The value of generosity and gratitude

First Chronicles chapter 16. We see David just bringing the ark back into Jerusalem after the ark had been captured by the Philistines and David declares a special offering to the Lord in gratitude. When David finally manages to bring the ark of the covenant back, a symbol of God's presence in the midst of his people, David declares a special offering, a special day of gratitude to the Lord. In chapter 16 he says:

“…They brought the ark of God and put it in the middle of the tent that David had pitched for it and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. And when David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah and distributed – this is interesting – to all Israel, both men and women, each one a loaf of bread, a piece of meat and a cake of raisins. And he appointed ministers of the Levites before the ark of the Lord, to remember and confess and praise the Lord, the God of Israel….”

We see this holy convocation that David makes as an expression of gratitude for the favor received from God, to be able to have the ark that is the symbol of Jehovah's active presence in the midst of his people.

We then see this act of blessing on the part of God and a reaction of gratitude to the Lord on the part of the king and on the part of the people of God. Last week I spoke with the Hispanic congregation about the great commission and the role, the role that generosity plays in the call of the Lord Jesus Christ to disciple the nations during that great commission.

The people of God have to be a generous people so that this great commission to reach the nations, to bless the cities, to carry out acts of mercy, acts of evangelism, acts of building construction, acts of being able to bear and support To the servants of God and the servants of God throughout the earth, a people is necessary that supports these projects and without a generous people there is no great commission.

The people of God is an army, it is an army of mercy, love and grace, but it is an army, and it is also a corporation that requires leadership, organization, investment, discipline, vision, support from those who work, investments of all kinds, publicity, etc., all these things and more are required and all of this can only be given, as God has established, through the generosity of God's people. A generous people is required.

Everything that we enjoy as a church at this time, this wonderful meeting and a place to have it, our physical plant, the other resources we have, pastors who support different families in their times of need and celebration, teachers, all of this we owe first and foremost. to a generous God, and then to a generous people who share their goods for the advancement of the Gospel. Amen. Give the Lord a big round of applause.

My greatest wish, brothers, is that with the passage of time our church becomes a people that has no limits in its generosity towards the Lord, that always gives to the Lord generously, joyfully, knowing that just as they give, they also receive. , and that if they give it is because they have already received and because nothing good will be lacking for those who are generous towards God.

I also want to point out another value, apart from generosity, which is the value of gratitude. Everyone say gratitude. Without gratitude there can be no true generosity because if you give to the Lord simply mechanically, externally, but there is no sense of debt, of gratitude to the Lord for what you have received, then your offering will be meaningless.

And remember the words of the prophet in the 12th chapter of Hebrews, he says:

"...So, receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us have gratitude and through it, let us serve God, pleasing him with fear and reverence..."

What I see here is that having received from the Lord so many great blessings, an unshakable kingdom, an eternal hope, a salvation that has no measure, we then from that feeling of indebtedness to God serve the Lord, we give to the Lord, and we advance the Kingdom of God. In the context of this Thanksgiving day, we come together as one people to express our gratitude to the Lord.

God has blessed us as a congregation, he has blessed us in extraordinary ways and on this Thanksgiving weekend God has made me remember like never before all the blessings he has had for us. I never thought when we moved to Boston 18 years ago, and when we bought this building 20, 21 years ago, I never thought we would see as many blessings as we have seen in these years.

I never imagined, I came simply in obedience, we came in obedience to a vision that God had given us to go to the city and start the ministry in the city and be a blessing to the community around us. And my vision was very narrow even when it was already wide because of what God had told me I wanted to do. But I never thought that we would see so many blessings and that today, for example, we would have a service like the one we are having. I am full of gratitude to the Lord for all his blessings and goodness.

I remember that when we got here a little tired and we had the inauguration activities, we had projections of different moments of the construction process and God gave me the passage from Psalms 126, verses 1 to 3, and when we read it at that time I I didn't think all that God had in mind for us. Psalm 126 says:

“…When the Lord, when the Lord brings back the captivity of Zion, we will be like those who dream… – in that captivity of Zion for us at that time it was leaving Cambridge, which I don't want to say it was a captivity, but it was like a desert preliminary where God had us there, was forming us, was disciplining us, was dealing with us, teaching us many things, and then he was to take us out of Cambridge, across the Charles River, like we did. The church literally marched from Cambridge to Boston, how many remember that? I know that there are some brothers who remember that time. It was like God was leading us out of Egypt and out of the desert and finally bringing us across the Jordan River and into our identity as a congregation here in the city of Boston.

And the psalmist goes on to say, “…we will be like those who dream, – and I felt that about the future of our congregation, that when the Lord had taken us from Cambridge to come to Boston all the work of the first construction that was so arduous and so difficult for a small congregation, then our mouths would fill with laughter, our tongues would fill with praise, then they would say among the nations, in the community, that they see our blessing, great things Jehovah has done with these, great things he has done Jehovah with us, we will be happy.

We have seen how people in the community say, God has blessed them as a church, He has blessed them as a people. And that is partly because of the obedience we have had to the Lord. God blesses obedience and we did not come to Boston looking for property, we came to Boston, on the contrary, with fear and trembling because this area of Boston was a desert, very dangerous all this around here, areas full of garbage and rubble and God has blessed this community and has blessed us as well. And so we bless the Lord in this way.

In this passage that I read from First Chronicles, we see David himself, blessing the Lord because he has been faithful to his people. David thanks the Lord, summons all the people for the blessing of having brought the ark to the tabernacle again. And he wants to mark that great occasion with a time of extraordinary worship.

The way he decides to honor the Lord is by offering burnt offerings and peace offerings. I took the trouble this week to explore a bit about sacrificial rituals and special offerings and there are a number of offerings throughout the year that God commanded the people to keep in mind.

We see here that what David does is that he summons the people and then declares sacrifices and holocausts, and as I was saying, this week examining I see, it became clear to me a series of special offerings throughout the year, apart from tithes and the offerings that the people are supposed to bring to the Lord, there were also times when they honored God and sort of brought a gift to the Lord. They came to the house of God and brought him an animal, oxen were offered, sheep were offered, birds were also offered, vegetables from the harvest were offered, cakes of different types were also offered, libations also, oil was also offered to the Lord. All those things were poured out before God. The priests took these offerings from the people and in some cases they waved them, they presented them before the Lord symbolically so that the Lord would receive them and then either the priests ate them or the family ate them after leaving a part as a sacrifice and thus specified their life as a congregation and as a people throughout the year.

Because many times we have had so many offerings through the years and people kind of say, well, why so many offerings? Well, it is a biblical tradition, through the centuries the people of God have always been summoned to bring offerings to the Lord, at different times and honor the God of Israel.

In verse 11 of chapter 7 of Leviticus it says:

“…And this is the law of the peace offering that will be offered to Jehovah. If it is offered in thanksgiving, they will offer as a sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mixed with oil, unleavened puff pastry smeared with oil, fine flour fried in cakes mixed with oil, with leavened bread cakes they will present their offering in the sacrifice of thanksgiving of peace…”

Read the first few chapters of Leviticus and you will see how many different offerings required an investment of household items to honor the Lord.

“…Three times in each year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place that he chooses, at the Feasts of Unleavened Bread and at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Tabernacles, and no one shall appear before the Lord empty-handed…”

It is important what David does and what the people of Israel always did. Before offering peace offerings, blessings and praise to the Lord, what we see here in this passage is that David first offers sacrifices and burnt offerings for sin, for purification. And when we bring our offerings to the Lord this afternoon, I want you to do it with a contrite and humbled heart. Thank God that today we don't have to offer goats or oxen or anything, because Christ has already completed that part. We can simply refer to the grace of the Lord and his precious blood and say, Lord, we have sinned against you, we have sinned against our brothers and now purify us, cleanse us, heal us and then accept our offering.

And that is what I want you to do there in your heart. If there is something that you feel needs to be settled with God, I want us to take a moment to settle accounts with God, present any offense that we have brought, that has offended the Lord in any way during this year, present our repentance to the Lord. The word of God says that God will never reject the contrite and humiliated heart.

I want you to take a moment to recognize that we as a church, beyond the offering, as a church in us there is nothing good except what God puts in us. We are no better than anyone out there on the street, except that we cover ourselves with the blood of Jesus and acknowledge our sins before God. And as a church I would like that today that we are together we make a pact with God to live in everything that the Holy Spirit allows us, in holiness before the Lord and to please the Lord in all things and to ask for forgiveness for all offenses.

Take a moment right where you are and if you have offended your wife, your husband, perhaps you have offended one of your children, perhaps you have not been all that God wants you to be as a father or mother, perhaps in some way You have offended the Lord this year, take a moment because we want to offer our offering to the Lord with a clean heart.

We are going to commit ourselves as a church, walk in obedience to the Lord and when we fail we have a lawyer with Christ Jesus, says the word. But commit yourself to the Lord and thank God for the way he has blessed you this year, that he has blessed your family, perhaps God has blessed your family that is in another country, perhaps you are alone, perhaps you are single, come on thank God for his mercy, his company, his goodness to you. Perhaps you are a worker and have been prosperous in some way, thank the Lord for the blessings received, for the health you have, for knowing Christ Jesus as Lord and savior.

Give thanks to God even if you are not where you want to be and where there are still things that have to be fixed in your family, in your character, in your finances, in your health. Remember the word of the Lord, I know the thoughts I have for you, thoughts of good and not of evil to give you the end you want. And look ahead with great hope for what God is going to do in your life and honor the Lord.

We give thanks to the Lord. And even if God had not blessed our granddaughter, as he has blessed her, we would still have to thank God because things do not always turn out as one wants, but we know that they always do turn out as God wants and what God wants is good. and it always turns out for the best, in the long run the Lord fixes all things. I bless that family, that's why I say, that family that has lost their daughter sometimes we cannot understand all the meaning of things, but over time if we are patient and humble, God reveals to us the coherence and purpose of what he does.

Hold on there in the meantime and bless the Lord and believe that God in due time will give you the peace and comfort that you need. We thank you, Lord, we bless your name Lord, praised and glorified be your name. Thank you Lord Jesus. Hallelujah! Amen. Glory to the name of the Lord.