Called to Give Our Best to God!

21st Sunday after Pentecost, Stewardship Sunday, 10/21/12
1 Chronicles 29:1-9


Called to Give Our Best to God!


It’s late afternoon and the telephone rings. It’s grandma. She’s calling to ask if it would be OK for her 8-year-old grandson to go out for dinner with her and his grandfather that evening. Her daughter, the boy’s mother, says, “Sure. See you in about 15 minutes.”

She then tells him, “Hurry up and change your clothes. You’re going to a restaurant with Grandma and Grandpa. Put on one of your best school outfits.” A few minutes later her son comes out of his bedroom. Much to his mother’s dismay, he’s wearing a faded Bengals T-shirt with the name “Palmer” barely legible across his shoulders and his favorite shorts, the ones with the hem that’s beginning to fray. He hardly walks two steps before his mother informs him, “I said one of your BEST school outfits. Turn around right now and change clothes.”

Her son obeyed, but not before informing her, “But this IS one of my best.” In his 8-year-old way of looking at things, this outfit is one of his best.

Our focus on this stewardship Sunday is that we are called to give our best to God. It’s good for us to hear that reminder because we often don’t think in those terms. Instead, we consider what’s available, what’s left, what we don’t need for something else. But what statement are we making about ourselves and our relationship with our God when we use our best on ourselves and give what’s left to God? What are we telling the God who gave his best—his Son—for us?

But what is our best? That varies from person to person much like the definition of the best school outfit we just heard about. Our best depends on our circumstances, and that means we have to put some thought into it. We might think it would be wonderful if God simply told us exactly what he wants us to give to him. But he doesn’t. What pleases him is when we ponder all that he has done for us and then, with hearts of love and thankfulness, we determine what we will give to him.

Even though this morning’s sermon text describes the amount of money that David gave for the work of the Lord, let’s not limit our thoughts and comments just to the same. Let’s consider all that we are and have and realize that we are called to give our best to God. May the Lord fill us with that desire and the means to accomplish it as he shares his word with us this morning.

Today’s sermon text presents us with one of the many biblical examples of what God’s people offered to the Lord. It presents us with the example of King David rather late in his life. We might have a rather romantic view of David’s life as king, but the biblical facts of his life paint a very different story. The reality is that David’s life was a long, unbroken string of difficulties. Long ago he had stopped counting how many people wanted to take his life—some of them were his own family members. Terrible things had happened to David and his loved ones—betrayal, murder, and rape to name just a few. In spite of the fact that he was one of the most powerful kings in the world at that time and in spite of his vast wealth, David realized how helpless he was to control things. As David now looked back on his life, he noted that all along the Lord was in control. He had an almighty God.

Most importantly, David knew how merciful that God was. Recall David’s sins—adultery, murder, sinful pride, his failures as a father. David rightly knew the punishment he deserved for his sins. And yet the Lord had been merciful to him. He announced his gracious forgiveness to David.

The Lord’s forgiving love for David caused David to love the Lord. That love planned to build a magnificent Temple for the Lord right there in Jerusalem. But the Lord told David he had other plans. He wanted David’s son Solomon to build that Temple. And so David determined he would show his love for the Lord in another way—he brought an offering to the Lord, an offering which would be used to build that Temple.

Listen to the details. David said, “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 of gold and seven thousand talents of refined silver.” Do those amounts mean anything to you? Let me help you with it. 3,000 talents of gold is about 110 tons. 7,000 talents of silver is about 260 tons. We tend to measure gold and silver in ounces. David was measuring it by the ton, hundreds of tons. I found one comment that stated David’s offering using current prices for gold and silver would be about $5 billion. That’s billion with a B! That’s a staggering amount!

But wasn’t this grandstanding on David’s part? Had David succumbed once again to the temptation to be sinfully proud and arrogant? Was he trying to show-off before his fellow Israelites?

Not at all. David presented this offering with humbleness and gratitude to the Lord. So why not just give it in secret? Because, as the leader of God’s people, David wanted to present the Israelites with a godly example. He was offering to the Lord his best. He wanted his subjects to do the same. So he followed his example with this godly encouragement, “Now, who is willing to consecrate himself today to the LORD?” Just what did David mean? He was asking his people to dedicate themselves to the Lord first—to make their lives an offering to the Lord—and then to follow that by participating in this offering for the building of the Temple.

In doing so, David was actually pointing these people to Christ. You see, every aspect of the worship in the Temple was designed to point the people to the promise of the Savior. That’s what every sacrifice was all about. Every repetition of sacrifice there in the Temple reminded the people of the coming Savior who would sacrifice himself once for all the sins of all people. That was God’s firm promise to David. David firmly believed that promise and lived to share that promise with others.

In the previous chapter of 1 Chronicles David reminded the people that God had promised to establish his kingdom forever. David knew this was God’s promise that the Savior, the only One who would rule forever—would come from David’s family.

That eternal ruler would not be David’s son Solomon. As great as Solomon was, Solomon didn’t follow all of God’s commands. His many wives influenced him to build temples to their false gods. Solomon eventually died and then began the slow downward spiral of God’s people. Many of the kings who ruled over them were rank idol-worshippers. They influenced the Israelites to ignore worship at the Temple and to neglect God’s word. Eventually the Lord had enough, and the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s magnificent Temple along with it.

But the Lord had not forgotten his promise to send a Savior. About 1,000 years after David, one of David’s descendants, an unlikely king, pointed to himself and spoke about tearing this temple down and raising it in three days. You know that unlikely king. His name is Jesus. And that’s exactly what happened. His enemies succeeded in condemning him to death on Calvary’s cross. Unwittingly they were carrying out God’s plan of salvation. He was sacrificing his only Son for the sins of the world. His blood was shed on Calvary’s cross so that the punishment for the sins of the world—every one of your sins as well—was carried out. Jesus took the punishment for our sins on himself. He paid what we owe. Three days later he raised the temple of his body from death. He died and rose again so that we could live with him forever. And the cost to us? Not a single thing. Not one red cent. Not one single good deed. It’s free and it’s all yours by faith in Jesus Christ. Even that faith is God’s gift to you, worked in you through word and sacrament. What an amazing God we have! His love for you and for every sinner knows no bounds.

So, how will you respond to his love for you? Do what David encouraged. Consecrate yourself to him. Give your entire life to him with all of your time, all of your abilities and all of your possessions. Use all that you have to his glory. And then give him your best. God doesn’t tell you what that is. He lets you, with a heart full of love and thanks, determine what that is. As you ponder that, recall his blessings to you—chiefly the blessing of his Son as your Savior. Amen.