There's rich and then there's rich...

Luke 12:13-15 (MSG)
¹³  Someone out of the crowd said, "Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance." ¹⁴  He replied, "Mister, what makes you think it's any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?" ¹⁵  Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." 

The last sentence in the section about is what I want to concentrate on today. What was your life like when you were growing up? Did you have everything you needed and everything you wanted? Many of us were blessed like this. We couldn't have asked for anything more, life was comfortable.

For many of us, our first years were quite the opposite; there wasn't much money for anything, but the basics in life. Food, clothing, and shelter were about all we could boast about having. If you were like me, you didn't realize that you had so little, until you got to school and met others in your grade who had a lot.

To me, a lot meant he or she had some toy that I really wanted. This will sound petty because now looking back I see that it was, but Mary had it all. Her bedroom was everything a young girl would want right down to the ruffled canopy bed. I admired all the dolls and stuffed animals lined up on her shelves, but the one thing I really wanted was her pogo stick. Keep the dolls and teddy bears, but let me at that pogo stick.

I didn't realize back then that, "Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot." No, but now I do know that. I understand that Mary may have had all the things that money could buy, but she didn't have a younger sister to share life with. I doubt very much that she had a grandma or grandpa who lived through the yard from her who she could turn to when she needed an extra hug.

Each week as we prepare to share our tithes and offerings, consider this story. Is there a Mary from your past...or maybe your present? Can you count your blessings and then share them? We only need to remember, "Life is not defined by what we have, even when we have a lot."

Luke 12:13-21

Money and the Kingdom

Malachi 1:8 (NIV)
⁸  When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the LORD Almighty.

Once again, the text for today is pointing out what a difference it is when our hearts are not in the right condition.

God is upset over the offerings the priests are pawning off as worthy sacrifices. Their hearts are polluted and they are trying to short-change God. They truly don't understand the reason for worship. They don't understand the God they claim to worship. They are standing at the altar of God and offering, not the best of the best, but the imperfect and diseased animals. The ones they would throw away.

How often do we do the same? It is hard to part with something we worked hard and long for - but giving it to God isn't parting with it, it is letting go of that which isn't ours to begin with. This is a difficult concept to accept or even believe when we are new to the faith. It is a new way to practice our faith, to step out and trust that God will take care of us.

I am remembering when we first began to practice tithing. It was hard. First I was afraid my husband wouldn't buy into this. I was not ready to bring the subject up, as we were both pretty new to in our walk with Jesus and we were in a financial mess.

I didn't have to say a thing. God had been working on my husband's heart at the same time He was working on mine. It was his suggestion that we start to give our 10% to God. Whew! What a relief. God took care of that right before my eyes. Then He also started to take care of our financial problems.

Malachi 1:14 (MSG)
¹⁴  "A curse on the person who makes a big show of doing something great for me—an expensive sacrifice, say—and then at the last minute brings in something puny and worthless! I'm a great king, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, honored far and wide, and I'll not put up with it! 

God is good...all the time.

Malachi 1:6-14

Eat your crusts

Then the Pharisees went and plotted how to entangle him in his words. (Matthew 22:15 ESV)

Was there a particular food you hated to eat when you were a kid?  I hated peas and bread crusts! I would hide the under the rim of my dinner plate until I could safely slip them to Whiskers, my black lab. She was always conveniently poised under the table by my chair, anticipating the forbidden treat.

Sometimes I would get away with this trickery, often I did not.  For my punishment, I had to sit at the table until I finished every bite. Some days this took hours.

As adults, we find some things difficult to swallow; taxes for instance.  We explore every legal option available to avoid paying more than we need to pay.  Like peas, taxes are part of our life, even if unpleasant to many citizens.  We see the value of each, but that doesn't mean we enjoy them.

When Jesus was asked about taxes and if He paid them to Caesar or not he said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's..." He further told His listeners they needed to acknowledge the authority of Caesar. Those who asked this question held ulterior motives, for this was an attempt to discredit our LORD. But, Jesus knew what was going on and called them on it.

There is more to the scripture verse quoted above.  The last part of the sentence is, "and to God what is God's." Perhaps Jesus is referring to the tithe with this statement.  As citizens of this land, we have a responsibility to our nation to pay taxes and the privilege to tithe to our God.

But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? (Matthew 22:18) Jesus knows our hearts in any situation. We may be able to fool others; we may even be able to lie to ourselves, but not to God.


Matthew 22:15-22

Give til it makes you Smile

I wonder why we resent hearing a sermon on the topic of giving.  We squirm when someone suggests that maybe we should be more generous than we are. Then the word 'tithe' is thrown into the conversation and eye-contact stops.

It is said that our checkbooks and our calendars will reveal where our heart is. "...God loves a cheerful giver." (2 Corinthians 9:7b) This first time I read these words in the Bible I didn't understand how anyone could happily give their money away.  I didn't like paying bills, I did it because if I didn't the lights wouldn't stay on very long.  I really didn't like putting anything in the offering plate. It felt like I wasn't getting anything in return. Doesn't sound very cheerful does it?

I can't pinpoint the moment all this changed for me.  I do remember being convicted about my attitude with money.  This conviction began around the same time God was changing my heart. I had been teaching myself to pray and read Scripture.  Life was a mess and I was grasping for anything to help. My business had failed and debt was piling up.

I began to drop an envelope in the offering on Sundays.  Before long I started to tithe and it felt good.  Just like it felt good to pray and talk everything over with God. It seems that once I got over the ‘money’ hurdle, God began to tare down more walls.

2 Corinthians 9:6 (NIV)
 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

I have never given so that I would get, but I cannot deny the fact that once my heart changed in this area God began to bless me in others. During my current financial struggle, I have been blessed by the generosity of a number of anonymous benefactors.  Now that this current season is ending, I can’t wait to do the same for someone else. “Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

The Cheerful Giver 2 Corinthians 8:10-24

I get excited reading today’s passage. Sure some read it discouraged by how hard it is to give their hard earned money. I read it and think of all the people I have seen blessed through the obedience others have shown through their giving.My husband and I for one have been able to work in the church for years because others give. We have shared the gospel to hundreds of youth, and evangelized with those same youth to total strangers while on mission trips.

A young lady we were once youth leaders for, is now a missionary on a college campus. She shares the gospel to coeds each day, and her income comes solely from the offerings of Christians. All over the world people hear the gospel because others understand what they have is a gift from God, meant to be given back for His glory. I don’t know about you but that excites me!

I still remember the first official decision my husband and I made once we were married was to tithe. It has not always been easy, but God has never let us go without. When there are times when we want more, I am reminded of a prayer I prayed every Sunday in church,

Merciful Father,
We offer with joy and thanksgiving what You have first given us, ourselves, our time, and our possessions signs of Your gracious love. Receive them for the sake of Him who offered Himself for us, Jesus Christ our Lord.

God doesn’t want me to give begrudgingly, He loves a cheerful giver.

Read today passage on Biblegateway 2 Corinthians 8:10-24

 

Paying Taxes - Matthew 22:15-22

Was there a particular food you hated to eat when you were a kid?  I hated peas and bread crusts!  I would try to slip the crusts to Whiskers, my black lab, who was always poised under the table by my chair. I would slide peas off the plate and conveniently hide them, just under the rim, out of site.  Sometimes I would get away with this trickery, often I did not.  The punishment was to sit at the table until I finished every bite.

As adults, we find some things difficult to swallow; taxes for instance.  We explore every legal option available to avoid paying more than we need to pay.  Like peas, taxes are part of our life, if unpleasant to many citizens.  We see the value of each but that doesn't mean we enjoy them.

When Jesus was asked about taxes and if He paid them to Caesar or not he said, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's..." He further told His listeners they needed to acknowledge the authority of Caesar.  He recognized the taxes paid for the benefits citizens received, like roads to travel on.

There is more to the scripture verse quoted above.  The last part of the sentence is, "and to God what is God's."  Perhaps Jesus is referring to the tithe with this statement.  As citizens of this land we have responsibility to our nation to pay taxes and the privilege to tithe to our God.

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