and with the first fruits of all your produce;
then your barns will be filled with plenty,
and your vats will be bursting with wine.” NRSV
The Pharisees had developed the practice of the tithe and had it down to a science. So much so that they tithed even spices. And while Jesus commended them for their diligence, He faulted them for refusing to understand the essence of God’s Law . . . that people are more important than practices (Matthew 23:23). These days, I believe that some in the Church have tried to convolute the idea of tithing into some kind of contractual arrangement with God: that if they tithe, then God is required to materially prosper them.
The Nelson Study Bible commentary says:
The promises in these verses describe general patterns, not rules that have no exceptions. These are the results that often follow a full commitment to God. The command to honor God with wealth and to give to Him from the firstfruits of all income is a part of what it means to worship God. In God’s covenant with Israel, fullness of barns and vats was God’s blessing, a part of God’s covenant promise. Yet these verses should not be taken as a formula for getting rich. They speak of what righteous people can reasonably expect in life, not what God promises to return on investments. (Radmacher, E. D. 1997. The Nelson study Bible : New King James Version. Includes index. (Pr 3:7). T. Nelson Publishers: Nashville).
So, when we reduce tithing to some kind of contract, I think we miss the point.
There is something special about this passage and it’s more than simply about tithing. It’s about the attitude we have about God and what we are willing to give to Him.
Of course, we all know that God doesn’t need anything from us. He is Creator and owns everything (including what we don’t want to give). It’s sort of like being a landlord. The landlord owns the house we live in. We may feel we have the “right” to keep him out of the house (and may even have a contract support our “right”), but the fact is, the house is his and nothing we do can change that. We don’t own it. He does.
Well, it’s the same with God. And the only reason He doesn’t simply take everything is because of His love for us. I think that’s important to remember. The very cells of our bodies, the very breaths we take, the very thoughts we think He owns! He allows us to participate in an interactive relationship with Him because of His love for us and His plan for our lives.
And part of having this relationship is understanding that we can’t be stingy if we want to have a relationship with God. He wasn’t. He gave His very best: His Son. The Lord sacrificed everything for us, gave everything for us, continues to give His all for us. He yearns for us to give back with that same kind of generosity, love, abandon.
It’s more than simply writing a check to a church organization. It’s about a lifestyle that wants to love as the Lord Jesus loves, that wants to give because that’s what He does, that wants to reach out because people are more important than stuff:
“Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’”(Matthew 25:34-40 NRSV).
I think that often we think of our church contributions as something that we do in order to get something in return. We give to keep our church organization running or to keep our pastor there (and we like his/her preaching) or to maintain the programming that we like (youth groups, children’s programs, monthly Bunco games). When, in fact, giving (or tithing) is much more about being like Christ than anything else. As trivialized as “What Would Jesus Do?” has become, the original message is still clear: Are we willing to live with the same kind of self-abandon and sacrifice that the Lord Jesus lived with when He walked the earth, even to the point of taking up our crosses, taking on His yoke? When we honor the Lord with our substance (our possessions, including our time, our efforts, and our own bodies), we are learning how to love Him in the same way (though never in the same degree) as He loves us.
© 2008 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved. International copyright reserved. This study may be copied for nonprofit and/or church purposes only without permission when copied in its entirety (including this notice).
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