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TIME TO TANGIBILITATE
2 Chronicles 24:1-12; Romans 12:1-2
October 29, 2006 – Pledge Dedication Sunday
Pastor Bob Sanders 
2 Chronicles 24:1-12
Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of the priest Jehoiada. Jehoiada got two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
Some time afterward Joash decided to restore the house of the LORD. He assembled the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from all Israel to repair the house of your God, year by year; and see that you act quickly." But the Levites did not act quickly. So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, "Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the LORD, on the congregation of Israel for the tent of the covenant?"
For the children of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had even used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals. So the king gave command, and they made a chest, and set it outside the gate of the house of the LORD. A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. All the leaders and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until it was full. Whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was a large amount of money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. So they did day after day, and collected money in abundance. The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the LORD, and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD. So those who were engaged in the work labored, and the repairing went forward at their hands, and they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it.
When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, and ladles, and vessels of gold and silver. They offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD regularly all the days of Jehoiada.
Romans 12:1-2
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Art of Tangibilitation
Try asking any group of people who’ve ever attended a Sunday service in a Protestant church what they consider to be the most exciting part of the service. Some will scratch their heads, unable to come up with anything that’s very exciting (other than the bagels, maybe). Others will say it’s the music – the choirs and the singing. If the preacher’s lucky, a few might say, “The sermon.”
But I don’t think you’ll find many who will say the most exciting part of the service is the offering. Nobody gets very worked up over the offering, right?
Unless, of course, we’re talking about a service like the one I attended a few years ago at an African-American church in northeast Portland. It lasted about two and half hours, and it was pretty exciting. Lots of great music and dramatic preaching. But that was all just a warm-up for the offering.
It wasn’t like the way we normally do it. They didn’t sit there quietly and pass the plates while listening to soothing music. No, these folks got on their feet and started singing some rousing hymns. And then the entire congregation made their way, row by row, to the front of the sanctuary and put their offering gifts right there on the table, singing all the while. A couple of men were there counting the money as people came by, and at the end they told the pastor the total received. He announced to congregation how many dollars they still needed to meet their goal, and then said it was time to do some real giving. So we all started singing again and going forward one more time. People dug a little deeper and more gifts were placed on the table and counted. And this time the goal was reached. Only then did we sing the Doxology and have the closing prayer.
How many more times would we have done this if the goal wasn’t met? I have no idea. But, like I say, it was pretty exciting.
Peter Gomes, a Harvard professor and himself an outstanding black preacher, says that white Christians who visit black churches are often surprised by these multiple offerings. He says it takes white Christians a while to realize that in the black church the offering isn’t just about fund raising. Rather, it’s about doing real worship. Worship means giving one’s whole self to God. And what better way to do that than in the offering where we give our money – this tangible symbol of our work, our values, our very lives?
It’s what one of America’s most famous black preachers, Father Divine, called “the art of tangibilitation.” Back in the 1930s he would urge the throngs who attended his services in Harlem to make their worship real by their giving. “You got to learn how to tangibilitate!” he would thunder, and the people would bring their gifts as a tangible symbol of their lives given to the Lord.
The First Joash Chest
Well, this morning we’re going to do some tangibilitating. In a few minutes, we’re going to stand and sing some rousing hymns (or at least as rousing as white, suburban Presbyterians can manage), and then come forward to put our gifts and pledges in this Joash Chest. One difference is that we won’t have anyone counting what comes in just yet. And the other is that I won’t be asking you to give some more to meet our goal.
Not this week, anyway.
I was first introduced to this Joash Chest service in 1974 at the church I served in Boulder, Colorado, where it had been a tradition for a number of years. I confess it seemed a little “un-Presbyterian” to me at first. But after sharing in it for several years, it became one of my favorite worship services. I introduced this service over twenty five ago to the congregation I served in California and they’ve used it ever since. And today marks the ninth year we’ve brought our pledges to the Joash Chest here at Lake Grove.
It didn’t start in Boulder or in a black church. It started during the reign of King Joash back in the middle of the ninth century before Christ. That was a dark time. Many of the people of ancient Israel were turning away from the living God and worshiping the pagan gods known as the Baals. And it was a violent time. In 2 Chronicles chapters 22 and 23 we learn that Joash’s father was murdered after reigning for just one year. Joash’s grandmother, Athaliah, then seized power. She was a cruel and wicked woman, devoted to the Baals, and to keep her power she murdered all her grandchildren in the royal line. All but one – a little baby named Joash. His uncle, the high priest Jehoiada, hid him in the temple and raised him in secret. When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada presented him to the people as their rightful king. Athaliah tried to intervene, but she was taken away and executed. Joash the boy-king went on to reign for forty years.
Our reading from 2 Chronicles 24 tells about the time Joash, now a grown man, set out to restore the temple in Jerusalem. It had been badly neglected for a number of years and very run down. So Joash ordered the priests and Levites, the religious leaders, to collect money from the people to put the place back in order. For some reason the priests and Levites failed to follow through. Joash grew frustrated with their stalling and went directly to the people. He placed a chest in front of the temple and invited everyone to come and present their gifts to the Lord.
And the results? Verse 10 says, “All the leaders and all the people rejoiced and brought their [gifts] and dropped [them] into the chest until it was full.” Listen to that verse again: “All the leaders and all the people…” They all participated. It wasn’t just a few. Everybody gave. And it goes on to say, “All the leaders and all the people rejoiced.” It wasn’t given out of guilt or pressure. It was a celebration. They gave gladly, joyfully. And finally, “All the leaders and all the people rejoiced and brought their [gifts]…until the chest was full.” In fact, they filled the chest several times over. They gave so much the challenge goal was exceeded: the repair work was completed and there was enough left over to completely refurbish the temple.
In other words, they gave with glad and generous hearts. Which is what we seek in our giving at this Joash Chest this morning. We want this to include all of us. We want our giving to be glad and joyful. And we want the response to be generous and to meet the valid needs of this church’s ministry in the coming year.
But most of all, we want this to be a time to tangibilitate: a time to make a tangible response to God’s great love for us. We don’t give our gifts to earn God’s love. We make our gifts and pledges as a response, a way of saying, “Thank You, Lord, for loving me.” And that response becomes tangible, becomes measurable, when it involves our dollars, our giving.
Real Worship
Which brings us, finally, to our reading from Romans 12. Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God…” The mercies of God – the free and undeserved grace of God that is ours in Jesus Christ. The mercy of forgiveness, of new life, of peace with God, of “strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.” These incredible gifts God has showered upon us. And what is our response? We say, “Thank You, Lord” by presenting our bodies – our very selves – as a living sacrifice. In light of what God has done for us in Jesus Christ, we give ourselves to God.
That, says Paul, is what real worship is all about.
Real worship always involves giving something to God. Back in the Old Testament it might mean dragging a sheep or a bull into the temple and offering it as a sacrifice to God. As Christians we don’t do that, we don’t do animal sacrifices, because Jesus Christ made the once-and-for-all perfect sacrifice on the cross. The sinless Lamb of God, was slain for our sins. But worship still involves giving. Now instead of dragging some poor animal to the altar, we bring something far more precious. We present our selves, our bodies – all we have and are – as a living sacrifice to God.
Peter Gomes is right: the offering is the most crucial part of any worship service. It’s not about fund raising. It’s about tangibilitating. It’s about presenting our bodies to God as a living sacrifice.
And that’s what we’re going to do now, as we come to this Joash Chest. Here’s how it works. In a moment our choir will present a musical offering. Use this time to get ready. Think about God’s mercies in your life – God’s love and grace, God’s power and protection, God’s goodness and generosity. Ask God to give you a glad and generous heart as you worship him this morning.
Then we’ll stand and sing the songs and hymns in your bulletin. As we sing, some of our Sunday School children will bring their gifts to the chest, and then Paul Stewart will direct us, row by row, to the chest. Some of us will come by ourselves. Some will come with family members. Some will come with friends. When you get here, take a moment to dedicate your gift, and present it to God as your act of genuine worship. If you’ve brought your pledge card, drop that in the chest. If you’ve brought an offering put that in the chest also.
Some of you forgot to fill out a pledge card. Some of you mailed it in already. Some of you have chosen not to pledge. Some of you are here for the first time and feeling pretty nervous right now (“I told you we should have gone to the Methodist church!”). No worries. Whether you’ve brought a pledge card or not, we hope everybody will come. Bring your gratitude. Bring your self. Bring who you really are and give that to God.
Now, let’s prepare as we listen to our choir. Then, in response to the mercies of God, let’s do some tangibilitating. Let’s come to the Joash Chest and present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.
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