December 20, 2024 -- Austin Puckett
1 Chronicles 29:9
Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.
Giving Over Receiving
In the movie, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the infamous Grinch is given the title of ‘Holiday Cheermeister’ by the townsfolk of Whoville. The Grinch was certainly an unexpected candidate, since the title was typically given to someone who embodied the Christmas spirit well. This calls into question: how does one embody the Christmas spirit? Perhaps you first think of ‘Buddy the Elf’ who famously said in Elf, “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” While this is a great method (and I love singing Christmas hymns!), I think there is a different answer—one that is quite unexpected. We ought to instead live by the words of Jesus that Paul quoted in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
First Chronicles 29:9 says, “Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly,
for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the LORD. David the king also rejoiced greatly.” This verse is a wonderful reminder of the blessedness that accompanies true, selfless, and sacrificial giving. Unexpectedly, it leads to rejoicing. The people who gave freely with their whole heart rejoiced! Even King David rejoiced at the demonstration of their giving and his own giving.
For context, David had declared that his son, Solomon, would build the Temple, and he
had begun to set the stage for this work by himself giving gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, onyx, stones, and marble for the Temple (1 Chronicles 29:2). Following King David’s lead, the people of Israel gave freely and wholeheartedly, which we see caused them to rejoice! The lesson: Cheerful giving leads to gleeful worship. But why does that follow? Can’t giving actually be hard? What if giving hurts?
Mimic the King
We give for at least two ultimate reasons. First, we give because God is the Creator. All people that on earth do dwell belong to God, and all other things created are his too. Whether you are urban or rural, wealthy or poor, young or old, the giving of resources—typically money— acknowledges that “our belongings” actually belong to God the Creator. This reality is imprinted on our natures, which is why even non-believers often feel the impulse that giving is good. Secular Christmas celebrators have certainly heard, and maybe even believe, that to give is better than to receive. They probably don’t give to churches, but they might give to friends, family, non-profits, homeless people, etc. Giving is good; that much is evident to all who live in the Creator’s universe.
Second, we give because Christ is the Redeemer. This is a special motivation for giving
that comes specifically to Christians. While all people more or less have an impulse that
charitable giving is good because they are God’s creatures, Christians have received special revelation from God through his Son, Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God has come into believers, granting them faith in Christ and illuminating the truth of the Word to them. Therefore, Christians know Christ, and Christ not only owns all things as the Creator, but he also gave his life sacrificially for his people. He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men,” and he “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession” (Philippians 2:7; Titus 2:14). He gave the ultimate gift: a way to be redeemed from sin and death—a death we all deserve. By faith in Christ, you too can be united to him and can be clothed in his righteousness on the Last Day.
Therefore, turn to Christ, and give freely and sacrificially. Give with your whole heart. For
some of you, that means that you need to start giving because you aren’t. If you do not give, then think on God as Creator and Redeemer! Sacrificial giving will be hard—it just will be. However, find a sacrificial amount to give back to God, praying that he would sanctify you through your cheerful, sacrificial obedience.
Maybe, however, you do give, but you don’t feel the joy that the Israelites seemed to
feel in 1 Chronicles 29. This might be for a couple of reasons. (1) Perhaps you are not giving enough. If your giving is not sacrificial, then it won’t be consequential enough to affect you spiritually. In Luke 21:1-3, a widow gives two small copper coins after some rich folks were giving large amounts, and Jesus says, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” Jesus valued that she gave enough that it was actually consequential to her. You probably cannot be too poor to give!
(2) Perhaps you are giving mindlessly. I have noticed that this has become an issue in an
age of online automatic payments. You can easily set up recurring giving online, which is a wonderfully convenient way to give! However, we typically either don’t know it is happening, or we train ourselves to just archive the email confirmation when it pops up. With the loss of placing money in the plate, we have lost an opportunity to give consciously. Maybe try actually paying attention to the email confirmation—turn them on if you don’t receive those! When you do, rejoice that you have given! If you’re married, share the email with your spouse. Find creative ways to worship God that you can give back to him what is his because he has given you what is his in abundance—the created world and his one and only Son. In so giving, you can truly rejoice! You can be a real-life Holiday Cheermeister!
Austin Puckett is the Student Minister at Arrow Heights Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. He holds a B.S. from Oklahoma State University and an M.Div. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Kathryn, and they have one daughter, Ann. Austin enjoys reading old books, putting together puzzles, and rooting for the OKC Thunder. Thunder up!
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