Thursday, October 10, 2013

The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Disciplines: Giving 1

The Road to Redemption – Spiritual Disciplines: Giving 1

    "They are always asking for money." This is one of the most frequent complaints lodged against churches by members and non-members alike. I am not sure if churches would be convicted of this trespass in a spiritual court of law, but since perception is powerful we will take some time to examine the Biblical history of asking/giving and "giving" as a spiritual discipline.

    We begin in Genesis, in which we find several stories involving giving. The first is that of Cain and Able (Genesis 4:1-16) where the twins each bring an offering to God. Cain brought to God "an offering of the fruit of the ground" while Able brought to God "of the firstlings of his flock." A second offering story in Genesis involves Abraham and his encounter with the Melchizedek, priest of the God most high. (Genesis 14:17-20) In this story Melchizedek blesses Abraham and Abraham offers up ten percent (a tithe) of all that he has to the priest.

    Giving becomes formalized throughout the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah contains the Law of Moses which calls for five different types of offerings for five different purposes. These offerings centered on worship and sacrifice. Just a note, sacrifices and offerings were never meant to "buy" God's favor or "make" God do something. They were instead meaningful acts of thanksgiving, praise or confession as well as support for the Temple and its priests.

    The first type of offering was a Burnt Offering. The burnt offering consisted of a male animal (bull, lamb, goat, pigeon or turtle dove…based on the wealth of the giver) which was to be completely burned up on the altar. None of it was to be eaten. The animal was to be perfect (without blemish…in other words one's best and not a left-over). The individual would lay his/her hands upon the animal's head understanding that this animal was standing in (as an atonement for sin or dedication of one's life) for the person making the offering.

    The second type of offering was a Meal Offering. Israelites were to bring cereal or vegetable offerings in addition to animal offerings. The second chapter of Leviticus describes four kinds of cereal offerings. They were to be cooked with oil and salt but no honey (go figure). These offerings were brought to the priest who would cast a small amount into the fire and eat the rest. Meal Offerings were a way of demonstrating generosity in response to God's generosity.

    The third type of offering is a Sin Offering. This offering was intended to take care of (expiate) any unintentional failures or weaknesses in one's relationship with God. The offering was dependent upon one's station in life. The High Priest offered a bull, leaders offered a male goat and ordinary Israelites offered a female animal, and the poor offered a small amount of grain.

    The fourth type of offering was a Peace Offering. The Peace offering was one that was shared between God, the priests and the people. An animal was sacrificed and then was eaten by priest and people. This was an offering of thanksgiving and praise…as well as a community building exercise.

    The fifth and final type of offering was the trespass offering. This offering was similar to the sin offering but it consisted of money. It was offered as repentance for any fraud which was unintentional. The sacrifice was to be equal to the value stolen, along with a 20% gift to the priests and to the one cheated.

    Finally there was the tithe (giving of a tenth). In Leviticus 27:30-33 Moses tells the people that one tenth of all they had produced (crops and animals) was to be given to God. This command was echoed by King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 31:4-5) when he ordered the people to tithe to the Temple and the priesthood. The response of the people was overwhelming in that they gave of all that they had. I hope this explains why we ask for "tithes and offerings" on Sunday morning…because in the scriptures there are both (though you can leave the bulls and goats at home).

    

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