Abounding in Construction

Introduction: A Passage That Doesn't Look Promising

If you're new here and reading 2 Chronicles 8 for the first time, it doesn't look particularly promising. It looks like an ancient king doing a lot of building, trading, and staffing decisions. But this passage is all about Jesus, and it has massive relevance for everyone here this morning — even if you're not yet following Jesus.

The Danger of Misusing Grace

There's been a lot of discussion online about why the Brazilian football team was knocked out of a recent tournament. One popular theory blames the rise of Protestant, evangelical Christianity among the players — the idea being that a shift away from nominal Catholicism to "born again" faith has softened the team's edge.

One player, after missing a crucial goal, responded with, "I could have done better. I didn't, but I thank God for the opportunity." This didn't go down well with Brazilian journalists. One pundit complained:

"I wish so much that the players of the Brazilian national team had Catholic guilt, but now they outsource responsibility to God and take responsibility for nothing."

That criticism, however unfair in that context, does put a finger on a real weakness in evangelicalism — a misuse of God's grace that leads us to shirk our responsibilities. We might think: I'm forgiven, I'm saved by grace alone through faith alone, so maybe I can ease off — on church attendance, on personal holiness, on sharing my faith with others.　

This is the opposite of how Christians should respond to God's kindness. Yes, we are saved by grace alone through faith alone — but this truth should make us more ambitious for the Lord, not less. We should be driven not by guilt, but by a concern for the greatness of God's name.

The Original Readers' Temptation

The Chronicler's first readers faced a similar temptation. Having returned from exile in Babylon, having rebuilt the temple, but now living under Persian rule and surrounded by hostile neighbors, they were tempted to think: We have forgiveness, we have the temple — that's enough. They had begun to shirk their responsibility to bear God's name among the nations.　

This is why the Chronicler retells the story of Solomon, 700 years earlier. Across these nine chapters describing Solomon's reign, the material is structured like a sandwich — smack in the middle is God filling the Jerusalem temple, committing to forgive His people and dwell with them forever. But on either side of that center, we see the temple built by the nations and for the nations. Having received God's grace, we are shown our responsibilities.

1. The Kingdom Expands (vv. 1–6, 17–18)

Look at verse 1:

"At the end of 20 years during which time Solomon built the temple of the Lord and his own palace, Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram had given him and settled Israelites in them."

As long as a faithful king sits on the throne, the kingdom of God continues to expand among the Gentile nations. Chapter 8 itself is a mini-sandwich, beginning and ending with gifts from a pagan king, Hiram of Tyre — villages in verse 1, gold-laden ships in verse 18.

In between, Solomon extends his territory north and south — strengthening Hamath Zobah, building up Tadmor in the desert, fortifying Beth Horon to guard trade routes, and rebuilding Baalath on the border of Philistia. The word translated "captured" in verse 3 actually just means strengthened. Solomon is not a man of war but a man of peace — he wears a builder's hard hat, not a war helmet.

Solomon is a king who turns dry deserts into thriving cities and enemies into friends. He builds a kingdom of security not through bloodshed, but through diplomacy. This picture was meant to give confidence to discouraged readers: we can rebuild, we can expand, because we did before.

Have We Lost Our Swag?

One satirical commentator joked that Brazil was better "when their players were womanizers, drunkards, and slightly out of shape... Evangelical Protestant sterilization has flattened their ball, ruined their samba, and obliterated their swag."

Whatever the truth of that on the football pitch, it must not be true of us as God's people. Maybe you feel we've lost our swag when it comes to expanding the kingdom here in Balham — daunted by the size of the task, intimidated by opposition. But our motivation isn't friendship and good fun, nor guilt. Our motivation is grace. We have a gospel with power to save, a Spirit who indwells us, and a King who is alive and whose kingdom already spans the globe.

Tertullian, writing to the Roman emperor just 150 years after Jesus' resurrection — when being a Christian was a death sentence — wrote with remarkable confidence:

"We Christians are but of yesterday. Yet we have filled every place amongst you... We have left nothing to you but the temples of your gods... For what war would we not be fit and ready despite our inferior numbers, we who willingly submit to the sword?"

The kingdom expanded then under threat, and it continues to expand today — not through violence, but through the peaceful sharing of the good news of Jesus.

2. The Nations Ascend (vv. 7–11)

Some of us might think: this is fine in theory, but have you met my colleagues, my friends, my family? They couldn't be less interested in King Jesus. This is why the Chronicler tells us about some unlikely inclusions.

The Canaanites

"There were still people left from the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. These people were not Israelites." (v. 7)

Whenever these Canaanite clans appear in the Bible, it's like a pantomime villain entrance — everyone knows they're the baddies. Wicked, idolatrous, child-sacrificing enemies of Israel. With Solomon at the height of his power, we'd expect him to destroy them. Instead:

"Solomon conscripted the descendants of all these people... to serve as slave labor, as it is to this day." (v. 8)

The word translated "conscripted" here literally means ascended. Solomon gave them the privilege of going up Mount Zion to build the holy temple of the Lord — the very same privileged task given to the Israelites. Whether working as a slave or a willing worker, everyone works on the same project.

This is a picture of what Jesus has done for us. We were once outsiders, idolaters, sinners, deserving only judgment. Yet by grace we've not only been included but ascended, invited to take part in building His kingdom. The difference is that we don't serve because we have to — we serve because we get to, as friends, not slaves.

Pharaoh's Daughter

"Solomon brought Pharaoh's daughter up from the city of David to the palace he had built for her. For he said, 'My wife must not live in the palace of David, king of Israel, because the places the ark of the Lord has entered are holy.'" (v. 11)

Pharaoh is the great archenemy of God's people throughout Scripture — yet Solomon secures a marriage alliance with Pharaoh's own daughter. Many scholars argue she's relocated because she's unworthy to live near the ark. But I think it's the opposite: as the wife of the king, she's unfit to live anywhere the ark is not. Just as the ark ascended to the temple mount, so she ascends to the palace on the temple mount.

This gives us a blueprint for our Messiah — a King who chooses an unworthy foreign bride and, despite her sin and former enmity, covenants Himself to her, declares her holy, and raises her to sit with Him in glory. Her story can be your story too.

Some of you may feel you're on God's "wanted list" in the wrong sense — an undeserving sinner who doesn't belong. But have you considered you might be wanted in a completely different sense — desired by God to be His bride, part of His family, forever?

3. The Worship Perpetuates (vv. 12–15)

What have we been included for? Look at verse 12:

"On the altar of the Lord that he had built in front of the portico, Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings [literally, ascension offerings] to the Lord... for the Sabbaths, the new moons, and the three annual festivals."

As God's people brought sacrifices, they watched the smoke ascend — a picture of certainty that they too could ascend to be with God. These offerings weren't occasional; they were daily, weekly, monthly, and annual. The temple was to be a place of perpetual worship.

As Christians, we don't need special buildings, priests, or blood sacrifices anymore — Jesus Christ is our great High Priest and our once-for-all sacrifice.

"Christ died for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous... to bring us up to God."

But that's not the end of the story. Because our atonement is finished doesn't mean we stop gathering. We meet — daily, weekly, monthly, perpetually — to celebrate our redemption, encourage one another, and continually offer up a sacrifice of praise. We use our lips to sing in here not as an end in itself, but so we might sing of Christ out there.

"All Solomon's work was carried out from the day the foundation of the temple of the Lord was laid until its completion. So the temple of the Lord was finished." (v. 16)

Solomon, from foundation to completion, is a prototype Messiah who builds the temple and invites the nations into his peace. Jesus fulfills these promises — but His finished work is not an invitation to put our feet up. It's the motivation to sing God's praises among the nations.

Application: Investing What We Cannot Keep

Jim Elliot graduated from Wheaton College in 1949 with his whole life ahead of him. Instead of settling for comfort, he and his wife Elisabeth went to Ecuador to share the gospel with the violent Huaorani tribe. Shortly after arriving, Jim was killed, leaving his wife and newborn child behind. Before his death, he wrote:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."

Jim didn't sit on God's grace — he invested his life in the expansion of Jesus' kingdom. Today, that same tribe that killed him are followers of Christ. Jim will meet them in glory because of God's mercy.

I'm not saying everyone should become a full-time missionary — though some of you should. But having received the certainty of forgiveness, it is your responsibility to share it with others. This might look like small things:

• Hosting a party for a big match and inviting church friends alongside work friends
• Inviting a school-gate friend to a holiday club
• Simply saying, "I'd love you to come to church with me, to meet my church family"
• Inviting someone to join a Christianity Explored group
• Inviting a friend to a summer tournament

These things might feel costly, but there is no risk, because Jesus promised, "I will build my church and the gates of hell will not overcome it." This is our responsibility — and we pursue it not out of guilt, but out of grace.

Heavenly Father, we praise you that Christ is our finished sacrifice. We pray that he is our complete cornerstone, and that having received his grace and forgiveness, we are invited — we are ascended — to take part in this building project to expand your kingdom. Fill us with your Spirit, fill us with boldness, so that we might not just sing in here, but sing of Christ out there. In Jesus' name, Amen.