1 Kings 10:1-9 - You Don't Know the Half of It - January 9, 2022

We’ve all heard some variation of the phrase, “You don’t know the half of it.” It’s usually used to describe something really good or really bad – we’ll use it to describe how terrible the weather was, how amazing our vacation was, or how Covid messed up all our plans – people use that phrase to emphasize that you really had to be there (or be in their shoes) to understand what it was really like. The season of Epiphany has a dual focus of revealing Jesus as true God and Savior of the world and Jesus revealing the one, true God to the world. Paul offers as good a definition of Epiphany as anyone what no eye has seen and no ear has heard and no human mind has conceived – that is what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). Epiphany reminds us that no matter how many times we’ve heard the Gospel of Christ crucified for sinners, we still don’t even know the half of it.

There is a lot of mystery surrounding this Queen of Sheba who is introduced to us in this account from 1 Kings. Some suggest that she was the famous female Pharoah of Egypt called Hatshepsut. Others argue that Sheba was a region south of Egypt, near present-day Ethiopia. Still others believe that she came from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, from present-day Yemen. What all Bible believing people must agree on, however, is that this mysterious woman traveled a considerable distance just to see the famous King Solomon. If she was, as most scholars today conclude, from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula – in modern day Yemen – then she traveled no less than 1200 miles to see Solomon.  This was a bucket-list trip for this woman. A trip which would have taken her away from her throne for months, if not more than a year.

But our text makes it clear that it was worth the time and effort to make the trip. Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. The Queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, the house which he built, and the food on his table. When she saw the council meeting of his officials, the careful attention of his ministers, as well as their attire, his cupbearers, and the whole burnt offerings which he offered at the House of the Lord, it took her breath away. She said to the king, “The report I heard in my own country about your accomplishments and your wisdom is true. I did not believe the report until I came and saw it with my own eyes. The truth is, not even half of it was told to me! Your wisdom and wealth surpass the report which I heard.

A few verses later we are told that she and her servants returned to her country (1 Kings 10:13). This is the last time we hear about the mysterious Queen of Sheba…that is, until roughly 1000 years later when we hear her name uttered by Jesus himself in his condemnation of the unbelieving Pharisees: the Queen of the South will be raised up in the judgment with this generation and will condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. But one even greater than Solomon is here (Matthew 12:42). Jesus wasn’t just bragging. He wasn’t displaying arrogance or insecurity. He was dealing with the very real fact that the chosen people of Israel – the very people who should have been ready and waiting for his arrival – had rejected him in stubborn, hard-hearted unbelief. They had actually accused him of working for Satan (Matthew 12:24). And then they even had the gall to demand that he give them a sign to prove that he was who he claimed to be (Matthew 12:38). Jesus pointed back to this story about the Queen of Sheba because, while she spared no cost or effort to see and listen to Solomon’s wisdom, these Pharisees and experts in the law refused to listen to and believe Jesus’ wisdom even though he was standing right in front of them. They knew that God had promised to send a Savior who would reveal him to the world, they knew half of the story – but when Jesus appeared, they refused to receive him, the fulfillment of those promises.

You all had to travel to be here this morning – some of you a considerable distance. You had to get yourselves and your children out of your warm beds and showered and dressed and venture out into the frigid January air to drive here to church. And I commend you for your commitment and dedication. I thank God that he has led you to spend a portion of your weekend immersing yourself in God’s Word. At the same time, you didn’t have to travel for days or months to get here. None of us traveled 1200 miles. No, it’s relatively convenient for you to be here on Sunday morning. And it’s a fairly short time commitment (an hour, maybe two), considering that, in comparison, many of you probably spend 40 or 50 or 60 hours working each week and might spend 3 or 4 hours on your couch this afternoon watching football or Netflix.

But what happens when it’s not so convenient to come to listen to Jesus and his wisdom that he brings to us from heaven? What happens when it’s just a little too cold, when there’s just a little too much snow on the roads, when you stayed up a little too late on Saturday night? What happens when you have non-WELS family staying at your house, when your children have sports or other activities on Sunday morning, when you’re out of town on vacation? What happens when your employer offers you double time or overtime for working on Sunday? What happens when coming to listen to Jesus is inconvenient? Everyone who has been confirmed knows that God didn’t say, “Remember the Sabbath Day when it’s convenient for you, on your schedule.” But we’re pretty good at justifying our absence, aren’t we? “I’ve heard it all before.” “I can always catch the service video online later in the week.” “I need at least one day to sleep in and rest up.” “I have to provide for my family and weekend overtime pay really helps with that.” “God wants me to love my family and care for my children, doesn’t he?” The devil loves to tempt us to regard this time of worship and Sunday school and Bible study like an optional, leisure activity rather than an absolute necessity; as a choice we’re free to make rather than a command from God. And when he wins; we sin. Whenever we skip worship because it’s inconvenient, we knowingly disobey God’s 3rd commandment and spit in the face of the Savior he sent to die for us. For the times we have despised or neglected opportunities to hear God’s Word – and we all have – we too deserve to have the Queen of the South rise up to condemn us on Judgment Day.

But our disobedience to the 3rd Commandment isn’t the worst part of neglecting worship whenever it’s inconvenient. The worst part is that we are robbing ourselves of a precious opportunity to hear the other half of the story. You know your half. You know how your story is filled with sin: idols of all shapes and sizes, misuse and abuse of God’s name, disrespect for God’s representatives, hatred and lust, theft and slander and covetousness. We know how depressing and broken our half of the story is and that it leaves us deserving only death. That’s the real reason we need to be here: to hear Jesus’ half of the story. Jesus’ half is filled with perfect obedience and atoning sacrifice and the wisdom of God hidden in Word and Sacrament which gives forgiveness and peace, comfort and the hope of eternal life. Where else on earth can you receive those things?

While we can’t say with any degree of certainty that the Queen of Sheba returned to her home as a believer in the one, true God; we can say that she didn’t regret taking the time to travel to see and hear Solomon and his wisdom. Far from it; she gushed over her experience: blessed are your men, blessed are your servants, who stand before you continually hearing your wisdom! May the Lord your God be blessed, who was pleased to put you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loves Israel forever, he made you king to administer justice and righteousness. Is that how you describe your experience here in worship to others? Do you gush over the forgiveness, peace and joy you receive here every week? If not, why not? Let’s just compare what the Queen of Sheba experienced to what we are privileged to experience here on a weekly basis. Sure, the Lord had given Solomon wisdom and riches and fame that surpassed anyone else in human history (1 Kings 3:10-14), but Jesus, the one who meets us here, is the power of God and the wisdom of God in the flesh (1 Corinthians 1:24). Sure, Solomon spoke and wrote wise sayings about topics ranging from government to the economy, from nature to astronomy, from marriage to just finding a way to survive in this fallen world (read Proverbs and Ecclesiastes for a taste of this wisdom), but only Jesus can make us wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). Sure, Solomon’s temple was an architectural wonder and his treasuries were overflowing with gold and silver (2 Chronicles 9:13-28), but Jesus offers us a home in the heavenly Jerusalem, where even the streets are paved with gold (Revelation 21:21) and he has prepared mansions for each of us (John 14:2). And that’s only a taste of the other half of the story that Jesus wants to give you each and every week here in his house. Why let anything inconvenience you from seeing and receiving these blessings and promises?

But that’s not even the most exciting, the most unexpected aspect of Jesus’ half of the story. During the season of Epiphany, we focus on the revealing, the unveiling, the “appearance” of Jesus as the Savior of the world. Here’s the thing: it was incredibly inconvenient for Jesus to become the Savior of the world. He was the eternal Son of God; he had been enjoying the glory of heaven at his Father’s right hand; he had everything and needed nothing. But he had been observing humanity spiraling down the drain of sin towards hell for thousands of years, and in his mercy and love, he planned to do something about it. And when the time was right, he made the trip down to earth (Galatians 4:4-5). He didn’t have an entourage; he didn’t pack anything; he left all the riches of heaven behind. And it was much more than a thousand mile round-trip and a year away from home. It was an expedition from the perfection of Paradise to the pit of depravity that lasted 33 years. And it wasn’t luxurious for him in any way. From his birth to his life to his death, it was all extremely humiliating, painful and inconvenient. He was born in a stable (Luke 2:7); had to flee Herod’s murderous hatred (Matthew 2:13-18); he was slandered as the illegitimate son of a carpenter (John 8:39-41). He was mocked and ridiculed and several attempts were made on his life (Luke 4:29-30). Finally, he was unjustly arrested, brutally tortured and nailed to a cross to die. None of it was convenient for him, but Jesus inconvenienced himself for a reason: to save us from the hell our sins deserved.

And now he wants to tell you about it. Every week he wants to give you a break from your half of the story – the half that’s filled with disappointment and pain and sin and sorrow – and tell you his half. He wants to explain to you exactly what he did and how what he did forgives your sins and gives you peace out there in your half of life and clarify what it all means for your past, present and future. And he doesn’t make it difficult at all. He makes himself available in the Bible – a resource you can access 24/7 anywhere on the planet (even on that smartphone you take everywhere with you). He’s worked to ensure that he is available to you in Word and Sacrament in weekly worship services, Bible studies and Sunday school here in your own hometown. You don’t have to travel thousands of miles or take months off of work to learn from Jesus, he is present right here, eager to tell you about the forgiveness, peace, and salvation that he won for you by his life, death and resurrection. That’s true wealth and wisdom. Seeing and receiving these blessings is well worth our time and effort.

Whenever I hear someone say, “You don’t know the half of it,” I generally assume that they’re exaggerating whatever it is they’re talking about. The Queen of Sheba discovered that there was no exaggeration to Solomon’s wisdom or wealth or fame – she admitted that she hadn’t even heard the half of it. But what Solomon had to offer pales in comparison to what Jesus offers to us here and now. You don’t know the half of what Jesus wants to give you: so in this new year don’t let any inconvenience get in the way of seeing and receiving your Lord’s blessings. Amen.