Service With A Smile

So how did you picture King David’s face as he spoke to the Lord about all the generous offerings God’s people had gathered for the building of the Temple?  I see him with a Smile on His Face.  That is popular in the marketing world.  Have you ever seen Mickey Mouse with a frown?  Not even if a six-year-old throws up her hot dog on Mickey’s shoes because the merry-go-round upset her stomach!  Remember the last time you went to Chucky Cheese and your pizza got sent back to the kitchen because the kids don’t like pepperoni on their cheese pizza.  The server was happy to do it for you with a smile.  Happy customers don’t post bad Google ratings and that effects the bottom line.  But, we all know how hard it can be to provide Service With A Smile when things get messed up, or don’t go the way we had hoped. That is what Jesus was talking to his disciples about in today’s gospel.  Or when you’re getting picked on, so Paul had to write a letter to the Thessalonians to encourage them.  King David was fully aware of how difficult it is for people to give their offerings generously with a smile on their face.  In our Old Testament reading King David wanted his listeners to keep the big picture in mind.  It wasn’t about “big bucks” for the here and now, but whether or not your heart was connected to God for here and hereafter!  May the Holy Spirit guide us through this Old Testament account from King David to produce a radically different attitude in our hearts where our Lord sees

Service With A Smile

Joined

Everybody knew that King David’s time as the ruler of Israel was coming to a close.  While the sun still sparkled off the gems on his crown you could also see the age spots on his forehead, the crinkles around his eyes, his greying hair and that aching shoulder from the time he slung that stone at Goliath.  Everything on David’s bucket list was almost checked off.  The tribes were united.  The enemies were quiet around Israel.  But, there was still one more thing David wanted to do before he turned over the reigns to his son, Solomon.  King David wanted to replace the portable worship tent with a permanent temple for the Lord. This sounded like a wonderful idea, but God had different plans.

“³ But God said to me, “You will not build a house for my name because you are a man of war, and you have shed blood”

1 Chronicles 28:3

David would not have to think very hard to realize that his past life of adultery, lying and murder easily disqualified him to be king, let alone build a temple for the Lord.  Yet, David also knew God’s mercy as he would pray,

“¹ Be gracious to me, God, according to your mercy. Erase my acts of rebellion according to the greatness of your compassion. ² Scrub me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin”

Psalm 51 

David was JOINED to the Lord’s holiness and his forgiveness.  David accepted God’s answer, but it didn’t stop him from making plans, materials, and workers to build the temple.

“My son Solomon, the one God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The work is great because this citadel is not for a man. It is for the Lord God. ² According to all my strength, I have provided these things for the house of my God.”

But why?  We know the Lord God doesn’t need any special temple, for he lives gloriously in heaven and the earth is his footstool!  Why not be satisfied with the tent worshipers had been using for over 450 years! The answer is at the end of David’s prayer:

“¹⁸ Lord, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, preserve forever this purpose and way of thinking in the heart of your people. Direct their heart to you.”

Service to the Lord had been taught to David from his father, Jesse and maybe from his great-grandma, Ruth.  David could trace his ancestry back 1,000 years to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  We might hear those names and think they were dignitaries, but truth be told, they were downright dirty!  Abraham is called a man of faith, but there were times he didn’t trust God to give him a son, so he had an affair.  He didn’t trust God’s protection in Egypt, so told lies about his wife to be his sister.  You would think Isaac, his son would have learned from that.  But, he was the same. There was a famine in the land and God told him to stay put and God would provide for his family.  But, Isaac headed to Egypt (Gen 26).  He repeated the same sins his father had done by calling his wife his sister when the locals were asking about her.  And Jacob!  He was a stubborn stinker who is famous for tricking people—his brother Esau for the birthright.  His Uncle Laben for his wife.  It took God 20 years of training before Jacob learned about humility.  David didn’t mention these ancestors because of their greatness, but because of the greatness of God to stay connected to them with love and protect them in spite of how they behaved.  Now it was David’s turn as he stood before the people in awe of God’s undeserved love!  

“¹⁷ I know, my God, that you test the heart, and you take pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things. Now with joy I see your people, who are present here to bring the offering freely to you.” 

David knew he was a sinner, but a forgiven sinner.  He knew God was in control to join his love to the Israelite community, to David’s family, and to join his forgiving love to David himself!  That was grace!  All Grace!  David knew it and he was Smiling As He Served The Lord by making plans to build a temple where God would join his Word to his people and they could come to worship the Lord.

Knowing how important this place is, how would you compare that to what so many people think about the church today.  Many don’t trust the church because they have witnessed so many disappointing activities and scandals in the church.  Others are looking for programs for the teens at church.  But, in many cases the teens go off to college and forget about going to church.  Don’t get me wrong, having activities at the church for our youth helps parents to guide their children through difficult days ahead. But, do you want to know the #1 thing that keeps children joined to the Lord even after they go off to college or join the military? It’s the pattern of a Christian life and worship they learned from their parents. They were in their chairs in church fussy at first, but soon heard the stories, sang the familiar songs, saw the colors, and the carved wood at the front.  It didn’t take long and they were confessing their sins, singing, “Glory to God In The Highest,” recited the Apostes Creed, and heard their parents talking about the service on the way home and how it applied to their life.  It was parents JOINING THEIR CHILDREN TO GOD with a Smile On Their Face that lasts.  Parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren in church joined to the Lord through Word and Sacrament also makes hearts

Joyful

 We know King David was joyful.  He recorded much of his joy in 73 Psalms. And there were more joyful prayers like the one before us today from 1 Chronicles 29. 

“Blessed are you, Lord, the God of Israel, our father, from eternity to eternity. ¹¹ To you, O Lord, belong greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty, because everything in the heavens and on the earth belongs to you. You, Lord, are exalted as head above everything. The kingdom belongs to you. ¹² Riches and honor come from you. You are ruling over everything. In your hand are power and strength. It is in your power to make anyone great and strong.”

What melody was dancing through your head as I read these words?  Probably not a funeral melody, but a joyful song like the Alleluia Chorus!  Why? Because King David is JOYFUL to sing about Who God Is and What God Does!  The people who heard David knew what idols could do.  Nothing!  The Golden Calf did not rescue God’s people by splitting the Red Sea, of hold back the Jordan River so they could advance against Jericho.  David knew his victories over Goliath were not his own doing.  David knew all of these blessings came from the Lord God who created heaven and earth. With a Smile On His Face David Served the Lord during good times and difficult days because with a JOYFUL heart David trusted God who always had his best interests in mind.

So, last Sunday the Green Bay Packers played the Cowboys in football.  I didn’t want to say anything last Sunday because the past history of these teams hasn’t been so good for the Cowboys.  But, last week’s game ended in a tie.  Were any fans happy about that?  Think about it.  Every fan left feeling empty—“We didn’t lose, but we didn’t win, either.”  Aren’t you glad that your eternal salvation doesn’t depend on the arm of Dak Prescott, or the voice of Taylor Swift!  But, some days are tough!  When you’re on your knees praying for a sick child, when medical bills are going through the roof, repair bills chip away at your paycheck, when your marriage relationship takes more effort than you thought it would, when you’re trying to be a good student, employee, or athlete—but you still feel empty.  How is it possible to have a Smile on our face and serve others? Because you are convinced what God has done.  Or to put it simply—Joyful Hearts From Jesus!  That is the Joyful Heart listening to what Jesus has done!  That means we’re Joined to Jesus.  Joyful in Jesus, and

Justified

Put a picture of King David in your mind when I read this.

“King David said this to the whole assembly.” 

BTW-where was David to be able to speak to everyone?  Not in a huge temple, but probably with his long robe tucked in and climbing up a big hill on the north edge of Jerusalem so he could be heard by the crowds.  Let’s have some fun.  What do you think was going through King David’s mind as he prepared to speak to the whole assembly?  “I’m the King so they better listen to me!”  Or “I hope they listen to me because they know who I am.  I’m a warrior but I’m also a convict, an adulterer, and a murderer who deserves nothing from God.”  But, I sense a different attitude from David when I read,

“¹³ Now, our God, we are thanking you and praising your glorious name.  ¹⁴ Who am I? Who are my people that we are able to offer willingly like this? For everything comes from you. What we have given to you came from your hand. ¹⁵ We are aliens and temporary residents before you, as were all our fathers. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope of staying.  ¹⁶ Lord, our God, all this abundance, which we have provided for building a house for you, for your holy name, is from your hand. This abundance belongs to you.  ¹⁷ I know, my God, that you test the heart, and you take pleasure in uprightness.”  

How could David and the people stand before the Lord in uprightness?

David knew and believed how because he also sang,

“¹ How blessed is the person whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is covered. ² How blessed is the person whose guilt the Lord does not charge against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit”

Psalm 32:1-2

David could Smile in His Service and speak to God’s people because the Savior-God had directed his anger to the promised Messiah and declared David “not guilty” of his sinful charges.  It was all the Lord’s doing that David could say,

“In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things. Now with joy I see your people, who are present here to bring the offering freely to you.” 

David and God’s people were Serving With A Smile on their Face because they believed, and through faith in God’s promises were declared not guilty (justified) of all their sins.

You might get to have a fun day with Mickey Mouse or at Chucky Cheese and see lots of people with smiles on their faces.   That’s for the here and now.  But, it would have been an amazing day to stand with the crowd when King David addressed them.  We would hear encouraging words that for Jesus’ sake we are Joined, Joyful and Justified and put a Smile on Our Face as We look to Serve Here and the Hereafter.  I would argue this is what makes us different from other Christians.  It’s the difference between “have to” and “want to.”  We don’t have to love and worship and pray and give and serve, but we want to because Jesus loves us so much.  I hope and pray that is how you will respond when homework piles up, when diapers are messy, when you have to work overtime without any overtime compensation, when your feelings get hurt, and when you have aches and pains from growing old.  I hope and pray you Serve With A Smile because the Bottom Line is all about being Joined, Joyful, and Justified with Jesus Christ.  Amen.