2 Chronicles 6:28-33: a reflection

28“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or caterpillar; if their enemies besiege them in the land of their cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is— 29whatever prayer and supplication is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, who will each know his own plague and his own sorrow, and shall spread out his hands toward this house, 30then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know (for you, even you only, know the hearts of the children of men), 31that they may fear you, to walk in your ways as long as they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. 32“Moreover, concerning the foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for your great name’s sake and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when they come and pray toward this house, 33then hear from heaven, even from your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you for; that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name.

In his great prayer at the temple's dedication, Solomon prays about all the situations in which Israel might cry to God. But then he does something striking: he prays for the foreigner, the outsider who is not part of Israel at all. When a foreigner comes from a distant land, drawn by God's name, and prays toward this house, Solomon asks, hear him from heaven, and do whatever he asks, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you.

Notice how wide Solomon's vision is. He does not treat the temple as a private possession for insiders only. He asks God to hear the outsider, the stranger drawn by God's reputation, and to answer him, precisely so that God's name would be known among all peoples. The heart of the prayer reaches beyond Israel to the nations; God's welcome, Solomon assumes, is not for the in-group alone.

That is worth carrying, both as comfort and as challenge. As comfort: if you have ever felt like an outsider, unsure whether you belong, whether God would hear someone like you, Solomon's prayer answers that God hears the foreigner who seeks him, and welcomes the one who comes from far off. And as challenge: God's people are not to hoard him. His house and his heart are meant to draw in the outsider, so that all peoples might know his name. Do not treat God as a possession for insiders. He hears the foreigner, and so should we welcome them.

Lord, in Solomon's prayer you show your heart for the outsider, promising to hear the foreigner who seeks you, so that all peoples might know your name. When I feel like an outsider, assure me that you welcome the one who comes from far off. And keep your people from hoarding you; make us a welcome that draws others to your name.