Will man rob
God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, 'How have we robbed you?' In your
tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me,
the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there
may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of
hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a
blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so
that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field
shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you
blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 8:8-12
I once heard a preacher say that when a collection is
taken during a church service, the worship will suffer if the people are
‘robbing God’. The preacher said that he was quoting another preacher, but when
I contacted that preacher, trying to trace the observation to its source, he
said that the idea had not originated with him. In fact, he thought that I
might be a journalist wanting to cause mischief for him and accused me of
recording our conversation!
But notwithstanding where the idea came from, and
whether it was the result of some misunderstanding, I was fascinated by it.
Ever since, I have been more alert to what happens when a church takes up a
collection. Very often, the change in ambiance will be the consequence of a
majority of the congregation looking for money in their wallets and purses, to
all intents and purposes as if the collection had caught them completely
unawares, even though they regularly attend the services.
Sometimes, however, I think that there may be
something deeper going on, as the changing mood seems to transcend the
embarrassment of people unprepared for an offering. I occasionally wonder if
the people are indeed ‘robbing God’.
By ‘robbing God’, the two preachers I mentioned above
meant giving less than 10% of their income to a church but, as I hope that I have made clear, I mean a more general form of parsimony,
because giving should not be something inspired by
rules and regulations. There is no legislation in the New Testament. The Sermon
on the Mount is not Jesus’ ‘rule book’, to replace the Torah, but his vision of
how his disciples should live. The writers of the New Testament letters were
not trying to replace the Old Testament ‘Law’ with new laws but flesh out what
Jesus taught and apply it to difficult situations.
I think, however, that we often overlook the
fundamental issues raised by the familiar passage from Malachi 3, above. What
does it take to ‘rob’ God? At what point is our giving so meagre that
God considers himself to have been ‘robbed’! And what is he robbed of? Is it only
the denial of material wealth that concerns him?
I will pick up this thought next weekend.
If you are in or near Richmond in South London on 8 May, 12 June or 10 July you are welcome to come to a short personal finance course called 'Sharper Living' at Duke Street Church: there's a map and travel directions at the Church website www.dukestreetchurch.com . Arrive from 7:45pm for an 8:00pm start; finish at approx. 9:00pm.
The course is an introduction to basic personal finance skills, covering essential tools and tips to help you maximise your money, like budgeting, banking and borrowing. The course, course notes and light refreshments are free; there will not be any literature or merchandise on sale.
_____________________________________________
You
have been sent this e-mail because you subscribed to Reflections on God & Money.
Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
Handling
money and dealing with debt can be complicated and neither the author nor
anyone else involved in the production of these Reflections is responsible for
any action you take, or fail to take, based on what is written here. You are
invited to put a link on your website to these Reflections. You are welcome to
copy these Reflections for personal study or for circulation to family and
friends on a non-profit basis. For any other purpose, whether or not for
profit, you will require written permission in advance from the author before
copying, reproducing or transmitting extracts in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or using any
information storage and retrieval system.
