I Chronicles 29:10-20         God’s Ownership Over All          March 1, 2009           

        Recently, a pastor wanted to change the worship service a little so he tried something different. Instead of preaching at the end, he did it first, with music, the offering, and Scripture reading afterward. As he stood behind the pulpit, he could see people getting ready for the offering, until they realized he was starting the message.  Caitlyn, a first grader in the congregation, was perplexed by this change of routine.  She sat there a moment and then whispered to her mom, ‘What is he doing?  Doesn’t he know we haven’t paid him to talk yet?’”
        Let me ask you this morning, “Why do we give to the church?”   Do we give our offerings to pay for the preacher to talk?  Do we give of our tithes because the church building needs to be lighted, heated and cooled?  Why do we give our time?  Is it only because the children need a Sunday School teacher?  In I Chronicles 29, David tells us why he gave to God.  David gave because he believed that everything belonged to God.  During this season of Lent, I am beginning a series on giving ourselves to God.  It is a wonderful theme for Lent, a season of self-denial and sacrifice.  I want to talk over the next six weeks about our time, our bodies, our talents, our gifts, our money and how all things belong to God, given to us on loan for a while.  And the more we understand that we are only stewards of this world and not owners, the more we will live in accordance with the will of God.
       Look with me at 1 Chronicles 29:13-16 David prays to God:
“Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. 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….Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope. O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you.”
      You know it is true that all we have comes from God and his creation.  In the New Testament, James wrote: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights...” (James 1:17)
       I heard a story about a scientist who approached God and said, “Listen, we’ve decided we no longer need you. Nowadays, we can transplant hearts and do all kinds of things that were once considered miraculous.  We can even clone people.”   God patiently heard him out, and then said, “All right. To see whether or not you still need me, why don’t we have contest?”  “Okay, great!” the scientist said.   “Let’s see who can make a man from the dirt of the ground.” Said God. “That’s fine,” replied the scientist, and bent to scoop up a handful of dirt.  “Whoa,” God said, shaking his head. “Not so fast. You get your own dirt.”  
       You know, you can’t do ANYTHING without using something God has created. All that we see around us is created by using the natural resources of nature.  There is nothing except what comes from the creation of God.  And even you yourself, your skills, your intellect, your physical ability: they’re all from God because God created you.  
       Now, this idea that God has given us everything is NOT ONLY true… it is pivotal. It’s critical BECAUSE it effects how we behave and how we give ourselves and our gifts to God.
It effects how we TREAT God.
      There was a congressman who took his son to McDonald’s. The father bought his son a Coke and a large order of fries and they went and sat down.  The father took a drink of his Coke and reached over to get a fry from his son, and his son put his hands around the fries and pulled them back.   The father said, “That’s okay, son.” But as he sat there he started thinking to himself,
“Doesn’t my son realize I’m the one who gave him those fries in the first place?  Doesn’t he realize I can take those fries away from him any time I want?  Doesn’t he realize I can go up to the counter and I’ve got enough money I can buy all the fries I want?  Doesn’t my son realize I do not need any of his fries? I can go get my own.  Doesn’t he realize all I wanted to do was share a couple of fries with him?”  And then the congressman said it hit him: his son was simply acting like he’d been acting with God.   He had forgotten that God owns everything.
         Listen.  We do not really own anything that we have.  We only borrow it for a little while.  From the hand of God, it was passed to us from a previous generation and someday we will pass this world to the next generation.  Things only pass through our hands and we cannot hang onto them.  Certain tribes of Native Americans when they faced a large tribal decision would sit in council and ask, “How will this action touch the lives of seven generations from now?”  They knew that they did not own the earth.  They were only stewards.  How much we have forgotten this wisdom.  We simply do not own anything.
     Romans 10:9 says “…if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  As Christians, we all say that Jesus is Lord.  But what does that mean?   Well, in the days of the New Testament, if you called someone your “Lord”, that person owned you.  He was the master and you were the slave.  Now let me ask you, Did a slave “own” anything?  Of course not.  When we say Jesus is Lord, then we should realize that we have let go of our time, our bodies, our talents, our gifts, our money, our very lives, and we have realized that it all belongs to God. 
      Now that decision has great impact on my life and we will talk about that over the next weeks.    For example,  in my wallet, I have pictures of my wife and son.  But they don’t belong to me… they belong to Jesus. And because my wife and son belong to Christ, He holds me accountable for how I treat my wife and how I treat my son. They are His, not mine.  In my wallet is some money.  None of it belongs to me. It belongs to God.   This truth should not only effect how I give my offering to God every Sunday… it should effect the very way I handle my finances throughout the week.  Since that money belongs to Jesus, I should examine everything I buy, rent or lease asking if such an expenditure would please Him.  On my wrist, I wear a watch, but my time is not my own.  Time belongs to God.  The days I have are given to me by God.  And I am accountable for how I spend my time.    
        Now is all this really important?  LOOK AGAIN at 1 Chronicles 29:17 “I know, my God, that you TEST the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent.”   Listen.  DAVID SAW HIS GIVING AS A TEST OF THE HEART.
      Bruce Larson, the great Presbyterian pastor and leader at the Cyrstal Cathedral in California passed away last year at the age of 83.  He once wrote:
Oh, God- The bumper sticker says smile if you love Jesus; So I smiled all day long… And the people thought I worked for Jimmy Carter.  The bumper sticker said honk if you love Jesus;
So I honked all day long… and a policeman arrested me for disturbing the peace.
The bumper sticker said wave if you love Jesus; So I waved with both hands… but lost control of the car and crashed into the back of a Baptist bus.  Oh, God - If I cannot smile… or honk… or wave…How will Jesus know that I love Him?  If you love Jesus give yourself away… honking is too easy. 

      God is the owner of everything.  All we have—time, energy, money, health, life—is only passing through our hands.  The test is to let it keep passing through.  To allow God’s blessings to flow through us to become a blessing for others.   In this season of Lent, may we learn to let go.  Amen.