Giving Willingly

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Let me run past you the story of our last two years at JPC.

In spring 2013, we heard that the Roman Catholics were looking for anyone who could use a building they couldn't keep open. It was St Joseph's, Benwell. And after talking, they said they'd sell it to us for a nominal £1 – if we could use it. So that May we had a church meeting to start us all thinking and praying about whether we believed God wanted us to get a second site. And that June we had a Gift Week where God led pledges of over £1.2 million pounds – which was his way of bringing us to the point of going for it. We could only estimate then what St Joseph's would cost to renovate, and last year we found we'd need another £700,000. So we had a second Gift Week last November where, as if to reassure us about going for it, the Lord has led pledges so far of over £700,000. So preaching at this giving review does seem like teaching grandmothers to suck eggs.

What do you say to people who've just given an extra £2 million?

Well, what tonight's Bible passage says is this: Keep giving with exactly the same attitude as these last two years. And just like last year, we found preaching Zechariah and Haggai gave us words from God for the exact moment we were in… 1 Chronicles 29 is a word from God for this exact moment.

So would you turn in the Bibles to page 356 and that will get you to 1 Chronicles 29. 1 Chronicles 29 is about how David, king of God's Old Testament people, prepared them to build God's temple – that Old Testament building that symbolised God's presence at the centre of their lives.

So here's the picture in 1 Chronicles 29. David was now king over Israel in the promised land. And he was preparing them to build God's temple, but God had told David that he wouldn't actually build it, but that his son Solomon would. And sure enough, Solomon succeeded him and got the temple built.

But fast forward 400 years, and Israel had turned away from God so badly that, as a judgement, he let them be invaded and exiled. And in the process, the temple was destroyed. So let's call that: 'generation ex' – short for exile. But, after that judgement had run its course, God allowed them back to the land and they rebuilt their lives – and the temple. So we'll call them 'generation post-ex'.

And the book of Chronicles was written for them – maybe 400 years before Jesus. So look down to 1 Chronicles 29, v1:

And David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace [by which he means the temple] will not be for man but for the Lord God. So I have provided for the house of my God [ie, for building the temple]… (vv1-2)

And then comes this amazing list of wealth that David gave. Skip to the end of v5:

Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD?" (v5)

Ie, who'll follow my example? And the leaders and people of Israel do. Skip to v9:

Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. (v9)

So here's the question: Why did the writer of Chronicles think that 'generation post-ex' needed to hear that? Why point them back to that amazing giving which got the original temple built – presumably as an example to follow? After all, 'generation post-ex' didn't need to give to get a temple built – it was built already.

Well, the answer is: although they didn't need to give to get the temple built, they did need to give to make the ministry of the temple happen. Which is just what they were failing to do and we know that from the book of Malachi.

In the Old Testament, God required his people to give 10% (or a 'tithe') of their income to the ministry of the temple. And that was to support the full-time ministers there, who basically did two things. One was running the sacrifices through which people related to God in Old Testament time. And the other was teaching the Bible – what was then written of it – so that people could know God and live for him as they should.

So the ministry of those full-timers was crucial to the spiritual health of Israel – and to their witness to the world around them. But Malachi says that 'generation post-ex' had become so spiritually half-hearted, they weren't giving to make it happen. And that's why Chronicles replays the story of that amazing giving which got the original temple built in order to say to 'generation post-ex', 'Look, you've got the temple; but you haven't got the ministry that's meant to be happening there. And you need to give to the temple ministry with the same attitude as David's generation gave to the temple building in the first place.'

And that's where you find the word to us, for this exact moment. The word to us is not that we've been half-hearted and failed to give (speaking corporately, anyway; only you know individually). No, the word to us is this: you've given to get the building, to get the new site; now, you need to keep giving with the same attitude to make the multi-site ministry happen.

Because it's fallen to us, as this generation of JPC, to do both: Buy the new building. And fund the growing, multi-site ministry.

So what we can't do is: breathe a sigh of relief and say, 'Well, that's the serious giving done; now we can just drop back to what we were doing before.'

Because the ministry's about to spread from one site to two. We've already added staff to anticipate that – which is the big cost. But there's also going to be the added cost of actually doing ministry at St Joseph's – as opposed to just renovating it. And it does take Christian maturity to give to humdrum, regular ministry costs which are less exciting than buying a building.

So having given to St Joseph's, when it's finished I'll be able to think, 'Wow, maybe my money put the catering kitchen in – that's' my dishwasher.'
But now I need to be equally willing to say, 'Wow, maybe my money has paid for all the service sheets this year – or all the toilet rolls. Isn't that a privilege – that because of me, no-one's been embarrassed in a cubicle this year?'

Now our prayer is for rapid growth as more people come to Christ both there and here but until that happens, and those people become givers alongside us, the financial burden rests on us. Which is why 1 Chronicles 29 is a word for this exact moment, because to people who've got their building (or in our case, two) it says: now you need to keep giving with the same attitude to make the ministry happen. And it gives two encouragements to do that, and the first is this:

1. There's Nothing Greater You can do with Your Money

Look down to 1 Chronicles 29, v1 again:

And David the king said to all the assembly, "Solomon my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace [ie, temple] will not be for man but for the Lord God." (v1)

So David was saying, 'Building this temple is a great work because it's for God and his purposes and his honour.' And if you'd asked him, 'But how exactly?', he'd have said:

No.1, it's going to represent God's presence in his world.
And no.2, it's going to be a ministry centre through which people will come to know God, and live for him as they should.

And the New Testament says: that vision for the temple is now fulfilled in us. Eg, to the church in Corinth, Paul wrote:

Do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple…? (1 Corinthians 3.16)

To us he'd have said, JPC, do you not know that you yourselves are God's temple? That you represent God by your witness in his world; and that you're to be a ministry centre through which people Tyneside-wide and world-wide (through our mission support) come to know Christ and have their lives and eternal destinies changed.

And there's nothing greater to be involved in.
And nothing greater you can do with your money.

So I was preaching this morning at Holy Trinity Gateshead – or HTG – the church we planted eight years ago, that's grown from 70 to 250. And I'm always moved by seeing what's going on there. Seeing the people who've come to faith. Seeing the Christians who'd dropped out of church disillusioned plugged back in and living for Christ again. Seeing the youth club and Holiday Club reaching kids who had no contact with Christians or the gospel.

And I can't remember how many thousand Tess and I gave towards HTG. Probably enough to have paid for an annual Mediterranean holiday these last eight years – as opposed to our borrow someone's house and slip them a few quid holidays. But I don't give that a second thought. Becauuse there's nothing greater you can do with your money than give it for God's purposes. And David knew that which is why he planned his giving so carefully.

Look on to v2:

So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver… and so on. (v2)

And if you read through 1 Chronicle, you find that lots of that wealth had come from David's military successes. But instead of spending it on other things, he'd obviously set it aside for this. And that's the basic principle of our giving review. If you're a Christian and committed to JPC as your church, we want to encourage you to plan your giving carefully. That's whether you're in CYFA or a student, right up to our seniors. And whether you've been committed to Christ for 20 years or 2 months. And you should have got our giving mail-out this week, with this booklet and in it is a suggestion of how to plan.

So step one is: work out your gross income for the year ahead – or incomes if you're a couple both earning. And personally, Tess and I include windfalls like tax credits or money gifts from relatives. If you're a student, you may say, 'I have no income.' But even if it's a loan, it's still income and you have to decide what to use it on. And you could always stop spending it on a luxury like take-out coffee so you can give what you save without drawing any more from your loan. Or you can give out of part time job money that you can call your own. Or out of granny's birthday cheque, or whatever.

So step one is: work out your gross income for the year ahead.

Step two is: work out the percentage of it which you plan to give to God's work.

That's the New Testament principle – to give a percentage, according to what you can afford. So in the booklet you'll find the starting suggestion of 10% - 5% to the ministry here, and 5% to some of our world mission partners – or others you know. But that's only a starting suggestion – it's a floor, not a ceiling. And for many of us, godliness must mean giving substantially more. So, eg, when Tess and I got married nearly eight years ago, we found we'd both been giving more than 10%, so we stuck with 15% or whatever it was for a bit. And then we decided we'd add at least 1% each year so long as we could afford it. So we're now about 20% and haven't gone bust yet. 

Then step three is to fill in the response slips and get them back to the office asap. If you're a UK tax payer, you need to use Gift Aid, so that the Government gives £25 for every £100 you give. And there's a form to set that up. And for church to plan financially, by far the best thing is for money to come in through Standing Orders – and there's a form to set that up. And even if you're in CYFA or a student, if you're a Christian and know you want to give and should, then start with something however small – a Standing Order of £5 a month is fine.

Start now, and you'll have a giving habit ready to cope with your first salary. Fail to start now and you're setting yourself up to fail to give then. And, anyway, none of us should put off obedience to Christ until tomorrow.

OK, that all came out of verse 2½! And maybe you're thinking, 'Well, it was all right for David – he had all this dosh in the national coffers. He didn't have to dig into his own pocket. But actually, he did. Look at v3:

Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God… (v3)

And after listing a not so small fortune, he says (end of v5 again),

Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the LORD? (v5)

Which is Bible-speak for saying to the Lord, 'I belong to you and everything I have belongs to you and I want to use it for your purposes.'

And God is asking us through this part of his Word tonight, 'Are you prepared to say that to me, as well?'

So, There's nothing greater you can do with your money. That's the first encouragement here as we review our giving. And the other one, briefly, is this:

2. There's Nothing that Better Reveals the State of Your Heart

Look on to v6:

Then the leaders of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over the king's work. They gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 darics of gold, 10,000 talents of silver, 18,000 talents of bronze and 100,000 talents of iron.[And again, that's talking big money.]And whoever had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the house of the LORD, in the care of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly. (vv6-9)

Now the world doesn't generally associate joy and parting with large sums of money, does it? And by nature, we don't, either. The natural thing is to think of giving as losing. But Christian giving, like all of genuine Christian living, isn't natural – it's supernatural. It's brought about by Christ coming into our hearts by his Spirit and changing what we want, changing how we see things.

And what wrong-footed me in v9 was that I expected it to say, 'Then the people rejoiced because… they'd given to something really worthwhile, of ultimate and eternal value.' Which would be true. But it's not what it says. It says:

Then the people rejoiced because… they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. (v9)

Of course they rejoiced in what they were giving to. But this says they rejoiced because of what their giving revealed about the state of their hearts, about their relationship with God and for many of us, that's been the story of our last two years, hasn't it? We've made pledges and written cheques for sums that, by each of our differing personal standards, have been faith-stretchingly big. But hasn't it given you joy? Hasn't it revealed that God really has worked in your heart to give you a real love for him and real trust for him; and that he really has broken the power of money over you, by giving you the capacity to give it away gladly? I hope it has.

So what's God saying about our giving to his work, through this part of his Word? He's saying there's nothing greater you can do with your money, and nothing that better reveals the state of your heart.

And to people who've just given an extra £2million, he says: Keep giving with exactly the same attitude as these last two years. You've made the building happen, now make the ministry happen.

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