“Keeping Up the Upkeep” – FBC Morning Light (6/13/2023)

Well, a good Tuesday morning to you. Today we're reading in 2 Kings 11 and 12, the last chapter of the book of Acts, and then

Psalm 117 today. I want to focus on 2

Kings 12 today and the king Joash. Joash came to the throne of Judah at a really young age, he was just a boy when he was crowned king, and he was heavily influenced by the priest

Jehoiada, and that explains probably his attitude that comes out in chapter 12, particularly toward God's house.

And at this point in his reign, after a few years of serving as the king, he becomes greatly burdened about the condition of the temple, about the condition of God's house.

It's in disrepair, there's all kinds of decay, it hasn't been kept up, it hasn't been cleaned well, there's just all kinds of problems with God's house.

And so Joash tells the priest in verse 7, he says,

And so Joash orders that funds that are dedicated or committed to the temple, they need to be committed to the repair of the temple, it's in terrible disrepair.

And Joash, later on, he had some real problems as a king.

When Jehoiada died and he lost that influence, there were problems. But during this period of time, he seems to be truly concerned about the things of the

Lord. He's definitely concerned about the Lord's house. And so he sets about this building project and this remodeling project for the temple.

Now, here's what I think is important for us to get. One indicator of a heart that is committed to the

Lord is a concern for the condition of God's house. I know that there's easily a way to go overboard on this.

I think of some of the grand cathedrals in Europe and the gilded stuff, just covering the gold plating and covering of all kinds of stuff.

And a lot of those great cathedrals were built on the backs of very, very poor people, and in very illegitimate ways.

Think, for example, the building of the Basilica in Rome on the sale of indulgences that Martin Luther protested and so forth.

Okay, so those are extreme, extravagant examples that I think are over the top and out of line.

What I'm talking about is when those buildings that we construct and are dedicated to the

Lord for the gathering of God's people, the worship of the Lord, what condition are those buildings and facilities in, and what is the character of the structure, the construction, and so on?

Is it the best that we can reasonably do with the resources that God has given to us, and in the place in which we find ourselves?

So, for example, an appropriate God -honoring building and structure in a

Midwestern town in the United States should be significantly different than the construction of a church building, say, in a

Third World country, African country, and so forth. It just has to do with what can

God's people do in the best that they can do in the context in which they find themselves.

So here's the thing. When God's people are neglectful of the structure where God's people gather together, we call it the church building where we assemble together and meet the

Lord. The community looks at that as a church, they look at that as something that is supposed to be reflective of the worship of God.

They know that's where people go to worship God, and if that place is dilapidated, it's run down, it's in disrepair, the landscaping isn't cared for, the lawn is a mess, the building needs painted, and all that kind of stuff, and the people just don't seem to care about it, the church people just don't seem to care about it, don't seem to do anything about it, then

I think that's a poor testimony to the Lord, and I think it's a bad reflection on that community of believers.

Now, in the Old Testament, you see an example of this kind of thing in the book of Haggai.

Remember that? When the temple had been destroyed and needed to be rebuilt, and they started the project, but they never finished it, and they didn't because of threats and so forth, but we read that God's people took the cedar paneling that was supposed to be dedicated to the temple, the building in the temple, and they took it home and they built their own comfortable homes, and left

God's temple in disrepair. Getting back to our text in 2

Kings 12, Joash did not have that attitude. Joash's attitude was, hey look, this is a bad reflection on our

God, the God that we worship, therefore we need to repair this temple, we need to repair this building in any place, anywhere, where there's dilapidation.

And I think there's a challenge for us in that, as New Testament Christians, we don't go overboard with extravagance, but at the same time, we do the best we can do to build the nicest stuff we can build, and to keep it up, to maintain it to the best of our ability, even if it means sacrifice on our part, because it's a reflection upon our

God, and how we care for that place where we gather to worship the

Lord, and to learn of the Lord. It communicates, deliberately or not, it communicates our attitude toward our

God. So let's be sure we have a proper attitude that is then reflected well in the places where we call our church gathering.

Our Father and our God, we want to honor you, we want to reflect well upon you in our lives, physically, in our personal temple, but also in those places where we gather together.

May you be honored by our honoring of you, even in the way we care for those structures that we call our church buildings.

And this we pray in Jesus' name, and for his sake, amen. All right, listen, you have a good rest of your