Pilgrim Uniting Church, Adelaide SA SUN 15-AUG-2021 - 9.30 AM Sermon Rev Sandy Boyce Pentecost 12 – Where can wisdom be found? – Today's reading is about how Solomon dealt with the getting of wisdom. When God invited him to consider what he would like to receive, he asked for wisdom rather than wealth, health or a long life; and when he put wisdom first, the rest followed. The story of Solomon was told against a backdrop of political intrigue, drama, and dealing in death. Compared with the Jesus stories in the New Testament, the Old Testament stories can seem too complex and preposterous to have much impact on us today, but we can recognise that the words and stories are not always what they seem to be. Some are morally ambiguous with details that dismay, horrify and disturb, but they are not to be glossed over with platitudes. Solomon is seen as undoubtedly great, and yet dangerously flawed. His entire biography presented in 1 Kings is evidence of the brokenness that he shares with us all. The wisdom that nourishes virtue knows that good water and bad water can flow from the same spring. We see it in our contemporary leaders, and we see it in our own lives. 1 Kings 2: 10-12, 3: 3-14 Playing Time   –   17:06