The Next Generation

1 Chronicles 29:14 ESV

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

Few things are more defining and telling of men as their final remarks. In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Gimli and Legolas are noting the structure of the city they find themselves in and note how beautiful it is and the expert workmanship it begins with, but then note that the workmanship deteriorates as it comes to completion. This they note is a normal pattern for man. The reality of things unraveling as men draw further from the idealistic beginning, as passion and excitement give way to determination and grinding perseverance to see a project complete. As one generation finds itself unable to complete the task set before it and realizes that the commission must be given to the next, what words are to be used to pass a passion and desire capable of holding a generation to the measuring line when those with the initial vision and call are no longer present?

As Tolkien noted this is a continual problem in human societies. One generation has found itself unable to transfer the passion to the next and with a lack of passion and clarity of purpose the structures, physical and spiritual, begin to crumble and show a lack of purpose. This seen in the privilege to by flowers for the love of my life or the duty to do so on our anniversary. The prayer of David from 1 Chronicles 29:10-22 is such a grasping and holds the freight of a man of passion love for his God and for the Kingdom he leaves behind.

The passionate desire for his people to continue the walk that they have begun bleeds through the words of his prayer. As he longs for his son and his people to maintain the faith and hold to the calling they have received. Yet, he knows that nothing he can tell them will amount to anything. That he has no power over the future. In light of this he appeals to the one who is sovereign. This is why it is David’s prayer, not his address, because he knows only God can change hearts. This focus on Passion verse results is seen in his prayer for Solomon specifically. As he prays in verse 19 that he will have a whole heart for gods commandments, law, statute and testimonies, only after this, does he ask that he may build the temple. This reality is also why Holiness and Godliness are the requirements for serving as Deacon and Elder of the church first. If the heart is right the rest will fall into place. Pragmatics are always secondary to spiritual realities. Why?

This is the focus of the verse we began with. Pragmatics are nothing and money is the chief pragmatic. David is declaring what he wants his people to understand at the heart of the matter. God is sovereign. As such they must remain true to him and seek no other. This in spite of how wise and reasonable it might appear to do otherwise. To remain fast in the hand of God. Content with poverty if it comes, and riches if they come. Recognizing that what is “mine” is only mine to give when my master desires it to be given to someone else. How do you pass a passion to the next generation? Live it out yourself, speak it out yourself, write it out yourself, do all you can to communicate it and then lean on the arm of the Sovereign God who with but a word spoke the cosmos into being, and know that his “arm is not shortened”(Numbers 11:23).

CRUCE, DUM SPIRO, FIDO