The Joy of Building, Part 1
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: As I have rubbed shoulders with pastors in the Evangelical Free Church over the past 22 years, I have noticed one thing that is almost universal. Almost every pastor dreads a major building project. The reasons offered are varied but somewhat related: “I’m inadequate to the task of fund-raising,” or “A building project takes so much extra work that by the time it’s finished, I’m too burned out to enjoy it,” or “Building raises inevitable tensions in the church–tensions over style of architecture, over money, over priorities,” or “Most of my friends who have been involved in major building programs end up leaving the church before it’s finished or soon after.”
I’ve heard so many of these comments that I wasn’t surprised to find a book entitled, When Not to Build, Unconventional Wisdom for the Growing Church, which I bought and read. I appreciate some of the author’s points and I understand much of the hesitancy of my pastor friends. But I can’t help but believe there’s something wrong here. The building of a facility to worship God should not be a negative experience. In fact, it was quite the opposite when Israel built its greatest place of worship—the Solomonic Temple. That was a time of incredible joy and unity for the people of God. So, I wish to speak to you today about “The Joy of Building.”
There has been a whole spate of books published in recent years with the title, The Joy of …. Actually there are over 50 of them. Some you’ve probably seen and perhaps even own some, like The Joy of Cooking, The Joy of Gardening, The Joy of Marriage, The Joy of Parenthood, and The Joy of Christmas. But there are others that are a bit strange, like The Joy of Juggling, The Joy of Muffins, The Joy of Baldness, The Joy of Depression (obviously, the author has never experienced it.), The Joy of Sects (that’s S.E.C.T.S.), The Joy of Stress, The Joy of Negative Thinking, The Joy of Not Knowing It All, and The Joy of Not Working. Seriously, every one of those is a book currently in print.
Well, maybe someday there will be a book entitled The Joy of Building a House for God. If so, it would surely focus most of its attention on 1 Chronicles 28 and 29. To establish the context, please turn with me to the 28th chapter of 1 Chronicles:
“David summoned all the officials of Israel to assemble at Jerusalem: the officers over the tribes, the commanders of the divisions in the service of the king, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of all the property and livestock belonging to the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty men and all the brave warriors.
King David rose to his feet and said: ‘Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it. But God said to me, “You are not to build a house for my Name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood.”
‘Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the house of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel. Of all my sons—and the LORD has given me many—he has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. He said to me: “Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.” Now skip down to verse 20:
“David also said to Solomon his son, ‘Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished. The divisions of the priests and Levites are ready for all the work on the temple of God, and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.’”
In this passage David gathers the leaders of the whole nation together to challenge them and motivate them to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant and a permanent house for God in Jerusalem, which would take the place of the temporary and portable tabernacle that had served the nation for 400 years since the days of Moses. This text concerns the launching of the project, not the actual building of it. Though God would not allow David to build the temple, He did allow him to raise the funds for the project so that his son Solomon could build it after his death. And David pursued his assignment with a vengeance.
I recognize the danger of extrapolating too much from the building of the temple in Jerusalem 3000 years ago to the building of houses of worship today, for there are significant differences. For example, the Solomonic temple was set apart by God Himself as His dwelling place on earth, while the temple of God on earth today, according to 1 Cor. 3 & 6 and 1 Peter 2, is to be identified with the bodies of believers, both individual and corporate. Another difference is that in Old Testament times tight restrictions were placed on access to various parts of the temple, and full participation in worship was limited to Jewish men. There is no parallel to these restrictions in the New Testament church.
But despite these and other differences, there are surely some things we can learn from the experience of Israel in building the temple. After all, a great number of details are recorded for us, and it must be for some reason besides just giving us historical information, for 2 Tim. 3:16 says, “All Scripture is inspired and is profitable” for at least one of four things: “teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.”
The outline before you today is a two-week outline, for this is a two-part sermon. I’m going to cover only the first three points this morning. Next week we will focus on the final three as we look at David’s marvelous prayer in the last half of the chapter.
Now the first thing I want us to note is that David had a plan for a house of God.
The plan for a House of God (28:11-12,19)
It says in verse 11 of chapter 28, “Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the portico of the temple, its buildings, its storerooms, its upper parts, its inner rooms and the place of atonement. He gave him the plans of all that the Spirit had put in his mind….” The passage goes on to describe in detail the construction and the furnishings of the temple. Then in verse 19 we read, “’All this,’ David said, ‘I have in writing from the hand of the Lord upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan.’” It would be nice if God would do that for us, wouldn’t it? We could save substantially on architectural fees. But generally God gifts His people to do that sort of thing.
What this tells me, however, is that God is a God of planning. Fly-by-night decisions made on the spur of the moment are not His way of doing things. He is not impulsive, nor does He want us to be impulsive. I’ve always been impressed by how deliberate and thorough the leaders of this church are. Without ever trying to become a mega-church, they laid plans that allowed for future growth should God prosper the ministry.
Even though our congregation was small back in 1986, the leadership looked for a minimum of ten acres for our permanent home. Our small congregation didn’t need that much land, but the leaders planned with the expectation that God would bring growth. When more land became available at a reasonable price, they encouraged the congregation to buy it.
When our first facilities were constructed on this land, everyone would have liked to have a sanctuary with sloped floor, permanent seating, rear-projection screens, large platform, etc., but wise planning dictated that we wait on a permanent sanctuary until we had a better notion of what the eventual size of the congregation might be. So, we built a multi-purpose auditorium that was designed to eventually become a gymnasium or a fellowship hall.
By and large I believe the growth of First Free has been steady and orderly because of the careful planning that has gone into everything. The new building project we will be making our commitments toward next Sunday has already received a great deal of thought, and I’m sure the plan will be refined many more times before it’s finalized. That’s as it should be. That’s biblical.
The purpose of a House of God (29:1)
Chapter 29 opens this way: “Then King David said to the whole assembly: ‘My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God.'” The temple was not a man-centered project but a God-centered one. Its primary purpose was for worship—a place to be confronted with the awesomeness and majesty of God, a place to offer confession of sin and to receive atonement. Even the architecture of the building drew everyone’s attention to the attributes of God—to His majesty and splendor and holiness and sovereignty.
I believe we should build church facilities today with the same focus in mind: “This structure is not for man but for the Lord God.” It should be for God in the sense that its greatest purpose is to draw our hearts and attention to God in worship. Even the other guiding purposes we have used—evangelism, discipleship, and fellowship—are ultimately God-centered activities. Evangelism is for the purpose of winning more people into God’s eternal family; discipleship’s purpose is to develop obedient followers of our Lord; and even fellowship is at heart just the horizontal aspect of the vertical fellowship that believers enjoy when they walk with God.
Many large churches today are built with an emphasis on comfort, entertainment, athletics, activities, programs, education, etc. Frankly, God sometimes seems to be an afterthought, and some of these palatial structures seem to be designerd just for people. Always we must ask the question, “Will this building exalt God and serve to produce disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ?” If not, then what business does the church have in building it?
The Payment for a House of God (2-9)
The building project David was launching had a pretty serious price tag. Scholars suggest that the Solomonic Temple cost between $12 billion and $16 billion in today’s dollars. Probably no other building in the history of mankind has had more gold and silver in it than this one. Talk about a fund-raising effort!
But David’s stewardship plan was both simple and extremely effective. First, he declared his own commitment and sacrifice; then the leaders declared their commitment and sacrifice, and finally the people followed joyfully and willingly.
David declares his own commitment and sacrifice. (2-5) In verse 2 he indicates that he is willing to give generously from national resources: “With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.”
David calls these “his” resources in verse 2, but I assume they were really governmental resources raised through taxation, because in verse 3 he distinguishes them from his personal funds: “Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the building, for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen.”
This is a huge amount of money—110 tons of gold and 260 tons of silver! In today’s dollars that’s about $2 billion. Then, using his own example as a basis of encouragement, David asks, “Now who is willing to consecrate himself today to the Lord?” Immediately the answer is provided in verses 6-8.
The leaders declare their commitment and sacrifice. (6-8) “Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. Any who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite.”
Though surely none of the leaders were as wealthy as King David, they nevertheless outgave him as a group, demonstrating that they, too, were fully committed to this task. They gave 190 tons of gold, 375 tons of silver, 675 tons of bronze, and 3,750 tons of iron, which was much more rare and therefore more valuable than it is today. In addition, an unspecified number of precious stones were given.
The people follow joyfully and willingly. (9) “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.” In verse 17 we discover the important truth that this rejoicing led them to join in the giving themselves. They followed the lead of the king, the officials, and the commanders.
You know, Free Churches tend to be conservative in financial matters, particularly when it comes to confidentiality in giving. In most of our Free churches, no one other than the Financial Secretary knows what anyone gives. We even tend to get nervous when someone shares a testimony about how God has blessed his or her giving. I believe the principle of confidentiality is biblical, and I think it was given to us because God knows how easy it is for people to use their giving to generate undue power and influence. But I wonder if we haven’t taken it too far.
David was in no sense embarrassed to make his gifts known. Nor were the leaders reluctant to make theirs known, although apparently they did so as a group rather than individually. I believe it is not only permissible, but even encouraged here, that leaders should make their giving known before the people are asked to lay themselves on the line. Leaders should lead, even in the grace of giving.
We, the leaders of First Free, decided this year that we would declare our giving before asking you to do so. Last Thursday night about 75 of our leaders (staff, Elders, Deacons, Small Church leaders, and Commission chairmen) and their spouses met to review the Milestones, the Living Stones, and the Cornerstones of First Free. The Milestones are the historical markers of how God brought this church into being and helped it become an effective tool for the Kingdom in this great city. The Living Stones are testimonies of how people have recently had their lives impacted in a major way by the ministry of this body of believers. And the Cornerstones refer to the new building that is being designed to carry out ministry expansion for the cause of the One who is the Chief Cornerstone.
Then we joyfully turned in our Faith Promises for the next three years. Our goal was to demonstrate to you that the leaders of our church are committed to seeing this ministry expansion happen if God continues to bless the vision. We were of the strong conviction that if the leaders stepped out in great faith, the people would be encouraged to follow.
But there was a risk here. First Free has never chosen its leaders based upon their financial statements. Most of our leaders are not people of significant financial means. But frankly, we believed the congregation was able to discern whether true sacrifice as opposed to tokenism, was being exercised by its leaders. After all, sacrifice is the real issue. Jesus praised the widow’s mite more than the huge gifts of some others, because her gift represented a true sacrifice.
I don’t know what the expectations of others were as they came Thursday night. I didn’t really have any expectations. I simply asked God to help the leaders step out in faith and give what He would want them to give. And I am pleased to report that I believe God has answered that prayer. Our leaders, representing 10-15% of our regular giving units, have submitted Faith Promises totaling $1,010,000, with the stated intention of giving $300,000 of that amount by the end of December. Let me put that amount in perspective for you. In 1990 when we held our first major Faith Promise effort—for the building we presently occupy—the amount committed by the entire church (500-600 people) was $1 million. I think we have much to be thankful to God for.
You will notice that the last phrase of verse 9 of our text tells us that “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” Next Lord’s Day we will look at the prayer of praise David prayed—one of the great prayers in the Bible. He didn’t praise the leaders for their giving; he didn’t praise the people for theirs; he certainly didn’t praise himself for his own giving. He praised God and gave Him all the honor and glory for what they were able to do. Let me mention just 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.” I can’t help but respond the same way. That is why we are planning a Celebration of praise next Sunday.
You will have the opportunity to respond to God’s grace in your lives next Sunday by turning in your Faith Promises. I have mentioned Faith Promises several times this morning, and I want to be sure everyone knows what I am talking about. A Faith Promise is a way you can plan your giving and, at the same time, help your leaders plan wisely.
If we were to try to raise the entire cost of the new facilities up front, it would very likely be prohibitive. But through planned giving, we believe it is possible for us to accomplish a task that might otherwise be impossible. Our goal is to raise $6-7 million in cash and Faith Promises in this three-year effort, leaving us with a manageable mortgage which we would expect to pay off in less than ten years. Naturally, if we could raise all the money that is needed by the time the building is finished, that would be fantastic.
The Faith Promise cards were handed out at the Fireside Evenings, and for those unable to attend, they have been mailed to your home. Most of you should have received it by now. If anyone has not received one, they are available at the Welcome Center in the foyer. The card is perforated and is meant to be separated. Only one part is small enough to fit into the envelope that accompanies it, and that is the part we are asking you to turn in. The larger part, which you are to keep, has a place for signatures. If you are married, we hope both husband and wife will sign it. The signature signifies your commitment to God. We will know only the amount you commit, but we won’t know who made the individual commitments. No one in the church will ever remind you about your Faith Promise or dun you if you fall behind, because no one other than God will know what you have promised.
The card has four lines and a total. The first line says, “In dependence upon God I give $______ during December, 1996.” The second, third, and fourth lines ask you to consider a weekly, monthly, or annual gift toward ministry expansion for the next three years. The final line asks for a total. We will add up those totals on November 17, add that to what the leaders have already committed, and the resulting amount is what we will base our future planning upon.
By the way, we can also accept Gifts in Kind. Some people can give more through products or services than they can through giving cash. The beautiful brick patio outside our lobby was a Gift in Kind from a family in our church when we built the present building. Someone might want to give a car or some jewelry or some stock or even a piece of real estate. Some such gifts can offer significant tax advantages.
The Faith Promise card says in bold print near the top that this gift is over and above my regular giving. It won’t help the church if you decide to give to ministry expansion by moving your tithe from the operating fund to the building fund. This needs to be a sacrifice over and beyond what you are currently giving to support the ministry of the church.
There is also a reference on the card to the fact that our congregation decided last June to tithe this expansion program by giving 10% to a church planting fund (unless the giver requests that 100% of his gift go to the new building). This is our way of recognizing that while our needs for new space are significant, we have many brothers and sisters in Christ whose needs for facilities are as great or greater than ours, and we should not be selfish.
Some of the church planting projects we expect this significant amount of money to help are our friends at Cornerstone Church in Webster, Jubilee Community Church on North Grand, a new Free Church being started in the Dogtown are of South City, new churches in Hannibal, in St. Joeseph, in Kazan, Tatarstan, and in Mexico City. We also want to have funds to begin a new church in far west St. Louis County within the next few years, if God so directs.
Someone asked me at one of the Firesides, “How do you decide how much to give? Do you put down an amount that you are sure you can give, or do you take a leap of faith and promise an amount that you have no idea where it will come from?” Well, I think you’ll have to seek God’s face on that, but my own opinion is that a Faith Promise is a balance between reason and faith. It is not a Faith Guess, it’s a Faith Promise, so we shouldn’t be making wild guesses. On the other hand, I think God is pleased when our faith is stretched and we commit to doing something that is way beyond our comfort level. None of us knows what the future will hold, so there’s a distinct measure of faith involved whenever we commit to something three years out in the future.
I mentioned earlier in the message that one of the drawbacks of an over-emphasis on confidentiality is that we rarely hear the testimonies of those whom God has blessed with the gift of giving. I want to share a couple of unsolicited testimonies that have come my way in the past two weeks. I won’t mention their names, but these are real people in this body of believers.
One member of our church who is in sales shared with me the other day that he and his wife sat down and figured out what they needed to live on. They tithe on that amount. But then they decided that whatever God provided in commissions beyond that amount over the next three years, they would give half of it to First Free’s ministry expansion. So, their Faith Promise will include a range, depending upon how God prospers them. Interestingly, since they made that commitment his business has been going through the roof!
I also want to share a letter I received this past week that was really encouraging:
Dear Pastor Mike,
Isn’t God wonderful? I find it no accident that what I am studying at BSF this year is the story of David and Solomon and their desire to build a temple. This very week we studied 1 Chronicles where David publicly declares what he will give towards the building of God’s temple. (I just had to stop in my studies and write to you). This may not speak much to all the peoples of the world who take BSF; I know it is speaking volumes to us at First Free who take BSF.
I come from a past of modest to low income. As a child we had mostly hand-me-downs, a hodge-podge of adequate furnishings, one car, and one black and white TV. My grandparents, however, were somewhat affluent and important people in a small community.
After their deaths, their estate was handed down to my mother and after my mother’s death, at a young age, my portion came to me. Here I was, inheritor of a sizeable sum and “in the money” for the first time in my life. Now, my husband and I would start the process of learning to be good stewards of this money—not an easy task. After spending a portion on things we always dreamed about, we have channeled the remainder into our “future.” College tuition, post-retirement incomes, and the ever-rising cost of healthcare in our old age were items of importance now.
I, like so many others, have been doing a lot of praying lately, asking God, “How much should we give?” Questions emerge like, “What if I give so much that I will suffer in the future? Maybe I’ll be cold or hungry or hurting and sick in my old age? Maybe my children won’t be able to go to college and only have dead-beat jobs and low income levels all their lives? Then I hear the Holy Spirit who says to me, “Have faith! Don’t worry! If you trust in God, He will take care of you. Don’t worry over these things—God has taken good care of you so far in life.”
I think people hoard their money because they don’t have crystal balls for vision into the future. I know I have been chosen by God, and the certainty of His care for me in the future should be as strong as my knowledge of my everlasting life in paradise with Jesus, my mother, and my grandparents.
I am excited about this expansion of a church that has given out so much of God’s love to us. I am honored that we have the money to give to such a worthwhile “investment.” Thank you for all you do, I pray you will always have the peace of God.”
Then Friday morning when I got to work there was a letter waiting for me from Lynn Beckemeier. Lynn was in charge of the Advanced Commitments Dinner on Thursday night. We met at Greenbriar Country Club, with the banquet provided by one of our members. Here is a portion of his letter:
One of the workers at Greenbriar is a sweet lady named Eileen. Each time we visited the club to make the dinner arrangements and yesterday when Dick and the others were setting up the room, she greeted us warmly and asked us if she could get us something to drink. She also helped Jamie and me set up the picture boards and displays in the parlor before the banquet and began asking Jamie questions about our church: Who were all these people and what did all the pictures mean? You may have seen her checking coats before the dinner.
Jamie asked her about her family, and she said she had been a widow for quite a few years, her husband having died suddenly, leaving her with six children to raise. She also mentioned how important her church and her children had become to her as she raised them alone working odd jobs.
Shortly after the program began, I noticed she was peeking in the room watching the videos and the live testimonies. At the end of the evening when Jamie was retrieving her coat she said: “I want to make a contribution to your church’s building program. I already have a church, but if I didn’t, I would come to yours.” She then stuffed five one-dollar bills in Jamie’s hand. If this isn’t a modern-day widow’s mite story, I don’t know what is.
There is going to be a temptation on the part of some to sit out this ministry expansion effort. Perhaps some who participated sacrificially in the building of our current facility are thinking, “I did my part. I helped provide a place for my family to worship. Let the newer people pay for the addition.” To you I would simply say, “Our focus must be on outreach. The Christian life is never about what I can provide for myself or my family, but what I can offer to others that they might become part of God’s family.”
On the other hand, there may be some who say, “I’m fairly new here. I’m not that involved. I only come to worship and bring my kids to Sunday School. Let the established members do it.” May I respond as kindly as I know how by saying, “It’s the worship attendance and the Children’s Ministry that are driving the need for a new building more than anything else. We wouldn’t need a new building if only the established members used it.”
And then perhaps there are some who are saying, “This church seems to have its financial act together. Every week I see in the worship folder that the income is close to the budget. They don’t need me.” Well, we have always been able to meet our budget through the sacrificial giving of hundreds of people, but this new building is way beyond the capacity of just our regular givers. We need the involvement of nearly everyone who calls this their church home.
And finally, there is perhaps someone saying to himself, “I’d give, but if the giving is totally confidential, no one will know how generous I have been.” God will.
Conclusion: I return to our text in 1 Chronicles and observe that there is a great emphasis throughout this passage on joy. Joy is mentioned directly four times, and there are many more references to willing hearts, unity, and wholehearted generosity. These Old Testament saints certainly understood “The Joy of Building a House for God.” Three thousand years later it is clear that God has placed His hand of blessing upon First Evangelical Free Church. As this body of believers approaches its greatest challenge yet, may we also respond with joy, unity, and a willing spirit.
Let’s pray: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.” I pray, Father, that you would do a great work in this congregation this week. May husbands and wives and teenagers pray earnestly about what you would have them do, and then may they agree together to do it. May they challenge one another to stretch their faith. May we all find great joy in giving as we gather next Sunday to bring our commitments to you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”
DATE: November 10, 1996
Tags:
Joy
Building
Faith
Solomon’s temple
Sacrifice