wide as far as
the land of Sheba, which was 1500 miles away from Jerusalem. Our story begins
with Verse 1, “When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his
relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard (difficult)
questions.”
What
do we know about this unnamed queen of Sheba and the land where she came from?
Nothing much from the text we can learn about the queen. So, we take some help
from outside sources and tradition. The
story of Queen of Sheba has undergone extensive Jewish, Christian, Arabian and
Ethiopian elaborations. According
to Josephus a Jewish historian, (Ant. 8:165–73), the queen of Sheba was queen
of Egypt and Ethiopia, and brought to Israel the first specimens of balsam,
which grew in the Holy Land in the historian's time.
Archaeological
evidence suggests that Sheba is to be identified with a mercantile kingdom that
flourished in southwest Arabia. It is roughly equivalent to the eastern part of
the modern state of Yemen. One Ethiopian story, called the Kibra Negast, states
that the queen was actually Queen Makeda (said to have reigned from 1005-955 BC
in the coastal regions of Ethiopia). This story claims that when Queen Makeda
went to visit King Solomon, she converted to Judaism, and they became
romantically involved. She bore him a son, Menelik I, and at the age of
thirteen he went back to Jerusalem to get his father’s blessing. Solomon, as
the story states, appointed Menelik the first king of Ethiopia (Sorenson 23). When
I went to Ethiopia in 2003, and spoke with several Ethiopians, I realized how
strongly they hold to this tradition.
We
are familiar with the Christian account of the Queen of Sheba found in (Matt
12:42, Lk 11:31) Jesus invoking the “Queen of the South” condemned the people
of his own day who had not recognized that “one greater than Solomon was in
their Midst.” After Jesus using the Queen of Sheba as an example over two
thousand years ago, here we are today talking about her. Every time I come to
this passage I see something new that I have not seen before. From my
observation, I have gleaned a few principles that would help me in my quest to
seek and know the truth. Let me share three of those principles with you this
morning
I. FINDING
TURTH COMES WITH A PRICE (Vs 1-3)
The scriptures deliberately do not
mention her name, we only know her as the Queen of Sheba. When the Queen of
Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his great relationship with the Lord,
she was intrigued by that fascinating story, but did not believe it right away.
She did not stop at simply saying, what an incredible story, but wanted to find
out for herself how credible that report was. In other words, she wanted to
meet the person of the story for herself.
Hence,
she undertook a nearly 1500 miles’ journey from Ethiopia to Jerusalem. Just to
give you an idea of what a journey of that nature entailed in ancient times: “She
had to cross the desert sands of Arabia, and travel along the coast of the Red
Sea, up into Moab, and over the Jordan River to Jerusalem. Such a journey required
at least six months’ time, since camels could rarely travel more than 20 miles
per day.”[1] She took all the trouble,
why? because she wanted to know the truth. When she finally arrived in
Jerusalem and met King Solomon face to face, she poured out everything in her
heart and asked Solomon difficult questions. What this tells me is that she had
an insatiable desire to know the truth, and nothing was going to hinder her
from reaching her goal. Was she disappointed when she met King Solomon? Let’s
find out.
II.
GOD CAN ANSWER ALL YOUR QUESTIONS (Vs3)
The Queen of Sheba had some tough
questions for King Solomon. One commentator says, “Riddles are designed to
stump the hearer” It is like our news anchors asking politicians, “gotcha questions” For King Solomon it
was not an issue, in Vs 3, we read “Solomon answered all her questions; nothing
was too hard for the king to explain to her”
What
was her reaction when she perceived all the wisdom of Solomon, the house that
he had built, the food of his table, the seating of his servants, the
attendance of his waiters and their attire and the lavish burnt offering that
Solomon offered to God? In NIV it reads, “She was overwhelmed” in NASB, “there
was no more spirit in her” in ESV, “no more breath in her, literally, the
experience left her breathless.” Lack of a better analogy it is like a tourist walking
into the “TRUMP TOWER and being invited by the president to dine with him.
Did
Queen Sheba get what she has bargained for? More than that, she had a life
changing experience in the presence of the wise King Solomon. In Vs 5, “She
said to the King, it’s all true! Your reputation for accomplishment and wisdom
that reached all the way to my country is confirmed. I wouldn’t have believed
it if I hadn’t seen it for myself; they didn’t exaggerate! Such wisdom and
elegance—far more than I could ever have imagined.” (The Message)
What
this tells me is that what we hear about God from preachers, bible teachers, TV
Evangelists is all true. But no matter how eloquently and scholarly then may explain
God, his nature and purpose to us it is only a 50 % truth, not the full truth.
When we make time to come into God’s presence and tarry in his presence, what
He reveals of himself to us is simply priceless and breath taking. That would
be a marvelous experience, but it doesn’t come without paying the price. When
we are willing to pay the price, God will reward us by answering our questions,
clarifying our doubts, affirming our convictions and empowering us with his
presence.
III
GOD’S REWARDS OUTWEIGH YOUR GIVING
The
Queen of Sheba, not only came to test Solomon but also bless him with exotic
gifts. She gave him nearly five tons of gold, large quantities of spices, and
precious stones. It was said of the spices that, “Never again were so many
spices brought in as those the Queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.” What did
she receive in return? King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she “desired
and asked for” besides what he had given her out of his royal bounty.”
The Queen of Sheba returned with her entourage a happy and fully satisfied
woman.
There
are so many parallels we can see in this story. Let’s draw a few parallels: In
the story Solomon is like God in his wisdom, riches, splendor, and generosity.
Queen of Sheba is like a thirsty and seeking soul who is not satisfied with a
second-hand revelation of God but wants to experience the fullness of God. Fast
forward, to Jesus’ time. During his earthly ministry, Jesus exhibited all the
qualities of God by performing all kinds of miracles and silencing his critics
by his heavenly wisdom, yet people had a hard time believing in him.
At
one point, to a demanding crowd who wanted to see a sign from heaven before they
might believe he said this, “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment
with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to
listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here.”
(Matt 12:42)
Think
of this for a moment. How the story of this African Queen could impact our
lives today? Jesus who is greater than Solomon is standing here in our midst by
his Holy Spirit. What would he say about us? We all can be ashamed when we look
at the tenacity and strong desire of the Queen of Sheba. What are we willing to
give up in our quest to Know God? Can we consider reducing our times on
Facebook, so that we might make room for God? Let’s not be satisfied with a
second-hand revelation, when God is desiring to reveal himself face to face to
us.
It
has been an exciting re-embarkation experience for me for the past seven weeks
as we have reopened the subject of Knowing God. I am sure you too share my
views that Knowing God is a lifelong journey, however for now I want conclude
this current series by highlighting a few rewards that God is eagerly waiting to
give to all those who earnestly seek Him. Firstly, the harder the journey is to
God the greater the rewards will be. Secondly, when we come to God in humility
seeking answers for our questions, God will not turn us away instead he will
answer all our questions. Thirdly, let’s give to God our best, our resources,
money, talents and time. Remember God is no debtor of any, he will give you
back, “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over into your
lap.”
Fourthly,
when you come into his presence by passing all the distractions he will
overwhelm you with his glory and his abundant grace. Fifthly, like the servants
of Solomon who were happy because they stood in his presence daily and heard
his marvelous wisdom, God will grant us access daily into his presence if we
care to go, and at the end of our earthly journey, invite us into His eternal
presence to reign with Him forever in his everlasting Kingdom.
So,
dear friends, are you excited to press on, on this wonderful, exciting and life
transforming journey of Knowing God? I am! It is appropriate for us to close
our study with the words of Paul, “But whatever were gains to me I now consider
loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because
of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians
3:7-8 May the Lord grant all of us his healing and sustaining grace to Know Him
more. Amen
