All We Have Is Yours (Morning)
Download MP3If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to 1st Chronicles chapter 29 as we continue our study in the life of David. First Chronicles 29. As you are turning there, I'd be remiss if I did not take time to mention and to, give God thanks for redeemer turning 15 years old. So, we had our first service back in March of 2,008. It's easy for me to remember because Lauren was 8 months pregnant with our our daughter, Georgia.
Jeffrey Heine:Vail Ritchie was just born at the time. She's a good visual of where we are as a church. We're about to get our driver's license, people, who are learners. These past 15 years have, they've been a remarkable journey, one in which I do think it's important for us to just take time and to acknowledge and to thank God for. I tell other church planters that your 1st year of, planting a church, you have one goal, survive.
Jeffrey Heine:That's all. You you just need to survive. I know you have all these ambitious goals of, like, how you're gonna reach the entire city or the world or all that. So just survive. If you can make it to 3 years, your church has got a a legitimate chance of surviving and making it.
Jeffrey Heine:If you can make it to 5 years, then you could get hit by a bus and the church is fine. It's gonna go on without you. If you make it to 15 years, then you can enjoy a church with inadequate seating or parking, and no air conditioning or heat at times and hardly any bathrooms, that's what awaits you. Last week in the text we look at, David at one point, he said, I will not sacrifice to the Lord what costs me nothing. He said this as he was going to make the the sacrifice at Arana's threshing floor.
Jeffrey Heine:He went to Arana and he said, I wanna buy the threshing floor and and everything. And Arana goes, no, no, no. It's yours. You can have the threshing floor. You can have my oxen for the sacrifice.
Jeffrey Heine:Here's wood. Everything is laid up for you. You don't have to do a thing other than just light the match. And David said, no. I will not sacrifice to the lord.
Jeffrey Heine:It will cost me nothing. And he bought it all because he knew that a sacrifice is not a sacrifice unless there's a sacrifice and that worship should cost something. It's been a sacrificial cost for me and for my family over the last 15 years. And and once again, we've not been alone in this. So many of you have have made sacrifices, from the the early year of, you know, setting up and tearing down at, at my house, to move into Girls Inc, and the setup and the take down that took, place every single week, to elders staying up late in the night praying and pastoring the members here at redeemer, there have been a lot of sacrifices.
Jeffrey Heine:And I could take time to just, you know, it would take days of just thanking people individually. So I just wanna give a collective thank you. And I wanna say this, that as costly as those sacrifices have been, you know, 15 years into it, I I look back at those and I think I've I've gained way more than I've ever sacrificed. And I think for those of you who has sacrificed for this church, you would say the same that you've gained more friendships, you've gained more life and community. You've gained in your knowledge of of God's word, hopefully in your passion and your devotion to Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:You've gained way more than you've put in. It's really interesting how the Lord does that, doesn't he? So so thank you for giving to me, to my family over the last 15 years. It has been quite a remarkable time, and we just wanna take time to just thank the Lord for his goodness to us as a church. Alright.
Jeffrey Heine:First Chronicles 29. We're not going to read through the whole text. We'll read through parts of this. 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 will not be for man, but for the Lord God. 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, the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and the wood for the things of wood.
Jeffrey Heine:Besides, great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones, and marble. Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have treasure of my own gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God, I give it to the house of my God. 3000 talents of gold, of the gold of of fear, and 7,000 talents of refined silver for overlaying the walls of the house, and for all the work to be done by craftsmen, gold for the things of gold, and silver for the things of silver. Who then will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord? Go to verse 10, where David blessed the Lord in the presence of the assembly.
Jeffrey Heine:David said, blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel, our father forever and ever. Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, oh lord, and you are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand, it is to make great and to give strength to all.
Jeffrey Heine:And now we thank you, our god, and praise your glorious name. But who am I? What is my people that we should be able to thus able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners as all our fathers were.
Jeffrey Heine:Our days on the earth are like a shadow and there is no abiding. Oh, lord, our god, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. This is the word of the Lord. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that we have a place to gather.
Jeffrey Heine:Gather together as your people, gather together as family, bound together by the spirit purchased by your blood, Jesus. We've come to hear from you, father. So would you speak to us? Let my words fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore. But, Lord, may your words remain and may they change us.
Jeffrey Heine:We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So Lauren and I, we love dilapidated old things and and trying to repair them and to make them beautiful again. This is why we live in a 112 year old house, that has lots of character. Character is just another word for dilapidation.
Jeffrey Heine:It's why we're, we decided to name the church Redeemer Community. Redemption is a theme of the Bible. Redemption is when God takes something that's broken, something that's junk, and He restores it, and He brings it back to life, and He makes it glorious. It's the theme of the Bible. We wanted the church to reflect that theme.
Jeffrey Heine:This is also why we were initially drawn to this building 8 years ago when we moved in. Those of you who remember the building at that time, it was a dilapidated piece of junk. We would, be singing. Paint would be falling down from the ceiling. The basement was always flooded.
Jeffrey Heine:Any of you here at the time when one of our front columns just fell, it just collapsed. And over the years, we've been able to redeem this building, to restore it some to its former glory, to use it for God's glory. 5 years ago, I decided to do some research on this building and the the church that built it, and I found out some pretty amazing things. Construction began on it in 1914, but the church was finished in 1917, and they had their first service in November of 1917, and over 1,000 people came to the first service, which I have no idea how in the world they all fit in here. And people have been gathering in this space ever since to worship for over a 100 years now.
Jeffrey Heine:This is remarkable because, there's plenty of other buildings here in Avondale that are just as old as this church. But what makes this place unique from all the others is this is the only building that has retained its original use. All the other buildings have have been modified. They've changed businesses. They they've been repurposed.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, you know, if you go to the old post office what is the old post office now? That's a layup, guys. Post office pies. And I mean, that's not a stretch. You go to the old barbershop.
Jeffrey Heine:What is it now? Saul's Barbecue. You go to the old grocery store. What is it? Saturn?
Jeffrey Heine:You go to the, to the old gas stations. I mean, now there's melt or there's what is it? The donkey? They they change names all the time. There's always some new restaurant in the old gas stations.
Jeffrey Heine:The the old Birmingham Zoo is now Avondale Park. Everything has changed except for this building. People have been gathering here for over a 100 years to hear God's word preach, to hear the gospel, to come together and to worship Jesus. While I was doing the research on this church building, I read somewhere that they actually have put a time capsule here in 1914 when they laid the foundation. And, it was to be opened within a 100 years.
Jeffrey Heine:Well, you know, their first service was in November of 1917. I was reading this in November of 2 1017, and I was like, it's a 100 years. We gotta we gotta, you know, dig out this time capsule. And so we knocked off the cornerstone over here, and I was just hoping it was there. And and sure enough, there was a time capsule there.
Jeffrey Heine:And some of you were there for that service. So, we opened it up. And in there was the most Baptist thing you could possibly imagine. Not a bible, not a hymnal. It was a list of committees.
Jeffrey Heine:No joke. That's that's what was in there. I can tell you who served on the finance committee, who served on the mission committee, who the deacons were, who sang in the choir. We've just it was just list. Apparently, that's what Avondale Baptist thought we would want to see a 100 years from that point.
Jeffrey Heine:So it's pretty anticlimactic, except for the pastor, John Inzer, at the time. He wrote a little handwritten note. First, he wrote out in his own handwriting John 316 because he just wanted us to know that that is something they believed with all their heart. And then, he wrote this little note. I'll put it up here.
Jeffrey Heine:I'll read it for you. He says, with great faith in God, our father, this church has far so far thus far, moved forward with joy and rejoicing in this task. In the midst of a great war that is touching the whole world and its blighting influence, we have not stopped. We do not expect to until this building is finished and dedicated to our God and His son, our savior, even Jesus Christ, the righteous. Be it known that it is through faith in His name that we now patiently wait our translation from this life to the eternal kingdom of God.
Jeffrey Heine:It's it's hard not to get emotional reading those words, isn't it? We we put back the time capsule. We wrote a letter, as a church. I actually left a little personal note. I snuck it in there, to the pastor whoever will be pastoring this church a 100 years from now.
Jeffrey Heine:I just wanted him to know that I was praying for him that day. And then when no one was looking, I I snuck in a bottle of bourbon. And I put it put it there in the cornerstone. Elijah Craig Bourbon. He was reverend Elijah Craig.
Jeffrey Heine:And I and I left a little note to that pastor saying, you're a pastor, so you'll you'll want this. So it will make me so happy if you just open this and drink it, or if you sell it for what I have to imagine is a unbelievable amount of money. But either one will make me so happy. Just know I'm thinking I'm praying for you today. And as far as I know, we're the only church that literally has bourbon in their cornerstone, but yes, we are.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm sure a 100 years ago, those Baptists will be rolling in their grave, but, that's what we have. So a 100 years ago, these these people sacrificially gave to build this place. I actually read that if you were to look at their membership within a, 10 block radius, and if you were to pull together all of their money, it would not be enough to buy a car. Not a single car at the time, yet they built this sanctuary in the midst of a great war. It's an unbelievable sacrifice they they made.
Jeffrey Heine:Don't worry. I'm not doing a building campaign here. That's not where we're going. But I do wanna ask a question. What motivates a congregation to do something like that?
Jeffrey Heine:To to be so generous, so sacrificial. It's the same thing that motivated David to do what he did in this text. It's the same thing that has motivated, Christians for over a 1000 years to do this. If you remember back in 2nd Samuel 7, David had wanted to build God a house, a temple. And God told him no, that he wasn't gonna do it, but his child would do it.
Jeffrey Heine:But just because God told David no, that doesn't mean David didn't do anything. He couldn't be idle. And so he came up with the plans for the temple. He began, setting aside materials. He began saving up his own money so that he might someday give towards this building project.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, just because he couldn't buy it doesn't mean he was idle. He worked towards this thing. And now that he's getting older, he's about to hand all of this off to Solomon and he realizes, now is the time to take an offering and for me to give my offering to the Lord for the construction of this temple. And so to start things off, David gives out of his personal treasury. So this is his own money that he first gives.
Jeffrey Heine:And we read that as 3,000 talents of gold, 7,000 shekels of silver. A talent is around £75, so David gives £225,000 of gold. Best estimates, if you were to use today's dollars, is that David is giving anywhere between $1 to $5,000,000,000 of his own money. It's it's remarkable. When David said that he would not sacrifice to the Lord what cost him nothing, David meant it because this was going to cost him.
Jeffrey Heine:And sure, he's not gonna be a beggar at this point. You know, he's he's still king, but giving a gift like this leads to, some significant life changes. There there's no way you give this amount without your life being altered. Most scholars think when they when they read this, what they see being described is not David giving out of his personal treasury, but David giving his personal treasury. He's giving it all.
Jeffrey Heine:This is what's so remarkable about this. This makes David the only wealthy person in the Bible to give it all away. He's the only wealthy person in the bible to give away all his wealth. It's the wealth he's been accumulating all of these years, all all the wars he's fought and the the plunder that's come in, all the gifts he's received from other nations, all those things that he's put in his savings, he empties it all. It's remarkable because every study that you read is gonna show that the more money people have, the less they give, percentage wise.
Jeffrey Heine:Poor people give far more than the wealthier people. But David here gives it all. Remember in Mark chapter 10 when there was a rich young ruler and he came to Jesus? And he he asked Jesus, you know, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And and Jesus told him some things.
Jeffrey Heine:And this man goes, I've done all that. And then Jesus looks in his heart. Here's one thing you lack, sell everything you have, give it to the poor and come follow me. And we read that this man, he went away sad. Actually, it says he was grievous.
Jeffrey Heine:It broke his heart because he was a man with many possessions, and he couldn't do it. Jesus then taught on that. He said, I tell you, it's very hard for a rich man, to get into the kingdom of God. It's actually easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. But here we see David threaded the needle.
Jeffrey Heine:He had all that wealth and he he gave it away. And then he invites his people to come and to join him. Would you join me in this generosity? In verse 5, David asked, he says, who will offer willingly, consecrating himself today to the Lord? David's inviting all God's people to join with him.
Jeffrey Heine:And it's an invitation to his joy. Can you see, David's giddy that he gets to do this. He's like, you wanna be giddy with me? Come on. Consecrate yourself.
Jeffrey Heine:Notice that's when He says consecrate yourself and He says make your offerings, He sees those as the same thing. It's really what He's talking about is you consecrate your entire lives to the lord. And you know what? When you give your whole lives, money is just a part of that. That's really what this entire text is about.
Jeffrey Heine:It's not just, hey, we need to, you know, raise some funds. It's I'm asking you in this moment to give everything of who you are to the Lord, which, of course, money is an important part. And so the people, they joyfully respond. So how is it that David can do this? Well, let's look at, just three things that I believe led David to be so generous and to be the only wealthy person to give away all their riches.
Jeffrey Heine:So the first thing we see here is that David understood God's grace in his life. David's generosity, his consecration of his whole self was simply response to God's grace in his life. Look at verse 12. David says, both riches and honor come from you, And you rule over all. In your hand are power and might.
Jeffrey Heine:And in your hand, it is to make great and to give strength to all. David knew that the only reason that he was king and the only reason that he had all the wealth that he had is because God gave it to him. Period. Did David work hard for it? You bet.
Jeffrey Heine:Did David make smart investments or good decisions? Yes. Absolutely. Did he fight for it? Yes.
Jeffrey Heine:But David still knew that in the at the end of the day, the only reason he had any wealth at all is because God gave it to him. You see, there's a temptation for us, a temptation for me, I'll make it personal, for me as a middle class American to think, you know the reason that I have my home, the reason I have my car, the reason I have, the vacations I could take, the reason that I have some money in the bank, all those things are due to me making smart decisions and me working really hard. But the truth is, there are people a whole lot smarter than me. People who've worked a whole lot harder than me, who have a whole lot less than me. It's due to God's grace that I am where I am.
Jeffrey Heine:Let me ask you. Do you really think that if you were were born in Sudan to parents who had aids, that you'd be in the position you were in? I don't care how much you worked. I don't care how smart you are. You would in no way be in the position you were in.
Jeffrey Heine:Do I really think my hard work would matter if the stock market collapsed or if my heart or my health failed or if there's a war that I was sent off to go into fight. The truth is 99.9% of the things that have shaped me in this life, I have had nothing to do with. You you know, the biggest being this. I didn't get choose the time and the place I was born. I did not get to choose my parents.
Jeffrey Heine:I did not get to choose my genetic makeup, all the things that can make me who I am. Those things all came from God. Yes. I think I've made some good decisions. Yes.
Jeffrey Heine:I think I have worked hard, but I am who I am by the grace of God. You are who you are by the grace of God alone. So David understands why am I wealthy? Because God made me wealthy. Period.
Jeffrey Heine:And when you understand that everything you are, everything you possess, you owe to God's grace, then you become a very generous and a very thankful person. If you have a hard time continually giving thanks, continually being generous, it's because you think you deserve everything you have and you got it all because of your hard work. Second thing that David understood was that everything belonged to the Lord. Look at verse 14. But who am I?
Jeffrey Heine:And what is my people that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, And of your own, have we given you. My kids, when they were little, they would ask their mom to take them to shopping in which they would buy something for me for Father's Day. So they would, you know, usually with some kind of new shirt or possibly it was a tie that I typically would not wear because I don't wear ties. I think they just wanted me to dress up some.
Jeffrey Heine:But but they would buy me typically a new shirt using my money. So essentially, it's me giving something to myself. It's what CS Lewis, he would write about this and he would say, you know, like when, when kids do this to their parents, you know, they're 6p none the richer. They they give the 6p, and they the money spent. And then, they that gift's given back to their parents.
Jeffrey Heine:And so, I realized that I'm essentially giving to myself. And so, I realized that I'm I'm essentially giving to myself. David realizes that this is what he's doing to God. No one ever actually gives to God ever. You can only give back to God what he has already given you.
Jeffrey Heine:You can't give to God, you can only give back to God what He has first given to you. But there is absolutely nothing you possess, not even your very life or even your next breath that you do not owe to God first giving it to you. And so David, he understands that. It's like, I'm just I'm giving back to you what you've given to me, God. When it comes to money, one of the things that I have found helpful is a certain image that I have in my mind that's that's been very helpful to help me think through my understanding of money.
Jeffrey Heine:And so I wanna give this image to you. So you need to imagine a ladder. This ladder has 3 rungs to it. Each one of these rungs represents a different different view of the money you have. Alright.
Jeffrey Heine:Bottom rung is this. You're looking at the money you have, and you're asking the question, what should I do with my money? Bottom wrong. What should I do with my money? After you mature a little bit more in the faith and stuff, you you kinda get up to the next rung and you're asking this question.
Jeffrey Heine:What does God want me to do with my money? What does God want me to do with my money? You grow a little bit more in your faith and you get up to the top rung, which is this. What does God want me to do with his money? What does God want me to do with his money?
Jeffrey Heine:Where are you on that ladder? What rung are you on? Do you tend to just think, you know, my money is mine. I could do whatever I want with it. Or or have you brought God into the equation like, yeah, man.
Jeffrey Heine:I've worked really hard. I've got this money. God, you know, I'm open to like, how would you want me to to give or to to use this money? Or do you realize everything you have is God's money? And now you ask him how he wants you to use his money, that you're nothing more than a steward.
Jeffrey Heine:If I'm honest, I typically cling to that second rung. It's kinda where I I often hang. Sometimes I'm a little bit lower. Sometimes a little bit higher. Usually, I kinda think of, man, I've worked really hard for this money, but, you know, God, I know I'm supposed to tithe.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm supposed to give these things. So how would you want me to give? But I need to see myself as a steward. It all belongs to the Lord. So David, he he understands God's grace.
Jeffrey Heine:He understands everything belongs to the Lord. The final reason that David gives is because he wants to reach the next generation. Look at verses 18 and 19. Oh Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, Keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people and direct their hearts towards you. So just stop right there real quick.
Jeffrey Heine:He's looking into the past, God of my ancestors in the past, and now he's looking to the future. Keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people and direct their hearts towards you. Grant to Solomon, my son, a whole heart, that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build a palace for which I have made provision. David spent his life saving money, setting aside money and materials to build a temple that he would never see. One of the motivations we have for giving is the exact same thing.
Jeffrey Heine:We are setting aside our money to build a temple that we will likely never see. Not a temple made with human hands but as Peter would say, it's a temple made of living stones. It's the church. Generation can be insured of of hearing the gospel, having the word of God proclaimed to them. We give so that our children and our children's children and our children's children's children can hear these things proclaimed.
Jeffrey Heine:Once again, I can't help but think of this sanctuary and the people who gave over a 100 years ago so sacrificially. I mean, we're all here sitting in this place as a result of their sacrifices. I mean, they didn't just give for themselves. I mean, I'm sure it would just tickle them pink to know that over a 100 years later, people are still in here hearing the word of God proclaimed. They would say that was an investment well worth it.
Jeffrey Heine:So this is why we sacrificially give to the church. It's why we sacrificially give to missions. It's why we are to use all of the wealth that we have for kingdom advancement. We want the next generation to know Jesus. I've asked one of my friends who who's wealthy, but also very generous with his wealth, which is a rare rare thing.
Jeffrey Heine:I've asked him how how he does it, what what shapes him to be so generous. He said, well, as you get older, as you get wealthier, you can either buy tools or you could buy toys. He said, I'm done buying toys. You could buy tools or you could buy toys, but I'm done buying toys. That has always just just struck me.
Jeffrey Heine:Am I buying tools or am I buying toys as I get older? And toys get a whole lot more expensive as you get older, don't they? Make no mistake. I mean, we're still, like, we're still captivated by toys. We they're just they cost a lot more.
Jeffrey Heine:So what are you buying? I'm I'm not saying that you're not to do things like, you know, do your kitchen renovation project. You're not to buy a new car. You're not to buy that second house. I hope all of you get a second house and invite me to it.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm not I'm not saying that at all, but you need to be open handed with those things and say, god, I'm not buying these things for for a toy. They're a tool. How would you want me to use your lake house for your glory? How do you want me to use your car for your glory? How do you want me to use the empty seat at my dining room table?
Jeffrey Heine:For your glory. Because those are not mine. They're yours and they're tools for you to use however you would you want. And can I tell you as you get older, another thing I found is tools are so much more fun than toys? David here, once again, he is giddy, giddy that he gets to do this.
Jeffrey Heine:Joy is the dominant theme of this chapter. Over and over again, we read how David rejoiced, how all of God's people rejoiced, that they were able to join in with David and do the sacrificial giving. The more they gave, the more joy they received. The Lord is a gracious, good God. And when we give, we get to participate in His joy that He has in giving to us.
Jeffrey Heine:Now, of course, Jesus is the one who modeled this for us. Jesus gave even his own life for the joy that was set before him. That's what we read, in Hebrews, that for the joy set before Jesus, he endured the cross. No one forced Jesus to come to this world. No one forced him to give his life.
Jeffrey Heine:No one twisted his arm. No one guilted Jesus into doing these things. Jesus joyfully gave. And we read that he joyfully gave so that we might be rich. When the apostle Paul, he's encouraging the Corinthian church to, to give joyfully.
Jeffrey Heine:He writes these words in 2nd Corinthians chapter 8, for you know the grace of our lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake, He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich. Jesus gave it way more riches than we could even dream about. Jesus in heaven enjoying all the riches and the glory that was his. And he gave all of that up to come to this world as a human to come in poverty. All that we might be rich.
Jeffrey Heine:Rich in grace, rich in love, rich in joy, rich in life for all of eternity. I don't care if you do not have a single dime in the bank. If you trust Jesus, you are rich and you will be rich for all of eternity. Your riches are just beginning now because you are gonna be given the entire world for an inheritance. And most importantly, you have Christ.
Jeffrey Heine:You will forever be with him. In light of this, in light of the great inheritance that we have waiting us, how can we not be generous now? I I read in here an invitation from David. Will you offer freely? Will you consecrate yourself?
Jeffrey Heine:This isn't a call to duty. It's a call to joy. Pray with me. Jesus, thank you for the invitation we have, the invitation we have to join you in the the joy of giving. There is a joy set before us.
Jeffrey Heine:I pray that we would see it as such. Lord, we were poor. We were dead in our transgressions and sins, But you came to us in our poverty, and through your sacrifice, you have made us wealthy. And we will enjoy that inheritance for all of eternity. Thank you.
Jeffrey Heine:We pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.
