Text: 2 Samuel 24:18-25
A FAITH THAT COSTS
"I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing." This is one of the greatest sentences in the whole Bible. For it sums up the attitude and captures the heart of all true faith in God. If David had never uttered another word or penned another psalm and only said these words, he would still be considered a man after God's own heart. Think of the events surrounding these words. David has just counted all his fighting men. His commander, Joab, says, "Don't do it David." But the King persists. No one knows for sure why David wanted them counted but we have a pretty good idea. David wanted to be able to brag about them. He took pride in the fact that he had 800,000 fighting men (2 Samuel 24:9) and he wanted to publicize the fact. This act of pride is duplicated over and over again today when pastors get together for conferences - and of course at such gatherings pastors always compare notes. "How many does your sanctuary seat? Do you have a gym? How many services? How many people can sit in your sanctuary? How many people attend your worship?" That's why you will have pastors calling their church clerk for the latest membership numbers just before attending a conference - so that he can accurately brag to all the other pastors about the size of his church. Of course you'll never find me doing this - but our average weekly attendance is 177.5... So it was David's pride that made him count his fighting men. And this was a sin - God wanted him and all his people, not to rest on their own strength, not to rely on their own abilities not to glory in our own achievements but to rely, lean on and glorify in His strength. So God isn't happy about all this and a plague falls on the whole land. Was it God's judgment? The word of God says it was, an angel came and carried out the judgment until it was stayed by God's command. Was it a means to humble David and make him depend on God and acknowledge God as sovereign? Thankfully, yes. We sometimes see judgment as a bad thing, and to be sure it not something to be desired. But it can, if we allow it to be an instrument through which God speaks to us and brings us back to Himself. This is the case in David's life here. And as a sign of repentance King David plans to erect an altar on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. So off goes David to buy a threshing floor and when he arrives he makes an offer to Araunah. But Araunah won't have anything of it. Araunah says, "Take it, the place is yours, here's my ox, you'll need that for a burnt offering, here is some wood, I wasn't going to use it anyway. Take it all, you don't need to buy these things from me I give them to you." David refuses the offer though, and insists on paying 50 shekels of silver for the threshing floor, and the oxen. Now why does he do this? He could have got the whole lot for free! David tells us why. It is a magnificent reason, "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing." Well that is a very brief exposition of the text - let's think now about its application. For these words of David are still as poignant and meaningful today as when they were first spoken. Indeed they are words that rest at the very core of true faith in Christ today and they present a challenge to us that is indeed very difficult to shrug off. It has been said that a religion that counts is religion that costs. This is the at the heart of David's statement. And it is a sentiment that is echoed by our Lord. He was constantly telling His disciples, us, to count the cost. He said "that whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it." (Matthew 16:25) And again, even more plainly "Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:33) So we need to think today about what our faith is costing us.
I
We could think of three areas - and one motivation. Think first about our worship. I don't need to tell you that worship costs. Here you are on a cold winter's morning, when it would have been much easier to stay in bed. It cost to worship God - you know that. You know that there is great reward in worship. Think of the joy that is ours when we worship - how we feel that this is the best activity we could be doing. It is the highest pinnacle we can reach when we are truly worshiping God say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty." What a joy and what privilege is ours. To mix our praises with that of angels to come and openly vow our allegiance to God to lift up our hands once marked with the stains of sin, now made holy through repentance and forgiveness. And honour too. What an honour it is to come into the very presence of God in worship. We are in God's presence right now. What a joy, privilege and honour is ours in worship. You know it cost you to worship, and there is great reward in worship, but let's just take our spiritual pulse for a moment and be sure that our worship is not costing us nothing. It can happen, can't it? For instance, we often come into worship unwilling to pay the cost of preparation for worship. We enter the sanctuary of God as casually as we would a hockey arena - receiving the our programs from the ushers, and because many of us have seasons tickets we find our reserved seats. We then look for our candies in a pocket or purse to have ready in case the thing should go into over time. When we come into worship there is a need of spiritual and mental preparation. There is a need to realize that when we are stepping through those doors we are coming into a holy place - this is where the people of God are gathering, and because the people of God are here, God is here. There is a need to be still in our minds and hearts before the presence of the holy God. If we don't pay the cost of preparation for God, we cannot expect to receive any great revelation from God. Elton Trueblood actually claims that one of the greatest hindrances to public worship on Sunday morning arises from the ways in which Saturday nights are spent.1 He has a point. God cannot give riches to an overtired mind or to a mind filled with the horror of the latest "shoot-em-up" movie, only to a mind ready to receive His message. But it not only costs to prepare, but it costs to participate in worship. We don't come to worship as spectators to a theatre or a sporting event to see whose playing, to see the choir perform and hear the preacher's latest joke. So many people come as spectators. And they leave the sanctuary saying, "I didn't get a think out of the that service of worship today." But they have it all wrong, worship isn't about getting it's about giving. That's what worship is about - it's about giving our praise, our thanksgiving the honour and glory to God. Worship is not about getting. It's about giving our attention and concentration to God. It's about singing the hymns and choruses not just with our lips but with our hearts too and that takes work. It's about praying the prayers along with those who lead us, it's about listening attentively to the word of God allowing the Holy Spirit to apply the word as a prod to our conscience, or an encouragement to our faith. Worship costs our concentration. Please don't allow yourself to fall asleep in worship. That's what Sunday afternoons are for. But don't waste the small chance you have in the week to worship God by sleeping! It cost your concentration. If we took these words of "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing" and applied them to worship we would experience a revival.
II
Or apply these words to our material offerings. To be sure the gospel of Jesus Christ is the story of the wonderful finished work He performed for us on the cross of Calvary. In a sense the gospel of Christ cannot be paid for. God's grace comes to us unearned, and unmerited. We have this treasure without having to lay a cent down. Bill Gates the billionaire must accept the grace of God just as the poorest of the poor in a Calcutta slum. And each is received equally by God. In another sense though, the gospel must be paid for. If Bibles are to be printed in the all the languages of the world, if missionaries are to be sent to the remotest parts of the world, if the church is to be a beacon of light in the world, then money must be spent. God has called us into partnership with Himself and that partnership involves responsible giving. Augustine once said, "Without God we cannot, without us God will not."2 You do know, don't you, that giving to the work of God is both a duty and a delight. The offering in the middle of our service of worship is just that an act of worship. It is not a time for us to gad about. We are performing a very sacred act of worship in laying our material offerings upon the plate. In so doing we are participating in Christ's work and saying, "Lord I give to thee but thine own." This faith of ours costs. One of my hero's of the faith is Hudson Taylor. I've been re-reading his biography recently and I was struck how while still a young man Hudson Taylor asked if he should not spend less on himself and have the joy of giving more to others. He tried it. He simplified his life and he got to the point, in a very short time, of being able to live on one-third of his salary and give two-thirds away. He then discovered that the less he spent on self and the more he gave to others the more his soul was filled with joy and happiness.3 Do you want to experience that in your heart? It will cost you. Whoever would save his life will lose it, But whoever loses his life for may sake will find it. It costs. And please don't tell me that all Markham Baptist Church wants is your money. God wants your money and Markham Baptist Church is one vehicle through which you can give. I happen to believe that it is an excellent vehicle. We are doing a good work here. The gospel we are proclaiming is of utmost importance to our community. It is God's work. And you get good value - what other organization do you give to in which you have a say how the money is spent? Come to the meeting tomorrow and you will have that say. I wonder what does your heart and conscience say to you about your giving to the work of Christ in light of David's words, "I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing"? What is your faith costing you materially? Is the Lord at the top of your creditor list or at the bottom? Is your giving adequate, generous or sacrificial, and God is one's debtor? The promise still stands today - "Give and it will be given to you," says our Lord and Saviour.
III
Once more, we could apply these words to the offering of our service. To believe is to serve. In the book of James we read that the Christian is called upon to express his or her inward conviction through outward commitment. The old slogan, "Saved to serve" still stands today. I wonder what is your faith costing you in your service to the Lord and his church? For many of you it is costing you your time. You live busy hectic lives, filled with deadlines, every increasing expectations family demands and 12-14 hour work days. And yet you still find time to serve. Others, well others, it's not cost them any time. It really is a question of priorities, isn't it? Having time for Christian service means making time. It means we say no to this leisure pursuit, or this extra overtime, or this television program. It means cutting out all that is secondary in order to achieve that which we believe is primary. Juan Carlos Horteez tells of a time when he approached a young man to help with his church's youth work. The young man was in university, had a full time job and played tennis regularly. When Juan Carlos asked the young man, he said he was too busy. Juan Carlos saw his agenda and agreed. He was too busy to help. Two weeks later a deacon came to him and said, "Do you know that young tennis player?" "Oh yes," said Juan Carlos. "Well he is dating my daughter. I am so thrilled, he such a nice young man. He's over at our house every night." Juan Carlos got on the phone with the young man. "How come you told me you were too busy to help with the youth group but have time to be at your girlfriend's house every night?" "Well pastor," said the young man, "I have time for things which I consider priorities." It is about priorities, isn't it? To serve Christ costs. But it not only costs time, but let's be honest - it costs peace of mind. There is no painless way of teaching a Sunday School class, of serving on a church board, or reaching out to a lost friend. To be sure there are wonderful times in the joy of service, and the satisfaction of success. But there may also be criticism offered, disappointment and spiritual anguish. Service can cost our peace of mind. Now to avoid having your peace disturbed you can choose not to participate in the life of the church. You can in this way keep your cozy detachment. Indeed many folks in the church and in our church unfortunately choose this. But I ask you why settle for offering burnt offerings to your Lord God, which cost you nothing? Can I close by mentioning one motivating factor? What is that? It is that He is God. The one we are worshiping, the to whom we are giving and serving is God. He is the King. He is the one to whom our worship and offering of finances and service is due. He is the King and we are his servants. We sometimes have in our minds a picture of kingship that is tainted by modern models. The kings and queens of our age are often simply figureheads. They are there for the openings, and the closings but in between the real work is done by the prime minister. The prime minister is the one who makes all the decisions, decides the direction of the country, decides how the finances are spent. The King is there, but only as a figurehead. So, many Christians come on Sunday morning and we sing "Crown Him with many crowns", and "He is Lord" … but add "I'm the Prime Minister." No, no, He is Lord and we are His servants. And we bring our offerings because He is God. He is not our servant, we are His servants and we bring to Him our offerings of worship and finances and service. But you say, "Pastor, didn't Jesus say, just before He died, 'I no longer call you servants but friends?' " Yes. Isn't that wonderful? But I would suggest to you that does not mean that we are released from our servant role, it only raises it to a higher plain, from a duty to a joy. If your boss phones you up at three o'clock in the morning and says to you, "I need this and this done today." You say to him, if you don't hang up in his ear, "I'll get to it if I have time in the morning." But when your friend calls you up at 3 in the morning saying, "I need some help" You say, "I'll be right over." Why? Because that person is your friend and you love him or her and you would do anything for them. So with God, we are His servants, we are His friends. So may we never, never offer offerings to the Lord that cost us nothing. Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - February 2003
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