16th January, 2009

LLOYD HARKNESS

I am going to do it. No. Yes. Yes! Here it comes. Hang the consequences. Stuff the turn-off factor. Damn the quick to judge. Well, you know what I mean. And sorry to those who have been wounded in this area…but I do hope this will be healing balm.

PICTURE: Colin Brough (www.sxc.hu) "In giving the first portion there was an acknowledgement not only had God breathed the breath of life into you but He remained your provider. Everything a person has comes from God and giving the first portion puts God and us in proper perspective in our hearts not just our minds."

Money! There. I said it. I could not quite bring myself to saying it in the opening paragraph but here I am going to say it again...Money!

It is a subject we are all a little bit touchy about in varying ways and for various reasons but this Word piece is on legalism and money. So I hope you are ready to read on.

Money, the getting of it and the redistributing of it...Ah, there lies the nub of a delicate matter.

Starting with the familiar, we know Scripture clearly states “the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”, a verse in Timothy which equally applies to redistributing as to getting, and “you cannot love God and money”, a sure indication that money is the number one drawcard for wandering from God.

But let’s build an overview on our focus of legalism and giving in Scripture.

In the Old Testament God established the principle of tithing or giving the first portion, the first tenth, of what you had to Him. Abraham did it and it became the support basis for the Levitical priesthood.

In giving the first portion there was an acknowledgement not only had God breathed the breath of life into you but He remained your provider. Everything a person has comes from God and giving the first portion puts God and us in proper perspective in our hearts not just our minds.

It is a step of faith to give the first portion. In an agrarian society, like ancient Israel, the first portion was largely crops and livestock. Without the harvest being fully in, without the new seasons flocks and herds all born, God required the first and best. Storms could hit and lions could attack but God was first and He required the Israelites to take a life expanding step of faith in Him.

Nothing has changed on this point, God’s is the first. The best is God’s.

In simple terms this means we organise our finances with God at the top of the balance sheet and other matters appropriately prioritised below the first portion. If we fall into a position of saying I need this, this and that this week, to cover my financial commitments and needs, and what I have left over is this, so God can have this; then the ‘this’ He gets mean God’s blessings will not flow as freely as He desires and we are robbing ourselves of a more expansive life of faith.

Leftovers in Old Testament times were lame cattle, runt sheep and shrivelled figs, the bits and pieces of little value.

God does not get the leftovers of our Sunday roast, if that still happens, on Monday night. He sits at the head of the table and is served first with whatever He desires.

Sometimes grace is required in sorting things through financially if we have become a leftovers-for-God-kind-of-person.

It is important for God and for us that we be faithful stewards of the resources we have been given. A number of Jesus’ parables emphasised this fact.

So, giving is about honouring God. It is also about a faith walk with Him, a generosity of spirit and being part of the chain of passing on a blessing. A first portion giving flows from relationship, flows from grace.

It sounds simple. It is simple. But when money is involved the potential for problems multiply.

There can be problems with an avaricious church or individual.

There can be problems with people following a set of laws on giving in an attempt to please God or help Him love them, a sort of buying good favour twist.

There can be problems with shaming people into a legalistic position on giving when conviction has to be at the heart of giving.

Giving can be such a blessing for God, the other party and yourself and yet wrap the hand of flawed humanity around a $100 note and you will soon see all the problems that have arisen in the church since Ananias and Sapphira set out to defraud God and the early church.

Legalism in giving can be such a pernicious force. Matthew recorded some important comments Jesus made on this matter.

The Pharisees, whom Jesus often identified with in public statements such as believing in the resurrection, also drew His wrath because among other things they were demandingly exact in their tithing.

Legalism in all its forms squeezes life from a divine relationship and legalism in tithing was achieving this end with the Pharisees.

They were so preoccupied with getting it right, to the letter of the law, on the subject of tithing that they even applied the rule to food flavouring and perfume additives like “mint, anise and cumin”.

This process meant the Pharisees were not living life, the God life offered to them. They were not making correct judgements about who God wanted them to be, about exercising mercy and not the letter of the law, about recognising their justification, purification and sanctification all flowed from faith in God and they were called to walk in faith.

Legalistic interpretations of God principles negate a faith walk with God. The Pharisees had become followers of rules instead of the rule maker.

Tithing is meant to be liberating but for the Pharisees it had become a chain around their necks, or to put it in Jewish terms, tithing was added to their phylactery and turned into self-righteous pretension.

Somewhere in the hands of certain individuals and through the passage of time, an expression of love for God had become a way of impressing others. Pride and vanity had found fertile soil.

The vortex of acclaim can be such a motive despoiler. Church buildings or other major projects where significant sums of money are required in a more condensed time frame are particularly susceptible to its pull.

Interestingly, Jesus' final comment on tithing in Matthew 23 was not to instruct the Pharisees to stop tithing and get their attitude right because they had screwed things up so badly.

Jesus told them to keep on tithing - but do it right. Let judgement, the law, mercy and faith fashion your life and hence your giving. Let there be liberty in giving because of the freedom, the grace and the life God has given you. The Pharisees needed to embrace the fact that it is not a burdensome requirement but a privilege to work with God in this way. The right spirit is more important than rigid rules.

We have our own variants on “mint, anise and cumin”. Give 10 per cent before tax. Give 10 per cent after tax. Give 10 per cent plus gifts. Give 10 per cent to your local church and gifts to other needs. Give 10 per cent plus gifts and offerings.

And once again Jesus has to repeat Himself. Don’t get into hair-splitting. Don’t open the door for pride and vanity. Do your giving privately. Drop the flash-cash approach. In fact, don’t let your right hand know what your left hand is doing in matters of giving.

If you are giving because of a guilt trip, don’t stop just get your motives right.

If you are not giving because of a reaction to pressure from others then get your motives right and start.

If you have succumbed to legalism on tithing, keep giving but get your motives right.

If you are not giving because somewhere you have been has misused money or had an unhealthy preoccupation with it, actively pursue where to give and get involved with God. Rekindle love.

Jesus said give generously, love generously, be perfect. We cannot blow our trumpet as having arrived, evidenced by our meticulous following of rules, if that is where the bar has been set. There is no life when rules supersede “take up your cross and follow me” and knowing He will be with you until the end of time.

Gratitude...Generosity...God first...These are the hallmarks of the first portion. Giving in this way helps bind us to God and His business. He is able to release His blessing into the lives of others and ours when He is given a place of honour in all we do.

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