Baptist Women's Day

The Altar of Thanksgiving Leviticus 7:11-15 Introduction: I love hearing children pray, don’t you? A few weeks ago our two grandsons spent the night with us. The oldest just turned 6, and his younger brother will be four in June. When it was time for bed, I asked, “Who wants to pray tonight?” And Davis, the 6-year-old said, “I will.” And he broke out into the most beautiful, sweet, and depth-plumbing prayer I had ever a child pray. His prayer would have melted the most frozen of hearts. So when I ran across this story I just knew I had to share it. A large family was gathered around the dining room table for Thanksgiving dinner. Grandpa was called upon to give thanks, but in a surprise move, Grandpa called upon the youngest at the table, his 6-year-old grandson, Billy. So everyone bowed heir heads in anticipation of something like “God is great, God is good.” But Billy seized the opportunity like a politician at the podium or a preacher with a microphone, and began to pray. He began by thanking God for every family member by name – all his aunts, uncles, and cousins. Then all his kindergarten friends. Then he thanked God for all the food on the table. Squinting his eyes and looking around, he thanked God for the turkey and dressing, the fruit salad, the sweet potato casserole, the cranberry sauce, the pumpkin pie and whipped cream and the pecan pie. Then he paused. And everyone waited. Finally he whispered to his mom, “Mom, if I thank him for the broccoli, won’t he know I’m lying?” Yes, Billy. You’re right. God indeed knows when we’re lying. He knows when our thanks is insincere. But Billy got something else right. Before he thanked God for the food on the table, he thanked God for the people around the table. I think the older I get the more deeply I appreciate the people God has put in my life starting with my wife, Elliott, who is here today. And remembering Billy’s point that God knows if I’m lying, she is the greatest blessing of my life, and I’m so thankful to God for her. And from there I can count so many people as among my many blessings – including you – this church family. About a year and a half ago, we didn’t know each other, but today I can truthfully say that I’m deeply grateful to God for you all. The truth is that relationships are our greatest blessings in life. Now, just being honest – some people are like turkey and dressing. Some are like fruit salad. Some are like pecan pie. But some are like broccoli, right? Maybe not to your taste, but good for you! The point is: We ought to give God thanks for everyone – every family member and every brother and sister in the family of God. And what about our relationship with the Lord? Is there a greater blessing in this life than the blessing of knowing God and having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? We don’t have to think twice about that. There’s no debating that, is there? We talk a lot about the importance of our relationship with God and others, but this morning I’d like to talk about an aspect of our relationship with the Lord that intrinsically ties us to one another. It’s called CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP. Unfortunately, we have a very limited, even shallow, understanding and appreciation of biblical fellowship. Therefore, we lack the degree of gratitude for the fellowship that is available to us in Christ. Let me give you a working definition of fellowship for this morning’s message. Here it is: Fellowship is relationship at the highest level. It is being connected with God and one another at the heart and sharing Life in the Spirit and Selfless Love with one another as we Worship, Work, and Witness as a family of God. For weeks now we’ve been talking about Building Altars, which is about building a life of worship. We have come to understand that an altar is a place of sacrifice – a place where offerings are given to God as an Act and Attitude of genuine worship. And this morning we’re going to talk about a very special kind of offering: THE FELLOWSHIP OFFERING: The interesting thing for me and maybe for you is that fellowship is not just a NT idea. Like so many things we’ve looked at, we see the foreshadowing of NT principles and precepts in Old Testament practices and procedures. So in Leviticus 3, God prescribes in the Law an offering called the Fellowship Offering. Then in Leviticus 7, he explains it more fully. Let’s look at it. READ LEVITICUS 7:11-15. Let me make several key points of understanding here: • The fellowship offering is also known as the Peace Offering. In fact, some translations call it by that name. Being in relationship with God, we are at peace with God, reconciled with God, and, therefore, we are in fellowship with God’s people and at peace with one another. • The offering itself was primarily an animal sacrifice – a meat offering – that the worshiper killed and cooked over the fire of the Bronze Altar we looked at last week. But unlike the sin offering that was completely consumed by the fire, the fellowship offering was cooked and consumed the same day by the worshiper and his family along with the priests and others present in fellowship together. It was a offering of communal worship and fellowship. • God prescribed the Fellowship Offering as a means of reminding his people of the blessings of being in relationship with him and in communion together as his Chosen People, and there were Three Specific Occasions to offer a fellowship offering, all of which were expressions of gratitude: 1. First, there was the Thanksgiving Offering that was given in response to a particular blessing from God. 2. Second, there was the Votive Offering that was given in conjunction with a vow or promise to God. 3. Third, there was the Freewill Offering that was given as a general expression of gratitude for all the Lord’s blessings. I feel confident in saying that most of us have those moments when we’re overwhelmed by that sense of gratitude for the blessings of the Goodness and Grace of God and the love we share with others when we just feel so inadequate. We just don’t know how to show our gratitude. Am I right? Well, the Freewill offering was for that purpose. It wasn’t a sin offering. It wasn’t a tithe. It wasn’t a required offering demanded by the Law. It was a freewill offering given as an expression of gratitude to God for his bountiful blessings of being in relationship with him and others. Consider this: How do you express your gratitude to God? And I can hear some of you thinking: “Well, pastor. I tell him ‘Thank you’ all the time. What else can I do?” Listen. I hear you, and it’s important to tell him ‘Thank you, Lord’ as often as we can. But is there more we can do? Is there a better way to give him thanks for all he has given to us? I think the Lord himself has provided a way for us to give him thanks. And here’s how: By the WAY we worship and WHAT we give back. Our worship and our giving are inseparably linked together. So, I want us to explore this a little deeper and look at a Psalm this morning that talks about giving an offering of thanks. Turn with me to Psalm 50, and let’s look at: THREE TRUTHS ABOUT WORSHIP AND GIVING: • Truth Number 1: God both EXPECTS and INSPECTS our worship. READ PSALM 50:1-6. I think we all understand that God expects us to worship him as the One, True God, and that by worshiping him we are demonstrating his worth to us. Jesus says that the Father is seeking, he’s looking for those who worship him in spirit and truth. In other words, he expects our worship to be from the heart, and he inspects our hearts to see if it is true. Asaph says God is his own judge, and he will judge whether or not our worship is genuine or just an outward show. • Truth Number 2: God doesn’t NEED our gifts. READ PSALM 50:7-12. So God is saying, I’m not rebuking your gifts. I’m rebuking the attitude of your giving, and it’s obvious that the people are giving out of obligation, not out of gratitude. So he tells them in essence, “I don’t need your animal sacrifices. I don’t need anything you bring as an offering. That’s not what worship is all about. I own all the animals. If I was ever hungry, I perfectly able to feed myself. You just don’t get it, people. I don’t need your money. I don’t need your stuff. I don’t need anything you can give me, but because I’m your God, the One, True God, you need a way to demonstrate your gratitude for what I give you.” • Truth Number 3: When we FAITHFULLY and GRATEFULLY give, we honor God’s faithfulness to us. READ PSALM 50:13-15. Listen. If you’re giving your time, talents, and treasures to God because you feel an obligation to give, you’re missing the point of giving. If you’re giving because you’re trying to convince God that you’re a “good” Christian, you’re missing the point of giving. We give God our gifts – our time, talents, and treasures, not because we’re good, but because we’re grateful – grateful for his faithfulness to us, grateful that he always delivers us from our day of trouble, grateful that he delivers us from the bondage of sin and the condemnation of death, and grateful that we can not only have a relationship with him, but fellowship with him and others. RESPONSE: Togore wrote a fable that captures how shortsighted we are about worship and giving. It’s the story about a poor beggar who encountered the King of kings. His words: “I had gone a-begging from door to door in the village path when thy golden chariot appeared in the distance like a gorgeous dream, and I wondered who was this King of Kings! My hopes rose high and methought my evil days were at an end, and stood waiting for alms to be given unasked and for wealth scattered on all sides in the dust. The chariot stopped where I stood. Thy glances fell on me at last. Then of a sudden thou didst hold out thy right hand and say, “What hast thou to give me?” Ah, what a kingly jest it was to open thy palms to a beggar to beg! I was confused and stood undecided, and then from my wallet I slowly took out the least little grain of corn and gave it to thee. But how great my surprise when at day’s end I emptied my bag on the floor to find a least little grain of gold among the poor heap! I bitterly wept and wished that I had had the heart to give thee my all.” Listen. God is not a beggar looking for a handout. He doesn’t need your stuff. He is a good God who’s looking for a life to bless.