WHO ARE WE THAT WE ARE ABLE TO GIVE?
All that gold didn’t go to waste. The Lord’s temple, that was finally built during the reign of King Solomon, made good use of all the gifts that had been gathered over the years by David and his people. The entire inside of that temple was eventually overlaid with gold and that gold was covered in engravings of palm trees and cherubim and other intricate designs. The two cherubim sculptures whose wing spans were a combined 30 feet wide were set in the Most Holy Place and also covered in pure gold. They even used golden nails in this building! There were ten golden lampstands, a golden altar, solid gold utensils, golden sprinkling bowls, golden censers, and even the doors of the temple were covered in gold. The billions and billions of dollars worth of this precious metal that had been collected over the years were used to beautify God’s house and glorify his name in many different ways. And you can imagine how magnificent the results were! This richly ornamented and extravagantly decorated temple was a testament to the dedication of God’s people to the worship of their Lord as well as an indication of how much their Lord had blessed them to give. And so it was a grand celebration on the dedication day of this temple and the entire land of Israel held a great festival of praise for two straight weeks. And when this special celebration came to an end, Solomon “sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the LORD had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel” (2 Chron. 7:10).
But, of course, David wasn’t there. He had died about ten years earlier. He didn’t have a chance to be part of this wonderful celebration. He never got to see what he had worked so hard for and what he had given so much to and what he had looked forward to for so long. But David knew that was the way it was going to be. And he was fine with it! David was overjoyed simply to prepare for this house of the Lord that would one day be built by his son. Because listen to his excitement and his gratitude to the Lord for what he and his people had been able to do: “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.”
It honestly didn’t bother David that he wouldn’t be allowed to actually construct the temple for his Lord. It didn’t bother him that he would never see the results of all his planning. It didn’t bother him that what he had asked for and what he had wanted to do for the Lord so badly would be a privilege given to someone else. David was just happy that he was able to give! He was overjoyed in the fact that the Lord had blessed him in such a way that he could give back to him in so many different areas! David was not bitter or frustrated or disappointed. David just wanted to give. And he couldn’t thank the Lord enough for supplying him with the means and the opportunity to do just that.
I’m not so sure we always look at giving to the Lord in that way. I know that my attitude isn’t always what David’s was when he was preparing for the temple. Because the thought that runs through our minds is not: “What a great thing it is that we are able to give! What can I give, Lord? Just give me a chance! Give me an opportunity! I can’t wait to get rid of some of these blessings that you have showered upon me in this life! How can I do that, Lord?” No, I think our attitudes are usually more along the lines of: “What should I give? What am I supposed to give? What seems reasonable? I’ve gathered everything that I have and I’ve laid it all out in front of me on the table and now much of all this should I give back? Of course, I really like to do this and I would really like to keep this part of my life the way it is and I really want of few of these things that I don’t have yet and this event is coming up in the near future and this major purchase is something I’d like to be able to do and this trip is going to cost a pretty penny… but I probably should give something back, right? I probably should participate in a couple different things this year at church. I probably should offer my time and talents in some way… What am I supposed to do? What should I give?”
There’s a big difference between “What should I do” and “What can I do” isn’t there? It’s a battle between what I want for myself and what I want to give to the Lord. Now it’s not wrong, of course, for you to buy things that you want or do things that you want or plan for things that you want. You should enjoy the blessings that the Lord has given you in this world. It would be a sin not to. But when it comes to the manner in which we approach giving back to the Lord, sometimes we treat it as another bill we have to pay or an obligation we have to meet or something we should probably do because we would feel guilty if we didn’t. And that mindset stems from the fact that we are all a little needy and greedy. We think that we need a lot of things that we probably don’t need in the end. We think that we need to rely on things that we probably don’t have to rely on. We think that we need certain things to make us happy when we probably could be just as happy without them. And then, of course, we always want more too. We want the better things and the nicer things and the newer things and the bigger things. And so after all the things that we could buy and after all the things that we could do and after all the things that we could get involved with and after all the things that we could spend our time on and after all the things that we could expend our efforts on in our lives, sometimes there’s not a whole lot left for the Lord. And it’s no longer “what can I give” or “how can I give it,” it becomes “what should I give” or even “what do I have left in the tank that I can bear to part with?”
That thought process is a long way off from the way David acted at the end of 1 Chronicles, isn’t it? “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this?” David didn’t feel obligated to give in any way. He didn’t feel like he “had to” or that he absolutely “should” give something back to the Lord because of some requirement or command. In fact, the Lord commanded him not to build the temple! The Lord commanded him to leave the construction to his son. The Lord commanded him that although his heart was in the right place, he was not going to be the king who would end up building the house of the Lord. David didn’t have to do anything! David wasn’t obligated to give toward the building of this temple at all! He could have legitimately left all of the planning and all of the preparations and all of the gathering of the gifts to his son Solomon; and that would have been perfectly OK. But David just couldn’t do that! He couldn’t hold back the blessings that he had been given! He had been blessed with so many things in this life that he wanted nothing more than to give as much of it back as he could! And so he spent the time and the effort to raise and gather and save over 181 billion dollars in gold. And then from his own personal checkbook he gave another 5.3 billion dollars in gold to this future building that he would never lay eyes on. And he was happy about that! He was ecstatic that he was able contribute to the Lord’s house even though he would never see the results.
Why was David so content? Why was David so pleased that he was able to simply give to the Lord? David was so eager to give because of what the Lord had given to him. The Lord had promised David that he would always be with him throughout his life. The Lord had promised David that his own son would sit on the throne after him (and that was a big deal because it had never happened before). The Lord had promised David that Solomon would build a magnificent temple for his people. The Lord had promised David that his line would be established and blessed forever. And, most importantly, the Lord had promised David that the Messiah himself would be one of his own descendants. And so not only had David been blessed with plenty of physical wealth while he lived on this earth, the Lord also gave to David riches beyond gold and silver; the Lord had given David a Savior. And in response to that, David let loose! He was not about to hold back something that he was able to give! How could he after all that the Lord had done for him and promised him and given him?
Is there any reason why we shouldn’t let loose? Is there any reason why we should hold back? That Savior wasn’t just for David! That Savior is for us too! And that Savior gave up everything for us! Everything Jesus had, he let loose. Everything he could offer to us, he did. Everything that was in his ability to do for our good, he got it done. He didn’t hold anything back from us. He didn’t keep anything for himself. His comfortable life in heaven? He gave it up for a time so that he would be just as uncomfortable as we are on this sinful earth. His almighty power? He put it behind his back in a way to suffer at the hands of the same enemies we face in this life. The many opportunities he had to settle down and have a big family and nice house and a well-paying job? It didn’t even cross his mind. He gave that life up because that’s not what he was here to do. His sleep? He went without on many occasions just to pray for us. His health? He handed that over when he allowed himself to be captured by that Judas-Iscariot-led mob in the Garden. His happiness? He lived in grief so that we could be happy. His perfection? He took that place on the cross as if he were the most awful sinner just to earn our forgiveness. His life? Not even his life was he going to hold back from us. Everything that he had, he gave. And everything he has now he gives us still.
Our generous Lord supplies us with more things than we know what to do with. He blesses us with more talents than we can use. And he gives us more opportunities to give back to him than we can possibly take advantage of. The Lord keeps giving and giving and giving to us out of his endless supply of blessings not only so that we can be happy and enjoy a little bit of this life, but so that we are able to give back to him. He is supplying us with the ways and the means with which we can thank him! We are able to give! Isn’t that great! We have been blessed with so much - with the physical blessings we have and the talents he has given us each individually and the time he has allowed us to use in each of our own lives - we have been given so much that we aren’t just surviving, we are thriving! We have over and above! We have extra! And yes, the Lord has supplied each of us with a different set of blessings in different ways and at different times. One Christian may be able to give this. Another Christian may be able to offer this. Another Christian may be able to use this particular talent. Another Christian may be able to put in this amount of time. But no matter who you are as a Christian and no matter what station in life the Lord has placed you at this time, it’s not what should you give, it’s what can you give. You are able to give back to the Lord! Understand what an outstanding blessing that really is!
The leaders during David’s day understood that well. Some of them gave gold to the building of the temple. But others gave silver, some gave bronze, some gave iron, and some gave precious stones. But no matter what an individual gave and no matter what amount it was, “the people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD” (1 Chron. 29:9). In whatever you do and wherever you are, give freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. There is no coercion here. There are no inspections or evaluations. There is no guilt. There is only joy and happiness and an uncontrollable urge to give back to the Lord whatever we can. And there has been joy and happiness and an uncontrollable urge to give in this congregation, hasn’t there? I’ve been amazed over the years at what you are able and willing to give. The gifts you give so that this congregation can function. The time you sacrifice to make sure the day to day operations are taken care of. The efforts you make so that our evangelism and outreach attempts are done well. The offerings you present for the sake of a piece of property and a building and a preschool. Look back over these years and marvel at the way the Lord has blessed us and moved us to give! Continue to make use of those opportunities to give and look for others way that you might be able to show your appreciation to your God. After all, who am I, and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from our Lord, and we have given only what comes from his hand.
Amen.
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us - yes, establish the work of our hands.” - Psalm 90:17
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