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THE PEOPLE CAME JOYFULLY

Stewardship 2007, Part 2

November 11, 2007

Pastor Bob Sanders

 2 Chronicles 24:1-14 (TNIV)

1 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother's name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

    4 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the LORD. 5 He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, "Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now." But the Levites did not act at once.

    6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, "Why haven't you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?"

    7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.

    8 At the king's command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the LORD. 9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. 11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king's officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the LORD. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD's temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.

    13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the LORD's temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.

Tradition

In the opening scene of the play Fiddler on the Roof we meet Tevye the milkman who tells us about the ways of his people – a small Jewish community in the Russian village of Anatemka.  He directs our attention to a strange little man who plays his fiddle while standing precariously on top of a steep roof.  Tevye says, “We are all fiddlers on the roof, trying to scratch out a pleasant little tune without falling off and breaking our necks.”  And how do they do that?  How do they keep their balance in a dangerous world?  “I’ll tell you,” says Tevye, “in one word I’ll tell you: Tradition.”  And, as we learn, Tevye’s friends and relatives have traditions for nearly everything.  He lists several of them, and then looks at us and says, “You may ask, ‘How did this tradition get started?’  I’ll tell you: I don’t know.  But it’s a tradition!”

Traditions.  Every family has them.  Every community, every congregation has its own traditions.  Including this congregation.  So, you may ask, “How did this tradition get started?  Why do we have to have bulletins to navigate our way through a worship service?  Or, why do we stand and greet each other at the start of the service and then do the same thing ten minutes later and call it ‘Passing the Peace’?”  And I’ll tell you: I don’t know.  But it’s a tradition!  Actually, I do know why we greet each other at the start and then later pass the peace, and there’s some pretty good theology behind it.  As to “Why bulletins?” I’d have to fall back on the seven last words of the church: “Because we’ve always done it this way.”

For me the Joash Chest is a favorite tradition.  It’s a bit old-fashioned, but (increasingly) so am I.  As I told you last week, I first took part in a service like this more than thirty years ago when I was a newly-ordained associate pastor in Boulder, Colorado.  By then it was an established tradition in that congregation.  The senior pastor who introduced it there had learned it some twenty-five years earlier from another pastor who had used it for over forty years.  That’s nearly 100 years of tradition right there.  I introduced it to the church I served in California back in 1981, and as far as I know they’re still using it.  It took a while to get it started here, but in 1998 we had our first Joash Chest service at Lake Grove Presbyterian, and since then it’s become something of a tradition here.  This is our tenth Joash Chest Sunday, and each time I share in this service I’m blessed in some new way.  I hope the same will be true for you.

The First Joash Chest

The first Joash Chest took place during the reign of King Joash who lived around 800 B.C.  It was a dark time spiritually.  Many of the people of Judah and Jerusalem had turned away from the living God and started worshipping the Canaanite fertility gods known as the Baals.  And it was a violent time – which is not surprising, because when people abandon the true God the inevitable result is might-makes-right oppression and an upsurge in violence.  In the previous chapters we learn that Joash’s father was murdered after reigning for just one year.  Joash’s grandmother, Athaliah, seized power.  She was a cruel and determined woman, devoted to the Baals.  She tried to secure her power by killing off all her grandchildren belonging to the royal line.  And she nearly succeeded, but she missed one – a little baby named Joash.  His uncle, the high priest Jehoiada, hid him in the temple and raised him secretly.  When Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada presented him to the people as their rightful king.  Athaliah tried to intervene, but it was too late.  She was taken away and executed.  And so it was that Joash became the boy-king of Judah. 

Joash went on to reign for forty years.  Our text tells about the time when as a grown man Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem.  It had been neglected for a number of years, so Joash ordered the religious officials – the priests and Levites – to collect money from the people to put the place back in order.  You might call it the first “Sanctuary Enhancement Project.”  For some reason, the priests and the Levites dragged their feet: they didn’t follow-through.  Joash became frustrated at their stalling, so he went directly to the people.  He placed a great chest in front of the temple and invited everyone to come and present their gifts to the Lord.

After so many years of idolatry you’d expect the response to be minimal.  Instead it was magnificent.  Listen to verse 10 again, this time from The Jerusalem Bible:

All the officials and all the people came joyfully with their contribution, dropping it into the chest until all was paid.

Notice three things very quickly about that response: the participation level, the spirit level, and the commitment level.  First, the participation level: it says, “All the officials and all the people” responded.  It wasn’t a few deep-pocket donors who picked up the tab while everyone else stood by and watched.  No, everyone got involved.  Rich and poor, young and old alike did their part.  No one held back.  There’s no evidence of the “80-20 Rule” going on here.  That’s the idea that 80 percent of the giving comes from 20 percent of the members.  That’s what happens in a lot of churches today, but not at this first Joash Chest.  All the people participated.

Second, notice the spirit level of the givers.  Verse 10, again, says “All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly.”  They didn’t give reluctantly or grudgingly.  They didn’t give out of guilt or a sense of grim duty.  They gave gladly, joyfully.  And joyful giving is what we want here at Lake Grove Presbyterian.  Once in a while I hear someone talk about “taking a collection” in worship.  We don’t take collections here.  We receive offerings.  There’s a big difference.  A collection sounds like a bill that’s come due and you’d better pay up.  But an offering is a free gift.  We give an offering not to earn God’s grace and love.  We give an offering in response to the grace and love we’ve already received.  When I place my pledge against the cross, when I’m gripped by what God has done for me in Jesus Christ, the natural response is to say, “O Lord, how can I thank You?  What can I do in return?”  That’s the kind of giving that delights God.  That’s what happened at the first Joash Chest: joyful giving.

Finally, notice the commitment level.  It says they “brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full.”  Then the officials would empty it and put it out again, and the people would come back with more.  I’d love to have seen the faces of those tired and timid Levites as they watched the chest fill with contributions – not once, but time after time.  God’s people went beyond what was expected.  We read that sufficient funds came in not only to restore the temple but to replace the worship utensils Athaliah had profaned.  To use a favorite biblical word, they persevered.  They kept at it.  They didn’t stop until the goal was met.  Lake Grove Presbyterian wouldn’t be here today without the faithful commitment of a number of you who, like the folks in this story, have given year after year to keep this church and its ministry growing.  Through thick and thin, through good times and bad, you have persevered.  You’ve pledged to support the church’s annual budget, and then given over and above that to special mission causes, and then pledged even more for various building programs over the past twenty years.  And the same kind of giving goes on today.  It’s what makes it such a privilege to be your pastor – your faithful commitment to the Lord’s work through this church and your perseverance in seeing it through.