It has become something of a PCC tradition that the main bulletin
article for the first Lord’s Day of July, when we commemorate our church’s
anniversary, is based on a biblical passage (or passages) that contains the
figure corresponding to the number of years we have existed as a church. And so
we arrive at the number 19 this year.
However, a quick glance through
those passages that contain this number (or the corresponding “nineteenth”)
reveals nothing that is of great significance apart from the fact that
Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in the 19th year of his reign (2
Kgs 25:8ff)! As such, instead of looking at the number 19 by itself, I’ll like
us to consider three other numbers that add up to nineteen, i.e. seven, two and
ten (or tenth to be more accurate).
Seven
(Gen 2:2-3)
“And on the seventh day God
ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his
work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:
because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
This
concept of the Sabbath or the Lord’s Day is as old as creation itself. God, who
is the first worker in history, is also the first One to take a rest from His
labours. Now we all know that God is omnipotent and thus cannot grow weary from
His work. Instead, He rested so as to leave mankind an example and pattern to
follow after. But more than that, the ultimate purpose of rest is for
fellowship and communion. Why did God rest from His labours? So that He can
have communion with us. And why should we rest from our labours each week? So
that we can have communion with God!
As
members of this church, we have covenanted to keep the Lord’s Day and to
regularly attend the worship services. And if we are parents, we have also
covenanted to train our children to keep the Lord’s Day. Whatever else keeping
the Lord’s Day means to us and to our children, we should never forget (and we
should never let our children forget) what the ultimate purpose of the day is,
namely, to have fellowship and communion with our Heavenly Father and with His
Son Jesus Christ.
As
we come to yet another anniversary, let us all take time to reflect on our own
personal attitude and approach to the Sabbath Day? What does the day mean to
us? And are we truly keeping it according to its main and ultimate purpose,
which is to be in the presence of God to hear His voice speaking to us and to
respond to that voice in prayer and praise? And how can you (and I) do better
in calling the Sabbath a delight?
Two
(Gen 2:23-25, Eph 5:31)
Husbands
and wives are two persons who have become one flesh. In Genesis 2:24, Adam said, “Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.” And in Ephesians 5:31, the apostle Paul, echoing
the words of Adam, wrote, “For
this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto
his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.”
Marriage
involves the highest commitment that two human beings can make to each other.
This is what the words ‘leaving’ and ‘cleaving’ teach us. To cleave is to be
joined or united together. To leave and to cleave means an exclusive and
special relationship. Even the relationship between a parent and a child is not
as close as the relationship between husband and wife. For a man to leave
father and mother means that this new relationship with his wife will have
priority over even his relationship with his father and mother. The husband and
wife relationship will be the most important one among all other human
relationships. Husband and wife are to be totally committed and thus faithful
to each other.
Then besides commitment, another important building block
in marriage is intimacy. We see this especially in the words “become one flesh”
and also in the words “naked and unashamed” (Gen. 2:25). Just as marriage
involves the greatest commitment between two persons, so it involves the
greatest intimacy and fellowship possible between two human beings. In marriage,
you share everything that you have and everything that you are. You become
united emotionally, physically, and spiritually. In marriage, you can be naked and
unashamed in the fullest sense of the word. You can share your fears and pain
and passions and delights without reservation, without being ashamed or afraid
of rejection.
As
members of the church, we have resolved to seek first God’s kingdom and
righteousness in all the relationships of life. If we are married, then our
marriage must be the first relationship of life (apart from our relationship to
the Lord) that we give attention to and seek to build up.
How
has your relationship with your wife or your husband been in recent times? Is
it characterized (or should I say still characterized) by a deep
commitment one towards another and a loving intimacy one with another? Let us
take time as individuals and as couples to prayerfully reflect on our marriages
and actively seek to strengthen them in practical ways.
Tenth
(Gen 14:20b)
The word ‘tithe’ means a tenth
part or one part in ten. Genesis 14:20b contains the first reference in the
Bible to this concept of giving a tenth of something to someone. Abram gave a
tenth of all the spoils of war to the priest-king Melchizedek after he defeated
the confederation of kings from Mesopotamia. Later, in Genesis 28:22, Abraham’s
grandson Jacob promised to give a tenth of all that he had to the Lord, and
subsequently in Israel’s history, the Israelites were instructed to give tithes
of their fruits and flock (Lev. 27:30, 32).
As believers living in the New Covenant, it continues
to be right and proper for us to tithe (see Matt. 23:23), and as members of
this congregation, we have covenanted to give to the Lord’s work as He shall
prosper us. It is very easy, though, for us to give, merely out of duty or as a
matter of routine.
As such, it would be helpful for all of us, as we come
to another anniversary, to review our personal giving of tithes to the Lord,
not so much in terms of the amount we give, but more in terms of our attitude
and motivation. In particular, I would like us to consider two things with
respect to giving.
First, let us give gratefully and
cheerfully. Each time we drop our offerings into the bag, let us remember that
all that we have and all that we give comes from the Lord, who is the owner of
all things in this universe. It is thus a privilege from the Lord to be able to
give back to Him something of what He has so graciously and abundantly given to
us in the first place. But even more than that, let us remember that God has
given us the best gift of all, even His only beloved Son (John 3:16, Rom.
8:32). We can never repay God for all that He has given to us, but we can
express a little of our gratitude to Him through our tithes and offerings. And
so let us give gratefully and cheerfully for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor.
9:7).
Second, let us give thoughtfully and prayerfully. It
is easy to just put in our tithes each week without giving much thought to what
we are doing or why we are doing it. Each time the offering bag is passed
around, let us remember that we are giving to the Lord’s work and for the
extension of His kingdom upon this earth. We desire the growth of Christ’s
kingdom and one of the ways in which we participate in this growth is through
our offerings. And as we give, we should pray that what we and our brethren
have given would indeed be used by the Lord to accomplish His good purposes on
this earth.
Conclusion
And so we have briefly considered
three numbers that add up to 19, i.e. 7+2+10. May we, as a church, continue to
make progress in all these three areas in the coming year and years ahead. May
we enjoy greater communion with God each Sabbath Day, strengthen our commitment
and intimacy in marriage, and give more gratefully, thoughtfully and
prayerfully to the work of the Lord. Have a Blessed 19th
Anniversary!
—Linus Chua
