Episode 609 Dedicating the Temple (1 Kings 5:1-6; 8:22-30, 41-43, 52-60a)

This week we’re reading the story of Solomon dedicating the Temple as told in 1 Kings 5:1-6; 8:22-30, 41-43, and 52-60a. We talk about the task of temple building and the tension that comes with trying to create containers for the uncontainable God, whether that be the sanctuaries we build or the services we design to control our interactions with God. But ultimately we realize, along with Solomon, that it’s not the container that matters but the prayer itself, the mutual listening between God and humankind that makes all things possible. Solomon appeals to the witness of the ancestors but also asks that his own prayers remain near to God so that God will deal rightly with the people in the future. What if our prayers linger before God, too, we wonder. Whose ancestors are we, and how will shape their relationship with God in the days and years to come?