Commitment Sunday 2009

Let's pray.

Gracious God, we ask for you to pour out your spirit amongst us now as we look at your word again,

and particularly a passage which just displays your greatness.

Who are we, O Lord, that we could give so generously?

Father, I pray that you would search our hearts that we might give with honest intent,

that we might desire your glory, that we might see all things come from you.

And who are we to do this? And we ask it for your sake. Amen.

Since the St. Paul's Vision 2020 was launched a few weeks ago, I've had time to go over the plans.

You've had time to discuss them amongst yourselves or with the leaders and to pray about them and to consider your commitment to them.

And, of course, what we launched a few weeks ago is not the final word on what's going to happen here.

Obviously, in the next 11 years, there's an awful lot of work to be done,

and it's certainly impossible to sit this side of 11 years and to work out all the details,

particularly all the fine operational details of every ministry for the next 11 years.

Those things will happen.

That will be discussed as we go along and work out what we need to do and is where God's leading us.

But for now, we have the big picture.

We have the big picture.

We have the key elements of why we exist, what we value as a church,

what we hope to achieve under God, him giving us the strength and the mercy to do it.

What we hope is that it will pull us together as a church to work in a common goal,

to head in a common direction for God's glory.

And the question which is before us, the one that I left you with on Vision Sunday,

is will you commit yourself to what the Lord has laid before us as his people?

More importantly than the question of will you commit yourself to Vision 2020,

is will you commit yourself fully to the Lord in this place?

Will you commit yourself fully to the Lord in this place?

On Vision Sunday, we looked at the parable of the shrewd manager in Luke,

and the call of Jesus there was for us to make decisions now in view of eternity.

And in particular, the call was for us to build up treasures in heaven

and to use our money now and to put it behind ministry.

It is the one thing that you will buy which will actually be an internal investment.

I've also mentioned a number of points that for Christians,

money is not purely a financial issue.

It is a spiritual issue.

And so what we are doing here today on Commitment Sunday

is not fundraising, it is faith-raising.

That's the deal.

That's what we're working with here.

It's fundraising, not fundraising.

Faith-raising, not fundraising.

It's been a long day.

1 Chronicles is primarily about David,

primarily about his reign.

It's about David's reign as king and the building up to the construction of the temple.

And you see David, even though he made a bunch of mistakes in 1 Chronicles,

you see him come to the fore at the end of this book.

The temple is crucial for the people of God.

It is the permanent structure where God will permanently dwell with his people.

It is a recapturing, if you like, of the Garden of Eden

where people and God walked together

and were in peace and harmony and rest with each other.

And so it would be the place where God would rule the world.

It would be the centre of the world.

It was the symbol of God's unending state of rest and peace with his people.

A permanent dwelling where God would permanently dwell amongst his people.

It was crucial for the nation of Israel for this to happen.

David had already been told that he wasn't to build the temple

and so what he does in his retirement years

is he gets ready for his successor and his son Solomon.

Verses 1-9 describe the facts for us on a human level.

There is an incredible generosity in Israel

for the collection to pay for the building of the temple in Jerusalem.

David led the way by giving of the official treasury,

the stuff that he had the checkbook for,

the official treasury of Israel.

He gave significantly out of that

but he also gave significantly out of his personal resources.

And these personal resources were highly valued

or in actual fact these resources in the original language

they were the treasures of the king.

It's what the king treasured.

They were highly valued by the king.

They were treasured by the king

because they were kept in reserve for the king

as an insurance policy

against any unforeseen political misfortunes

or natural calamities.

So if he needed to buy an army

to beat up someone who was against him,

he's got his own money to put into it

as his own personal security.

So what happens here is that David leads the people

by giving of the goods

that were stored up for his own personal security.

The amounts are there.

100 tons of gold, 240 tons of silver

but the amounts actually don't matter.

The amounts don't actually matter.

What matters is he led the people

in giving up of his personal security.

And the Bible leads me consistently to conclude

that the extent to which we are prepared

to risk our material well-being

is a measure of the seriousness

in which we take our discipleship.

That is why, friends,

this is a faith-raising issue for St Paul's.

That's why David challenges the people,

now,

who is willing to consecrate himself today

to the Lord?

This whole thing in raising money for the temple

is purely about that.

David calls the whole assembly together

and says to them,

will you freely offer yourselves to God?

The issue is not the amassing of glittering jewels

or precious metals

but the pouring of themselves as God's people

into the building of the temple

as a symbol of the wholehearted worship

that will soon take place in that temple.

What David is calling for here

is very similar to what Paul says

to the Macedonian churches in 2 Corinthians.

Again, in the context of giving,

he says,

they did not do as we expected

but they gave themselves first to the Lord.

They consecrated themselves to the Lord

and then to us

in keeping with his will.

That's just what David says

a thousand years earlier or more.

Give yourselves to the Lord.

It's what I've been looking at

as we've been travelling with Jesus

on this road to Jerusalem.

What does it mean for Jesus to be our king?

And he says,

give yourselves to the Lord.

Give yourselves to this king

who will consecrate themselves this day to Jesus.

And the response was overwhelming.

The fathers, the princes, the commanders,

the overseers gave gold and silver

and brass and iron.

Everyone who had precious stones

gave them to Jehiel,

the Wendy J of David's court.

Those are the facts on the human level.

There was an enormous generosity.

The money came in.

There was enough to build the temple.

How do you account for that?

Was David a charismatic leader?

Were they just fearful of David?

How do you account for this?

David, at one level,

David is not the least afraid of saying

that the people did the giving.

He stresses their wills

were profoundly involved in the giving.

Verse 9,

The people rejoiced at the willing response

of their leaders

for they had given freely

and wholeheartedly to the Lord.

They were not coerced.

They made choices.

This is what anyone can see

on a human level.

But what matters on this day

is not what the eye can see.

What matters is the great,

invisible reality of God

on this day.

And to help us to see that,

what the writer of Chronicles does

is he sort of pulls apart the curtains

on David's prayer.

David prays in such a way

that he pulls apart the curtains

to see what is really happening

when the people of God

give so generously.

Back then

and here today.

What really happened

was that God revealed himself

to his people.

So get this.

The giving of money

for the house of God

was the work of God

to reveal God

so that the people of God

would stand in awe of God.

That's what's going on.

I'll say it again

given the confused, glazed looks

that you all have.

The giving of money

for the house of God

was the work of God

to reveal God

so that the people of God

would stand in awe of God.

That is what's revealed

in David's prayer.

That is what David sees

and this is what he says

he sees is happening

on this day.

Of course this is invisible.

No camera could pick up God.

No reporter could stick a microphone

and ask him what's going on

on this day.

Technically there are no signs

and wonders.

There are no miracles

but David says

what has happened here today

is all of God.

And he mentions at least

11 things about God.

11 attributes of God

which are being revealed

in this enormous generosity

in 1 Chronicles 29.

Number one

yours oh Lord

is the greatness.

That is God is great.

He is expansive.

He is larger than any reality

in this universe.

Number two

yours oh Lord

is the greatness

and the power.

God is powerful.

All power belongs to God.

He is not only big

and expansive.

He is also strong.

He is stronger

than any atomic power

any hydrogen bomb

any natural forces

like hurricanes

or ocean tides

or an exploding stars.

He is not only great

in size

but he can move

that greatness

to accomplish

everything that he

wills to accomplish.

He is very powerful.

Number three

yours oh Lord

is the greatness

and the power

and the glory

and the splendor.

God is glorious.

In other words

his greatness

and his power

come together

to beauty.

Not ugliness.

It's beauty

when God's greatness

and power

come together.

When we see God

for who he is

our hearts

our souls

respond

with a tremendous

satisfaction

because we were made

to behold glory

and splendor.

We were made

to exalt

in infinite beauty.

God is the source

and the essence

of all great

and powerful beauty

all glory

and splendor.

Number four

yours oh Lord

is the greatness

and the power

and the glory

and the splendor

and the majesty.

He is majestic.

This means that

he has all the marks

of royalty

or kingliness.

When he rides by

you take off

your hat

and you salute.

You don't slouch.

You don't swagger.

You don't joke.

You don't jest.

You stand in awe

and you tremble

with joy

before this God.

You tremble

with joy

that you have been

granted to see him

and not die.

He is majestic.

Yours oh Lord

is the greatness

and the power

and the glory

and the majesty

and the splendor

for everything

in heaven

and on earth

is yours.

God owns the world

and he owns

everything in it.

He owns your home.

He owns your car.

He owns your television.

He owns your blender.

He owns your mind.

He owns your emotions.

He owns your will.

He owns your very life.

Everything

is his.

He owns your life.

He owns your life.

He owns your life.

He owns your life.

He gave it freely

as a trust

and he may take it

whenever he chooses

all of it

or any of it

and he would have done you

no wrong.

We are only trustees

of life

and thought

and possessions.

possessions.

We are only trustees

of life

and thought

and possessions.

Just dwell on that

for a little while

and that will blow your mind

inside out

and upside down.

We need to ponder that

more than we do.

Number six,

yours,

oh Lord,

is the kingdom.

In other words,

he not only has

the splendor of royalty,

he has the authority

of royalty.

He actually rules

as king over the world.

He has dominion,

ruling authority

as king over all.

His kingly decrees

hold sway

over all.

Number seven,

yours,

oh Lord,

is the kingdom.

You are exalted

as head over all.

God is the head

over all things.

That is,

he is the leader

and he is the final authority

over all things.

God is not incidental

or accidental

over all.

He chooses

to be head

over all.

He exalts himself

as head

over all.

His position

in the universe

is a position

he chooses

to keep.

His reputation

as head

over all

is something

that he wills

and desires

to be known

to the ends

of the earth.

Number eight,

wealth and honour

come from you.

Not only does God

own all things,

rule all things,

exalt himself

as head

over all things,

he also is

the source

of all things,

the source

of all riches

and honour

that come

to any man,

woman or child.

On a merely

human standpoint,

we look

and we go,

my riches

and honour

come because

of my inheritance,

because of some

good willing

and dealing

on the stock market,

some shrewd

real estate dealings,

I've saved

some money,

I've worked

really hard,

I've lived

an honourable

life,

but David

says riches

come from God,

all honour,

any title

that you have,

any possessions

that you have,

all comes

from God.

That is the

invisible work

of God

in and under

and behind

all of our

daily work.

Number nine,

and linked with this,

in your hands

are strength

and power

to exalt

and give

strength to all.

The new thing

here is that

all human

greatness

and all

human strength

are the work

of God's

invisible hand.

It's all

of God.

The ability

that I had

to even comprehend

what 1 Chronicles

29

was doing

and to put it

into some

form of a sermon

was the work

of God

in my brain

and in my heart.

God's point

in all of this,

in this great

generosity in Israel

is to show

that it is

his hand

that lies

behind it

and makes it

great.

Number ten,

after pausing

in verse 13

to burst

with thanks

and praise

for all of

this stuff,

David goes

on with more

about this

great God

who has

been at work

in his whole

affair of giving

and he says

this about

this great

God,

he is

merciful.

God helps

us to do

what we do

not deserve

help to do.

Verse 14,

but who am I

and who are my

people that we

should be able

to give

as generously

as this?

everything

comes from

you

and we

have given

you only

what comes

from your

hand.

In other

words,

God has

enabled us

to give

like this

is what

David is

saying.

Even though

we don't

deserve the

help that

God has

given to

give like

this.

Who are

we to be

helped to

give like

this?

St. Paul's

Chatswood

is a

fellowship

of

graciously

saved

sinners.

As

verse 15,

the second

answer

verse 15

says,

there is

no hope

for people

like us

outside of

God's

mercy to

us in

the Lord

Jesus.

No hope

whatsoever.

Nevertheless,

God acts

for us in

mercy and

behold we

give because

he has acted

towards us

in mercy.

And so

the 11th

tribute to

God in

this matter

of giving

is that

God is

sovereignly

merciful and

he helps

us give

even though

we don't

deserve

that help.

And so

just over

10 days

ago,

I told

you last

week,

staff and

parish council

got together

and they

pledged

$5,200 a

week for

2010.

And

following on

from the

words of

David,

who are

the staff

of St.

Paul's

Chatswood?

Who are

the parish

council of

St.

Paul's

Chatswood

that they

could give

$5,200 a

week for

next year?

We are

utterly

undeserving.

Yet from

his hand

we have

given to

him only

what came

from him

because he

is a

merciful God.

Number

11,

finally,

jumping down

to verse

18,

we see that

God's

enabling in

this matter

is not

simply that

he gives

the funds

but that

he gives

the willingness

to give.

This

takes us

back to

where we

started.

Remember

what we

said about

the people,

the people

did the

giving.

David even

stresses the

significant

aspect of

their will

in that

they were

profoundly

involved in

the giving.

Verse 9

it says,

the people

rejoiced

the willing

response of

their leaders

for they

had given

freely and

wholeheartedly

to the

Lord.

That is,

the people

of Israel

made choices.

Human

choices,

real

choices,

joyful

choices.

That is

what you

can see.

That is

what all

the people

can see.

It is

obvious for

us to

see that

but that

is not

all that

David saw.

What David

saw and he

makes known

to us in

the petition

in verses

18 to

19,

O Lord,

God of

our fathers

Abraham,

Isaac and

Israel,

keep this

desire in

their hearts

of your

people forever

and keep

their hearts

loyal to

you.

And give

my son

Solomon the

wholehearted

devotion to

keep your

commands,

requirements and

decrees and

to do

everything to

build this

palatial structure

for which I

have provided.

See what he's

saying there?

Where is

Solomon going

to get a

heart to

keep the

commands of

God?

From God.

David

prayed in

verse 19,

give my

son Solomon

the

wholehearted

devotion to

keep your

commands and

requirements and

decrees.

Friends,

we ought to

be praying for

that.

We ought to

be praying

that prayer.

Give it to

us,

Lord,

the wholehearted

devotion to

keep your

commands,

your

requirements and

decrees that

we might

generously give.

And so that's

what he says.

What about

these people

here?

What about

those who

had already

given so

generously?

Those who

says he,

verse 9,

had given

freely and

wholeheartedly.

What does

David pray for

them?

Verse 18,

O Lord,

keep this

desire in

their hearts

of your

people forever

and keep

their hearts

loyal to

you.

This is not

the end of

the matter.

We ought to

be growing

more and

more in

this matter.

When a

sinner directs

his heart

towards God,

God has

done that.

Apart from

God, our

hearts will

go in every

direction.

But God,

apart from

God, our

hearts will

go after

everything

apart from

God.

We will

treasure

anything else

in this

world apart

from God.

That is

what is so

crucial for

us as a

church to

have treasure

Jesus at

the centre

of our

mission

statement.

We ought

to be

treasuring

him more

than

anything

else.

And may

God give

us the

hearts to

pursue

treasuring

Jesus more

than anything

else.

Apart from

God, we

do not

give

willingly and

joyfully to

the cause

of God.

That is

why David

prays.

A prayer

that is

asking God

to do

what man

cannot do.

We cannot

direct our

hearts to

God or

give

willingly to

God unless

God directs

our hearts

to himself

and causes

us to

give

willingly.

I'm

kind of

hoping by

now that

you've

picked that

up from

me in

my

preaching.

As we've

looked

particularly

at Luke's

gospel and

the travel

narrative of

what it means

to walk

with Jesus

on this

road to

Jerusalem,

I've been

asking you

give it up

for the

king.

we live

to treasure

Jesus.

And so

now on

Commitment

Sunday,

now is

the time

for you to

consecrate

yourself to

the Lord.

If you

haven't already

do it,

to consecrate

yourself to

the Lord.

I do hope

that you

have considered

and prayed

and come

prepared with

your pledge

cards.

I do hope

that you've

done that,

you've worked

hard on that.

I believe

that your

leaders have

done that.

When parish

council and

staff met

together about

10 days ago,

we went

through this

process.

We looked

at this

passage.

And I

believe that

this passage

is calling

me as the

point leader

of this

church to

lead as

King David

did.

And so

at parish

council meeting

with the

staff and

parish council

there about

10 days ago,

I publicly

declared to

them what

the contribution

of Natalie

and I

would be,

what our

contribution

would be in

2010.

I will be

the only

one publicly

to do so

and the

moment I

enjoy doing

it, I

will stop

doing it.

Up until

recently, we

have been

giving $500 a

month.

But as we've

walked with

Jesus to

Jerusalem, we

have been

rethinking our

contribution.

And so I

said to parish

council that we

would be

contributing $600

a month in

2010, but I

asked them to

pray for us

that we might

reach $700 by

the end of

the year.

We have

since revised

that and it's

now $650 a

month.

We're starting

that right now,

$650 a month.

And so I'm

praying that, I'm

asking you to

pray for us that

we might reach

$750 by the

end of the

year, given

that my target

was so short.

And that is

specifically to

the ministry of

St Paul's

Chatswood.

That is to

our weekly

offertory here

for the

ministry of

St Paul's

Chatswood.

Our mission

giving and

our giving to

the poor will

be over and

above that.

And like the

target that I

want to set for

everyone here,

we are aiming

for dollar for

dollar.

I then called

the staff and

the parish

council to

follow suit.

And they

did.

$5,200 a

week was

pledged for

2010.

$2,300 was

raised for the

external project

and over

6,000 for

the internal

project.

They have

significantly

knocked those

figures off

already.

Your leaders

have led.

It was a

wonderful response

and I

rejoiced

greatly.

And I

now call

St Paul's

Chatswood

today to

follow your

leaders.

In a

moment we

are taking

up a

collection.

I'm hoping

that you've

come prepared

with your

pledge cards

if you

haven't.

I believe

Geoff's got

some.

There's

some at

the back.

But the

big question

I want to

leave you

with is

who here

today will

consecrate

themselves to

the Lord

in this

place in

Paul's

Chatswood.

Let's

pray.

Let's

pray.

Gracious

God,

merciful God,

all power

and authority

and glory

are yours.

You rule

over all

that is.

You own

everything in

this world.

You own

our lives,

our possessions.

Oh Lord,

we don't

recognise that

enough.

We thank you

for the life

that we have.

We thank you

for the strength

and the honour

that you have

given us to be

able to gather,

to work,

to save,

to earn.

Lord,

we sit here

today,

we reflect

even on what

the leaders

of this church

have done,

the staff,

the parish

council.

And as

David said

before Israel,

who is

Steve

Jeffrey?

Who are

the staff

of St.

Paul's

Chatswood?

Who are

the parish

council of

St.

Paul's

Chatswood?

Who are

the people

of St.

Paul's

Chatswood

that we

should

give so

generously

as this?

We only

give what

you have

already

given to

us.

And so

Lord,

rescue us

from hypocrisy.

Rescue us

Lord,

from anything

that would

want to

turn it

back on

ourselves.

May we

rejoice in

you and

your goodness

to us.

May we

do it

with honest

intent.

And we

ask it

for your

glory.

Amen.