1. The responsible example of giving
2. The responsible location of giving
3. The responsible attitude of giving
4. The responsible abundance of giving
5. The responsible priority of giving
EZRA 2:68-70
In his book, The Quest For Character, Chuck Swindoll tells about a terrible thing that happened a few years back. It seems that a vandal ran into an art museum in Amsterdam with a knife. He ran up to a priceless Rembrandt painting and slashed it to ribbons. Just a short time later, another vandal snuck into St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome with a hammer. He took his hammer and began to smash Michelangelo’s beautiful sculpture of Mary holding the crucified body of Jesus called The Pieta. If you had seen either one of those priceless works of art at that time, you would have thought they were lost forever. The painting was shredded and tattered and torn. The statue was defaced and broken. The only thing they were good for was the garbage, right? Wrong. Because in the hands of the most gifted artists and experts available, those masterpieces were restored. Nearly 70 years before, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple in Jerusalem. To look at it then, you would have thought there was no way to restore it. But God had a plan. Even though the people had been disobedient and were now being punished for their disobedience, God had a plan for their restoration. Our text tonight brings us to the third of the four restorations God deemed necessary before His people were ready to rebuild the temple foundations. He has already restored His resources by transferring the things He had set aside for His worship from the Babylonians to His people. He has also already restored His remnant by providing all the different kinds of people He chose to perform His work. Now it’s time for God to restore the people’s responsibility. God’s restorations up until this point have all taken place in Babylon. But now it’s time for them to arrive in Jerusalem. It is interesting that Scripture says nothing of their journey. Even though it was a journey of around 1000 miles, Scripture is silent about the trip. As a matter of fact it boils the whole thing down to three words there in verse 68: “When they came.” Notice that just because they physically arrived in Jerusalem, they hadn’t really arrived. Just because they were done with the journey, that didn’t mean they were prepared for their task. A journey of 1000 miles was just a step along the way. As a matter of fact it was such an insignificant step along the way that it didn’t even merit discussion. It was only worth three words in the biblical text. It was the first step that flowed from their obedience to being called out as God’s remnant. But taking that walk wasn’t the extent of it. There were responsibilities that came with following God. It’s a sad thing that there are so many people today who think that all that’s involved in being a Christian is simply walking an aisle or praying a prayer. That might be the way that God called you to salvation, but that’s not the end of it. It’s really just the first few words in your Christian testimony. Just like the people in our text tonight, taking the walk isn’t the extent of it. There are responsibilities that come with being a Christian. That’s what I want for us tonight. I don’t want any of us to think we’ve arrived after the Lord’s taken us on that walk of salvation. I want each of us to eagerly and joyfully fulfill our responsibilities as Christians. In order to do that, we’re going to look at five restored responsibilities of giving. First is the responsible example of giving. Verse 68 points out “some of the chief of the fathers.”
The responsible example of giving. A pastor was standing and greeting people in the vestibule one Sunday when he finished preaching. It was the typical thing, where he was shaking hands and talking with the congregation, when a little boy came up to him. The little boy reached in his pocket and pulled out a 5-dollar bill and put it into the pastor’s hand. The pastor smiled at the boy and said, “Son, I can’t take that from you. If you want to give it to the Lord, go ahead and put it in the offering plate.” The boy looked up at him and said, “I don’t want to give it to the Lord, I want to give it to you.” The pastor smiled again and asked him, “Well, why do you want to give it to me?” The boy didn’t bat an eye and said, “Because in Sunday School we learned that Jesus wants us to give money to help the poor. And my daddy says that you’re the poorest preacher he’s ever heard.” There were two examples at work there, weren’t there? The Sunday School teacher was being a good example and the Dad wasn’t being such a great example. It was the same way here in our passage. Notice in your text that the word some is in italics. That means the word isn’t there in the original—it was supplied by the translators. But it was put there for good reason. The preposition “of” that follows it is what indicates that it wasn’t all of them. It was just some of the chief of the fathers. So, in other words, some of the family heads lined up to give an offering so that the temple could be rebuilt. They did what the head of the family is supposed to do. They led their families the way they were supposed to. They led them by example. They stood up and accepted the financial responsibility of rebuilding the temple. Not much is made in the text of those who didn’t. We don’t know how many did or how many didn’t. That’s probably because God doesn’t really need our money. He doesn’t depend on our giving. But he still gives us the responsibility of giving. And these heads of their families fulfilled their responsibility. And by doing so, they were an example to others. By the way, there is a difference between being showy in your giving and being an example. These people are mentioned in the context of their families. There is no indication that their example was to people outside of their families. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that our right hand is not to know what our left hand is giving. That is because the religious leaders of the day would make a big deal about the amount of money they were giving. They would use the excuse that they were being an example to the people, but they were really doing it out of pride. “Look at how much more religious I am than you are. It’s quite obvious by the amount of money I’m giving.” That is not being an example in giving. Being an example in giving is doing just what these people were doing. Being an example in the context of their families. They were leading their families by their responsible example of giving. The responsible example of giving is the first restored responsibility of giving. The second is the responsible location of giving. You can see that in the middle part of verse 68 where they gave, “when they came to the house of the Lord.”
The responsible location of giving. Look at where they were. Remember, this is after those three little words we talked about earlier. Those three little travel words—“when they came.” They had already traveled the 1000 miles from Babylon to Jerusalem. So here they were. Standing in the majestic house of the Lord filling up the offering plates. I don’t think so. Here’s what it looked like. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that when the temple was destroyed, the king of Babylon specifically sent the commander of his army to perform the task. He wanted someone who would do the job right. And he certainly did. First, he pillaged it. He cleaned it out and had people carry off all the vessels of God that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. And then when everything of value had been stripped from it, he burned it. But that still wasn’t enough for him. He wasn’t satisfied to leave it as a smoldering ruin. Because after he burned it, he leveled it. Josephus says that it was laid even with the ground. And that’s the rubble pile these people were standing in front of. That’s where they were standing, but look what they called it. They still called it the house of the Lord. It certainly wasn’t much to look at, but it was the place that God had set aside as His house. And they knew that was the place where they were to give their money. I have been in some beautiful mega-church facilities before. I have been in Jerry Falwell’s church—Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg. I have been in Chuck Swindoll’s church—Stonebriar Community Church outside of Dallas. I’ve been in Charles Stanley’s church—First Baptist Atlanta. I have been in the largest United Methodist church in America. Those churches have unimaginable facilities. They have tremendous ministries. But when I was standing in each of them, there was no mistaking that they were not my church. They were not the local church body that God had called me to be part of. God calls each of us to be part of a local church body. And that local church body is where our tithes and offerings belong. Does that mean we can’t support other ministries? As long as they are good, Bible-teaching, financially responsible ministries we can. But they aren’t our priority. Our priority in giving is our local church. The responsible location of giving is our local house of the Lord. Whether that local house is a pile of burned out rubble or the finest facility imaginable. The shape of the house doesn’t determine the responsibility for giving. Being part of the house determines responsibility for giving. God has given us wonderful facilities. But the fact that He has given us those facilities should have no bearing on our giving. Our giving is because He has been gracious enough to call us each here. He’s called us out of our personal exiles to be together here in His house. And because of that, we give here in His house. This is our responsible location of giving. Not TBN, not First Baptist Atlanta, not any of those. God supplies the needs of His local church bodies through the tithes and offerings of the people He calls to those local church bodies. Not through any other means. Not through fund drives, bake sales or car washes. That is the one way He has provided. When they came to the house of the Lord, they gave. When we come to the house of the Lord, we give. The responsible location of giving is the second restored responsibility of giving. The third is the responsible attitude of giving. You can see the people’s attitude toward giving in the last part of verse 68 and the first part of verse 69. They gave their offerings freely and they gave after their ability.
The responsible attitude of giving. This goes back to where they were. Picture them standing there in the middle of that rubble pile. Verse 68 ½ says that they had a business meeting to decide where their money was going to be spent and then they gave. Oh, that’s not in there? Do you suppose there’s a reason it’s not in there? It’s not in there because verse 68 says that they gave freely. That word literally means a “freewill offering.” It’s used 17 times in the Old Testament and not one of those times is it dependant on any outside circumstances. In other words, a freewill offering is exactly that. It is given freely with no strings attached. Does that mean that we have no say about how the church money gets spent? Of course not. That’s what the budget process is for. What it does mean is that the people who were standing in the middle of the rubble there in Jerusalem didn’t have to know what the color of the carpet was before they decided to give. They didn’t have to know how many bathrooms were going to be in the building before they gave. They gave freely, knowing that they were giving to the Lord. Not a building—not a specific program—not a pet project. They gave freely to the Lord. But in giving to the Lord, they all weren’t expected to give the same amount. Verse 69 says that they gave according to their ability. That is, they gave according to their actual ability—not their perceived ability. That’s where I think we sometimes get off track when we talk about tithing. Yes, tithing is Scriptural. There are many places in both the Old and New Testament where tithing is the accepted minimum standard of giving. Notice that I said minimum. You don’t usually think of him in that way, but John Wesley was eventually one of the wealthiest men in England. But I want you to listen to how his spending habits changed over the years the more money that he made. In his first year of ministry he lived on 28 pounds. That was 93% of his income. He gave 2 pounds, or 7% to the church. In his second year, he still lived on 28 pounds. That was 47% of his income. He gave the other 53% to the church. In his third year, he still lived on 28 pounds. He gave the other 69% to the church. Later on in his ministry, he did give himself a raise. He lived on 30 pounds, but in turn gave the other 98% of his income to the church. So what does it mean to give “after your ability?” For Wesley, at one time in his life, it was below the biblical standard of a tithe. At another time in his life it was 98% of his income. The Lord doesn’t want people to starve to death. He doesn’t want us to leave our bills unpaid. But at the same time, tithing is the only thing Scripture tells us to test God in. Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” That is the only area in which God tells us to test Him. He says, “Give my tithe to Me and let Me prove Myself to you.” But it doesn’t necessarily just stop there. Giving after your ability might stop with your tithe, but not necessarily. The responsible attitude of giving is giving like Wesley did. It’s giving like the Macedonians did in 2 Corinthians 8. It’s giving like the men in our passage did. The responsible attitude of giving is the third restored responsibility of giving. The fourth is the responsible abundance of giving. You can see this in the amount of things they gave in verse 69. “Threescore and one thousand drams of gold, and five thousand pound of silver, and one hundred priests’ garments.”
The responsible abundance of giving. W.A. Criswell was one of the best-known Southern Baptist preachers of the 20th century. For many years, he was the pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas and he founded one of the best Baptist colleges in the country, Criswell College. One time during his ministry, he had a young man come to him and tell him that he’d promised God a tithe of his income. Criswell prayed with him and asked God to bless his career. At that time, he was making $40 a week and tithing $4 per week. In just a few short years, his income increased to the point that he was tithing $500 per week. Once his tithes got to be that much, the young man called Criswell and asked him if he could be released from his tithing promise. He said it was costing him too much money. Here’s what Criswell told him, “I don’t see how you can be released from your promise, but here’s what I’ll do. I’ll pray that God will reduce your income back to a level where your comfortable paying your tithe.” Needless to say, that wasn’t what the young man was looking for. He saw the abundance of what he was giving and thought it was too much. That’s not what the people in our text thought. We see the numbers in verse 69 and don’t really know how much money they’re talking about. Well, it was a whole lot of money. There is some debate about the word that the King James translates as drams. It probably refers to the Persian money called darics. Darics were thick gold coins that were worth four days’ wages—each. And verse 69 says that they gave 61,000 of them. That is nearly 670 years worth of wages. I don’t know how much that is in today’s money, but it’s a lot. And that doesn’t even include over two tons of silver. And throw in the priestly garments for good measure. The point is, that their gift was abundant. They didn’t skimp. They saw the need and poured out their money abundantly. The responsible abundance of giving is the fourth restored responsibility of giving. The fifth and final is the responsible priority of giving. Look at verse 70.
EZRA 2:70
The responsible priority of giving. I have moved several times in my life. And every time that I have moved there is no questioning my first priority. My first priority is to find a place to live. But notice what these people’s top priority was. It was to take their offerings to the temple. It blows my mind to think that they did that before they even found where they were going to live. What is your priority in giving to the Lord’s house? What place in your list of priorities does it fall into? Well, I’ll increase my tithe after I get that new car. I’ll give to the Lord’s house after I get my savings account built up. I’ll give to the Lord’s house after I get through the holidays. God is looking for your firstfruits—not your leftovers. He’s looking at the example you set to your family with your giving. He’s looking at the location to where you’re giving. He’s looking at the attitude you have when you give. He’s looking for the abundance that you give and He’s looking at the priority of your giving.
Does talking about money in church offend you? Does preaching stewardship make you mad or make you uncomfortable? Have you ever noticed what happens when you go to the doctor? He’ll lay you up on that paper-covered table and lift up your shirt and start poking at you. He’ll poke you in one place and say, “Does that hurt?” Then he’ll poke you somewhere else and say, “How about there, does that hurt?” He usually does that several times and then pulls down your shirt and everything’s OK. But, if he pokes you and it hurts, something’s wrong. Either the doctor poked too hard or something’s wrong with your insides. I pray that when I preach texts that deal with money, I don’t poke the wrong way. If I am faithful to the text, then the Holy Spirit is the One who is doing the poking. And if He’s doing the poking, it’s right. If it hurts, then there just might be something wrong with your insides. Are you being an example to your family in the way that you give? Are you giving your money to the right location? Do you have the right attitude in the way that you give? Are you giving abundantly? Is giving to the Lord’s house taking the right priority in your life? If not, then you probably have been offended tonight. But make no mistake about it, it’s not me that’s offending you. It’s the Holy Spirit through the all-sufficient power of God’s Word. And you’ve only got two ways you can deal with Him. You can either quench Him or respond to Him. If your insides are hurting tonight, get the treatment you need. Respond in obedience to the Holy Spirit tonight.
