SERMON
NOTES

Focus: When the King of the kingdom shares with his children the vision of his kingdom, they naturally respond with enthusiasm. Only when the King’s subjects recognize themselves as daughters and sons will they take “ownership” of their Father’s, the King’s kingdom. These become those that serve the Kingdom – the true Kingdom servants that God seeks. How do we show this sense of “ownership”?

David is nearing the end of his life. He has made some huge mistakes, breaking God’s heart, and has suffered the consequences for them. But he never really lost his love for YHWH, his God. Solomon his son has been made King of Israel. [That itself is another story of God’s grace!]. This is the same David who wrote Psalm 63, “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water…” (v.1). He still had his passion for his God, for building his Temple.
1 Chronicles 28:1-29:9 were essentially a sharing of that passion with Solomon, and his people.

• Investment that becomes Inspiring (The Question of Engagement)
• Passionate enough to Participate (Invest)
• David was not building the Temple himself, but he was passionate about this project he wanted to facilitate that was actually God’s
• He took “ownership” of the project, giving all the architectural details to his son Solomon
• His passion for the Temple led him to begin accumulating resources from the kingdom – physical and financial. Added to all of that, he even gave generously from his own personal wealth
• David’s passion and generosity stemmed from his relationship with God. The beauty of King David’s relationship with God was that he did not believe the kingdom of Israel belonged to him. He always knew that the kingdom, and therefore the Temple, was God’s. His position as king was a privilege given to him for the benefit of the people (see 2 Samuel 5:12; 1 Chronicles 14:2). Thus it may even be said that in a sense he saw himself as belonging to the kingdom (and not the other way around). He participated because he belonged
• A similar situation is when a famine is prophesied, the daughter church, Antioch (largely non-Jews), sent a donation to the poorer parent church in Jerusalem (mostly Jews) because they saw themselves as belonging to them. They were passionate enough to participate
• Ultimately, the greatest example is Jesus himself, who gave himself (see 2 Corinthians 8:9) for us because he was passionately (wholeheartedly) committed to the Father and his Kingdom.

Participation that Inspires Others

• David’s challenge of “Who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?” (1 Chronicles 29:5) was essentially “Who is willing to be and do as I today?” He was saying, “I feel passionately for the Temple project not only because I belong to God and his Kingdom, but I want this Temple to make a spiritual difference in the life of Israel. Don’t you also want to belong to this great and awesome God’s Kingdom and participate?”
• That inspiring challenge was met with an enthusiastic “Yes!” They too wanted to belong and participate, just like David
• The Macedonian Christians responded to the urgent call to help the parent Jerusalem church by giving themselves – belonging first to the parent church – then giving sacrificially and generously. They gave a true part of themselves, a sign of growing closer to God!

David’s prayer of thanksgiving in 1 Chronicles 29:10-19 reflects his understanding of belonging to an awesome God, and the privilege that God had given him to participate by his (David’s) generosity.

• Privilege that becomes Praise (The Question of Attitude)
• Recognizing the privilege of giving
• David recognizes that God Almighty – he doesn’t really need anything. After all, honor, power, and wealth actually came from him, not the other way around.
• When David gave, he saw it as a privilege that God was giving him: God is the one who had given David the passion, the opportunity, and the means for the project. All that David needed was the willingness to do so.
• And he did so. He wholeheartedly took the opportunity to participate, seeing it as a privilege
• But then he saw that his people were doing the same thing – with overwhelming generosity!

Generosity that generates joy, praise, and willingness

• Whether it was David, the people of Israel, Paul, the church in Antioch, the Macedonian church – giving was done with joy, wholeheartedly, willingly, with honest intent.
• The giving was done with a spirit of generosity – it is possible that the focus was not so much “How much can I keep for myself before I give” but “How much can I give before I keep for myself” – that reflects the taking on of true ownership.

Ultimately, whether it's the Temple, the Jerusalem church, or DUMC, the question is: Does it really belong to me (and to all the collection of individual “me’s”), so that it is my duty to see that it keeps running, doing all that it is meant to do? Or does it really belong to God, who happens to be our loving heavenly Father, and he has given us the privilege of belonging to him, and therefore to DUMC? Does it ignite a passion in us, give us a sense of privilege to participate in her life and growth?
Isn’t that what “cultivating ownership” amounts to?

Questions for the Conversation:

• We talk about engaging with the faith community before any deeper sense of belonging takes place. How has your journey been here in DUMC?
• How would you understand “belonging” when it comes to the Church? To DUMC?
• Let’s talk about what all I can do in, and for, and through DUMC that actually builds God’s Kingdom.
• Who can we practically “cultivate ownership” here in DUMC?