Sermon — Over the Top

(I preached this sermon at Christ Lutheran Church in Harrisburg, PA on Sunday November 1, 2026, All Saints Sunday. The sermon is based on 1 Kings 3:4–28. You can listen to the audio through this link.)

Politics is something like a first language for me. Before I was a pastor, I spent years working on political campaigns. Here’s something that might surprise you. Religion and politics have a lot in common. Both offer a picture of a future that might be possible.

You know how a campaign ad works. Your candidate is shaking hands with the right people and listening to an older woman at the senior center. If you can get a puppy in the shot, even better. They are the only one who truly understands you. Your opponent gets the worst picture you can find, maybe their driver’s license photo, and a nickname that sticks. Normal doesn’t get attention. Over the top does.

This Tuesday is Election Day, and most of us have had our fill of over the top this fall. So hold onto that feeling, and listen to how the Bible introduces King Solomon.

Solomon has just become king after his father David. He goes up to Gibeon to worship, and he offers a thousand burnt offerings. A thousand. That night God comes to him in a dream and hands him a blank check. “Ask what I should give you.”

Solomon asks for wisdom. The Hebrew words he uses are beautiful. He asks for a lev shomea. A listening heart. In the Bible the heart is where you think and decide, so Solomon is asking for a mind that knows how to…