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—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. 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: 4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?” 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 toward 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. 10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. 14 “But 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. 15 We are aliens and strangers in your sight, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. 16 O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. 18 O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you. 19 And give my son Solomon the wholehearted devotion to keep your commands, requirements and decrees and to do everything to build the palatial structure for which I have provided.” 20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the LORD your God.” So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed low and fell prostrate before the LORD and the king.
Today we are going to address a topic that is often uncomfortable for both the pastors and people of many churches. We are going to address the topic of stewardship.
When you go to a doctor for your annual check-up, he or she will often begin to poke, prod, and press various places, all the while asking, "Does this hurt? How about this?" If you cry out in pain, one of two things has happened. Either the doctor has pushed too hard, without the right sensitivity. Or, more likely, there’s something wrong, and the doctor will say, "We’d better do some more tests. It’s not supposed to hurt there!" So it is when pastors preach on financial responsibility, and certain members cry out in discomfort, criticizing the message and the messenger. Either the pastor has pushed too hard. Or perhaps there’s something wrong. In that case, I say, "My friend, we’re in need of the Great Physician because it’s not supposed to hurt there."
This is not going to be a fund raising campaign. Nor is this going to be a plea for more money. It is simply going to be an honest look at the issue of stewardship from a passage in 1 Chronicles which talks about how David and the people provided the resources for building the temple of God. As we look at this passage together we will be asking and answering three questions: 1) Why do we give? 2) How do we give? and 3) What do we give? We will not be exhaustive in our answers to these questions but will primarily stick to this passage and see what it has to say to us regarding these things.
In today’s lesson we will learn that stewardship is a sign of loyalty to God. David writes, “O Lord, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire (for stewardship) in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you” (29:18). Stewardship is the evidence that our hearts are truly loyal to God. This is the case because our finances are usually one of the last areas that we are willing to turn over to God. Therefore, when one becomes a good steward we can be sure of their devotion to God. A pastor once said, “If God has their checkbook, you know he has their heart.” I think that is very true.
Lloyd C. Douglas tells the story of Thomas Hearne, who, "in his journey to the mouth of the Coppermine River, wrote that a few days after they had started on their expedition, a party of Indians stole most of their supplies. His comment on the apparent misfortune was: ’The weight of our baggage being so much lightened, our next day’s journey was more swift and pleasant.’ Hearne was in route to something very interesting and important; and the loss of a few sides of bacon and a couple of bags of flour meant nothing more than an easing of the load. Had Hearne been holed in somewhere, in a cabin, resolved to spend his last days eking out an existence, and living on capital previously collected, the loss of some of his stores by plunder would probably have worried him almost to death." How we respond to "losing" some of our resources for God’s work depends upon whether we are on the move or waiting for our last stand.
Let’s look at this passage together.
1 WHY SHOULD WE GIVE?
This is a very good question to start with, as it is foundational to understand the purpose of stewardship. Many would say that they have worked very hard to earn their money and so why should they turn around and give it away to God. They worked for it. They earned it. It belongs to them. But as we begin to delve into the passage at hand we quickly learn that this simply isn’t true.
1.1 Because Everything Belongs To God.
If it really belongs to you, you can do with it as you please. However right off the bat we learn that it doesn’t really belong to us but to God. David prays, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours” (v. 11). This exposes a fundamental flaw in the worldviews of most people including many Christians. It shows us that our possessions and our money really belong to God and not to us. And since it doesn’t belong to us in the first place we have no right to hoard it for ourselves.
1.2 Because Everything Comes From God.
Not only does God own all things, but also everything we have comes to us as a gift from God. “Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all” (v. 12). We give to God because in reality he is both the owner of all things and the source of all things. David clearly understood this when he wrote: “Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand” (v.14). When you understand this truth you realize that when you give you are not giving God what belongs to you, but you are giving God what already belongs to him. For David this was a matter of praise and worship. “Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name” (v. 13). We are often guilty of viewing the song service as the worship. But the offering is every bit as much an act of worship as is singing praise to God. In fact, if we sing our praise to God, but do not back that up with giving to God our songs of praise ring empty.
2 HOW SHOULD WE GIVE?
This question deals with what manner we should give to God. Did you know that it is not enough to simply give to God? Did you know that you could give to God, but do it in the wrong way? It is important that when we give to God we do it for the right reason and in the right way.
2.1 We Should Give Generously.
David and the people gave very generously to the Lord’s work. “But 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” (v.14). We can give generously to God because God has given generously to us. How generous were David and the people in their giving? Consider these numbers. “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: three thousand talents (110 tons) of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents (260 tons) of refined silver” (vv. 3-4). When the people saw the generosity of their leader they were moved to follow suit. “They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents (190 tons) and ten thousand darics (180 pounds) of gold, ten thousand talents (375 tons) of silver, eighteen thousand talents (675 tons) of bronze and a hundred thousand talents (3,750 tons) of iron. Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord” (vv. 7-8). That is some very generous giving. But before you get overwhelmed with those massive numbers remember that that were able to generously give to God because God had given generously to them. The Bible tells us that we should give to God in proportion to how we have been blessed. This is the principle of tithing. This is the practice of giving 10% of what God has given us back to him. We give to God generously as he has blessed us.
2.2 We Should Give Willingly.
It is one thing to give generously, but it is another to give willingly. Would you be able to give as generously as the people of Israel did and do so willingly or would you have to be coerced? There are many examples throughout history of kings collecting money from the people by force. But David did not have to send out the army to go door-to-door collecting from the people at the point of a sword. “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord” (v. 9). David also said, “I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you” (v.17). In verse eighteen David prays that this will always be the desire of the hearts of the people. That they would always desire to give to God both generously and willingly. It is this attitude of giving generously and willingly that identifies one as being loyal to God.
3 WHAT SHOULD WE GIVE?
We have learned why we should give to God and how we should give to God. Now we turn our attention to what we should give to him. There are three things that we should give to God that are suggested by this passage. David gave gold and silver “for all the work to be done by the craftsmen” (v.5).
3.1 We Should Give Our Tithe.
David and the people gave God their gold and silver. They gave to God financially. As I mentioned earlier, our financial giving is governed by the principle of the tithe. “A tithe of everything ... belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord” (Leviticus 27:30). The Bible identifies a tithe as a tenth. So ten percent of everything we make belongs to God and he expects us to honor him by giving to him. To keep the tithe that belongs to God is considered stealing from God.
In the Old Testament they brought their tithe to the temple which is where they worshiped. So I believe that we give our tithe where we worship. If you worship here at Milnerton Presby, you should give your tithe here. If you attend another church, you should give your tithe there. You should give your tithe at your place of worship.
A tithe is not an offering. The Bible distinguishes between tithes and offerings so they are not the same thing. The tithe is what you owe to God, its what belongs to God. An offering is what you choose to give above your tithe. An offering is usually given for a particular cause or ministry. That also distinguishes it from a tithe. The tithe was given to God to be used as he specified, not as the people specified. To give money that is earmarked for a particular purpose is not a tithe, but an offering. The tithe belongs to God and because it belongs to God we have no right to determine how it will be used. That is up to him.
3.2 We Should Give Our Talent.
The gold and silver was given so that the craftsmen would have the necessary provisions to work with. These craftsmen were giving their talent to God and we should be doing the same. You may not think of yourself as being particularly talented but everybody has things that they are good at and that they enjoy doing. These are the talents that God has given you and you have a responsibility to give them back to God by using them in his work. You may think of your talent only as a way to make a living, but you need to start seeing as a way to do ministry as well.
3.3 We Should Give Our Time.
This is closely related to giving God our talent. If the craftsmen were to give God their talent in constructing the temple, then they were going to have to give him a good amount of their time as well. Next to our money our time is probably our most precious commodity. It seems like we never have enough time. But if we are to give our talent to God we must also give our time to God. It takes time to prepare for and teach a Sunday School class or Bible study. It takes time to clean the church. It takes time to make repairs. It takes time to minister to our community. Everything takes time and so we must be willing to carve the necessary time out of our busy schedules. God expects us to generously and willingly give him our tithe, talent and time. That is the sign of loyalty.
Once, a man said, "If I had some extra money, I’d give it to God, but I have just enough to support myself and my family." And the same man said, "If I had some extra time, I’d give it to God, but every minute is taken up with my job, my family, my clubs, and what have you--every single minute." And the same man said, "If I had a talent I’d give it to God, but I have no lovely voice; I have no special skill; I’ve never been able to lead a group; I can’t think cleverly or quickly, the way I would like to." And God was touched, and although it was unlike him, God gave that man money, time, and a glorious talent. And then He waited, and waited, and waited.....And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious talent. After a while, the man sighed and said, "If I only had some of that money back, I’d give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I’d give it to God. If I could only rediscover that glorious talent, I’d give it to God." And God said, "Oh, shut up." And the man told some of his friends, "You know, I’m not so sure that I believe in God anymore."
One of Pepsi’s most popular commercials was The Pepsi Challenge. The challenge was to a taste test between Pepsi and Coke. They believed that if you would be willing to give Pepsi a try, you would find that you liked it better. In Malachi chapter 3 God introduces us to The Tithe Challenge. “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it” (Mal 3:10). God says test me. Give tithing a try and you will find that God blesses you. As we begin a new month I want to encourage you to take The Tithe Challenge. If you are not currently tithing, I would like to challenge you to give 10% of your income to God this month. If you do you will be blessed by God. If you don’t, the Bible says God will curse you. “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse ... because you are robbing me” (Malachi 3:8-9). But if you tithe you will avoid this curse and receive God’s blessing. That doesn’t mean that God will make you rich. But it does mean that the 90% you have left will be sufficient to meet your needs (not your greeds) and if you were honest many of you are having a hard time doing that on 100%. Give tithing a try this month.
David Livingstone: “I place no value on anything I have or may possess, except in relation to the kingdom of God. If anything will advance the interests of the kingdom, it shall be given away or kept, only as by giving or keeping it I shall most promote the glory of Him to whom I owe all my hopes in time or eternity.”
