Vision Service 2012
January 29th, 2012 (AM). By: Rob Frame
When was the last time you enjoyed paying a bill? Paying a bill is a comparatively rare event nowadays rather if your like me your account seems to leak; silently robbed by direct debits. As a result we think less about paying the bills but I don’t suppose they are a highlight of the month for any of us. Perhaps you’ve noticed that today is the first of our vision services and your beginning to think along those lines.
Well our passage this morning talks about giving money joyfully and by the end of v9 the generosity of the king has inspired free and wholehearted giving from his people which ends in joyful public celebration.
BIG IDEA: The generosity of the king inspires joyful giving from his people
Context
First some context before we jump into 1 Chronicles 29. If you were here last week you’ll remember how we saw in 2 Samuel 7 that King David was a man with a heart full of love for God. So, just as we love to give gifts to those who we love, David wanted to worship God by building a great temple for him. Here in the last chapter of 1 Chronicles we see David gathering the resources required to begin this great project, though it will actually be David’s son; Solomon who builds the temple.
If you’re not there already please turn to p305, 1 Chronicles 29.1-9 which we’ll look at in two parts:
First we’ll look at the example king David sets for his people as gives generously from the best that he has to God’s purposes.
Second, we’ll see how the king’s generosity inspires joyful and wholehearted giving from his people.
1. King David’s example, v1-5
Two things I want us to latch onto from David’s example. Firstly:
a) David invests in God’s kingdom not his own
This is not David’s project. The temple is not a monument to him, it is not an ego trip, no this is David’s worship of God and an investment in God’s kingdom rather than a celebration of his own. Verse one begins:
1 Then King David said to the whole assembly: My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the LORD God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God
This temple is not another palace for David it is for the LORD God. In fact David will not even be the one who constructs the temple; Solomon, David’s son, the one whom God had appointed would construct the temple. David is here providing for a great task that he will never see finished but he is free to do that because he is worshipping not empire building.
It’s a little like one of the problems we face as a democracy. Governments need to be re-elected at least every five years and so they often think in the short-term; what will look good when the next election comes rather than what’s best long-term. But David by investing in God’s kingdom is free to invest in something that will last. He is free to look to the long-term.
Surely there’s a lesson for us to learn from David here. We’re not building a temple but we are looking to invest in a future vision. We’re fortunate to have a comfortable building here but there isn’t much gold-work nor will there be. We’re not building a temple but we are called to be involved in great task, a far greater task than even this palatial structure. We are called to be witnesses to God’s coming kingdom to point others to King Jesus and to hold out the hope of peace between man and God to all the nations.
S we, like David, are free to invest in things that we may not see the immediate benefit of. So we might fund training for people even if they end up serving God somewhere else or we might give to a missionary in country that we’ll never visit. I know several of you support Rob and Maeve Dent we’ll probably not directly benefit from the training they’re currently undertaking and yet people still choose to invest financially in them, why? Because we invest our resources based on worship not a cost-benefit analysis.
David invests in God’s kingdom rather than his own but what does he give?
b) The king gives generously from the very best that he has
Verse 2 tells us that David provided for the temple with all of his resources and then in v3 David goes on to say:
3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:
David has marshaled all the resources available from his kingdom for the building of the temple. But here we see David giving from his own treasury, from his own personal wealth. David has every right to build using the nation’s resources even to exact taxes from the people for its construction. However, David models generosity to the people by giving from his own bank account. The king who deserves tribute chooses to give over and above everything else he has provided his own gold and silver.
David models two things here. Firstly, David gives the ‘first fruits’ of his possessions. Israel was commanded when they brought offerings to God to bring the first fruits of the harvest, or if livestock it should be without blemish or defect a prize animal not the runt of the litter as it were. David gives, as a sign of his devotion, not just a proportion of the resources available to him but v2 tells he provides from all of his resources and now above and beyond that he gives gold and silver from his own treasury. David gives in his devotion to God.
Is that what God gets from us; the best? Is your financial giving the first thing on your balance sheet or the last? Does God get the best of your time or does he get what’s left after everything else? David asks what can I possible give to God, what of the things available to me can I worship him with not what can I get away with throwing God’s way to make me feel a little less guilty.
Secondly, David’s generous giving from the very best that he has reminds us of our God who has given to us from his treasury the most precious thing he possesses. Just as the temple itself would foreshadow Christ’s entering heaven to intercede on our behalf. So David’s remarkable generosity acts as a pale shadow of God’s coming generosity in Christ. God who deserves all praise and glory freely gives us his Son, God who owes us nothing gives us everything out of his grace.
David can give freely from his own treasures because he is one who recognises that everything he has is a gift given to him freely by God. We’ll see that in higher definition next week as we look at David’s prayer of dedication where he prays;
14But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
David’s free giving reflects the grace which David knows he is a recipient of. It’s in this context of free and forward looking giving that David issues a call to arms for his people to follow his example and do the same. At the end of verse he says 5:
Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?
Who will join me in devoting themselves to God, to this great task of investing in his purposes, in dedicating ourselves to his worship? How will the people respond to David’s call and to his example, that’s what I want us to look at in our second point: ‘Giving willingly’, v6-9.
2. Giving willingly, v6-9
The generous example of the king inspires a willing giving in his people leading to public celebration.
Read v6-9:
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.
7 They gave towards the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron.
8 Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the LORD in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.
9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
David’s leadership in setting an example has a dramatic effect on the way the people see this great project they are by v9 no longer reluctant bill-payers but a jubilant crowd celebrating those who have given generously and willingly towards this project. Let’s take a closer look.
a) The example of leaders
First, see how David’s example trickles down through the community in v6;
6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly.
Read this passage quickly and we can see that David’s example was remarkable and inspiring. But look more closely and you’ll see that the celebrations in v8 come from the people rejoicing at the willing response of their leaders. It’s the freely given gifts of these people in v6, the leaders of families, of tribes, the commanders. As they put into action the example of David as they respond to David’s call to consecrate themselves to the LORD the people rejoice, the see how to respond.
The example of leaders is critical here. They show the people how to respond and so a ground swell of willing givers builds. That’s why in the bible you’ll often see requirements on leaders that focus on practical obedience as well as technical competence. We read earlier from 1 Timothy 3 that an overseer should not be a lover of money and that thy should manage their households well. Leaders should be practical obedient to God’s commands and in doing so they are able to model the Christian life to others.
That means that if you’re a leader here, your attitude to money and especially to giving matters. Not just so that the bills are paid but so that others can see what it look like to live for Jesus’ kingdom. That’s a serious responsibility for those of us who teach or anyone who exercises some kind of leadership whether that be leading a home group, women’s’ fellowship group, teaching in Sunday school.
Notice too here that the leaders of families respond first, that’s you guys. You need to lead in generosity, are you doing that? Or are you leading in selfish hoarding or perhaps more likely in reluctant and joyless bill paying?
b) Wholehearted giving
Second notice that the leaders are not just inspired to give by David’s example, they are inspired to give like him: willingly and wholeheartedly, freely and with everything they have. Did you hear the list of things that they gave in v7, 8? Read the foot notes, they gave literally tons of gold, silver and bronze. Not that quantities are the important thing but rather the attitude that this giving reflected, look at v8; any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury, you can almost imagine men casting off their Rolex’s, women, joyfully ripping their engagement rings from their fingers. That’s not what the blue bags are for by the way.
The leaders gave the best that they had; gold, silver and precious stones and they did so freely not as guilty tax payers, giving their dues but as worshippers freely investing their whole hearts in God’s kingdom. You see it’s the quality not the quantity of the giving that provokes spontaneous, public celebration:
9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD.
Willing giving to God is something worth celebrating. You’ll see if you’ve received our giving information that its entitled ‘The Joy of Giving’ we’re not joking. Christian giving should be joyful, ‘cheerful’ the Bible says. We’re not just paying the bills we’re investing in a kingdom.
Friends, as you listen to the plans we have,under God for 2012, and the needs that we have please don’t think this is just about paying the bills. We do have bills to pay but we don’ want mere bill-payers. We want, we pray for, people who would respond to David’s call; people who would dedicate themselves to God and who would freely choose to worship him by investing all they have; money, time, energy, effort and prayer in his kingdom.
There should be some bills that we are happy paying. If that’s a struggle for you then can I suggest some practical steps from this passage.
1. Look out for those who do give freely and wholeheartedly. Hopefully that should be leaders here but look for those who give not grudgingly of their resources but take pleasure in it.
2. Think about how you can harness all the resources available to you. What do you have? Perhaps not fine stone and marble in large quantities but we all have some resources; our time, our money, our homes. How could you employ them for God’s kingdom? Set free from having to achieve status for you or from a cost-benefit analysis where could you invest?
3. Look at the example of your King. Look at King David’s example but dwell on King Jesus’, he who forsook heaven and the glory that was rightfully his to give us forgiveness and life. As we understand his willing sacrifice for us so we will naturally wish to offer our lives to him as our reasonable act of worship too him.
Let’s ask God to help us follow his example, in giving the best we have freely and wholeheartedly. Let’s celebrate today as we look at the figures for 2011 let’s rejoice in those who have seen the example of our king and who have responded by dedicating themselves too him by investing in his kingdom which never ends.
Let’s pray.
Father, thank you for David. Thank you for his love for you, for his generosity and example. Lord help us to be willing and wholehearted givers in all areas of our lives. May our leaders be examples to us in this and help us all to respond to the example of our King: Jesus by investing joyfully in his kingdom.