November 1, 2026

Indianola Presbyterian Church

“Passing the Light”
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch

Part of Stewardship Series: What Does the Lord Require of You? 

November 1, 2026                                                                                                                                        Based on 1 Kings 3:4–15

A few years ago, at a previous church I served, we had a stewardship theme called “Passing on the Light.”
On Stewardship Sunday, we invited four people to stand at the front of the sanctuary. Each represented a different generation of the congregation. There was a young child, a parent, a younger retiree, and our oldest member, Janie, who was 101 years old.
Four people. Four generations. Four very different lives, all connected to the same community of faith.
We talked about the people who had come before us, the generations who had worshiped in that sanctuary, taught Sunday school, sung in the choir, cared for their neighbors, and kept the church going through all kinds of seasons. They had received the light of Christ from those who came before them. They had done their best to carry it. And eventually, they had passed it on to someone else.
None of them had done it perfectly. None of them could have known exactly what the church would need to become in the years ahead. But they had carried the light as faithfully as they could, and now it was someone else's turn.
I think about that image today, on All Saints’ Sunday, when we remember those who have gone before us. We remember the people whose lives helped shape our own, the people who taught us something about faith, the people who showed us how to love, and the people whose quiet faithfulness made it possible for us to be here.
And I think about that image as we turn to the story of Solomon.
Last week, we heard about David, the king who abused his power, took what was not his to take, and had to be confronted with the truth of what he had done. This week, David is gone, and Solomon is on the throne.
The light has been passed.
But Solomon hasn't inherited a perfect kingdom. He has inherited a complicated one, shaped by generations of faithfulness and failure, by God's promises and human mistakes. He has inherited a calling, but he hasn't inherited all the answers.
And now he has to figure out what it means to lead.
Our passage begins with Solomon going to Gibeon to offer sacrifices to God. There, in a dream, God comes to him and says, “Ask what I should give you.”
Imagine that for a moment. God offers you one request. What would you ask for?
Solomon could have asked for wealth. He could have asked for a long life. He could have asked for military victories, a secure throne, or a kingdom that would never be threatened.
Instead, Solomon asks for something else.
He remembers God's faithfulness to his father, David, and acknowledges the enormous responsibility he has inherited. He says that he is young, inexperienced, and unsure how to govern God's people.
And then he asks:
“Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil.”
In other words, God, I need help knowing what is right.
I need to know how to lead these people well. I need to know the difference between what serves them and what harms them. I need to know how to make decisions that are faithful to you and just for the people entrusted to my care.
There is something remarkable about that request.
Solomon doesn't assume that because he has been given the throne, he automatically knows what to do with it. He doesn't assume that because he comes from a long line of leaders, he has nothing left to learn. He recognizes that the responsibility is bigger than his own abilities.
He needs wisdom.
And the Hebrew expression translated here as “an understanding mind” is literally something like “a listening heart.”
Solomon asks God for a heart that can listen, a heart that can hear and understand, a heart that can discern what is right.
I wonder if that's one of the most important things we can ask for, too.
Because knowing what is right isn't always as easy as we might like to think.
We might have good intentions. We might have inherited wonderful traditions. We might have years of experience, strong convictions, and a deep desire to do the right thing. And still, we can get it wrong.
Sometimes we get it wrong because we don't know what we don't know. Sometimes we get it wrong because we are so certain we already have the answer that we stop listening for another one. Sometimes we get it wrong because the way we've always done things feels safer than asking whether those things are actually good.
That's true for kings. It's true for churches. It's true for all of us.
And it matters especially when we talk about justice.
This week's question in our stewardship series is, “What does the Lord require of you?” And the answer is to do justice.
But what does justice actually require of us?
It is one thing to say that we believe in justice. It's another thing to discern what justice looks like in the complicated circumstances of real life, with real people, competing needs, and decisions that affect people differently.
Doing justice means we have to listen.
We have to listen to the people who are most affected by our decisions, especially when their experiences are different from our own. We have to listen when someone tells us that a tradition we cherish has caused them harm. We have to listen when our neighbors tell us what they need, rather than assuming we already know. We have to listen for God's call, even when it leads us somewhere unfamiliar.
We cannot discern what is just if we have stopped listening.
That is true of the way we live as individuals. It's true of the way we live together as a church. And it was true of Solomon.
God is pleased with Solomon's request. God grants him wisdom and discernment, along with the riches and honor he did not ask for.
The verses that follow our reading tell us that Solomon's wisdom will become legendary. We often remember him as the wise king, the one who could see through a problem and find a solution when everyone else was stuck.
But the Bible tells a more complicated story than that.
Solomon will also become a king who accumulates enormous wealth, imposes heavy burdens on his people, and eventually loses his way. The kingdom he works so hard to build will fracture after his death.
The man who asked for a listening heart will not always keep listening.
And I think that's important for us to remember today.
Because All Saints’ Sunday can sometimes tempt us to tidy up the stories of the people who came before us. We remember the saints, and we remember the best of them. We remember their kindness, their courage, their generosity, and their faith. Sometimes we forget that they were human beings, too.
They had blind spots. They made mistakes. They lived with questions they couldn't answer. Some of the things they believed or practiced may be things we now understand differently. And some of the things we believe and practice today will probably look different to the generations that come after us.
The hymn we sing today, “For All the Saints,” gives us a beautiful way to hold all of that together.
There's a line that says, “We feebly struggle, they in glory shine.”
I love that line because it doesn't pretend that faithfulness is easy. It doesn't suggest that the people we remember today were perfect or that we will be someday. It simply reminds us that we are part of a story that stretches beyond our own lives.
We feebly struggle. They feebly struggled, too.
We do our best to follow God in the circumstances of our own time. We make decisions with the understanding we have, and sometimes we get them right. Sometimes we don't. We learn, we grow, we seek forgiveness, and we try again.
And through all of it, God remains faithful.
That is the inheritance we receive from the saints. Not a perfect record of people who always knew the right thing to do, but a long history of people trying to live faithfully with God.
And now it is our turn.
We have received a faith shaped by generations of people we may never meet. We have inherited this congregation, this building, these ministries, these relationships, and this calling to love our neighbors. We have received gifts that we did not create and opportunities that we did not earn.
Our job is not simply to preserve everything exactly as we found it. Nor is it to discard the past and imagine we can start over from scratch.
Our job is to listen. To discern. To ask what faithfulness requires of us now.
What does it mean to do justice in our neighborhood? How can we use what we have been given to serve people who need a place to belong? What traditions help us carry the light of Christ, and what might we need to change so that more people can see it? How do we care for this place and these ministries in ways that make room for the people who will come after us?
These are stewardship questions. They are questions about money and buildings, certainly, but they are also questions about our time, our attention, our relationships, our priorities, and the kind of community we are becoming.
Stewardship is not simply about keeping the lights on. It is about asking what the light is for.
And on this All Saints’ Sunday, we ask those questions in the company of all those who have gone before us.
In a few moments, we will come to the communion table. We will remember that we belong to a community larger than the people gathered in this room. We will give thanks for those who have shared this meal before us, those whose lives and faith have helped bring us here, and those who will gather at this table long after we are gone.
We do not come to this table because we have figured everything out. We come because we need grace. We need one another. We need the wisdom to keep listening for God.
And we come because the light we carry was never ours to keep.
It was given to us. We have been entrusted with it for a time. And one day, we will pass it on.
May we carry it with humility.
May we have the courage to keep listening, especially when the truth is difficult to hear.
May we seek the wisdom to discern what is right, and the faith to pursue God's justice even when the way forward is not clear.
And may those who come after us receive a light that is still burning, a faith that is still growing, and a church that has done its best to love God and neighbor in its own time.
We may feebly struggle. We may do our best. 
And by the grace of God, we keep passing the light.
Amen.WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE

                                                             *indicates stand if you are able

PRELUDE                                                                            “Come, Come Ye Saints” ”                                                  arr. Lori Line

 INTROIT                            “Be Still and Aware of God’s Presence”                                       Sally Ann Morris

Be still and aware of God’s presence within and all around.                  text: John Philip Newell

WELCOME                                                                    Rev. Trip Porch

One: This is the day that the Lord has made

All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

*CALL TO WORSHIP     

One: God has been faithful through every generation.
‍ ‍Many: We gather with gratitude for those who came before us.
‍ ‍One: We come seeking wisdom for the path ahead.
‍ ‍Many: Give us listening hearts and courage to do what is right.
‍ ‍One: Let us worship the God who holds us all in love.
‍ ‍All: May we receive the light, carry it faithfully, and pass it on.

*HYMN 401                                 “Here in this Place”                                                     GATHER US IN

*PRAYER OF CONFESSION                                                                                                     Robert Bird

God of wisdom, forgive us when we stop listening, or when we cling to what is familiar, or mistake our own certainty for truth. Give us humble hearts to learn from the past, courage to seek justice in the present, and wisdom to use what we have been given for the good of others. Renew us by your grace, that we may carry your light faithfully. Amen.

*ASSURANCE OF PARDON 

*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 659          “Know That God Is Good”                             MUNGO NI MWEMA

*PASSING OF THE PEACE                                       

     One:   The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,

     All:      And also with you.

WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD

ANTHEM    “Standing In the Need of Prayer”   arr. David Cherwien

CHILDREN’S MESSAGE                                                         Mary Rebekah Fortman

PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION

SCRIPTURE:  1 Kings 3:4-9 [10-15] 16-28     CEB

The king went to the great shrine at Gibeon in order to sacrifice there. He used to offer a thousand entirely burned offerings on that altar. The Lord appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask whatever you wish, and I’ll give it to you.”

Solomon responded, “You showed so much kindness to your servant my father David when he walked before you in truth, righteousness, and with a heart true to you. You’ve kept this great loyalty and kindness for him and have now given him a son to sit on his throne. And now, Lord my God, you have made me, your servant, king in my father David’s place. But I’m young and inexperienced. I know next to nothing. But I’m here, your servant, in the middle of the people you have chosen, a large population that can’t be numbered or counted due to its vast size. Please give your servant a discerning mind in order to govern your people and to distinguish good from evil, because no one is able to govern this important people of yours without your help.”

It pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request. God said to him, “Because you have asked for this instead of requesting long life, wealth, or victory over your enemies—asking for discernment so as to acquire good judgment— I will now do just what you said. Look, I hereby give you a wise and understanding mind. There has been no one like you before now, nor will there be anyone like you afterward. I now also give you what you didn’t ask for: wealth and fame. There won’t be a king like you as long as you live. And if you walk in my ways and obey my laws and commands, just as your father David did, then I will give you a very long life.”

Solomon awoke and realized it was a dream. He went to Jerusalem and stood before the chest containing the Lord’s covenant. Then he offered entirely burned offerings and well-being sacrifices and held a celebration for all his servants.

    One: Holy Wisdom

    All:  Holy Word 

SERMON                                                                                                Rev. Trip Porch

                                                                                              WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD

*HYMN 174                             “Come and Seek the Ways of Wisdom”                               MADELEINE

TIME OF OFFERING   online giving is available at  www.indianolapres.org/give

OFFERTORY                            “Teach Me to Walk in the Light”              arr. Laurel Hunt Pederson

COMMUNION

INVITATION TO THE TABLE

GREAT PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING  with necrology                             Ed Crockett, Susan Lee,  Agnes Poteet, Carol Winans 

SHARING OF BREAD AND CUP    520                   “Taste and See”                                              TASTE AND SEE

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Faithful God, thank you for this table and for the generations of saints who have carried your light before us. Nourish us by your grace, give us wisdom to discern what is right, and strengthen us to do justice in our time. May we faithfully tend the gifts we have received and pass on a living faith to those who follow. Amen.

*HYMN 326                                     “For All the Saints”                                                       SINE NOMINE

TiIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING

CHARGE & BENEDICTION

BENEDICTION RESPONSE          " Amen Siakudumisa "             S.C. Molefe; text: South African

POSTLUDE                               “For All the Saints”                      arr. Michael Burkhardt

Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452