"A Harvest of Blessings--Giving and Growing"

November 4, 2001 Rev. Gary LeTourneau

The contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings: the burnt offerings of morning and evening, and the burnt offerings for the sabbaths, the new moons, and the appointed festivals, as it is written in the law of the Lord. He commanded the people who lived in Jerusalem to give the portion due to the priests and the Levites, so that they might devote themselves to the law of the Lord. As soon as the word spread, the people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field; and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. The people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been consecrated to the Lord their God, and laid them in heaps. In the third month they began to pile up the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month. When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and his people Israel. Hezekiah questioned the chief priests and the Levites about the heaps. The chief priest Azariah, who was of the house of Zadok, answered him, "Since they began to bring the contributions into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare; for the Lord has blessed his people, so we have this great supply left over."

2 Chronicles 31:3-10

 

I'm going to talk today about giving and growing, and how in God's design for life, giving and growing are inseparably connected. Our mission statement, right on the front of our bulletin, says our desire as a church is "to grow in Christ." I'd submit to you we can't do that in any dimension until we learn to give as Christians, as well.

I'd like to begin with seventh grade wood shop class--an unlikely beginning! It was a 12-week class. We had the opportunity to pursue almost any projects we liked. Really, for seventh grade boys, the things that were produced in that seventh grade wood shop class were impressive. They'd make gun racks and beautiful bookcases. Some of the guys (and back then it was all guys in wood shop class) learned to use a lathe and they would make beautiful bowls or cookie jars. Every week or so they'd have a new project to get their grade on and then take home. In my 60 hours (an hour a day for 12 weeks), I produced one cutting board about this big! I was not a highly-motivated student in wood shop. I think you could make it with about an hour's total work spread over three days.

When we were getting to the end of the 12 weeks, and I realized that if I didn't produce something I was likely to fail the course, I got some walnut and some spruce, cut them into one-inch strips, and glued them together so I had a nice pattern to show I'd done something. I talked my older sister into drawing a teapot on a piece of paper, which I cut out and pasted over this glued-up cutting board. On the shop's band saw I cut out the shape of the teapot, sanded it all smooth, and presented it for my grade. Miraculously, I got out of there with a "C" (it had to be a "C minus minus"), and I freely confess I didn't deserve it.

Then I went home with the teapot cutting board. What did I need with that? So I did what all boys do with projects like that: I gave it to my mother. Little did I know or suspect that when I came home from college, there on the kitchen counter, proudly displayed, would be that teapot cutting board. My wife has seen the teapot cutting board in the kitchen! She said to me last night, "You know, I think you Mom still has it." Little did I have any idea that it would become a treasure to her. What I think today as I look back: If I knew how valuable that gift would have been to my Mom, how much harder might I have worked on it in those 60 hours, if I knew what it would mean to her to be getting something from me.

And you see, I think you and I vastly underestimate God's valuing of the gifts that we present to Him. The reason is because we know who God is--that He's the creator of the universe, that He has at His disposal all the resources of the universe, and what difference does what I give to God make? It's just a little nothing compared to who God is and what God has.

Here's how another author explained it. For him, it was learning to use a crosscut saw. This is Bryan Chapell, who wrote a book Holiness by Grace. He talks about having this crosscut saw that his father taught him to use and being in the woods with his brothers,

. . . sawing on a log that we did not know had a rotten core. When we just sawed partially through the log, it split and fell off the frame. The timber hit the ground and a large piece was sheared off of the rotten log. [Then he writes:] In my childhood imagination, the unusual shape of that rotten log looked like a horse head. I took it home. For my father's next birthday, I attached a length of two-by-four board to that log-head, attached a rope tail, and stuck on some sticks to act as legs. Then I halfway hammered in a dozen or so nails down the two-by-four, put a bow on it, and presented it to my father for his birthday. When he took off the wrappings he smiled and said, "Thank you. It's wonderful! What is it?"

"It's a tie rack, Dad," I said, "See? You can put ties on those nails going down the side of the horse's body."

My Father smiled again and thanked me. Then he leaned the horse with the rotten-log-head against his closet wall (because the sticks couldn't keep it standing upright by themselves) and for years he used it as his tie rack.

[Now this is what he writes about it:] When I first gave my father that rotten-log-horse tie rack, I really thought it was good. I thought it was a work of art. But as I matured, I realized that my work was not nearly as good as I had once thought. In fact, I understood ultimately that my father had received and used my gift not because of its goodness, but because of his goodness. And in a similar way, our Heavenly Father receives our gifts, not because they're so good and deserve His love, but because God is so good and loves us. And He delights to receive expressions of that love from His children.

 

Giving and growing. How do you and I become people who grow in our capacity to love God and love others? A key element is learning how to give. I invite you to open your Bible to our Scripture passage. I realize, right off the bat, that choosing a passage from Second Chronicles 31 is not likely to spur everyone to say, "Oh, that's my favorite verse!" If you have trouble finding Second Chronicles, it's on page 414. I really want you to be looking at a Bible here because I need to describe the context. Three chapters of Second Chronicles--29, 30 and 31--describe a time for the nation of Israel of rapid, solid, dramatic growth. The king was Hezekiah, and in the list of kings of Israel, Hezekiah is one of the heroes. But no one would have expected this time of growth.

I'd like you to back up to chapter 29 and just look at the headings. I'm on page 411 now. Back up to verse 22 of chapter 28 and you hear about his father Ahaz. Verse 22: "In the time of his distress [that's Ahaz's distress], he became yet more faithless to the Lord"--this same king Ahaz. Ahaz was one of the worst kings that Israel had ever had. He introduced idol worship into the temple. He systematically destroyed all of the traditions and laws of God in the keeping of the temple worship by the people. And when he died, chapter 29 verse 1 says, "Hezekiah began to reign when he was 25 years old. He reigned 29 years. His mother's name was Abijah, daughter of Zechariah." Verse 2: "He [Hezekiah], unlike his father, did what was right in the sight of the Lord, just as his ancestor David had done."

Then just look at the headings there. First of all, "The temple is cleansed of idol worship." Flip it over. "Temple worship is restored." On to chapter 30. Hezekiah realizes that in the law they're supposed to be keeping an annual Passover observance and that they haven't done it, so he institutes a great Passover celebration as soon as he realizes it. Chapter 31. "Pagan shrines are destroyed." And there really should be a heading over verse 2 of chapter 31, talking about the reinstitution of the tithes and offerings for temple worship, because that had been dismantled. Hezekiah flourished as king and Israel flourished, despite the fact that on the horizon they could see the Assyrians and king Sennacherib coming, who was so powerful and mighty that when the Assyrian army came against a country, rather than even battle they would immediately surrender and negotiate the best terms they could because to resist meant you would be annihilated. When Hezekiah's father Ahaz died, everyone thought Hezekiah was going to be the king who oversees the demise of his country. It didn't happen. They flourished. They grew. Why? Giving was a key part of it.

I'd like you to look first (we didn't read it as part of our text) at chapter 31 verse 20, at the bottom right corner of page 414:

Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah. He did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God and every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments to seek his God he did with all his heart. And so he prospered.

 

The first gift that Hezekiah offered to God was whole-hearted devotion. When he knew what God wanted him to do, Hezekiah served with whole-hearted devotion. Now does that sound like Old Testament legalism? What did Jesus say is the greatest commandment? "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind." That's whole-hearted devotion. Hezekiah was the leader of the people. Verse 3 of our text begins by describing, not a king's order that the people give (that's what we're used to--the king calls for sacrifice, the people sacrifice), but the contribution of the king from his own possessions was for the burnt offerings, and the burnt offerings all through the year.

What the chronicler is telling us is that the pattern of giving began with the king, and with his whole-hearted devotion. Here's a verse that applies to me as Pastor of the church. I can't help to lead us as a church that experiences growth and giving without being someone who gives. It applies to every leader in our congregation, our elders and our deacons. We have to have whole-hearted devotion to God in all of our service, with all of our resources of time, and talent and money. It applies to everyone who seeks to teach children in our church. It applies to every head of household in our church. It finally applies to every member. If we're going to grow in Christ, we first have to agree that we're going to offer God the gift of our whole-hearted devotion. The result for Hezekiah: "And so he prospered." That was the promise of God when He gave the law in Deuteronomy: "If you keep these laws, you will prosper."

The second gift that Hezekiah and the people offered was the one of their material resources. Look at verse 5. "As soon as the word spread that the king was giving his tithe, and the people were commanded to give their tithe, the people of Israel--does it say they gave reluctantly and minimally, and only exactly what was required of them? No. The people of Israel gave in abundance the first fruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field, and they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything.

You and I tend to think of the tithe as a strict financial calculation--ten percent--and a tithe is a tithe, ten percent is ten percent. They knew how to do math back then, too. When he says they brought in abundantly the tithe, what he's saying is the people weren't too concerned about nailing ten percent exactly. They brought an abundance. That's the first thing about the actual giving of their material resources. It was abundant giving, even beyond what was required by the law.

Second, it says they gave from their first fruits. Not many of us are earning our living off the land these days. But back then, just about everybody earned their living off the land. When you knew that you were required to give a tithe of, say, your olive oil from your olive trees, well you would get the first batch of olives of the season, and the first oil. You didn't know what was going to happen over the next three, four, five months. You didn't know if there was going to be a drought. You didn't know if there was going to be some catastrophe with your crops. You'd be tempted to say, well, I'll keep these first fruits for myself, and by the end of the season, when I see how much I have, then I'll be ready to give my gift to God. But they didn't do that. They brought in abundance from the first fruits of their produce.

Now, how does that apply to you and me today? We're way beyond an agrarian economy. Although I've heard of pastors just one generation ago receiving a gift of a chicken, or some eggs, we don't do that any more. We're a cash economy. To give from first fruits today to me says that I make my giving decisions and my giving plan before I line up all my other giving commitments. And instead of giving from what's leftover at the end of the week, or the month, or the year, I give from the beginning, as a priority.

Now, you know, it happens every year. When we have our annual review on stewardship I can just sense the tension kind of going up in the congregation, and the discomfort. Let me just acknowledge this analogy. When you and I go to the doctor for a physical, is it not true there comes that point when we lay on the table and the doctor starts to push and they're watching and sometimes they ask, "Does this hurt?" "Does this hurt?" I always think, "If you push just a little bit harder it will, but it doesn't right now. It's OK." And I'm kind of tense and edgy. I imagine if the doctor pushed somewhere and you went, "Ow!" the doctor would say, "Wait a minute. We need to check that because it's not supposed to hurt when you push there. That's something we need to check up on."

Well, that's how I view Christian stewardship when we have our annual review of stewardship. It isn't supposed to hurt for Christians when they hear a sermon on repentance and forgiveness--it's supposed to be our daily practice. It's not supposed to hurt for Christians when we hear a sermon on money and giving, because it's supposed to be part of our daily practice. If it's hurting, it means there is something to explore and something to look at, because if we're going to grow, we have to learn to be giving people. We give whole-hearted devotion. We give of our resources abundantly, the first fruits.

Finally, we give God and other people our thanks. Verse 10 says that what happened is that the people were so generous in their gifts to the priests and Levites for the running of the church that they actually, in that Palestinian summer, with no concern about rain, began to just pile up their gifts in heaps outside the temple. There were these great piles of grain, and olive oil, and there were cattle and sheep. When Hezekiah asked the priest about it, he said, "Since they began to bring the contributions, we have had enough to eat and have plenty to spare, for the Lord has blessed His people so that we have this great supply left over."

I'd love it if some day in my ministry I could say that about the church of Jesus Christ that I served in and with--that we gave so much, which we have, that we have all we need and enough left over to really make a difference in the life of other people as we reach out in mission and ministry to people who really need it. It's possible. I believe it's God's will for the church that it have an abundance of resources.

So verse 8 says, "When Hezekiah and the officials came and saw these heaps, they blessed the Lord and they blessed His people Israel." They gave thanks to God for being the God who provided the abundance and they gave thanks to the people. I do want to say, as we are into stewardship, people, I want to thank you, as your pastor, for your generous support of Faith Presbyterian Church and its mission and its ministry.

I shared with the session, as we met last month and sort of talked about finances, that there are some things that make me very nervous right now. I sort of can't imagine a worse period of time to be having an annual stewardship campaign than this, given all the externals in the life of the world that we're in. Terrorist attacks. A nation at war. Economic uncertainty. Layoffs happening that are beginning to hit home. Real concern about our future as a country and what kind of life we're going to live. I read in the paper several places that while the Red Cross has scored a major hit in contributions, virtually every single other charity in America is hurting right now. All of that makes me think, "Gosh, I'm kind of nervous." And then I look at our monthly financial reports and I chuckle and I think, "You know, this is the first time in eleven years we didn't go negative for cash in the summer!" Thank you, church. This is the first time that we're moving into the Fall campaign not desperately begging for money to make up. I'm still worried about the end of the year--I don't want to give up on that! I'm not happy 'til it's home and in bed, as any pastor is concerned about a church and its finances. But my point is, while I have a lot to be worried about, and we do as a church, the fact is that God's being very good to us now. I don't know how to explain that. I would not have guessed this was the year when we'd be doing really pretty well financially. But, thank you.

Let me just ask you and invite you, before you think about an amount for next year, before you think about giving gifts, I want you to think in your own life about the relationship between giving and growing, and what kind of life you'd like to have, and how giving might be a part of it.

Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, that you have designed human life in such a way that we know what it is that you want to give to us, the blessings you have in store. And we know the kind of life that you want us to live. And in this touchy area of giving, I know today there are many people--some in our congregation this morning--who are really hurting financially, who have had job and other setbacks. Lord, I know that it's an area in which there is a lot of guilt, and a lot of remorse about past mistakes. But, Lord, we know who you are. We know you are the God of infinite resources, and full of forgiveness, and that you promise your children a bright future. And we claim that future today. I pray that it can be freeing for all of us to go through a review of our financial stewardship and to breathe a sigh of relief and satisfaction, as we know that we're doing our very best to be the people you want us to be. Thank you for our church and for every person that supports it. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Rev. Gary LeTourneau

Senior Pastor

Faith Presbyterian Church

Minnetonka, Minnesota

[Transcribed from an audiotape of the 9:00 a.m. worship service on November 4, 2001]