Presence Weekly 11/27/2023

[The Devo] Thanksgiving Whiplash

As the opening lyric of the classic American songbook standard, What A Difference A Day Makes, states,

“What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours, brought the sun and the flowers, where there used to be rain.”

The song points out the perspective-changing impact that one day can have on a person. In this case, it is a turn from the negative to the positive due to the arrival of a new love interest. 

Conversely, this past week has demonstrated the all-encompassing reality of the adage when Thanksgiving gave way to Black Friday. On Thursday, family and friends gathered to find reasons to rejoice for the blessings of the previous year, consume far too many calories, and take in a bit of football. The central goal of Thanksgiving, a holiday established in 1863 by President Abraham Lincoln, is to promote thankfulness even in the face of imperfection and want. The next morning, however, gave way to early morning shopping adventures driven by an urgent sense of fulfilling the perceived needs of ourselves, others, and reflecting on our limited resources to procure said items. 

On Black Friday, time and location are commodities to be leveraged for personal gain, lest someone else grabs the last door-buster thereby depriving you of something you didn’t know you needed a year ago. 

Whether it’s virtual reality headsets, new iPhones™, a plethora of “pleather” clothing, upgraded holiday decorations, the new Bluey Nintendo game, or a new car, rest assured your life is lacking something. Not only that, but the lives of others are lacking, they are unhappy, and you need to quell their sorrow by spending whatever it takes to transfer them from the kingdom of want and into the kingdom of temporary satisfaction. 

Technology and social media work together to exploit these feelings with advertisements that reflect current marketing schemes and cultural expectations. We now live in a world where it takes only seconds between a discussion and a precision guided advertisement. Last night, while gathered with family in Galveston for Thanksgiving, my wife mentioned buying “Warmies” for our oldest grandchild. Moments later, her mom looked up from her phone to say, “That‘s odd. My phone just showed me an ad for “Warmies.”” Social media ownership has turned the old crime of “peeping Tom” voyeurism in a fortune making opportunity by selling access to your desires.

This whiplash effect of moving between Christian virtue and worldly appetites is nothing new. 

Towards the end of King Solomon’s reign, he offered the above benediction to the people of Israel. The verses of 1 Kings that follow have provided many a misguided Sunday School lesson on how Solomon’s great wisdom, which was a gift from the LORD, led to his great financial blessing. However, a closer reading of the Biblical text that starts with Deuteronomy 17:16–17 “Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold,” reveals the harsh reality that Solomon had instead fallen victim to the many vices that often befall the politically powerful (and even those who have less agency). 

Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was 666 talents of gold, besides that which came from the explorers and from the business of the merchants, and from all the kings of the west and from the governors of the land. King Solomon made 200 large shields of beaten gold; 600 shekels of gold went into each shield. And he made 300 shields of beaten gold; three minas of gold went into each shield. And the king put them in the House of the Forest of Lebanon. The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold. The throne had six steps, and the throne had a round top, and on each side of the seat were armrests and two lions standing beside the armrests, while twelve lions stood there, one on each end of a step on the six steps. The like of it was never made in any kingdom.  All King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. None were of silver; silver was not considered as anything in the days of Solomon. For the king had a fleet of ships of Tarshish at sea with the fleet of Hiram. Once every three years the fleet of ships of Tarshish used to come bringing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks.                                                                         

Thus King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. And the whole earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom, which God had put into his mind. Every one of them brought his present, articles of silver and gold, garments, myrrh, spices, horses, and mules, so much year by year. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. 

He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s traders received them from Kue at a price. A chariot could be imported from Egypt for 600 shekels of silver and a horse for 150, and so through the king’s traders they were exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Syria. 

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.    — 1 Kings 10:14–11:4 (ESV)

Suffice it to say, while Solomon certainly excelled in wisdom, and had lead Israel into a new period of flourishing, it was his long-standing battle with envy, greed, jealousy, and the admiration of others that undermined not only his relationship with God, but also set the stage for the fall of Israel. By the end of his life, Solomon had violated every single guidepost for virtuous leadership given by Moses regarding kings.

Many of us will be back in the office today, getting to work on the year-end push for policy initiatives, legislation, closed deals, and the other myriad of concerns that face us in the coming weeks. On top of that, there is the pressing need to take care of all that shopping. By the end of the week, Thanksgiving, and the sentiment it evokes, will be a distant memory. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

As Christians, we are called to live each day mindful of God’s past provision in our lives and rest upon the promises of his future provision as we continue to follow him in a posture of faithful presence in whatever context the Lord has placed us. 

Applications 

1. Since Thanksgiving, how have the emotions of envy, jealousy, and greed been stoked by commercials and social media in your life?
2. How can refocusing on the provision and blessing of God help you navigate the coming Christmas season?

Last Things...

Be on the lookout for information on two discipleship cohorts starting in January. Please let us know how we can pray for you throughout the holiday season.

Advent starts this Sunday.