Stewarding Acceptable Offerings

1 Chronicle 21: 18-28

Let us pray, gracious and merciful God, you’ve met me in my study. Speak through me that your message would be clear and that lives will be turned to You and changed. Dear Master, manage the space betwen my lips and your children’s ears so that Your children are reminded of your faithfulness. Now by the power of Your Holy Spirit, hide me behind your cross, that You would be seen. This is my prayer. Amen

This is the day that the Lord has made. Concord, we will rejoice and be glad in it. It is never my intention to hold you long. This indeed is not a moment that I take for granted. To my Pastor, and our shepherd, thank you.

There is a word from the Lord, and I invite you to 1 Chronicles 21: 18-28. This passage should be familiar by now, TCF has visited this passage in cross training and Deacon OV was holy spying my sermon notes in her insightful lesson during our evening iGroup session on this past Thursday. You will find that this scripture has a different weight of influence when compared to 2 Samuel 24. It gives us perhaps a theological lens providing us with a broader historical context.

1 Chronicles 21:18–28 ESV

Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at Gad’s word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel, and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. And David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord—give it to me at its full price—that the plague may be averted from the people.” Then Ornan said to David, “Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for the wood and the wheat for a grain offering; I give it all.” But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. And David built there an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

Can we tag this sermonic moment, Stewarding Acceptable Offerings?

Anecdote:

By the time that we arrive at chapter 21 of 1st Chronicles, King Saul and his sons are dead along with his son Jonathan also perished in the Philistine conflict and there is still a prominent split in the kingdom of Israel. Israelites hold tightly to their tribal identity more so than the sovereignty of a unified nation. And despite a contentious relationship as Saul’s military commander, David has been anointed King at Hebron where he enters into covenant before the elders with the people before the Lord. He marches and captures the stronghold of Zion, Jerusalem and establishes it as the capitol. The Philistine conflict becomes embroiled as they learn that David has been anointed king. And as the Philistine make advancement to Jerusalem, God intervenes and provides logistical strategy to David in how he should attack the Philistines. Scripture tells us that God goes out and strikes down the army of the Philistines and David reaps the fame of the military victory across the lands so much so that the Lord caused the surrounding nations to fear David. He then summons for the return of the ark so that the presence of God would dwell in the midst of the people for whom He had made covenant with. David then institutes structural, consistent worship with attention to the honoring of God’s presence in the Tabernacle. And as David is building his home, he reconsiders the priority of building a home for himself when the art resides under a tent. God confronts him and reminds him that all this time He has not required a house but that He has been with David wherever he has gone. God then promises David that He would subdue all of his enemies that when he has gone to be with the ancestors, God will raise up a son to establish his kingdom to last forever and that his son shall build a home for God. David prays and God’s covenant stands. He continues to experience the promise of triumph as the nation extends and expands. As we arrive to chapter 21, David is fresh off of decisive military success and expansion, one of David’s prized chiefs has killed the brother of Goliath and yet another chief has slew the descendant of a giant who had 6 digits on each hand and foot. And rather than David resting in the guidance and protection of God, he begins to smell himself a little so that he misplaces his success for the evidence of his greatness instead of the origin of his greatness. He angers God by censuring the people and the consequence of his sin is that God begins to erases or remove the evidence/object of David’s sense of control in the form of an ultimatum: all 3 choices led to punishment to be exacted on the people so David pleaded to accept the punishment on the behalf of his family. God sends a pestilence to Israel and then 70 thousand are destroyed at the hand of the angel of the Lord before God stays the sword of the angel. And David knows that famine is next so he pleads before God. God has had enough and so He instructs the oracle to go to David and to tell him to go to the assigned place and build an altar. And if I can pause, momentarily, there is someone here that God has sent oracular instruction for you to pause and make way to your altar, for some things are of great importance that they need to be offered up in surrender.

Thesis

The truth is that a servant’s life will be a continuum of successes and failures; however, our prioritizing of our acknowledgment to and thanksgiving of the awesome wonder of God should be initiation of our worship and praise. And if, the initiation of our worship, praise and giving is based on the immutable, unchanging being of a gracious God that never leaves us, He will maintain our direction, blessing, and protection. More importantly He will bring to pass His promises to us.

Antithesis

However, the reality is that if a man after God’s own heart at the height of influence can be tempted to take credit for the evidence of God’s faithfulness so can we. We see it every day in the lack of meekness in our cities and these intended united states. We see it in the lack of regard for God in the care of those who are less fortunate. We see in the lack of regard for God in the neglect of His young people across the land. In a land so rich with wealth, we still see considerable deficits in black neighborhoods which are food deserts with limited healthy options and few grocery stores. In a land so rich with wealth we still see ethnic disparities in housing, employment, and education. In a land so rich with wealth, we continue to see national budgets passed that overlook favorable programs aimed at ensuring that the damages done by ethnic redlining and lack of public accesses are corrected beyond simple acknowledgment. We see Christian Nationalism movements burning and fizzing out because the movement was prioritized ahead of the equitable access to God for all made their image. But we do not have to look to the state and national scenes, we can walk down our own streets where we prioritize our own time, talents, and treasures to our own agenda and conveniences. Ministry engagement is not just for those who have answered the call to preach the good news. Each believer has been given the awesome burden to relinquish their work for the kingdom.

Relevant Question

How does one steward the heights of success transition to the lows of life? I mean, how do you steward your worship when mountaintop experiences crash to Psalms 40 pit palaces? What is your response to the God’s correction of your wayward course?

Synthesis

Concord, I am glad that you asked the question....

The scripture indirectly tells us that we need to steward our discernment responsibly. How can we do this? By not giving into the incitement to measure our own strength. David’s actions were evidence that he was becoming convinced that the measure of his success was by his resources and not by the dependence upon the God that gave them to him. God had guided his hand in battle and enlarged his territory. God caused surrounding nations to fear and approach with caution. And truth be told, God has held you in esteem. God has given you guidance and promises. He has protected your witness and He is everpresent to see you through; but you have to reject the inclination to count your successes as selfmade. Are you walking with God, or are you simply walking? Both have a measure of steps but only one has the provision of the God. In other words, you must reject the devil’s temptation to minimize God’s hand in all that you have and do. David missed the opportunity even at the behest of his general to see the audacity of his own request. What should have been a praise moment turned into a pride moment. David should have stopped when Joab pleaded with him and simply said, “Praise be to God”. This is my holy recommendation to you. When you are on the mountaintop of success, one must remain in prayer in order to remain in proximity to God and His will. Straying diminishes not only your closeness to God but also your witness to those who are onlooking. God knew that if David would stumble so would the people. And God is not a covenant-breaking God.

Secondly, you need to steward the Oracle’s instruction responsively. The oracle of Gad instructed David to build an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan (called Aranauh in 2 Samuel). The instruction was meant for repentance and ultimately David’s re-alignment with the direction of God. He did not have to secure the might of his kingdom because God had already promised to sustain and protect him. The threshing floor is fitting and symbolic. It was fitting because threshing floors are flat, elevated surfaces where agrarians/farmers would use oxen to tread the grain on the floor causing the heavy grain to separate from the thin, light chaft. On the elevated surface, the farmers would pitch the grain into the air and allow the heavy grain and light chaft to separate. The wind rushing over the elevated floor would blow the unwanted chaft away. The grain had many uses, the chaft had few to no use. And so the threshing floor was where one could be judged, tested, and in David’s case reconciled. The threshing floor offered sacrifice and reconciliation.

Lastly, you need to steward the intention and significance of your offering to God. I am reminded of the story of the father who gave his young daughter 2 dollars. He instructed her that she could do whatever she wanted to with 1 of the 2 dollars but that the other dollar had to be given back to God. Well, as she was walking down the street, the 2 dollars fell from her pocket and because the wind was blowing heavily she could only chase down one of the 2 dollars. As she turned around and headed to candy store, she said, “Well, Lord. there goes your dollar.” Ornan in reverence to the appearance of the angel 1st followed by the King quickly offers the threshing floor at no charge along with all that was needed to build and use the altar. But David responded: But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” David’s response was important for 2 reasons, Ornan was most likely a Jebusite lord of significant rank in Jerusalem prior to David’s capture of the city. He still held his land which meant that David was acknowledging that this location and opportunity only presented itself at the direction and will of God. Secondly, David identified that if he had accepted his offer as a gift, his sin would not have been substituted as was intended. Rather than free, David spends roughly half a million dollars in today’s equivalence to secure the land to build and prepare the altar. God gives us a promise but is not His intention that we sit back and wait for it to happen but that we work towards God’s will. We cannot offer up to God that which does not cost us something. Of our time, talent, and finances how will be worship God? Can I ask this another way? How will you offer back to God that which He has given to you?

What is the cost of your offering? What pit palace experiences have sidelined you from utilizing your time to the building of His kingdom through your sojourn? Come on, you can bring that to the altar. What is it that you are at odds with God about that is causing you to withhold your talents from edifying the mobile church that He has placed within you? Come on, you can bring it to the altar. What misgivings and hurts have impacted your willingness to extend your trust in all of your giving in the presence of the same God that made your expression of worship possible? There’s room for it all at the altar. Yes.. God...

The downside of not missing your offering moment and not responding in repentance and thanksgiving is that the conviction that comes from the Holy Spirit will cause you to rob yourself of the peace that God intends for you.

The songwriter’s refrain said it like this:

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the spirit control?

You can only be blest adn have peace and sweet rest,

as you yield Him your body and soul.

You have longed for sweet peace, and for faith to increase,

and have earnestly, fervently prayed;

But you cannot have rest or be perfectly blest

until all on the altar is laid.

Is your all on the altar of sacrifice laid?

Your heart does the spirit control?

You can only be blest adn have peace and sweet rest,

as you yield Him your body and soul.

And while the threshing ground at Ornan became the altar that the oracle called for, it fulfilled the promise of God that David’s son would build for God a home for Him to dwell in, for at that threshing ground place Solomon’s temple would be built. Beloved, I am reminded of another altar on a high, elevated hill that would serve a far greater opportunity for the substitution of sin. But this altar was in the shape of an old rugged cross. And the good thing about this altar was that we today do not have to pay for our repentance and that Jesus’ act on the cross selflessly paid for our future sin and made available the opportunity of permanent relationship with Him. No higher price could be paid. As we stand accross the building, our ministers and intercessors are making themselves available to you.......

Perhaps you are without a church home and you need someone to welcome and accept you as you grow into the disciple that God intends for you to be.......This invitation is for you,

Maybe you heard today’s message and you need intercessory prayer to respond to God’s calling of you into deeper devotion with Him........Our intercessors are available to you.....

And perhaps, you have not accepted God as your personal savior, this invitation is for you. The doors of the church will not close until that great morning when He comes back. Will you accept Him now?