“And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the house of the LORD which is at Jerusalem, offered freely for the house of God to set it up in his place:” (Ezr 2:68 AV)
What
caught my attention this morning was the group identified in the above
verse. The chief of the fathers. These were leaders of the leaders. These were the elders. These men were those whom everyone else
looked up to. These were also the men
who may have seen the original temple before the Babylonians burned it to the ground. It is written of these men when they came to
the house of God, took up an offering, and gave that the temple might be
repaired and used once again. There is
no mention of what exactly motivated them.
It might have been a habit with them and they did what they would have
always done. It could be they saw the
condition of the house of the LORD and were moved to do something about
it. We also do not know, at least from
this verse, if others gave as well. For
some reason, the Holy Spirit felt it necessary to let us know that the chief of
the fathers gave freely that the house of the LORD might be set up in its
place.
I have
seen an occurrence of the following only a couple of times in my many years of
eating out with friends. There would be
a part of four or more and we would eat and enjoy one another’s company. One such time happened in a Buffalo, NY suburb. Some of the staff of the church at which I
served met for lunch. I think we were
out running an errand or something. There were about five or six of us. I ordered a Beef-on-weck sandwich with chips
and a drink. I almost didn’t order a
thing because this was a spur of the moment thing and I didn’t have any
money. My superior offered to pay for my
lunch. Anyway, we sat and fellowshipped over
lunch. We laughed and prayed. It was a grand old time. Then the bill came. Always awkward. Someone is designated to divide up the check
for each meal and drink. However, this
time it was a bit different. The bill
came and no one looked at it. I thought
they were all playing defense to see who it was going to be that would pick it
up. Instead, a very weird thing happened. All of a sudden, cash was flying on the
table. A ten here. A twenty there. No one looked at the check to bother and see
whether it was covered. They just kept
throwing money at it. When the money stopped
floating in the air and it has settled on the table, there had to be over a
hundred dollars there. I knew the check
was not even close to that amount. I
looked at the check and then at the money.
Being very poor, I thought this was a great waste. However, as one missionary explained, money was
not the biggest concern here. It was
their testimony to the waitress and restaurant.
I learned something very valuable that day. These men, who were the chiefest of the congregation,
gave of what they had for the sake of the LORD’s testimony like it was second
nature. They gave because it was their
nature and responsibility to do so.
As a preacher,
I know people do not like messages on giving.
We don’t like them almost as much as those who would rather skip that
service. I feel like a dentist who is
tasked with a root canal. No one really
wants one, but we know that we need one.
Giving should not be that way.
Giving should be seen as a privilege and a duty. Perhaps the reason the chiefest of the
fathers gave matter-of-factly was they had matured to the point they understood
the work of God does not continue without the offerings of God’s people and if
the work of God is going to continue, it will do so only according to their
generosity. They felt an
obligation. They knew it had to be done
and were glad to do it. It was their
temple. It was their sin that resulted
in the temple lying in ruins. Someone
has to pay the bills and it must start with the leaders. This is a sign of true spiritual
maturity. If we are grown up in the
LORD, we will see the bill on the table and we will throw money at it. It needs to be done. It has to be paid. And we want to see the work of God continue.
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