Serving and Seeking God
Have you ever had an older family member tell you something that was really important before the two of you parted, perhaps never to talk with each other again? If you were going to tell a child or grandchild something you thought was really important to know, what would it be? In 1 Chronicles 28:9 David is nearing the end of his life and gives his son Solomon instructions on two crucially important matters. First, David says, “And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with single mind and willing heart; for the Lord searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you forever.”
God wants us to serve and seek the Lord single mindedly and with a willingly heart. God doesn’t play hard to get. God wants to be found. Sadly, Solomon did not follow his father’s advice, his eyes and his mind wandered and it cost him, and the people he led, dearly.
August 17, 2014
1 Chronicles 29:9-18, Serving and Seeking God
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
[powerpress]
The second important matter that David spoke to Solomon and all the people about was the final plans for building the house of the Lord, the temple, where the people would come to seek, serve, and worship God. David shared how the work was to be done and overseen by the priests, the Levites, all the volunteers who had skills for any kind of service, the officers, and all the people (1 Chronicles 28:20-21).
Like a good parent, David wants to do all he can to help his child be successful. He realizes Solomon is young and inexperienced and the responsibility of building the house of the Lord is hugel. So David advises Solomon personally to serve and seek the Lord, David provides the plans and the people for the construction, and the last thing David can do is make sure that his son will have the material resources needed to do the job. So David makes an impassioned speech to all the people in probably the most detailed description of fundraising in the Bible. That brings us to today’s passage:
“Then the people rejoiced because these had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord; King David also rejoiced greatly. Then David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly; David said: ‘Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, forever and ever.
Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all.
In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.
“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to make this freewill offering? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are aliens and transients before you, as were all our ancestors; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope. O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. I know, my God, that you search the heart, and take pleasure in uprightness; in the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our ancestors, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you.”
A week ago, I shared from the Book of Joshua’s final chapter the last words Joshua spoke to the people before he died as he challenged them to serve the Lord. Last words can be significant, can’t they? We just heard part of the final speech of another great leader in Israel’s history, King David. His last words are found in the final chapter of the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles. In a highly dramatic scene, King David tells his son Solomon and all the leaders of the people of Israel that Solomon will take his place as king and he will be the one to oversee the monumental building project of constructing the Temple in Jerusalem. That was a massively expensive job and David provides an incredible fortune in gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, onyx, turquoise, and other precious stones to help fund the work. David gave from the Royal treasury and from his personal wealth. Then the leaders, officers, and commanders, also gave generously.
In his speech, David describes Seven Steps in Giving which enable the people to build the house of the Lord so they can be free to pursue God’s purposes for them – to be worshiping, sharing, generous people whose hearts and minds are set on loving and serving the Lord.
While David’s words are a call for a freewill offering to fund the building of the temple, they also speak to us about our hearts as we seek to live out God’s purposes in our lives. These steps apply to anyone who wants to be a giving person.
Step #1 is Remember for whom we are building. David says (1 Chronicles 29:1), “The work is great; for the temple will not be for mortals but for the Lord God.” When we set out to enlarge our church building fifteen years ago, we tried to make it clear we were doing it so we could serve God and God’s people more effectively. We built this building for God and not for ourselves. The first step on the path to success is staying focused on God. This is true whether we are trying to build a life, a marriage, a building or a church. Today we’re still building for God and we want our lives, our futures, our relationships, our work to be worthy of God. Step one speaks to our motivation. This summer is the 25th anniversary of the movie Field of Dreams. One of the best known lines in the film is, “If you build it, he will come.” Ray thought he was building a baseball field for Shoeless Joe Jackson, but only at the end does he realize it was actually for his father. As Christians, we want to be clear from the beginning both in church and in our lives, we’re building our lives for the glory of our heavenly Father.
Step #2 is Give a gift your self before asking others to give.
In verse 2 David says, “I have provided to the house of my God, so far as I was able.” David as the leader sets an example in giving. Unfortunately, I don’t have the same amount of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood and precious stones as David did. If I did, I could have paid for our current project myself! The biblical principle is you don’t ask anyone else to give sacrificially until you do. Again this is true in life, not just in fund raising campaigns. We give of ourselves before we expect other people to give to us. David went “as far as [he] was able” in giving. Life is far more rewarding when we give all that we’re able to give. Our effort, our energy, our love, our time, resources, attention, or wisdom – when we give what we’re able to give to God and to others – we will be amazed at what can happen. Greatness is rarely if ever achieved by half-hearted effort or by giving 50% of what we’re capable of giving – whether we’re talking about love or energy or anything else. As a Christian, in our work, as a student, or a family member to do something significant, requires giving of ourselves as far as we are able to give. A teacher, parent, or coach who is giving all he or she is able to give can much easier demand a similar level of commitment from students, children, or players. It is easier to ask someone else if they have done their best and given a 100% if we have done that first ourselves.
Step #3 is Give With Devotion. 1 Chronicles 29:3 reads, “I have a treasure of my own of gold & silver, & because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God.” Devotion is “ardent love or affection.” Each of us has “a treasure of our own” that includes our time, talents, and material resources. Our treasure may not be as vast materially as David’s, but each of us has gifts we can share. David also experienced the protection and provision of God throughout his life and his heart and his emotions were moved by all the Lord had done for him. From triumphs over Goliath-size obstacles through life’s ups and downs from moments of shame to moments of glory, God was with David and gave to him in countless ways. The same is true for us. When we’re giving to God or the church or to another person or cause we’re to give with devotion or affection. I suspect most of us have experienced the difference between receiving or giving a gift out of sense of obligation or duty, compared to receiving or giving a gift with a sense of ardent love or affection.
Step 4 is Give willingly as an act of consecration and discipleship.
After describing the fortune that he was giving to build the temple, then David asks everyone else; “Who then will offer willingly, consecrating themselves today to the Lord?” We’re invited to give to God willingly, not grudgingly nor out of guilt, duty, or obligation but out of our love and affection for God. David encourages people to give as an act of consecration. Consecration means “to devote to a purpose with deep dedication,” or “to be dedicated to a sacred purpose.” We give to God as a reflection of our dedication to God’s purpose in the world, which is to give abundant, eternal, joyful life to as many people as possible through a relationship with Jesus. Whether we have a lot or a little to give, the important thing is to give willingly as an expression of our consecrating ourselves to God.
Peter & the disciples were able to say to Jesus (Matthew 19:27), “Look, we have left everything & followed you.” We also want to be able to say we have given of ourselves willingly.
Step 5 is Give Freely. 1 Chronicles 29:9 says, “The people rejoiced because the leaders had given willingly, for with single mind they had offered freely to the Lord.” King David set the example in giving and then the leaders respond to his invitation by giving willing and freely to the Lord. It’s important to note that the passage doesn’t say the people rejoiced because of the amount the leaders gave, although it was very generous. The people rejoiced because of the attitude with which they gave. They gave freely, willingly, and gladly. There is a world of difference between someone giving to us freely or conditionally or grudgingly. God wants us to give freely and not under compulsion so that we feel good about our giving.
Step 6 is Give because everything is God’s anyway.
This is such an important truth to understand that it’s mentioned three times in verses 11, 14, & 16. “For all that is in the heavens and on earth is yours; all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. All this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.” The Bible teaches us everything we have is on loan to us from God and one day will belong to someone else or at the transfer station. As the saying goes, “Money can buy a bed, but not rest; food, but not satisfaction; luxury, but not contentment; stock, but not security;
a house, but not a home; a church, but not a mission.
But what money cannot buy, God offers as a free gift.”
Christians are to live as stewards or managers rather than as owners. Some people make their living as money managers or financial planners. They carefully look after someone else’s money and try to manage it as well as possible. However, as long as they’re ethical, they always know it is not their money. As Christians, we’re all money managers – we’re looking after what belongs to God.
Step 7 is Give Freely & Joyously. David says to God in verse 17, “I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you.”
Proverbs 11:24 says, “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want.” A very old Jewish story of a time long ago tells of two brothers who shared a field and a mill, each night dividing nearly evenly the grain they ground together during the day. One brother lived alone; the other had a wife and a large family. Now the single brother thought to himself one day, “It isn’t really fair that we divide the grain evenly. I have only myself to care for, but my brother has children to feed.” So each night he secretly took some of the grain to his brother’s granary to see that he always had enough.
But the married brother said to himself one day, “It is isn’t really fair that we divide the grain evenly, because I have children to provide for me in my old age, but my brother has no one. What will he do when he is old?”
So every night he secretly took some of his grain to his brother’s granary.
As a result, both always found their supply of grain mysteriously replenished each morning. Then one night they met each other halfway between their houses, suddenly realized what had been happening, & embraced each other in love.
The legend is that God witnessed their meeting & proclaimed,
“This is a holy place – a place of love – & here it is that my temple shall be built.”
And so the story says, the First Temple is said to have been constructed on that very site. The holy place, where God is made known to people, is the place where human beings discover each other in love.
Jesus says, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”
I am truly grateful for everyone’s generous support for the Lord’s work at BBC; we have been truly and deeply blessed as a congregation in so many ways. As of this week, we have received $102,961.28 in pledges, with $69,961.28 received in hand. That is a good start, but obviously we have a way to go. We join with King David in praising God (1 Chronicles 29:12-13), “Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all. And now, our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name.”
Questions for Reflection or Discussion
- What does David say to his son Solomon about serving and seeking God in 1 Chronicles 28:9? Why do you think David felt it was important to share these words with his son?
- 1 Chronicles 29:9-18 has a lot to say about giving. Try to identify how many different ways giving is described or mentioned.
- While it is nice to receive and give gifts, overall do you get more joy from receiving things or giving things away? Why do you think you feel that way?
- What do these verses have in common in terms of their message – 1 Chronicles 29:11, 14, and 16?
- Reflect on or discuss Proverbs 11:24, “Some give freely, yet grow all the richer; others withhold what is due, and only suffer want.” Do you agree or disagree with that statement? What do you think the Proverb is saying?