WEBVTT 00:00:37.040 --> 00:00:39.520 Welcome to the Stone Choir Podcast. 00:00:39.520 --> 00:00:40.720 I am Corey J. 00:00:40.720 --> 00:00:43.360 Mahler. And I'm still Wo. 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:52.320 On 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:55.440 today's Stone Choir, we're going to be discussing tithing. 00:00:55.440 --> 00:00:59.440 We thought that this would be an interesting mild continuation of the 00:00:59.440 --> 00:01:04.480 last couple episodes where we dealt with jealousy and zealousness, which involved 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:10.160 possession. And then last week's episode which dealt with inheritance of passing 00:01:10.160 --> 00:01:13.920 on things which are owned by one generation to the next, which 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:18.160 includes obviously both material things and spiritual things and others. 00:01:18.160 --> 00:01:21.200 This week as we talk about tithing, we're gonna be talking about 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:25.840 one of the obligations in the Christian life to give as you 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:29.440 live. An inheritance is something that is passed forward to a future 00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:32.480 generation, or in the case of a dowry, momentarily. 00:01:32.800 --> 00:01:36.160 something like tithing is more or less an ongoing process. 00:01:36.160 --> 00:01:39.120 So we're today we're going to talk about what is in scripture 00:01:39.120 --> 00:01:42.720 in the Old Testament, the New Testament, and then what should it 00:01:42.720 --> 00:01:47.280 look like today, especially as we're dealing with the church in its 00:01:47.280 --> 00:01:48.560 current state. 00:01:48.640 --> 00:01:51.360 So before we get into the episode proper, just a bit of 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:52.880 very brief housekeeping. 00:01:52.880 --> 00:01:56.160 If you go back to listen to episode sixty-three on repentance, we 00:01:56.160 --> 00:01:59.520 introduced that we are going to be shipping some challenge coins very 00:01:59.520 --> 00:02:02.560 soon. Corey just got the physical samples of them. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:03.920 They look awesome. 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.360 Uh in the show notes we will have the actual pictures of 00:02:07.440 --> 00:02:11.200 pictures of both sides of the coin and we will be linking 00:02:11.200 --> 00:02:14.960 again where you can find the shop link in the show notes. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.360 I will also be posting those on social media. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:20.480 We already linked the images on Telegram a couple days ago for 00:02:20.480 --> 00:02:24.640 folks who are participating in that daily discussion. 00:02:24.640 --> 00:02:29.600 Through next Monday morning, so next Sunday night, we will still have 00:02:29.600 --> 00:02:30.240 free shipping. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:32.320 And after that shipping is only two bucks, so it's not a 00:02:32.320 --> 00:02:33.120 big deal. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:37.120 The regular price for the challenge coins is now forty-two dollars and 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:40.960 once Corey gets the shipment in, he'll have to process them all. 00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.040 I I wish I could share in that burden, but it's kind 00:02:43.040 --> 00:02:46.800 of a one-man job and it's going to him, so that's just 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:48.400 count some of these things go. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:51.440 It's probably gonna be a month or so before those start going 00:02:51.440 --> 00:02:54.240 out. We'll let you know obviously when that happens. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:02:56.640 If you haven't ordered yet, they're gonna be a ton of them. 00:02:56.640 --> 00:02:58.720 If you're listening to us a year from now, you should probably 00:02:58.720 --> 00:03:00.560 still be able to get your hands on one. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:02.240 Shipping won't be free anymore. 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:05.120 Sorry. But if you're a listener regularly, you want to get free 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.840 shipping, you didn't order one yet, you can use a coupon code 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.560 that will be in the show notes and it's ship for free 00:03:10.720 --> 00:03:12.400 with a numeral. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.000 The challenge coin, as I mentioned, in episode sixty-three we describe what 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:16.480 it is. 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:18.480 We have now the pictures of it. 00:03:18.480 --> 00:03:22.160 Basically it's a token of of our appreciation and thanks for you 00:03:22.160 --> 00:03:24.160 for helping to support the show. 00:03:24.160 --> 00:03:26.400 Corey and I, you know, take a lot of time to do 00:03:26.400 --> 00:03:27.360 this and it's completely free. 00:03:27.680 --> 00:03:30.640 Like we said in one of the very first episodes about Paywall 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:32.480 and God, this is a podcast. 00:03:32.480 --> 00:03:34.400 Podcasts are free inherently. 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.920 And this is a completely unmonetizable podcast because no one's ever gonna 00:03:37.920 --> 00:03:39.760 advertise with crazy men like us. 00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:43.600 So it really makes a big difference to folks who have been 00:03:43.600 --> 00:03:45.680 supporting us for the last year or so. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:47.840 Uh everyone who's donated anything. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:50.400 Everyone who's shared the show has has also helped. 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.520 But if you would specifically like to contribute to what we're doing 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:55.280 here, we really appreciate it. 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:58.800 The challenge coin is a way for you to do that and 00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.960 for you to get a really cool token back. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.680 Neat thing about challenge coins is they're totally worthless. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.360 It has no monetary value. 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:06.480 It doesn't do anything. 00:04:06.480 --> 00:04:08.960 It's just really nice to hold and to touch, have in your 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:10.400 pocket, have on a desk. 00:04:10.400 --> 00:04:14.160 It can potentially be a great conversation starter if you think there's 00:04:14.160 --> 00:04:17.920 somebody who might potentially be an interesting person to listen and to 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.800 introduce to Stone choir, that might be a way you could bring 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:22.640 it up casually. 00:04:22.640 --> 00:04:24.960 And I think down the road it's also probably be a little 00:04:24.960 --> 00:04:27.600 bit of an ectus for quite a few of us where you're 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:30.080 not necessarily going to say anything, but if someone happens to see 00:04:30.080 --> 00:04:33.600 it, you know, think it's cool and or you know, it it's 00:04:33.600 --> 00:04:36.400 an identify friend or foe sort of thing because there are certainly 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:39.360 folks who want to find out who's listening and not for good 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:41.120 reasons. But so it goes. 00:04:41.120 --> 00:04:44.240 That's the world that we're in today and we're happy warriors. 00:04:44.240 --> 00:04:45.760 We should all be happy warriors. 00:04:45.760 --> 00:04:48.160 We belong to God and He'll take care of us. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:52.800 And so we're very appreciative to everyone who is willing to chip 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:53.920 in and help us out. 00:04:53.920 --> 00:04:57.360 And we're looking forward to you being able to share the excitement 00:04:57.360 --> 00:05:00.080 with other folks that you meet that you were also listeners. 00:05:00.080 --> 00:05:03.280 That a ton of people recently saying that folks they've run into 00:05:03.280 --> 00:05:07.440 in real life also listen to the show, which is wildly improbable 00:05:07.520 --> 00:05:08.720 because it's still really small. 00:05:08.720 --> 00:05:12.880 We have a We have a small audience by most standards now. 00:05:12.880 --> 00:05:15.680 So the fact that random people are running into each other in 00:05:15.680 --> 00:05:19.440 the real world who also listen without having told each other is 00:05:19.440 --> 00:05:21.520 amazing. It's really mind-blowing. 00:05:21.520 --> 00:05:24.800 So if you both have challenge coins, you'll be excited and you 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:27.360 can compare who has the lower number and you know the other 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:31.840 guy's gotta buy you a beer or coffee or whatever. 00:05:31.840 --> 00:05:36.400 On the subject of tithing today, as I mentioned, it's a Christian 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:40.480 obligation, but we're going to talk about how the obligation has changed 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:41.440 over time. 00:05:41.440 --> 00:05:46.160 So there are kind of three elements to the premise of tithing. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:50.320 The first is the Levitical Law during the Old Testament, during the 00:05:50.640 --> 00:05:55.120 Jewish period of the Old Testament, when there is a specific requirement 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:59.440 for that specific people to give a specific amount to a specific 00:05:59.440 --> 00:06:01.680 place. And so that was effectively the tithe. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:03.920 It was stipulated by God. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:08.400 But additionally, when you look throughout the Old Testament, it wasn't simply 00:06:08.400 --> 00:06:12.240 that you have to give 10% and you know then you're done. 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:16.800 There were other elements where it was reiterated, including in Proverbs three, 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.240 where God says, Honor the Lord with your wealth, and with the 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:23.360 first fruits of all your produce, that your barns may be filled 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:26.560 with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine. 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:28.320 Not grape juice wine. 00:06:28.320 --> 00:06:30.320 Sorry, Baptists. 00:06:30.320 --> 00:06:33.840 This is one of those many promises that God can give where 00:06:33.840 --> 00:06:36.480 there's a command and a promise tied together, just as in the 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.600 fourth commandment, where God says, Honor thy father and mother, that it 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:42.560 may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.080 the earth, as a command to do something, and a promise that 00:06:46.080 --> 00:06:48.720 God will bless those who do it. 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:53.920 And we've said before, unfortunately, Protestants are so allergic to works righteousness 00:06:54.080 --> 00:06:57.840 that when God says, Obey me and it will go well, we 00:06:57.840 --> 00:07:00.080 just plug our ears, like, nah, nah, nah, that that sounds like 00:07:00.080 --> 00:07:01.760 works righteousness, that's salvation. 00:07:01.760 --> 00:07:02.640 No, it's not. 00:07:02.640 --> 00:07:04.000 It's not salvation. 00:07:04.000 --> 00:07:07.040 It's like if I tell you don't eat something that's gonna hurt 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:10.320 your stomach, and then you eat it and it hurts your stomach, 00:07:10.320 --> 00:07:12.000 is that wrath from God? 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:14.240 At some point, it's like just don't do the thing that's bad 00:07:14.240 --> 00:07:14.800 for you. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.600 So there are lots of things that are baked into creation, like 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:21.120 honoring your father and mother, that are inherently blessed. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:26.000 If you have a good family relationship intergenerationally, that's a blessing to 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.800 everyone. It's a blessing to you, to your family, to your community, 00:07:28.800 --> 00:07:30.160 and God blesses it. 00:07:30.160 --> 00:07:33.120 It's an active thing where God is active in creation. 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:37.680 That's also the case with tithing, with giving back to God. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:41.200 And as we'll go through in a number of these verses today, 00:07:41.200 --> 00:07:44.640 the underlying premise is something we've also talked about many times, which 00:07:44.640 --> 00:07:46.720 is that everything is from God. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:50.880 It's not like God needs our money or our anything. 00:07:50.880 --> 00:07:53.520 Because where did the stuff that we have come from? 00:07:53.520 --> 00:07:54.960 God gave it to us. 00:07:54.960 --> 00:07:57.840 Whatever you have is already from God. 00:07:57.840 --> 00:08:01.040 So if He gives you something and then say you should do 00:08:01.280 --> 00:08:04.320 and he tells us you should do this with it, we just 00:08:04.320 --> 00:08:06.400 do it because he gave it to you and he's the creator. 00:08:06.400 --> 00:08:07.760 He's God Almighty. 00:08:07.760 --> 00:08:10.720 It's not that he needs your money or whatever. 00:08:10.720 --> 00:08:13.840 It's that he says, here you go, do this. 00:08:13.840 --> 00:08:17.040 That should be a very simple thing for any believer to follow 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:18.480 through on. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:20.800 And you know, it's not simply money. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:23.760 I've said before if the air in your lungs, the fact that 00:08:23.760 --> 00:08:26.720 there's oxygen that's keeping you alive is a blessing from God. 00:08:27.280 --> 00:08:28.960 And then you work up from there. 00:08:28.960 --> 00:08:32.000 Every night that you go to bed and you have a bed 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:36.320 and your stomach is full, you're not hungry and you're not cold, 00:08:36.560 --> 00:08:37.920 that's a blessing from God. 00:08:37.920 --> 00:08:40.080 All these things are blessings from God. 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:43.840 And when He withdraws those blessings by degrees, you know, eventually each 00:08:43.840 --> 00:08:46.080 of us will take our last breath. 00:08:46.080 --> 00:08:49.200 We're still blessed with the promises of what is to come for 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:51.280 those who are believing. 00:08:51.280 --> 00:08:54.160 So God is always pouring out his blessings. 00:08:54.160 --> 00:08:58.560 And then when he tells us something specific, we're not saving ourselves. 00:08:58.560 --> 00:09:00.400 We're not earning our salvation by obeying him. 00:09:00.400 --> 00:09:02.880 We're just like, okay, these are the rules, these are the table 00:09:02.880 --> 00:09:05.680 stakes for me being alive and being a believer. 00:09:05.680 --> 00:09:09.600 And one of them is the notion of the tithe, not the 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:15.040 mechanical specific rules of the old testament, but the notion that God 00:09:15.040 --> 00:09:17.920 has given we will give some back to him. 00:09:18.160 --> 00:09:21.200 Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.600 all you produce. 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.720 That's the premise that runs throughout all the passages that we have 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:30.800 today. The third thing that I want to mention is that this 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:32.560 is also a matter of wisdom 00:09:33.520 --> 00:09:36.960 because when we're looking at the current state of the church today, 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:41.760 we're looking at our congregations, our denominations, maybe our pastors, or the 00:09:41.760 --> 00:09:46.560 absence of a pastor, whatever situation you have in your local Christian 00:09:46.560 --> 00:09:53.920 context, the tithe no longer has a specific rote set of rules. 00:09:53.920 --> 00:09:57.040 So I'm gonna buried the lead, at the very end of this, 00:09:57.040 --> 00:09:59.200 we're not gonna have a checklist of here's exactly how much you 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:01.520 give and here's to whom you give it. 00:10:01.520 --> 00:10:03.520 We're not going to say here are five places where you must 00:10:03.520 --> 00:10:04.080 give money. 00:10:04.080 --> 00:10:04.960 There's none of that. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:06.720 This is all matters of wisdom. 00:10:06.720 --> 00:10:09.520 And I wanna specifically highlight that up front because 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:15.280 when you're looking at the premise of tithing, of giving back to 00:10:15.280 --> 00:10:18.480 God those things which He has given to us for the benefit 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:22.240 of the church and for the benefit of all, It's important to 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.520 understand that we have our own personal context, we have our family 00:10:25.520 --> 00:10:29.360 contacts, and we have our church context, and those change over time. 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:32.560 So one of the reasons that it's crucial for us not to 00:10:32.560 --> 00:10:35.280 get hung up on, I need a Bible verse that says that 00:10:35.280 --> 00:10:37.680 I give this much to this place. 00:10:37.680 --> 00:10:41.040 If you have that mindset, you're just gonna get locked into something 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:43.680 that it may not work next year, may not work in five 00:10:43.680 --> 00:10:47.200 years. The thing that's right to do today may be the wrong 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:49.600 thing to do in a couple of years. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:53.280 And it's not that God changed, it's that the circumstances changed. 00:10:53.280 --> 00:10:56.240 Yeah, in the specific example we have in mind, obviously is if 00:10:56.240 --> 00:10:58.800 you're giving to a church or a church body that you believe 00:10:58.800 --> 00:11:03.600 is faithful and then they become unfaithful, do you continue giving them 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:07.840 God's things when initially you're giving them for good purposes and then 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:09.600 they're using them for evil purposes? 00:11:09.600 --> 00:11:14.240 Even if it's ninety eight percent good and two percent completely wicked. 00:11:14.240 --> 00:11:15.520 What do you do with that? 00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:19.360 Think of the context of you as a parent giving a child 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:20.720 an allowance. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:23.760 If you find out one day that your kid is spending their 00:11:23.760 --> 00:11:28.640 allowance money from you on drugs, would you reduce their allowance money 00:11:28.640 --> 00:11:31.760 by whatever portion they were spending on drugs, or would you cut 00:11:31.760 --> 00:11:34.960 them off entirely and deal with that situation and make sure that 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:38.400 they don't get any surplus like that that could be abused to 00:11:38.400 --> 00:11:42.320 their detriment until you solve the spiritual problem. 00:11:42.320 --> 00:11:44.000 It's the same thing in our churches. 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.680 So when we're doing something, you know, I would have very different 00:11:47.680 --> 00:11:52.400 comments two years ago than I have today because circumstances have changed 00:11:52.400 --> 00:11:55.280 in a number of our churches and our knowledge of them has 00:11:55.280 --> 00:11:58.560 changed. So as a matter of wisdom, not only is there not 00:11:58.560 --> 00:12:03.600 a specific formula in a specific checklist, but it's necessary for us 00:12:03.600 --> 00:12:06.400 to think about this stuff and to keep thinking about it over 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:10.640 time. To just take stock periodically as a Christian who's trying to 00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:14.480 be a faithful steward of God's gifts and make sure that the 00:12:14.480 --> 00:12:17.280 thing that was the right thing to do five years ago or 00:12:17.280 --> 00:12:19.760 last year or last week is it still the right thing to 00:12:19.760 --> 00:12:20.720 do today? 00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.280 Is it the right thing to do five years from now? 00:12:23.280 --> 00:12:27.040 In some cases, unfortunately, because of the sinful state of the world, 00:12:27.040 --> 00:12:28.400 those answers may change. 00:12:28.400 --> 00:12:30.880 No, if everything were working perfectly, they wouldn't change. 00:12:30.880 --> 00:12:34.080 It's not that this is a normal part of the Christian life. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:36.880 It's not a part of the Christian life when everything's working well. 00:12:36.880 --> 00:12:38.880 It's a part of the Christian life because we live in a 00:12:38.880 --> 00:12:42.880 fallen world where things in particular today are going off the rails 00:12:43.040 --> 00:12:45.440 in some ways that we haven't seen in a long time. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.840 So we're not going to give any pad answers. 00:12:47.840 --> 00:12:49.680 This isn't even an episode with homework. 00:12:49.680 --> 00:12:53.280 This is an episode with the burden of you're going to have 00:12:53.280 --> 00:12:54.640 to think about this later. 00:12:54.640 --> 00:12:56.800 What am I going to do in my life? 00:12:56.800 --> 00:12:58.960 And then you're going to have to remember in a few years 00:12:59.040 --> 00:13:00.480 to think about it again. 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.760 Is what I'm doing with my tithe still the right thing to 00:13:03.760 --> 00:13:04.640 do with it? 00:13:04.640 --> 00:13:07.280 You know, maybe you set a schedule, maybe you set a calendar 00:13:07.280 --> 00:13:09.840 reminder and just take stock once a year, whatever. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.680 Like it's again, there's no rule for it. 00:13:11.680 --> 00:13:15.440 It's just you, as a steward of God's gifts to you, have 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:19.600 to make sure they're being spent wisely, both on your end and 00:13:19.600 --> 00:13:21.760 on the end of the recipients. 00:13:21.760 --> 00:13:24.640 So that's going to be the framework for what we discussed today. 00:13:24.640 --> 00:13:27.680 Please keep all that in mind because at different times there are 00:13:27.680 --> 00:13:32.000 different right approaches, and there's no one can approach for everyone. 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:35.520 But the overarching principle that everything that we have is from God 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:38.000 and that we And that we are to be faithful stewards of 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.680 it guides everything that we're going to talk about here today. 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:45.840 As is so often the case, one of the first things we 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:50.320 need to go over and properly understand for this topic is just 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.800 the meaning of the word itself. 00:13:52.800 --> 00:13:55.840 That has been the case in many past episodes, including some of 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:59.760 the recent ones, where we've had to carefully define terms and so 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.360 in order that we understand precisely what is meant. 00:14:03.360 --> 00:14:08.240 In this case it's actually very straightforward, it's just something that most 00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:09.920 people overlook. 00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:14.000 The word tithe means tenth. 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:14.880 It is simply 00:14:15.840 --> 00:14:19.840 an old English word that morphed into a middle English word and 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:23.680 then we retained it, but over time we've sort of lost an 00:14:23.680 --> 00:14:25.120 understanding of what it means. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:26.800 And again, it's very simple. 00:14:26.800 --> 00:14:28.240 It means tenth. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:33.360 It is both the ordinal form of ten in Middle English actually, 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:37.200 because old English it's tiotha and then it became tithe, you can 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:40.800 spell it with a Y or an I in Middle English. 00:14:40.800 --> 00:14:43.120 In modern English we use tenth. 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:44.960 It's the same word. 00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:49.520 And of course this comes from the scriptural understanding of what it 00:14:49.520 --> 00:14:52.720 means to tithe, which was the giving of a tenth. 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:57.360 Now as Wo said in his introduction, it isn't necessarily the case 00:14:57.360 --> 00:15:00.880 that we give a tenth of everything we receive today. 00:15:00.880 --> 00:15:06.640 However, that is the general recommendation in Scripture, so perhaps that should 00:15:06.640 --> 00:15:13.920 be if not aspirational at least, a guideline for what we do. 00:15:13.920 --> 00:15:17.280 There will be those who give less because perhaps they cannot give 00:15:17.280 --> 00:15:20.960 that much, and there will be those who have been blessed significantly, 00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:23.440 who give far more than ten percent? 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:27.280 If God has blessed you with, you know, hundreds of millions of 00:15:27.280 --> 00:15:32.240 dollars, you're making some obscene amount of money every year, you should 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:34.800 probably be giving more than ten percent. 00:15:34.800 --> 00:15:38.960 God has given you that wealth in order to benefit others. 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:41.120 He has not given it to you just so that you can 00:15:41.120 --> 00:15:41.760 amass it. 00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:44.480 You are not some sort of Tolkieness dragon. 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:46.000 That's not what you do with wealth. 00:15:46.000 --> 00:15:47.680 It is a gift from God. 00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:51.920 It is one of those talents in the parable that you are 00:15:51.920 --> 00:15:53.440 supposed to use. 00:15:53.440 --> 00:15:57.440 You are supposed to be productive with it, not simply hoard it. 00:15:57.920 --> 00:16:01.840 But to turn to scripture, we actually do not have recorded in 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:02.160 scripture 00:16:03.040 --> 00:16:06.560 the first instance of a tithe. 00:16:06.560 --> 00:16:10.880 And the reason that I feel confident saying that is that we 00:16:10.880 --> 00:16:15.200 see the first instance in Genesis 4, the first recorded instance, and 00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:17.920 that of course is Cain and Abel, so I'll go ahead and 00:16:17.920 --> 00:16:19.040 read that. 00:16:19.040 --> 00:16:22.240 In the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.520 of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the 00:16:25.520 --> 00:16:28.640 first born of his flock, and of their fat portions. 00:16:28.640 --> 00:16:31.760 And the Lord had regard for Abel in his offering, but for 00:16:31.760 --> 00:16:34.400 Cain and his offering he had no regard. 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:37.680 Cain was very angry and his face fell. 00:16:37.520 --> 00:16:41.440 The Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry, and why has 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:42.720 your face fallen? 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:45.440 If you do well, will you not be accepted? 00:16:45.440 --> 00:16:48.560 And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the 00:16:48.560 --> 00:16:52.080 door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over 00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:58.800 it. So this is the first recorded instance of tithing, of an 00:16:58.800 --> 00:16:59.600 offering to God. 00:16:59.600 --> 00:17:02.480 That's what's being done here. 00:17:02.480 --> 00:17:08.720 However, they were taught this by Adam and Eve, and so undoubtedly 00:17:08.800 --> 00:17:12.320 we have some sort of tithing happening with Adam and Eve that 00:17:12.320 --> 00:17:14.800 is simply not recorded. 00:17:14.800 --> 00:17:19.280 But let's look at what is happening specifically here in this passage 00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:21.760 with Cain and Abel. 00:17:21.760 --> 00:17:23.520 Why is Abel accepted? 00:17:23.520 --> 00:17:27.200 Why is his offering accepted, and Cain's is not? 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:32.160 The passage itself, the wording in the passage, actually gives us some 00:17:32.160 --> 00:17:36.800 of the necessary information, hints at it very strongly, with the word 00:17:37.120 --> 00:17:42.000 choice. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:44.080 their fat portions. 00:17:44.080 --> 00:17:48.240 Abel gave the first and best to the Lord. 00:17:48.240 --> 00:17:53.920 Tithing above and beyond just being ten percent is the first ten 00:17:54.240 --> 00:17:56.320 percent. It is that 00:17:57.200 --> 00:18:01.040 portion of what God has given you that you give back to 00:18:01.040 --> 00:18:03.040 God, and you give that to God off the top. 00:18:03.040 --> 00:18:06.560 It's not after all these other things are done, then whatever is 00:18:06.560 --> 00:18:09.920 left over, I'll give God some little portion of that. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:12.720 Now there are those who do that, and 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:18.160 really what they're doing is missing out on God's blessings. 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:21.360 This isn't prosperity gospel, it isn't you know, you sow a seed 00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:23.200 and you'll get something great. 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:28.640 But Scripture does very clearly speak of blessings from God for the 00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:29.760 cheerful giver. 00:18:29.760 --> 00:18:31.760 And of course, that's part of this, and it's part of what 00:18:31.760 --> 00:18:35.760 plays into this passage with Cain and Abel, you have to look 00:18:35.760 --> 00:18:40.240 at this in light of the disposition of the heart of Cain 00:18:40.240 --> 00:18:41.120 and Abel. 00:18:41.120 --> 00:18:43.200 Abel is the joyful giver. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:44.720 Abel has faith. 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:46.480 He is a Christian. 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:46.960 Cain is 00:18:48.320 --> 00:18:50.000 not a joyful giver. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.760 Cain is not giving of the firstborn or the fat portions, which 00:18:53.760 --> 00:18:56.720 you can do with fruit of the ground as well, which just 00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.880 means produce. 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:02.960 It's not that God has regard only for animals and not for 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.800 produce. So if you are an apple farmer, that doesn't mean that 00:19:06.800 --> 00:19:08.880 you have to go out and get sheep or else God's not 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:10.320 happy with you. 00:19:10.320 --> 00:19:13.040 The issue is giving that first portion. 00:19:13.040 --> 00:19:17.280 Giving what is best to God, because that is giving thanks for 00:19:17.280 --> 00:19:17.920 the whole. 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:20.720 Fundamentally, that is what tithing is. 00:19:20.720 --> 00:19:24.400 You are giving a portion back to God to give thanks for 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.120 the whole of what He has given you. 00:19:27.120 --> 00:19:31.280 Because you aren't called to give everything you have to God. 00:19:31.280 --> 00:19:34.480 Unless of course God gives you that specific command, there is the 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:38.000 rich young man in Scripture, if God tells you specifically sell everything 00:19:38.000 --> 00:19:41.200 and follow me, then you do that. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:44.880 But Jesus is not currently walking around telling us to do that, 00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:48.240 so we give a portion in order to give thanks for the 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:52.400 whole. Because all of the things that we have, whether it is 00:19:52.560 --> 00:19:57.600 resources or goods, or money, whatever it happens to be, all of 00:19:57.600 --> 00:19:59.840 those things are from God. 00:19:59.840 --> 00:20:04.000 They are all blessings from Him, and we return that thanks to 00:20:04.320 --> 00:20:06.400 God via tithing. 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:11.200 And we'll look more into the passages that deal with what God 00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:16.400 says about tithing and why we are to tithe. 00:20:16.560 --> 00:20:21.120 But another passage in Genesis that I would like to cover is 00:20:21.120 --> 00:20:22.560 from Genesis 14. 00:20:22.560 --> 00:20:26.960 This is another one of the explicit instances of tithing, perhaps one 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.760 of the most explicit in scripture. 00:20:29.760 --> 00:20:33.520 After his return from the defeat of Kedalamer and the kings who 00:20:33.520 --> 00:20:36.000 were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:40.640 at the valley of Shave, that is the king's valley, and Melchizedek, 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:43.120 King of Salem, brought out bread and wine. 00:20:43.120 --> 00:20:46.640 He was priest of God most high, and he blessed him and 00:20:46.640 --> 00:20:51.600 said, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, possessor of heaven and 00:20:51.600 --> 00:20:55.520 earth, and blessed be God most high, who has delivered your enemies 00:20:55.520 --> 00:20:56.880 into your hand. 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:01.520 And Abram gave him a tenth of everything. 00:21:01.520 --> 00:21:05.440 That's Abram tithing to Melchizedek. 00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:09.040 He is giving it to the church as it were in this 00:21:09.040 --> 00:21:10.960 case, and we'll go over that in more detail later in the 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:12.960 episode as well. 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:16.640 But Abram just received a great deal of goods. 00:21:16.640 --> 00:21:21.520 Now he doesn't keep all the goods incidentally, but that's a matter 00:21:21.520 --> 00:21:24.320 for another time if we're doing an episode perhaps on Genesis, or 00:21:24.320 --> 00:21:26.880 if I pick up that study again. 00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:30.720 The important focus for the sake of this episode is the simple 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:35.120 fact that Abram gives a tenth of everything. 00:21:35.120 --> 00:21:36.560 He tithes 00:21:37.760 --> 00:21:41.120 all of the goods that he has been given, and he has 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:43.120 a great deal of them at this point. 00:21:43.120 --> 00:21:44.560 He has been blessed by God. 00:21:44.560 --> 00:21:48.400 He has gold and silver and slaves and flocks. 00:21:48.400 --> 00:21:50.560 He is a wealthy man. 00:21:50.560 --> 00:21:54.000 He gives a tenth of that to God, because he is giving 00:21:54.000 --> 00:21:57.360 thanks to God for what God has given him, and he is 00:21:57.360 --> 00:21:58.800 a cheerful giver. 00:21:58.800 --> 00:22:01.840 He is not giving this because he is compelled, he is not 00:22:01.840 --> 00:22:04.160 giving it because there's compulsion here. 00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:08.960 He's giving it because he recognizes this is one his duty and 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:13.840 two his privilege because he is giving back to God joyfully in 00:22:13.840 --> 00:22:16.240 response to all the things that God has given him. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:21.280 This is similar to how we love God and we react to 00:22:21.280 --> 00:22:22.800 God. What does Scripture say? 00:22:22.800 --> 00:22:25.680 We love God because He first loved us. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:28.960 This is similar in that God is given all these things to 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:32.560 us first, and then we give them back to God in thanks 00:22:32.560 --> 00:22:35.200 for what He has done. 00:22:35.520 --> 00:22:39.520 That is a fundamentally important part of the mindset for this, because 00:22:39.520 --> 00:22:39.760 if we 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.640 have this thought that all of these things are ours by right, 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:48.080 and we hold them and it's mine, no one else has a 00:22:48.080 --> 00:22:51.760 claim on it, it is mine alone. 00:22:51.760 --> 00:22:56.000 You have to balance the proper jealousy of which we spoke in 00:22:56.000 --> 00:23:01.680 the previous episode in titled Jealousy, and what it means to be 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:06.160 one could say greedy or self-centered, is having the wrong disposition 00:23:07.520 --> 00:23:10.000 with regard to those things. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:15.440 You are jealous and the sole owner of certain things, but other 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:20.640 parts of your wealth, other parts of your blessings are yours as 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:21.840 a steward. 00:23:21.840 --> 00:23:24.800 They are yours to use toward good ends. 00:23:24.800 --> 00:23:27.040 And so your wife is yours alone. 00:23:27.040 --> 00:23:29.280 Period. End of discussion. 00:23:29.280 --> 00:23:32.400 You are jealous of her, and that is right. 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:37.600 Your wealth you are jealous of it in so far as it 00:23:37.600 --> 00:23:40.800 is yours because God has given it to you as a blessing, 00:23:40.800 --> 00:23:44.800 but you are to turn around and use that wealth for the 00:23:44.800 --> 00:23:47.760 good of the church, for the good of your neighbor, for the 00:23:47.760 --> 00:23:51.040 good of others, not just to hoard it again that you are 00:23:51.040 --> 00:23:53.680 not a dragon, that's not what you're supposed to do. 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:57.520 And so tithing is part of how you do that. 00:23:57.520 --> 00:24:02.240 It's part because if you have been blessed above and beyond, then 00:24:02.240 --> 00:24:04.000 you do more than tithing. 00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:07.440 Everyone always thinks of tithing as being money. 00:24:07.440 --> 00:24:09.040 It's not just money. 00:24:09.040 --> 00:24:11.440 You can tithe in other ways, and we used to understand this 00:24:11.440 --> 00:24:16.160 as a culture because men used to tithe in other ways. 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:20.160 If you were a pastor of a rural parish, you didn't get 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:26.080 your entire salary in money, in cash, in coins, you received part 00:24:26.080 --> 00:24:30.720 of your salary in goods, because many of your congregants would have 00:24:30.720 --> 00:24:34.480 been farmers, and so they would have literally given you out of 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:37.920 the flock, out of the harvest, you would have received a bushel 00:24:37.920 --> 00:24:42.480 of apples, or a goat, or something like that, because that was 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.080 how those farmers could tithe. 00:24:44.080 --> 00:24:47.280 They didn't have money, they didn't have cash. 00:24:47.280 --> 00:24:50.160 So they tithed out of what God had given them. 00:24:50.320 --> 00:24:52.800 And the same is true today. 00:24:52.800 --> 00:24:57.840 Now for some, perhaps quite a few of those listening, you probably 00:24:57.840 --> 00:24:59.920 don't have livestock. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:03.360 You probably don't have crops. 00:25:03.360 --> 00:25:05.200 But you do have skills. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:07.600 You do have things that God has given you. 00:25:07.600 --> 00:25:10.320 And you can tithe of your time. 00:25:10.320 --> 00:25:13.680 Because you can give your time back to the church, to your 00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:18.160 neighbor, to those who are in need, and Scripture frequently speaks not 00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:21.440 just of the church as the recipient of the tithe, but also 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:26.480 the neighbor who is in need, the widow, the fatherless, those who 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:30.000 actually are in Are again in need. 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:32.400 That is part of what the purpose of the tithe is, to 00:25:32.400 --> 00:25:36.480 fulfill that need, to do good for the kingdom of God. 00:25:36.480 --> 00:25:38.960 And so you can give of the things that God has given 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:43.280 you. They don't have to be actual physical money. 00:25:43.280 --> 00:25:45.280 It's not just a matter of writing a check. 00:25:45.280 --> 00:25:49.200 There are many ways in which you can give this tithe back 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:50.320 to God. 00:25:50.320 --> 00:25:55.280 And notably, giving the tithe back to God is similar to good 00:25:55.280 --> 00:26:00.400 works, because good works, God doesn't need them. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:03.840 God has no use for you building a shed. 00:26:03.840 --> 00:26:05.280 God doesn't need a shed. 00:26:05.280 --> 00:26:07.280 Your neighbor may need one. 00:26:07.280 --> 00:26:12.000 Good works are rendered to your neighbor, and in so doing you 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:14.400 are praising God, that is worship of God. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:17.040 The same thing is true of your tithe. 00:26:17.040 --> 00:26:21.040 One, you can't actually give money to God. 00:26:21.040 --> 00:26:22.800 There's no way to do that. 00:26:22.800 --> 00:26:24.720 Two God doesn't need it. 00:26:24.720 --> 00:26:27.040 God has no use for gold or silver. 00:26:27.040 --> 00:26:28.320 He created all of it. 00:26:28.320 --> 00:26:32.000 If he wanted some of it, he would make more. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:35.440 So you don't give the money to God because there's no way 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:38.640 to do it, and second, because he doesn't need it. 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:43.200 The tithe, the things that you are giving back, go to your 00:26:43.200 --> 00:26:47.760 neighbor. And the way that we used to do this, of course, 00:26:47.760 --> 00:26:50.240 was by and large through the church. 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:54.560 Now, as Woe mentioned, if you happen to have the great blessing 00:26:54.560 --> 00:26:58.560 of having a faithful local congregation, first and foremost, you should be 00:26:58.560 --> 00:27:04.560 tithing to that local congregation, because then the local congregation can organize 00:27:04.560 --> 00:27:08.480 the aid to members of the congregation who need it, to your 00:27:08.480 --> 00:27:12.880 neighbors, to your community, all of this largely local the way things 00:27:12.880 --> 00:27:15.200 are supposed to be run. 00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:20.160 That doesn't mean that they can't give money to a larger group, 00:27:20.160 --> 00:27:24.640 because perhaps your church has an overarching authority of some kind. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:28.640 If you happen to have a church body where the regional body 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:32.560 is faithful, there's nothing wrong with transmitting some of that funding to 00:27:32.560 --> 00:27:36.400 the regional body to then distribute as it is needed. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:42.560 This is how things ran in Christendom for centuries, with some more 00:27:42.560 --> 00:27:46.880 central organization because you had godly princes who would actually allocate money 00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:49.840 to the churches so the churches could then turn around and do 00:27:49.840 --> 00:27:51.360 good works in the community. 00:27:51.360 --> 00:27:56.480 That was essentially how their version of welfare ran for centuries. 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:01.920 Today we don't always have faithful larger church bodies, and so it 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:06.160 may be that you need to give your tithe, those resources, the 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:10.000 money, whatever it is you're returning to God, you may need to 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:12.960 give that to the local congregation with strings attached. 00:28:12.960 --> 00:28:16.080 You may need to say, I am giving this, and it is 00:28:16.080 --> 00:28:18.320 earmarked for X. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.640 It is not to be used for Y. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:26.160 It is unfortunate that we find ourselves in that situation, but that 00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:29.200 is the reality on the ground. 00:28:29.520 --> 00:28:33.760 And if you cannot trust your local congregation, then you can go 00:28:33.760 --> 00:28:41.040 ahead and use those funds directly to benefit your neighbor, the needy, 00:28:41.040 --> 00:28:45.360 some other ministry, and that is also a point that we need 00:28:45.360 --> 00:28:46.480 to make. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:51.680 You can tithe to other Christian ministries, not just your local congregation, 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:55.440 because your tithe does not have to go to just any A 00:28:55.440 --> 00:28:59.200 church. Your tithe goes to the church. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:03.120 And the distinction between those two that I wish to make is 00:29:03.120 --> 00:29:07.200 that a church is the local congregation. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:10.880 The church is all believers. 00:29:10.880 --> 00:29:15.120 And so if you are helping your neighbor, and I want to 00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:18.160 expand this even a little bit, because if you are helping your 00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:22.720 neighbor, if he's a Christian, you're tithing to the church by helping 00:29:22.720 --> 00:29:24.000 that neighbor. 00:29:24.000 --> 00:29:27.200 Maybe you buy him something he needs or you donate some of 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:27.760 your time. 00:29:27.760 --> 00:29:31.600 You help in some way that you are able. 00:29:31.600 --> 00:29:33.360 That is, of course, a good work, and that's part of what 00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:35.680 it means to be a Christian. 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:40.000 But the church, in this case, I want to expand the church 00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.960 beyond just those who are currently Christians. 00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:51.360 Yes, your neighbor, your actual physical neighbor, your fellow congregants, those who 00:29:51.360 --> 00:29:54.640 are closest to you, and of course your family first and foremost, 00:29:54.640 --> 00:29:57.920 are your primary concern for these things. 00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:02.160 However, those who could become part of the church, so your neighbor 00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:05.840 who is not yet a Christian, you can do good to him. 00:30:05.840 --> 00:30:10.480 You can use some of that money, some of those resources that 00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:13.600 you would be giving to a local congregation if the local congregation 00:30:13.840 --> 00:30:17.760 is a little wobbly on some things, you can use that to 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:19.040 help that man. 00:30:19.040 --> 00:30:22.800 It may be that those good works rendered to that man will 00:30:22.800 --> 00:30:25.920 be part of how God, part of how the Holy Spirit works 00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:29.280 in him, to bring him into the church. 00:30:29.280 --> 00:30:34.560 You are not required to give the 10% or whatever percentage it 00:30:34.560 --> 00:30:38.640 happens to be in your case to the local congregation alone. 00:30:39.040 --> 00:30:44.480 You can use that in service of the church capital C, not 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:47.200 just the local congregation. 00:30:47.200 --> 00:30:50.320 Which given the reality on the ground, the things that we face 00:30:50.320 --> 00:30:52.800 today, is very good news. 00:30:52.800 --> 00:30:55.120 Now it does mean that you may need to do a little 00:30:55.120 --> 00:30:58.720 more work, because it is certainly much easier to write a check 00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:02.640 and be done than it is to actually find those who are 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.680 in need, to help those who are in need, to do these 00:31:05.680 --> 00:31:09.520 things that actually require a little more effort on your part. 00:31:09.520 --> 00:31:11.920 And perhaps that's good. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:14.800 Because writing the check can be a little too easy. 00:31:14.800 --> 00:31:19.840 Writing the check seems to be almost performative in some cases. 00:31:19.840 --> 00:31:22.800 I won't say it's a bad thing, I'm not going that far. 00:31:22.800 --> 00:31:27.280 Because certainly tithing again is part of your Christian duty. 00:31:27.280 --> 00:31:30.640 But if all we do is write that check and then say, 00:31:30.640 --> 00:31:33.680 you know, I'm done, rub my hands together, but I'm right next 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:35.520 to the mic, so it'd be too loud. 00:31:35.520 --> 00:31:38.720 If we say that we're done, we've done our Christian duty, that's 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:40.000 good enough. 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.160 It really disconnects us from our community, from our neighbor. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:47.360 Whereas if you actually go over and get your hands dirty helping 00:31:47.360 --> 00:31:52.480 your neighbor, that's forming a connection that is different from saying, Well, 00:31:52.480 --> 00:31:56.320 I tithe to my congregation and they'll go and help the needy. 00:31:56.320 --> 00:31:58.800 I'm done, I've done my part. 00:31:59.760 --> 00:32:05.760 We need to be more involved as Christians, not just with our 00:32:05.760 --> 00:32:09.920 congregations, but also with our neighbors, those around us. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:12.080 How many of us even know the names of all of our 00:32:12.080 --> 00:32:16.240 neighbors? That's rare these days. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:18.160 Go over and introduce yourself. 00:32:18.160 --> 00:32:21.360 Bring them a cake or something. 00:32:21.360 --> 00:32:24.560 Part of what it means to be a Christian is building up 00:32:24.560 --> 00:32:28.880 this community and living in connection with others. 00:32:28.880 --> 00:32:33.360 And part of how we do that is this tithe, because the 00:32:33.360 --> 00:32:37.040 tithe is a portion that is set apart explicitly 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:42.640 for good works that aid the church, capital C. 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:46.480 And that is fundamentally one of the ways that we grow the 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:50.000 church, that we bring others into the church, because we are showing 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:53.760 them what it means to live as a Christian, not just to 00:32:53.760 --> 00:32:58.960 claim to be a Christian, but to actually live as a Christian. 00:32:58.960 --> 00:33:03.680 Which by and large, giving that sort of testimony is going to 00:33:03.760 --> 00:33:08.800 be more compelling than simply standing up and saying I am a 00:33:08.800 --> 00:33:14.640 Christian. This is one of those things that sometimes makes certain Protestants 00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:19.680 uncomfortable because it sounds like works righteousness, but as Woe mentioned, this 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:22.960 is not a matter of salvation. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:24.960 This is not a matter of justification. 00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:27.520 We're not saying you are justified by your works. 00:33:27.520 --> 00:33:32.320 We're saying that as a Christian, these things should flow from that 00:33:32.320 --> 00:33:33.680 living faith. 00:33:33.680 --> 00:33:37.600 And one of the things that flows from that living faith is 00:33:37.600 --> 00:33:42.400 being a cheerful giver, is giving back that portion of what God 00:33:42.400 --> 00:33:43.840 has given to you. 00:33:44.080 --> 00:33:49.680 Part of being a faithful Christian, part of having a living faith 00:33:49.920 --> 00:33:53.920 from which certain things flow is tithing. 00:33:54.960 --> 00:34:00.080 One of the dangers of the mentality of just writing a check 00:34:00.080 --> 00:34:04.640 is that it's very easy for that to become effectively outsourcing your 00:34:04.640 --> 00:34:05.600 good works. 00:34:05.600 --> 00:34:09.600 Where you have worked hard, you've earned, and you're giving freely and 00:34:09.600 --> 00:34:15.920 generously. But as Corey was saying, if your participation is limited to 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.760 signing a check or you know, some sort of credit card transaction 00:34:19.920 --> 00:34:20.720 or whatever. 00:34:20.720 --> 00:34:21.520 That's a blessing. 00:34:21.520 --> 00:34:23.280 It's a wonderful thing. 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:24.800 But it's also sterile. 00:34:24.800 --> 00:34:26.640 It's inherently a sterile thing. 00:34:26.640 --> 00:34:30.400 As he said, if you're not getting your hands dirty ever, you're 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:32.640 missing out on the blessings that come from 00:34:33.920 --> 00:34:35.360 doing something hard. 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:40.000 And although it's hard to earn, it's differently hard to work with 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:43.680 others, to work with neighbor, to give time and do the things 00:34:43.680 --> 00:34:46.800 that maybe in some ways for you are harder than just writing 00:34:46.800 --> 00:34:47.520 a check. 00:34:47.520 --> 00:34:51.040 And just to reiterate, when we're talking about ten percent tithe, it 00:34:51.040 --> 00:34:52.480 is not a rule. 00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:56.560 This is something that's clear in Deuteronomy sixteen. 00:34:56.560 --> 00:35:00.160 God says three times a year all your males shall appear before 00:35:00.160 --> 00:35:03.360 the Lord your God at the place that He will choose, at 00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:06.640 the feast of the unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and 00:35:06.640 --> 00:35:08.160 at the feast of booths. 00:35:08.160 --> 00:35:11.600 They shall not appear before the Lord empty handed, every man Every 00:35:11.600 --> 00:35:14.960 man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of 00:35:14.960 --> 00:35:17.840 the Lord your God that he has given you. 00:35:17.840 --> 00:35:21.360 So again, there's no percentage there, there's no rule, it's just don't 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:23.120 show up and empty-handed. 00:35:23.120 --> 00:35:27.200 Why? According to the blessing the Lord your God has given you. 00:35:27.200 --> 00:35:32.720 If God has given you blessings, the first fruits should be foremost 00:35:32.720 --> 00:35:35.760 in your mind of benefiting neighbor. 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:38.960 As Corey's saying with the example of of farm communities, and that 00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:40.400 still happens to this day. 00:35:40.400 --> 00:35:43.200 You know, it's often the case in a lot of our congregations, 00:35:43.200 --> 00:35:47.920 especially smaller ones that can't afford maybe to hire like a professional 00:35:47.920 --> 00:35:52.320 handyman or whatever, there will be a couple guys in the congregation 00:35:52.640 --> 00:35:55.520 who do that as a living, you know, or they're just they're 00:35:55.520 --> 00:35:58.880 handy, they're good with their hands, they're competent to do those things. 00:35:58.880 --> 00:36:02.240 Those guys will frequently be, you know, the the property managers or 00:36:02.240 --> 00:36:03.600 something like that. 00:36:03.600 --> 00:36:06.560 That is not only stewardship, that is tithing. 00:36:06.560 --> 00:36:10.640 That is giving of their time and of their abilities, specifically in 00:36:10.640 --> 00:36:12.800 proportion to what God has given them. 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:16.320 If you're someone who's really good with, you know, electrical or whatever, 00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:19.120 and there's an electrical problem at church and it's, you know, licensing 00:36:19.200 --> 00:36:22.000 wise, it's fine and it's the right thing to do. 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:25.600 You have done what God would like for you to do. 00:36:25.680 --> 00:36:28.400 Like he put you in that place, and then there's a problem, 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:31.200 and you're the ideal guy to be able to fix it. 00:36:31.200 --> 00:36:33.520 That is that's a tithe. 00:36:33.520 --> 00:36:37.040 It's not money, it's not a percentage, it's not necessarily time. 00:36:37.040 --> 00:36:41.600 But when you give back of the abundance of God's blessing, that 00:36:41.600 --> 00:36:44.880 fulfills this law, and it is a law. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:48.640 God expects this of us, and he makes it clear. 00:36:48.640 --> 00:36:51.920 One of the other passages from the New Testament that goes even 00:36:51.920 --> 00:36:56.320 further in a slightly different direction is from Mark 12. 00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:00.800 Jesus in his teaching said, Beware of the scribes who walk around 00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:04.240 in long robes and like greetings in the marketplaces, and have the 00:37:04.240 --> 00:37:07.520 best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, 00:37:07.520 --> 00:37:12.480 who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers, they 00:37:12.480 --> 00:37:15.200 will receive the greater condemnation. 00:37:15.200 --> 00:37:18.960 As he sat down opposite the treasury and watched people putting their 00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:23.280 money into the offering box, many rich people put in large sums, 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:26.640 and a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, 00:37:26.640 --> 00:37:28.000 which make a penny. 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:31.200 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, Truly 00:37:31.200 --> 00:37:34.480 I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than 00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:38.400 all those who were contributing to the offering box, for they all 00:37:38.400 --> 00:37:42.240 contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has 00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:46.480 put in everything she had, all that she had to live on. 00:37:46.880 --> 00:37:48.800 This is important for a couple reasons. 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:53.520 One, as Corey said earlier, you are to give of your abundance, 00:37:53.520 --> 00:37:56.160 you're to give because God has given to you. 00:37:56.160 --> 00:38:00.400 And she certainly didn't violate that here, and Jesus praised her specifically 00:38:01.120 --> 00:38:04.720 because she had given everything that she had to live on. 00:38:04.720 --> 00:38:08.320 What sort of a statement of faith is that from the widow? 00:38:08.320 --> 00:38:10.720 What was the widow's might? 00:38:10.720 --> 00:38:12.800 Was she planning to die the next day? 00:38:12.800 --> 00:38:15.280 Was she planning to starve the next day? 00:38:15.280 --> 00:38:20.240 No. Her faith gave her the confidence that God would take care 00:38:20.240 --> 00:38:22.160 of her tomorrow. 00:38:22.160 --> 00:38:27.680 That's one of the key elements of the tithe is the confession 00:38:27.680 --> 00:38:30.560 that God you have given this to me today. 00:38:30.560 --> 00:38:33.680 I trust that you will continue to bless me in the future. 00:38:33.680 --> 00:38:36.720 So I don't need to hold back the first fruits for my 00:38:36.720 --> 00:38:37.920 own benefit. 00:38:37.920 --> 00:38:41.040 I don't need to squirrel this away to protect my future. 00:38:41.040 --> 00:38:43.840 I trust that you will take care of my future. 00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:47.360 Which, to be explicit, is not at all to condemn savings or 00:38:47.360 --> 00:38:48.720 anything like that. 00:38:48.720 --> 00:38:53.200 Good stewardship often means saving and not spending. 00:38:53.200 --> 00:38:56.160 It's a wise and commendable thing, and if someone's in a position 00:38:56.160 --> 00:38:59.360 to be able to save, they should do that. 00:38:59.360 --> 00:39:03.040 But again, this is all a matter of proportion and of what 00:39:03.040 --> 00:39:03.680 do you have in mind? 00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:08.080 She was compelled by conscience that day to go to the temple 00:39:08.160 --> 00:39:12.160 and to put in the last two copper half pennies that she 00:39:12.160 --> 00:39:16.160 had. And it was commendable because she gave everything she had to 00:39:16.160 --> 00:39:16.720 live on. 00:39:16.720 --> 00:39:19.200 She trusted that God was gonna take care of her. 00:39:19.200 --> 00:39:23.040 She trusted that the next day she wasn't going to starve. 00:39:23.040 --> 00:39:26.960 Many times we've cited Matthew six as an example of that being 00:39:26.960 --> 00:39:29.920 the sort of faith that we should all carry throughout everything. 00:39:29.920 --> 00:39:34.480 We trust in God to take care of our bodily needs because 00:39:34.480 --> 00:39:36.240 we know how much He loves us. 00:39:36.240 --> 00:39:37.120 He loves everyone. 00:39:37.120 --> 00:39:40.240 He loves even the people who hate and curse Him enough to 00:39:40.240 --> 00:39:43.600 give them oxygen and food and warm beds. 00:39:43.600 --> 00:39:46.000 Every night Every night. 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:48.800 When God loves us that much that He gives us all these 00:39:48.800 --> 00:39:51.680 things, we can trust that if He's gonna love us tomorrow, He's 00:39:51.680 --> 00:39:53.200 gonna take care of us tomorrow. 00:39:53.360 --> 00:39:56.480 So when we pray every day, give us this day our daily 00:39:56.480 --> 00:39:58.480 bread, that's also a part of it. 00:39:58.640 --> 00:40:02.720 Trusting in God, the confession that I know where my meal came 00:40:02.720 --> 00:40:06.480 from, it came because I worked hard, but it also came because 00:40:06.560 --> 00:40:09.360 you know God put all the other people in the supply chain 00:40:09.360 --> 00:40:11.040 to bring that to my table. 00:40:11.040 --> 00:40:12.800 Or maybe, you know, you grow your own food. 00:40:12.800 --> 00:40:16.160 And so you've actually done all of the work to put that 00:40:16.160 --> 00:40:16.880 on your table. 00:40:16.880 --> 00:40:20.960 You know every amount of sweat and time it took to produce 00:40:20.960 --> 00:40:26.240 that one meal, you still understand that that blessing is coming from 00:40:26.240 --> 00:40:30.160 God. This is one of those cases where it's in the world 00:40:30.240 --> 00:40:34.480 we frequently see that those who are poorer, who who materially have 00:40:34.480 --> 00:40:39.200 less, Oftentimes will give more of what they do have than those 00:40:39.200 --> 00:40:40.400 who are wealthier. 00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:43.760 It's very common for the people who are closest to the edge, 00:40:43.760 --> 00:40:47.760 who can see over the edge, to give more generously because they 00:40:47.760 --> 00:40:51.360 know that today they're the ones who are giving some donation to 00:40:51.360 --> 00:40:52.960 whatever to help a neighbor. 00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:56.240 And they know that tomorrow they may well be the recipient of 00:40:56.240 --> 00:40:58.480 that sort of charity from someone else. 00:40:58.480 --> 00:41:01.280 And you know, today charity is kind of almost turned into a 00:41:01.280 --> 00:41:01.920 dirty word. 00:41:01.920 --> 00:41:02.880 It's not. 00:41:02.880 --> 00:41:07.600 It's someone having and giving to someone who needs. 00:41:07.600 --> 00:41:12.400 The Deuteronomy 16 passage is it sounds a little bit like Marxism. 00:41:12.400 --> 00:41:15.040 They shall not appear before the Lord empty handed. 00:41:15.040 --> 00:41:17.600 Every man shall give as he is able. 00:41:17.600 --> 00:41:19.360 That's a means test. 00:41:19.360 --> 00:41:23.600 If you have more, you should make sure that you give more. 00:41:23.600 --> 00:41:27.360 There's no proportion, there's no rule or law, there's no There's no 00:41:27.360 --> 00:41:30.080 specific percentage, but it's the principle. 00:41:30.080 --> 00:41:32.880 And it's a principle that runs throughout all of us. 00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:36.000 When we have and we're not giving to others, what is it 00:41:36.000 --> 00:41:38.960 confessing? It's saying I'm gonna keep it all back, you know, I 00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:41.120 don't trust God to take care of me tomorrow. 00:41:41.120 --> 00:41:42.640 I don't want to help my neighbor. 00:41:42.640 --> 00:41:43.840 I don't like those guys anyway. 00:41:43.840 --> 00:41:44.400 They're jerks. 00:41:44.400 --> 00:41:46.160 I you know I hope they starve. 00:41:46.160 --> 00:41:50.000 Well, the the parable that Good Samaritan tells us about that, if 00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:52.480 you go by someone, see them suffering and you cross to the 00:41:52.480 --> 00:41:55.200 other side, you've committed an act of wickedness. 00:41:55.200 --> 00:41:59.200 It's when someone is in immediate need that is the most urgent 00:41:59.200 --> 00:42:01.680 Christian duty for us to help them. 00:42:01.680 --> 00:42:02.000 And 00:42:02.960 --> 00:42:06.960 the concept of tithing and charity, as Corey's saying, it goes hand 00:42:06.960 --> 00:42:09.920 in hand because the tithe not only is it not ten percent, 00:42:10.320 --> 00:42:14.800 it's an amount that you are able to give consciously and freely. 00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:18.960 And you know, maybe the property steward of your congregation doesn't have 00:42:18.960 --> 00:42:22.880 much money or whoever it is, whatever you are, there's something you 00:42:22.880 --> 00:42:25.440 can do, even if you don't have any money, you can still 00:42:25.440 --> 00:42:26.400 give some of your time. 00:42:26.400 --> 00:42:28.240 You can do something. 00:42:28.240 --> 00:42:30.000 God is happy with all of that. 00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:34.800 He's not sitting there with a spreadsheet making sure that that we're 00:42:34.800 --> 00:42:37.120 crossing some minimum threshold. 00:42:37.120 --> 00:42:39.040 It's about our hearts. 00:42:39.040 --> 00:42:42.080 You know, I think it's important to consider this 00:42:43.200 --> 00:42:47.200 in a similar context to when Jesus was teaching them about the 00:42:47.520 --> 00:42:50.960 fifth and sixth commandments, about saying, You've heard it said you shall 00:42:50.960 --> 00:42:54.000 not kill, I say don't hate. 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:57.520 You've heard it say don't commit adultery, I say don't commit lust. 00:42:57.520 --> 00:43:01.600 Jesus was pointing out that the law is a lot harder because 00:43:01.600 --> 00:43:05.680 it's not a number, it's not an act, it's not a checklist, 00:43:05.680 --> 00:43:07.360 it begins in the heart. 00:43:07.360 --> 00:43:10.000 And this is something that begins in the heart too. 00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:13.600 Trusting in God to provide for you tomorrow, thanks to God for 00:43:13.600 --> 00:43:16.640 having provided for you today, that's in the heart. 00:43:16.640 --> 00:43:18.880 That's not a spreadsheet, it's not a number. 00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:22.880 It's something that we either completely ignore because we have so much 00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:26.720 material blessing, which is typical for a lot of people Of people, 00:43:26.720 --> 00:43:29.680 or we do recognize it, hopefully in obedience to God. 00:43:29.680 --> 00:43:31.920 And that's you know, that's the reason for doing this episode to 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:36.400 gaze is that we all periodically need a reminder, hey, don't forget 00:43:36.720 --> 00:43:38.560 everything that you have is from God. 00:43:38.560 --> 00:43:39.280 It's obvious. 00:43:39.360 --> 00:43:41.600 It's a stupid thing to say even. 00:43:41.600 --> 00:43:45.600 But we still need to hear it because in some ways the 00:43:45.600 --> 00:43:48.720 harder you work for what you have, you know, the the more 00:43:48.720 --> 00:43:51.840 blood, sweat, and tears it takes to do the thing and to 00:43:51.840 --> 00:43:55.920 earn the money or the whatever, the harder it is to acknowledge 00:43:55.920 --> 00:43:58.880 that not only did God give you the ability to do all 00:43:58.880 --> 00:44:01.840 those things, but he gave you the opportunity and he gave you 00:44:01.840 --> 00:44:03.600 the energy to to follow through. 00:44:03.600 --> 00:44:06.160 You know, even all the things where we work really hard on, 00:44:06.160 --> 00:44:08.160 God is still pouring out his blessings. 00:44:08.160 --> 00:44:12.240 And then he pours out the blessings of whatever remuneration we receive. 00:44:12.240 --> 00:44:13.760 It's always from God. 00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:18.240 It's paramount in all of our thinking about everything, about tithing, about 00:44:18.240 --> 00:44:19.600 whatever in your life. 00:44:19.600 --> 00:44:21.760 It's always first from God. 00:44:21.760 --> 00:44:27.280 Our lives, particularly as Christians, need to be lives of response, which 00:44:27.280 --> 00:44:30.800 is why there's a lot of discussion on Stone Choir about doing. 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:32.560 Not because you can save yourself. 00:44:32.560 --> 00:44:34.160 There's that's that's done. 00:44:34.160 --> 00:44:35.680 That's in a rear view mirror. 00:44:35.680 --> 00:44:38.320 And we give thanks every day that God loved us so much 00:44:38.480 --> 00:44:41.040 that even when we didn't know any of this stuff, even we're 00:44:41.040 --> 00:44:43.120 doing the wrong things, he still loved us. 00:44:43.120 --> 00:44:46.400 And he gave us salvation, he gave us faith to receive that 00:44:46.400 --> 00:44:50.240 salvation, and he gave us scripture and he gave us teaching to 00:44:50.560 --> 00:44:53.200 understand what he wants for us. 00:44:53.200 --> 00:44:56.720 And then when we're in accord with his will, he pours out 00:44:56.720 --> 00:44:58.080 his blessings even more. 00:44:58.080 --> 00:45:00.480 It's the best deal you could possibly get. 00:45:00.480 --> 00:45:02.320 But you have to be aware. 00:45:02.320 --> 00:45:05.520 If you'd never think about these things, you're just going to casually 00:45:05.520 --> 00:45:08.880 do whatever, not realizing that you're missing out. 00:45:08.880 --> 00:45:11.040 You're missing out on the good works you could do for your 00:45:11.040 --> 00:45:14.320 neighbor. Like you said, you're not doing your good works for God. 00:45:14.320 --> 00:45:15.520 God doesn't need 'em. 00:45:15.520 --> 00:45:17.120 God gave you the good works. 00:45:17.120 --> 00:45:20.320 He prepared the good works in advance for you to do them, 00:45:20.320 --> 00:45:23.440 to benefit your neighbor, and he's going to give you credit for 00:45:23.440 --> 00:45:25.760 them. We talked about fairness last week. 00:45:25.760 --> 00:45:26.960 None of this is fair. 00:45:26.960 --> 00:45:29.840 It's all God pouring out his blessings, but it happens in real 00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:31.680 time. It happens in creation. 00:45:31.680 --> 00:45:33.840 And it happens often with material. 00:45:33.840 --> 00:45:36.160 These aren't just spiritual matters. 00:45:36.160 --> 00:45:38.000 These are actual material things. 00:45:38.000 --> 00:45:39.680 You need food in your belly. 00:45:39.680 --> 00:45:40.720 You need a bed. 00:45:40.720 --> 00:45:42.720 You need some place to sleep. 00:45:42.720 --> 00:45:45.840 And you never feel that more than when you are lacking it 00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:47.280 for whatever reason. 00:45:47.280 --> 00:45:50.400 Folks who have actually been on the other side of that chasm 00:45:50.560 --> 00:45:53.920 where they were lacking those things have a sort of appreciation of 00:45:53.920 --> 00:45:56.320 those for us who've never experienced that, including me. 00:45:56.320 --> 00:45:58.080 I have no firsthand understanding. 00:45:58.080 --> 00:46:00.640 You know, it's like I can read Oliver Twist. 00:46:00.960 --> 00:46:02.960 Doesn't tell me what it's like to be an orphan. 00:46:02.960 --> 00:46:06.000 I have no concept of that kind of suffering. 00:46:06.000 --> 00:46:10.320 Those who have experienced it have a special appreciation for God's gifts, 00:46:10.320 --> 00:46:13.760 and frequently they're the ones who are the most active in giving 00:46:14.400 --> 00:46:18.160 out of gratitude, have knowing how easy it is, no matter how 00:46:18.240 --> 00:46:22.160 you know all of your obedience in the world may not actually 00:46:22.160 --> 00:46:25.760 turn into you having a bed because that's not necessarily how it 00:46:25.760 --> 00:46:30.960 works. You know, these blessings and promises are tied, but we're also 00:46:30.960 --> 00:46:33.840 promised that you know bad things will happen. 00:46:33.840 --> 00:46:37.520 And not to everyone, you know, some people leave charmed lives, some 00:46:37.520 --> 00:46:40.080 people live really rough lives. 00:46:40.080 --> 00:46:41.760 God is blessing everyone. 00:46:41.760 --> 00:46:46.480 And for someone who's lived a rough life to know how lucky 00:46:46.480 --> 00:46:49.520 they are when God gives them anything because a neighbor reaches out 00:46:49.520 --> 00:46:51.840 in charity, you know, when a church is able to provide something 00:46:52.400 --> 00:46:56.880 for them because someone gave freely and abundantly, they have the sort 00:46:56.880 --> 00:47:01.280 of appreciation for God's bounty that I think is deprived of most 00:47:01.280 --> 00:47:03.680 of us because we have so much. 00:47:03.680 --> 00:47:08.400 The mental activity here is really one of the important parts in 00:47:08.400 --> 00:47:08.800 the heart. 00:47:08.800 --> 00:47:10.080 Like it's not just a mental thing. 00:47:10.080 --> 00:47:15.120 It's the awareness that we have opportunities to do these good things 00:47:15.280 --> 00:47:17.920 and it's a blessing when we can. 00:47:18.160 --> 00:47:21.600 And so don't take this as you must do this to get 00:47:21.600 --> 00:47:22.320 good things. 00:47:22.320 --> 00:47:24.480 Don't take this as here's the number. 00:47:24.480 --> 00:47:27.760 Take this as a reminder, just as the Lord's Prayer right in 00:47:27.760 --> 00:47:30.320 the middle says, give us this day our daily bread. 00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:33.680 That's a reminder that every day, just like the manna came down 00:47:33.680 --> 00:47:37.600 from heaven, we don't have mana reigning down today, but most of 00:47:37.600 --> 00:47:39.440 us are blessed with jobs. 00:47:39.440 --> 00:47:43.280 You have some way of receiving the things that you need. 00:47:43.280 --> 00:47:46.720 And if you don't have that, you're praying for that to return 00:47:46.720 --> 00:47:47.360 to you. 00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:50.720 And you're thankful for whatever you have in the meantime. 00:47:50.720 --> 00:47:55.440 This thanksgiving for everything that we receive is really a crucial part 00:47:55.440 --> 00:47:56.480 of the Christian life. 00:47:56.480 --> 00:47:57.520 It's much more fundamental. 00:47:57.520 --> 00:48:01.360 It's even down below the concept of tithing or anything else. 00:48:01.360 --> 00:48:06.160 It's the immediate awareness that what I have was given to me 00:48:06.160 --> 00:48:07.280 for a purpose. 00:48:07.280 --> 00:48:10.880 Not because I deserved it, not because I earned it all by 00:48:10.880 --> 00:48:13.920 myself, because God has given me these things. 00:48:13.920 --> 00:48:17.440 And being thankful for them and sharing them with others is truly 00:48:17.440 --> 00:48:19.120 the least we can do. 00:48:19.120 --> 00:48:23.200 But we're blessed when we do it because it becomes a joy. 00:48:23.200 --> 00:48:27.360 When the men went to thasts and they gave as they were 00:48:27.360 --> 00:48:30.560 able according to the blessing of God, they were blessed by it. 00:48:30.560 --> 00:48:32.800 To be reminded is a good thing. 00:48:32.800 --> 00:48:36.080 It's when we do episodes like this, it's to remind people because 00:48:36.080 --> 00:48:36.720 it's a good thing. 00:48:36.720 --> 00:48:39.440 This episode is not intended to be any sort of a burden. 00:48:39.440 --> 00:48:42.720 It's like tisk, tisk, everyone's doing this wrong. 00:48:42.720 --> 00:48:46.640 It's remember all the good things that God has given you. 00:48:46.640 --> 00:48:51.600 And if you've been forgetting, be thankful that you were reminded and 00:48:51.600 --> 00:48:53.360 then do something with it. 00:48:53.360 --> 00:48:54.800 Be thankful. 00:48:54.800 --> 00:48:56.720 The Christian life is a joyful one. 00:48:56.720 --> 00:49:00.720 It's not walking around under a cloud feeling like, man, I I 00:49:00.720 --> 00:49:01.760 can't keep up with all this. 00:49:01.760 --> 00:49:03.040 There's so much to do. 00:49:03.040 --> 00:49:06.400 No. What we can't keep up with is the blessings that God 00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:07.360 has given us. 00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:11.680 And recognizing that in your heart and your mind can make all 00:49:11.680 --> 00:49:13.200 the difference in your own life. 00:49:13.200 --> 00:49:17.120 It can make you have the sort of confidence that the widow 00:49:17.120 --> 00:49:19.040 had when she gave her two mites. 00:49:19.040 --> 00:49:21.600 She gave everything that she had because she knew God was going 00:49:21.600 --> 00:49:22.800 to take care of her. 00:49:22.800 --> 00:49:24.880 She wasn't sad when she did that. 00:49:24.880 --> 00:49:25.760 You can be certain of that. 00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:27.520 She was joyous. 00:49:27.520 --> 00:49:30.320 She knew that she belonged to God and God was going to 00:49:30.320 --> 00:49:31.360 take care of her. 00:49:31.360 --> 00:49:35.280 Everything about that Jesus commended, because he knew her heart. 00:49:35.280 --> 00:49:39.760 And it's plainly obvious, I think, from just the events themselves. 00:49:40.320 --> 00:49:43.040 She gave the last that she had, knowing that God will continue 00:49:43.040 --> 00:49:43.840 to provide. 00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:47.520 She was the wealthiest person that that temple that day. 00:49:48.160 --> 00:49:54.240 We can, of course, contrast the giving of those two half pennies 00:49:54.320 --> 00:49:58.960 by the widow with a sort of tithing that the Pharisees did. 00:49:58.960 --> 00:50:03.280 Now before I go over the passages themselves, I do want to 00:50:03.280 --> 00:50:08.320 point out, even if you are not a particularly cheerful giver, and 00:50:08.320 --> 00:50:11.520 you should be a cheerful giver, scripture speaks very clearly on that. 00:50:11.520 --> 00:50:14.160 We'll get to that passage in a little bit. 00:50:14.160 --> 00:50:17.680 But even if you are not a cheerful giver, it is better 00:50:17.840 --> 00:50:22.400 to tithe, with a little bit of reservation as it may be, 00:50:22.400 --> 00:50:25.040 than not to tithe. 00:50:25.040 --> 00:50:29.840 To do the good work, even if you cannot muster all of 00:50:29.840 --> 00:50:34.400 the proper intent, the proper disposition, is still better than not to 00:50:34.400 --> 00:50:36.000 do the good work. 00:50:36.000 --> 00:50:38.960 So the fact that the Pharisees, and I will read the passage 00:50:38.960 --> 00:50:43.040 in a just a few seconds here, the fact that the Pharisees 00:50:43.280 --> 00:50:47.520 tithe is a good thing and they are commended for that, but 00:50:47.520 --> 00:50:52.000 note for what Christ critiques them. 00:50:52.000 --> 00:50:55.920 But woe to you Pharisees, for you tithe mint and roo and 00:50:55.920 --> 00:50:56.320 every body 00:51:04.160 --> 00:51:07.440 Woe to you Pharisees, for you love the best seat in the 00:51:07.440 --> 00:51:10.240 synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. 00:51:10.160 --> 00:51:14.560 Woe to you, for you are like unmarked graves, and people walk 00:51:14.560 --> 00:51:18.160 over them without knowing it. 00:51:18.160 --> 00:51:23.600 The Pharisees are commended for tithing. 00:51:23.600 --> 00:51:28.000 These you ought to have done without neglecting the others, so the 00:51:28.000 --> 00:51:31.920 fact that they do not neglect to tithe is a good thing. 00:51:31.920 --> 00:51:34.960 They tithe, they're praised for that. 00:51:34.960 --> 00:51:40.000 Christ critiques them because they neglect the other things that are important 00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:42.640 in the law, the other things that are more important in the 00:51:42.640 --> 00:51:46.400 law justice and the love of God. 00:51:46.400 --> 00:51:50.560 And incidentally also love for neighbor being the second of the two 00:51:50.560 --> 00:51:52.640 greatest commandments. 00:51:52.640 --> 00:51:57.280 And so when you tithe, that is a good work, that is 00:51:57.280 --> 00:52:03.200 a good thing, that is responding properly, it is exercising proper stewardship 00:52:03.200 --> 00:52:05.200 over what God is giving you. 00:52:05.200 --> 00:52:08.400 But you are also to do that cheerfully, and you are to 00:52:08.400 --> 00:52:11.520 do it in a way that shows that love for neighbor and 00:52:11.520 --> 00:52:12.960 love for God. 00:52:12.960 --> 00:52:17.680 And that's why, as we've mentioned a couple of times already, just 00:52:17.920 --> 00:52:20.640 writing the check is good. 00:52:20.640 --> 00:52:23.920 And you should do that most certainly if God has blessed you 00:52:23.920 --> 00:52:28.400 with material abundance that can be rendered into a check, as it 00:52:28.400 --> 00:52:32.240 were, or a credit card transaction as is more likely these days. 00:52:32.240 --> 00:52:35.520 If God has blessed you in that way, then you return thanks 00:52:35.520 --> 00:52:38.560 for that in an appropriate way. 00:52:38.560 --> 00:52:43.200 But just because it is, let's say, more efficient for you to 00:52:43.200 --> 00:52:46.800 go out and earn an hour's worth of money than it is 00:52:46.800 --> 00:52:50.800 for you to go and perform an hour's worth of labor, doesn't 00:52:50.720 --> 00:52:52.640 mean that you neglect the latter. 00:52:52.640 --> 00:52:56.960 These are fundamentally different things, and they are both important. 00:52:56.960 --> 00:53:00.640 To give of the material wealth that God has provided for you 00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:01.920 is important. 00:53:01.920 --> 00:53:04.880 You are to do that, that's part of tithing. 00:53:04.880 --> 00:53:08.320 But you do not form the sort of connection with your neighbor, 00:53:08.320 --> 00:53:11.760 you do not form community, you aren't really living a human life, 00:53:11.760 --> 00:53:17.280 let alone a Christian life, if you don't physically actually interact with 00:53:17.280 --> 00:53:22.240 your neighbor, with your congregation, with your community. 00:53:22.240 --> 00:53:26.800 And so it may be something like helping him mow the lawn. 00:53:26.800 --> 00:53:29.920 If you happen to have a great lawn mower and you have 00:53:29.920 --> 00:53:33.360 an elderly neighbor who is no longer really able to get around 00:53:33.360 --> 00:53:36.640 to those chores, go mow the lawn for him. 00:53:36.640 --> 00:53:39.680 It won't take that much of your time most likely, and it 00:53:39.680 --> 00:53:43.360 is one of those ways that you can actually serve your neighbor. 00:53:43.360 --> 00:53:46.560 It may even be that it would be cheaper, so to speak, 00:53:46.560 --> 00:53:49.040 for you to pay someone else to do it. 00:53:49.040 --> 00:53:51.200 But go do it yourself. 00:53:51.200 --> 00:53:55.200 That builds a different connection with your neighbor than if you just 00:53:55.200 --> 00:53:57.520 paid for a service to go do it for him. 00:53:57.680 --> 00:54:03.920 Even if, again, even if it would be more economically efficient for 00:54:03.920 --> 00:54:07.600 you to earn an hour's worth of income and then pay someone 00:54:07.600 --> 00:54:09.280 else to do it. 00:54:09.280 --> 00:54:11.440 Because they are different things. 00:54:11.440 --> 00:54:12.000 There is that 00:54:12.880 --> 00:54:17.040 distance and coldness to the relationship if you are simply doing the 00:54:17.040 --> 00:54:20.960 good works through intermediaries. 00:54:20.960 --> 00:54:23.520 It does not mean that you neglect the one in pursuit of 00:54:23.520 --> 00:54:27.840 the other, but it does mean that both are important, just like 00:54:27.840 --> 00:54:33.520 Christ speaks here of the Pharisees' tithing as being good, that's proper, 00:54:33.520 --> 00:54:36.720 they are not neglecting that part of the law, but they are 00:54:36.720 --> 00:54:42.480 neglecting the other parts of the law that are actually more important. 00:54:42.480 --> 00:54:46.800 And so, for instance, we see the self-righteousness of the Pharisee later 00:54:46.800 --> 00:54:49.600 on in Luke, this time chapter 18. 00:54:49.600 --> 00:54:54.000 The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus, God I thank you that 00:54:54.000 --> 00:54:58.800 I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like 00:54:58.800 --> 00:55:02.800 this tax collector, I fast twice a week, I give tithes of 00:55:02.800 --> 00:55:04.240 all that I get. 00:55:04.240 --> 00:55:06.640 Then Is the tithing good? 00:55:06.640 --> 00:55:08.240 Still yes. 00:55:08.240 --> 00:55:10.800 Is his disposition good? 00:55:10.800 --> 00:55:12.800 Very clearly no. 00:55:12.800 --> 00:55:16.000 He is being self righteous, he is praising himself, he thinks that 00:55:16.000 --> 00:55:20.880 he is holier than others, because he is doing this thing. 00:55:20.880 --> 00:55:23.200 Is doing a good work a good thing? 00:55:23.200 --> 00:55:25.680 Well obviously yes. 00:55:25.680 --> 00:55:30.160 Is doing the good work with the right disposition important? 00:55:30.160 --> 00:55:34.240 Absolutely. Again, it's better to do the good work with an imperfect 00:55:34.240 --> 00:55:36.400 disposition than not to do it. 00:55:36.400 --> 00:55:38.960 But God requires both of us. 00:55:38.960 --> 00:55:42.080 That is why we see, in the Sermon on the Mount and 00:55:42.080 --> 00:55:46.560 elsewhere, where Christ is explaining the law, and it's not just a 00:55:46.560 --> 00:55:50.640 matter of doing or not doing the thing, whether the thing is 00:55:50.640 --> 00:55:54.400 required or prohibited, it is also a matter of having the right 00:55:54.400 --> 00:56:00.000 intent, the right disposition, the right mindset with regard to the thing. 00:56:00.000 --> 00:56:03.760 And so it is one thing to murder another man. 00:56:03.760 --> 00:56:07.120 That would be a sin you are not permitted to do that. 00:56:07.120 --> 00:56:10.480 But it is also a sin to desire to kill him. 00:56:10.480 --> 00:56:12.960 You should not want that either. 00:56:12.960 --> 00:56:16.080 In the case that it is murder, of course, we're not speaking 00:56:16.080 --> 00:56:19.520 of a Genesis nine six issue. 00:56:19.520 --> 00:56:24.640 And so with tithing, God loves a cheerful giver. 00:56:24.640 --> 00:56:30.880 Part of this entire matter is having the right disposition, the right 00:56:30.880 --> 00:56:35.280 mindset with regard to the things that God has given you. 00:56:35.280 --> 00:56:39.440 Because if you have that mindset, then you will be a cheerful 00:56:39.440 --> 00:56:42.320 giver because you will recognize that God is the one who has 00:56:42.320 --> 00:56:44.240 provided these things for you. 00:56:44.240 --> 00:56:48.640 He is the one that is giving you everything you have, whatever 00:56:48.640 --> 00:56:53.440 wealth you have, whatever property you possess, whether it is real property 00:56:53.520 --> 00:56:58.160 or personal property, the people in your life, your attributes, your skills, 00:56:58.160 --> 00:57:01.520 your capacities, everything is from God. 00:57:01.520 --> 00:57:05.440 And so when you give, you are cheerfully giving, because you are 00:57:05.440 --> 00:57:08.400 recognizing you are giving back a portion to God of what He 00:57:08.400 --> 00:57:11.840 is giving you as thanks. 00:57:11.840 --> 00:57:13.680 And the way that you do that You do that, of course, 00:57:13.680 --> 00:57:17.040 is by giving to your neighbor, because again, God doesn't need your 00:57:17.040 --> 00:57:21.840 money. And so I'll read from Second Corinthians chapter nine, which goes 00:57:21.840 --> 00:57:25.280 over the issue of the cheerful giver. 00:57:25.280 --> 00:57:30.320 The point is this whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and 00:57:30.320 --> 00:57:33.840 whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 00:57:33.840 --> 00:57:37.760 Each one must give as he is decided in his heart, not 00:57:37.760 --> 00:57:42.080 reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 00:57:42.080 --> 00:57:45.280 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so 00:57:45.280 --> 00:57:48.880 that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may 00:57:48.880 --> 00:57:53.360 abound in every good work, as it is written, He has distributed 00:57:53.360 --> 00:57:59.280 freely, He has given to the poor, His righteousness endures for ever. 00:57:59.280 --> 00:58:02.800 He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, will 00:58:02.960 --> 00:58:07.120 supply and multiply your seed for sowing And increase the harvest of 00:58:07.120 --> 00:58:08.560 your righteousness. 00:58:08.560 --> 00:58:11.600 You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every 00:58:11.600 --> 00:58:15.040 way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 00:58:15.040 --> 00:58:18.400 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs 00:58:18.400 --> 00:58:23.120 of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 00:58:23.120 --> 00:58:27.360 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God, because of 00:58:27.360 --> 00:58:31.440 your submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, 00:58:31.440 --> 00:58:35.600 and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 00:58:35.600 --> 00:58:38.400 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the 00:58:38.400 --> 00:58:40.640 surpassing grace of God upon you. 00:58:40.640 --> 00:58:43.680 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift 00:58:46.160 --> 00:58:50.720 In a handful of passages in scripture, you will notice there's almost 00:58:50.720 --> 00:58:52.880 a sort of blurring of the line 00:58:53.840 --> 00:58:56.240 between what we would consider 00:58:57.200 --> 00:59:01.280 tithing proper, as it were, because in the modern mindset it really 00:59:01.360 --> 00:59:03.040 does boil down to money. 00:59:03.040 --> 00:59:07.680 It shouldn't, as we've gone over already, but it sort of does. 00:59:07.680 --> 00:59:14.080 And this issue of good works and faith working out in one's 00:59:14.080 --> 00:59:18.640 life and seeing a return that isn't a monetary or a physical 00:59:18.640 --> 00:59:24.080 return, as it were, but a return, a harvest of your righteousness. 00:59:24.080 --> 00:59:29.600 Because these things are so intimately and intricately linked that they are 00:59:29.600 --> 00:59:35.040 not necessarily one and the same, but they are inextricable. 00:59:35.040 --> 00:59:38.640 They are connected in a way where they cannot be disconnected. 00:59:39.360 --> 00:59:44.880 Because the good works that you do, tithing included, is linked to 00:59:44.880 --> 00:59:46.560 how you share the faith. 00:59:46.560 --> 00:59:48.800 Because living your life as a Christian 00:59:49.840 --> 00:59:55.120 is of paramount importance when it comes to sharing the faith. 00:59:55.120 --> 00:59:58.400 If you live as someone who, for all the world, does not 00:59:58.400 --> 01:00:00.880 appear to be a Christian in any way, shape, or form, when 01:00:01.360 --> 01:00:05.040 you stand up and profess Christ, no one will listen to you. 01:00:05.040 --> 01:00:08.080 And quite frankly, they shouldn't listen to you. 01:00:08.080 --> 01:00:11.040 Worse than that, you will probably be doing damage to the kingdom 01:00:11.120 --> 01:00:13.680 because they will think, well, all Christians are just hypocrites. 01:00:13.680 --> 01:00:16.560 Look at this man who does all does all of these wicked 01:00:16.560 --> 01:00:22.560 deeds according to his religion, and then says that he's a Christian. 01:00:22.560 --> 01:00:28.080 If you live as a Christian, that is a more powerful testimony 01:00:28.080 --> 01:00:32.320 of Christ and of the fact that Christ is dwelling in you, 01:00:32.320 --> 01:00:36.720 then if you simply stand up and profess Christ, you must live 01:00:36.720 --> 01:00:40.160 as a Christian and also give the confession, and part of living 01:00:40.160 --> 01:00:44.800 as a Christian is tithing, is returning this portion to God is 01:00:44.800 --> 01:00:47.040 serving your neighbor. 01:00:47.040 --> 01:00:50.240 And I know that we've said the word tithing a lot, and 01:00:50.240 --> 01:00:54.640 we've already mentioned this, but just to make sure we're absolutely clear, 01:00:54.640 --> 01:00:58.720 tithing does not mean just the giving of ten percent. 01:00:58.720 --> 01:01:02.640 It is something greater than that, it is something larger than that. 01:01:02.640 --> 01:01:08.480 The tithing in Old Testament Israel, in a sense, is typological. 01:01:08.480 --> 01:01:09.200 It is the lesser 01:01:10.080 --> 01:01:14.960 version of what we are to do in the Christian life. 01:01:14.960 --> 01:01:18.320 Because the Christian life is to be a life of service to 01:01:18.320 --> 01:01:22.080 neighbor, is to be a life of good works, filled with good 01:01:22.080 --> 01:01:27.760 works, because God prepared them beforehand that we should walk in them. 01:01:27.760 --> 01:01:32.640 And so the Christian life, by and large, is a life of 01:01:32.640 --> 01:01:34.240 constant tithing. 01:01:34.240 --> 01:01:38.560 It doesn't mean giving ten percent out of your paycheck every week 01:01:38.640 --> 01:01:41.760 or every two weeks or month, however you happen to be paid, 01:01:41.760 --> 01:01:48.240 or giving every tenth of your sheep when you count them, as 01:01:48.240 --> 01:01:52.000 would have been the case in Old Testament Israel and other places. 01:01:52.000 --> 01:01:54.160 That's not what it is. 01:01:54.160 --> 01:02:00.000 Living the Christian life is fundamentally a life Of living good works, 01:02:00.000 --> 01:02:02.800 of performing good works, because God will place them in front of 01:02:02.800 --> 01:02:06.160 you, you will have ample opportunity to engage in them. 01:02:06.160 --> 01:02:11.040 And so that's the anti-type of the typology of the Old Testament 01:02:11.200 --> 01:02:16.400 tithe. Just as the tithe itself is symbolic because again it is 01:02:16.400 --> 01:02:21.520 meant to represent thanks for the whole by giving back part. 01:02:21.520 --> 01:02:26.720 Yes, it has the practical aspects of helping to maintain the church, 01:02:26.720 --> 01:02:31.120 and to aid the poor, the widow, the fatherless, whatever group it 01:02:31.120 --> 01:02:33.600 happens to be, the needy among you. 01:02:33.600 --> 01:02:41.040 In Old Testament Israel, it's supported the temple, the priests, the sacrifices, 01:02:41.040 --> 01:02:45.440 all of the ritual worship that God had commanded for the Israelites. 01:02:45.440 --> 01:02:48.560 That was what the tithe by and large supported. 01:02:48.560 --> 01:02:53.040 It was still thanksgiving to God, but it was given specifically to 01:02:53.040 --> 01:02:57.600 this group in this way at this time, as well mentioned. 01:02:57.600 --> 01:03:00.320 Today we do not have that. 01:03:00.320 --> 01:03:05.040 And so the Christian life is actually a greater fullness of that 01:03:05.760 --> 01:03:09.280 than was the life of the Old Testament Israelite. 01:03:09.280 --> 01:03:14.400 Because God has given us abundant opportunities in order to perform good 01:03:14.400 --> 01:03:14.960 works. 01:03:16.400 --> 01:03:22.400 Giving back to neighbor, to congregation, to community is the Christian life. 01:03:22.400 --> 01:03:27.040 That is how you live in this world as a Christian. 01:03:27.040 --> 01:03:27.600 And so 01:03:28.640 --> 01:03:30.720 it's not just that 10%. 01:03:30.720 --> 01:03:32.000 It's not just the tithe. 01:03:32.000 --> 01:03:37.440 Think of the Christian version, the fully Christian version of the tithe 01:03:37.760 --> 01:03:40.480 as being something greater. 01:03:42.480 --> 01:03:45.600 I am very tempted to say that the tithe is the minimum, 01:03:45.600 --> 01:03:48.640 and in a way it is, but the reason that I don't 01:03:48.640 --> 01:03:51.920 want to necessarily say that is I don't want to give the 01:03:51.920 --> 01:03:55.040 wrong impression because then there'll be those who think, well I can't 01:03:55.040 --> 01:03:58.320 give ten percent and so I can't possibly be Christian because I 01:03:58.320 --> 01:03:59.040 can't tie. 01:03:59.040 --> 01:04:02.320 That's not the issue. 01:04:02.320 --> 01:04:06.000 The ten percent is a minimum in the sense 01:04:07.600 --> 01:04:11.360 of you have to give something back as a Christian, whether it 01:04:11.360 --> 01:04:17.200 is your time or your money, resources, whatever it happens to be. 01:04:17.200 --> 01:04:21.520 And the 10% is meant to be that symbol of I am 01:04:21.520 --> 01:04:27.360 giving back this first fruit, this portion, this fat portion of what 01:04:27.360 --> 01:04:31.840 God has given me in order to represent both the thanks for 01:04:31.840 --> 01:04:35.360 the whole and my recognition that all of it comes from God 01:04:35.360 --> 01:04:40.720 and it comes with the duty to help others. 01:04:40.720 --> 01:04:44.720 To help explain that further and to make sure that I'm abundantly 01:04:44.720 --> 01:04:49.280 clear on the issue of the poor not being required to give 01:04:49.280 --> 01:04:55.600 ten percent and thus reduce themselves into worse or abject poverty, God 01:04:55.760 --> 01:05:00.720 speaks frequently of his concern for the poor, for the vulnerable, for 01:05:00.720 --> 01:05:07.520 those in society who are at risk of falling into abject suffering. 01:05:07.520 --> 01:05:10.640 And yes, society has duties with regard to that. 01:05:10.640 --> 01:05:14.880 We've spoken of that before and we'll speak of that undoubtedly in 01:05:14.880 --> 01:05:17.680 greater detail in other episodes. 01:05:17.680 --> 01:05:23.520 But God actually makes specific provisions for the poor in Scripture and 01:05:23.520 --> 01:05:26.720 speaks of the fact that we as Christians are supposed to care 01:05:26.720 --> 01:05:30.320 for the poor, and that the poor are not to be burdened 01:05:30.320 --> 01:05:34.320 with these things, the tithe is not meant to be a burden. 01:05:34.320 --> 01:05:38.880 The passage I just recently read God loves a cheerful giver. 01:05:38.880 --> 01:05:41.920 You are meant to give cheerfully. 01:05:41.920 --> 01:05:44.720 And so I'll read from Leviticus. 01:05:44.720 --> 01:05:48.320 But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he 01:05:48.320 --> 01:05:50.960 shall bring as an offering for the sin that he has committed 01:05:51.040 --> 01:05:54.880 a tenth of an effaw of fine flour for a sin offering. 01:05:54.880 --> 01:05:58.080 And then it goes on from there to give more specifics. 01:05:58.080 --> 01:06:02.080 But God provides even with the case of the sin offering, for 01:06:02.080 --> 01:06:06.000 a less expensive version for those who cannot afford it. 01:06:06.000 --> 01:06:08.880 God has concern for the poor. 01:06:08.880 --> 01:06:12.160 None of this is meant to lay a burden on the poor 01:06:12.400 --> 01:06:15.200 that they cannot uphold. 01:06:16.400 --> 01:06:20.800 We see that, of course, when Christ is rebuking the religious teachers 01:06:20.800 --> 01:06:23.120 of Old Testament Israel. 01:06:23.120 --> 01:06:26.800 He speaks of laying burdens that they themselves do not even bother 01:06:26.800 --> 01:06:27.760 to bear. 01:06:27.760 --> 01:06:29.280 That is not what we are doing. 01:06:29.280 --> 01:06:32.320 That is not what any truly Christian teacher will do, it is 01:06:32.320 --> 01:06:35.840 not what Scripture does, it is not what God wants. 01:06:35.840 --> 01:06:40.000 And so also in the New Testament from Second Corinthians, this time 01:06:40.000 --> 01:06:42.480 from chapter eight instead of previously chapter nine 01:06:43.600 --> 01:06:46.560 We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that 01:06:46.560 --> 01:06:49.840 has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe 01:06:49.840 --> 01:06:54.640 test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have 01:06:54.640 --> 01:06:58.880 overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part, for they gave 01:06:58.880 --> 01:07:03.280 according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means 01:07:03.280 --> 01:07:06.960 of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favour of taking 01:07:06.960 --> 01:07:08.800 part in the relief of the saints. 01:07:08.800 --> 01:07:12.800 And this And this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves 01:07:12.800 --> 01:07:15.920 first to the Lord, and then by the will of God to 01:07:15.920 --> 01:07:20.560 us. Accordingly we urged Titus, that as he had started, so he 01:07:20.560 --> 01:07:23.040 should complete among you this act of grace. 01:07:23.040 --> 01:07:27.280 But as you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge, 01:07:27.280 --> 01:07:31.120 in all earnestness, and in our love for you, see that you 01:07:31.120 --> 01:07:33.760 excel in this act of grace also. 01:07:34.400 --> 01:07:37.120 I say this not as a command, but to prove by the 01:07:37.120 --> 01:07:41.600 earnestness of others that your love also is genuine, for you know 01:07:41.600 --> 01:07:45.200 the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, 01:07:45.200 --> 01:07:48.880 yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his 01:07:48.960 --> 01:07:53.520 poverty might become rich, and in this matter I give my judgment. 01:07:53.520 --> 01:07:56.960 This benefits you, who a year ago started not only to do 01:07:56.960 --> 01:08:00.400 this work, but also to desire to do it, so now finish 01:08:00.560 --> 01:08:04.080 doing it as well, so that your readiness in desiring it may 01:08:04.080 --> 01:08:07.280 be matched by your completing it, out of what you have. 01:08:07.280 --> 01:08:10.800 For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what 01:08:10.800 --> 01:08:13.840 a person has, not according to what he does not have. 01:08:14.080 --> 01:08:16.800 For I do not mean that others should be eased and you 01:08:16.800 --> 01:08:20.400 burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the 01:08:20.400 --> 01:08:24.640 present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply 01:08:24.640 --> 01:08:27.120 your need, and there may be fairness. 01:08:27.120 --> 01:08:31.440 As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and 01:08:31.440 --> 01:08:34.560 whoever gathered little had no lack. 01:08:35.440 --> 01:08:38.800 And so here we see as many other places in Scripture as 01:08:38.800 --> 01:08:43.280 well God has a concern for the poor. 01:08:43.280 --> 01:08:46.560 And part of the tithe, part of the purpose of the tithe, 01:08:46.560 --> 01:08:49.120 is to aid the poor, as well mentioned. 01:08:49.120 --> 01:08:52.000 When you have abundance, you aid others. 01:08:52.000 --> 01:08:56.640 When you have poverty, others are supposed to aid you. 01:08:56.640 --> 01:09:00.640 Now we don't just aid others because well we may need it 01:09:00.640 --> 01:09:01.680 in the future. 01:09:01.680 --> 01:09:05.680 We of course cannot escape thinking that, and it's not entirely wrong, 01:09:05.680 --> 01:09:08.000 but it's not the reason we do it. 01:09:08.000 --> 01:09:12.480 We aid others in thanks for what God has given us because 01:09:12.480 --> 01:09:15.200 He has given us the ability to do that. 01:09:15.200 --> 01:09:19.280 Yes, in turn we hope that if we should fall into poverty 01:09:19.520 --> 01:09:24.240 or some sort of need, we hope that others will help us. 01:09:24.240 --> 01:09:27.680 The old saying comes to mind, there but for the grace of 01:09:27.680 --> 01:09:28.960 God go I. 01:09:28.960 --> 01:09:31.840 And of course flowing from that recognition is supposed to be the 01:09:31.840 --> 01:09:36.560 desire to help others, to cheerfully give to others, to relieve their 01:09:36.560 --> 01:09:41.360 need and their suffering as we are able. 01:09:41.360 --> 01:09:45.760 But again, this is not meant to be a burden. 01:09:45.760 --> 01:09:50.960 It is not meant as something where you destroy your financial stability 01:09:51.200 --> 01:09:55.280 in order to help others, as it is very clear here in 01:09:55.280 --> 01:10:00.080 Scripture, so that their abundance may supply your need, just as your 01:10:00.560 --> 01:10:04.320 abundance at the present time should supply their need. 01:10:04.320 --> 01:10:07.920 Those who have abundance aid those who have need. 01:10:07.920 --> 01:10:10.560 That is how this is supposed to work. 01:10:10.560 --> 01:10:13.520 That's how everything is supposed to work. 01:10:13.760 --> 01:10:18.160 If you had a truly and fully Christian society, many of these 01:10:18.160 --> 01:10:21.200 issues would not need to be discussed. 01:10:21.200 --> 01:10:25.760 You would not have the abjectly poor, because you'd have a godly 01:10:25.760 --> 01:10:28.880 prince who would provide for them, who would raise them up out 01:10:28.880 --> 01:10:34.800 of poverty, give them gainful employment, housing, shelter, food, all of these 01:10:34.800 --> 01:10:40.240 things. In a truly Christian society, these are not issues we would 01:10:40.240 --> 01:10:44.000 even have to discuss, because they would be addressed. 01:10:44.000 --> 01:10:48.560 They would simply be a part of the way that we live. 01:10:48.560 --> 01:10:51.760 At present, we do not live in such a society. 01:10:51.760 --> 01:10:55.040 And so what we need to do is to care for those 01:10:55.040 --> 01:10:59.600 God has placed into our lives with what God has given us. 01:10:59.600 --> 01:11:04.800 And fundamentally that means understanding those concentric circles of duty. 01:11:05.200 --> 01:11:09.600 Your prime duty is to your family, then your extended family, then 01:11:09.600 --> 01:11:14.400 your tribe including your neighbors, your nation, expanding outward. 01:11:14.400 --> 01:11:19.120 Again, you are not supposed to give in such a way that 01:11:19.120 --> 01:11:20.960 you and yours become burdened. 01:11:20.960 --> 01:11:25.280 For instance, if you were to give away all of your possessions, 01:11:25.280 --> 01:11:32.640 sell everything, and donate it That would not be wise stewardship, 01:11:32.640 --> 01:11:37.120 because you would be reducing your family to poverty, and then you 01:11:37.120 --> 01:11:42.240 would be reliant on the very charity you were supposedly just exercising. 01:11:42.240 --> 01:11:45.200 You haven't necessarily even made matters better. 01:11:45.200 --> 01:11:49.360 You've just made another person who needs to be supported. 01:11:49.360 --> 01:11:52.800 Part of this, and an inescapable part of this, as Woe mentioned 01:11:52.800 --> 01:11:55.680 in his introduction, is wisdom. 01:11:55.680 --> 01:12:00.480 You cannot escape having to think through these matters. 01:12:00.480 --> 01:12:04.320 We cannot just hand you a set of here are five rules, 01:12:04.320 --> 01:12:06.880 follow these and you will always be doing what is right. 01:12:06.880 --> 01:12:08.800 It's not that simple. 01:12:08.800 --> 01:12:11.920 Because you know what God has given you. 01:12:11.920 --> 01:12:16.480 You should know what your neighbor needs, what your congregation needs, what 01:12:16.480 --> 01:12:19.600 your community needs, what you are able to do. 01:12:19.600 --> 01:12:24.720 All of these things are considerations that play into a wise decision 01:12:24.960 --> 01:12:29.680 as to how you spend the resources that God has given you. 01:12:29.680 --> 01:12:33.520 And part of being a Christian, and particularly a Christian man, is 01:12:33.520 --> 01:12:39.520 thinking through these matters, so that you come to a Christian conclusion. 01:12:39.520 --> 01:12:42.400 There are matters, many of them, and we've gone over them in 01:12:42.400 --> 01:12:47.680 previous episodes, where you cannot avoid having to think about it. 01:12:47.760 --> 01:12:51.760 There are things left to human wisdom, and this is most certainly 01:12:51.760 --> 01:12:52.320 one of 01:12:52.320 --> 01:12:52.960 them. 01:12:53.920 --> 01:12:59.040 Corey read two different portions of 2nd Corinthians 8 and 9 there. 01:12:59.120 --> 01:13:01.760 And I'd like to encourage everyone at some point after you listen 01:13:01.760 --> 01:13:05.440 to this episode, open up to 2 Corinthians 8 and read all 01:13:05.440 --> 01:13:08.240 the way through the end of the book, because there's a lot 01:13:08.240 --> 01:13:10.720 more that's said about this general subject. 01:13:10.720 --> 01:13:13.200 And there's also some things that are said in 1 Corinthians as 01:13:13.200 --> 01:13:15.040 well that are related to it. 01:13:15.040 --> 01:13:21.120 And that goes to what is your local congregation doing with your 01:13:21.120 --> 01:13:25.120 tithe? Because as we've alluded to early in the episode and in 01:13:25.120 --> 01:13:28.560 other episodes, that's an important part of this. 01:13:28.560 --> 01:13:32.960 You are not simply throwing money over the transom and just assuming 01:13:32.960 --> 01:13:34.800 that God is going to catch it. 01:13:34.800 --> 01:13:36.560 God doesn't have a mailing address. 01:13:36.560 --> 01:13:40.240 There's nowhere, as Corey said, you can't mail God a check. 01:13:40.240 --> 01:13:44.320 So it's always going to be men doing things in the world 01:13:44.320 --> 01:13:46.000 with our material possessions. 01:13:46.000 --> 01:13:47.840 That's how it works. 01:13:47.840 --> 01:13:52.640 As a result, part of good stewardship is not simply giving, but 01:13:52.640 --> 01:13:56.320 in making sure that those things are being spent wisely. 01:13:56.320 --> 01:14:00.480 Now, this isn't intended to be a source of paranoia or 01:14:01.760 --> 01:14:06.320 zealously guarding in a negative sense what is being done with every 01:14:06.320 --> 01:14:07.600 last penny. 01:14:07.600 --> 01:14:10.160 Because there's a right way and a wrong way to do that 01:14:10.240 --> 01:14:11.040 sort of thing. 01:14:11.040 --> 01:14:11.920 We've all seen this. 01:14:11.920 --> 01:14:16.560 Like it's there's some times where somebody, frankly, they will give something 01:14:16.800 --> 01:14:20.240 just so they can attach strings and they show up and you 01:14:20.240 --> 01:14:23.840 almost wish that they would just not participate because they're gonna make 01:14:23.840 --> 01:14:24.720 it harder. 01:14:24.720 --> 01:14:28.800 And whatever they've given is less of an upside than the downside 01:14:28.800 --> 01:14:32.080 of them than them then insisting how it has to be done. 01:14:32.080 --> 01:14:35.520 So when we talk about this next part, I don't want that 01:14:35.520 --> 01:14:38.720 to be the mentality or the spirit behind it. 01:14:38.720 --> 01:14:43.040 As I said at the beginning in my intro, one of the 01:14:43.040 --> 01:14:47.520 aspects of the wisdom of understanding how and when we are giving 01:14:47.520 --> 01:14:52.240 these sorts of things is the the current state of things isn't 01:14:52.160 --> 01:14:55.520 the way it was certainly 300, 500 years ago. 01:14:55.520 --> 01:14:56.800 That's obvious. 01:14:57.040 --> 01:15:00.240 What's less obvious is how much things change in five years or 01:15:00.240 --> 01:15:04.400 ten years, how much things change maybe in some congregations or in 01:15:04.400 --> 01:15:06.960 some denominations, even in a year or two. 01:15:06.960 --> 01:15:10.960 And so again, if you were giving in good conscience before it 01:15:10.960 --> 01:15:13.280 would may have been exactly the right thing to do. 01:15:13.280 --> 01:15:14.400 It's possible. 01:15:14.400 --> 01:15:17.920 I'm not saying it's happened, but in some cases it has happened, 01:15:17.920 --> 01:15:20.960 absolutely. We know of some of them. 01:15:20.960 --> 01:15:23.440 It is possible that the thing that was a good thing for 01:15:23.440 --> 01:15:26.400 you to do with the money that you have, the blessings you 01:15:26.400 --> 01:15:30.480 are given to steward, it may well be that you have to 01:15:30.480 --> 01:15:34.400 change how you interact with them, that you have to give differently. 01:15:34.400 --> 01:15:37.760 Perhaps you have to suspend giving to one place for a while 01:15:38.000 --> 01:15:40.320 and look for somewhere else to give it. 01:15:40.320 --> 01:15:44.720 Because again, you know, in the example of your kid's allowance, if 01:15:44.720 --> 01:15:47.280 your kid is messing around with something that's harming them and they're 01:15:47.200 --> 01:15:50.960 using your money to do it, you shut off the spigot. 01:15:50.960 --> 01:15:53.920 That's happening in many of our churches today too. 01:15:53.920 --> 01:15:59.520 There's not a single denomination that does not have severe spiritual problems. 01:15:59.840 --> 01:16:03.680 That I'm not speaking about the individual congregations. 01:16:03.680 --> 01:16:06.960 Every congregation has some sort of issues because we're all sinners. 01:16:06.960 --> 01:16:10.000 When sinners show up, you have sinners' problems. 01:16:10.000 --> 01:16:12.720 That's not the same as what we're talking about when we talk 01:16:12.720 --> 01:16:15.760 about some of the problems that the congregational level. 01:16:15.760 --> 01:16:18.480 We did an episode in the end of last year about the 01:16:18.480 --> 01:16:21.040 church and the three different levels of the church. 01:16:21.040 --> 01:16:24.240 There's the Capital C church, which is all believers. 01:16:24.240 --> 01:16:26.480 That's part of what we've been talking about here today. 01:16:26.480 --> 01:16:29.200 And then the third level is the local congregation. 01:16:29.200 --> 01:16:33.920 And then intermediate level, the second level of the churches, these meta 01:16:34.080 --> 01:16:38.080 organizations, these corporations that gather together for the sake of scale. 01:16:38.080 --> 01:16:41.840 And historically there have been a lot of benefits to that sort 01:16:41.840 --> 01:16:42.640 of gathering. 01:16:42.640 --> 01:16:46.160 They're called denominations before the the Reformation. 01:16:46.160 --> 01:16:49.920 You basically had Rome in the East and then the various patriarchates 01:16:49.920 --> 01:16:50.800 in the West. 01:16:50.800 --> 01:16:52.080 And that was kind of it. 01:16:52.080 --> 01:16:57.280 So there were no divisions divisions inside nations like we have now, 01:16:57.280 --> 01:17:01.760 where we have multiple competing denominations really. 01:17:01.760 --> 01:17:06.400 In the situation that we have today, those denominations at second level, 01:17:06.400 --> 01:17:08.160 they're all in dire straits. 01:17:08.400 --> 01:17:13.440 They're all doing things with our money that in many cases is 01:17:13.440 --> 01:17:15.040 actively evil. 01:17:15.040 --> 01:17:17.600 And we've talked about some of those things in the context of 01:17:17.600 --> 01:17:20.960 the LCMS last year in a couple episodes. 01:17:21.360 --> 01:17:24.160 That evil has gotten worse in the LCMS. 01:17:24.160 --> 01:17:27.120 And it's also gotten worse in some of the other denominations. 01:17:27.120 --> 01:17:30.320 So, as Corey mentioned earlier, and I want to say explicitly, one 01:17:30.320 --> 01:17:34.880 of the things that you can do in your local context, either 01:17:34.880 --> 01:17:39.760 as an individual parishioner, as someone who's a leader in your congregation, 01:17:39.760 --> 01:17:44.320 if you are aware that there are issues upstream and your congregation 01:17:44.320 --> 01:17:49.600 is giving money upstream to a district or whatever the equivalent is 01:17:49.600 --> 01:17:51.280 in your denomination. 01:17:51.280 --> 01:17:57.200 If they're doing bad things, I think that in most cases we 01:17:57.200 --> 01:18:02.080 need to get to the point that we stop just concerning ourselves 01:18:02.080 --> 01:18:03.920 with politics. 01:18:03.920 --> 01:18:06.640 What I mean by that is that there's always a degree of 01:18:06.640 --> 01:18:08.640 church governance upstream from us. 01:18:08.640 --> 01:18:12.160 You should be engaged in your local congregation and then upstream at 01:18:12.160 --> 01:18:16.240 the the higher level, the denominational level, there's also stuff going on. 01:18:16.240 --> 01:18:19.120 And most of the time, most of it's not actually trickling down 01:18:19.120 --> 01:18:23.120 to the local congregation, which is why it's entirely possible for a 01:18:23.120 --> 01:18:28.000 very good, very Christian congregation to be in a denomination that's kind 01:18:28.000 --> 01:18:29.520 of a dumpster fire. 01:18:29.520 --> 01:18:30.960 It does happen. 01:18:30.960 --> 01:18:34.960 What is not sustainable is that that will only be the case 01:18:34.960 --> 01:18:37.520 as long as that pastor is there with those people. 01:18:37.520 --> 01:18:41.360 When the pastor moves on or he retires or he dies, somebody 01:18:41.360 --> 01:18:44.960 new is going to come from the denomination from elsewhere, from outside 01:18:44.960 --> 01:18:48.480 of the congregation in most cases, and he's going to bring all 01:18:48.480 --> 01:18:51.840 the baggage with him that has been going on behind the scenes. 01:18:51.840 --> 01:18:56.320 So if you become aware that there are problems upstream and you 01:18:56.320 --> 01:19:00.880 look at your local church budget and you are financing those problems, 01:19:00.880 --> 01:19:05.680 don't wait a few years for the next convention to try to 01:19:05.680 --> 01:19:09.440 get other people together to have a sternly worded resolution to condemn 01:19:09.440 --> 01:19:11.040 the blah blah blah. 01:19:11.040 --> 01:19:13.840 You don't have to do the political thing. 01:19:13.840 --> 01:19:17.920 Maybe that's the appropriate thing, maybe as a matter of Christian wisdom, 01:19:17.920 --> 01:19:19.760 that is the right approach. 01:19:19.760 --> 01:19:23.360 It is also in the cards for us as Christians, as good 01:19:23.360 --> 01:19:26.320 stewards of the money we are given, to say I will no 01:19:26.320 --> 01:19:30.800 longer transmit my money, my tithe, to people who are doing things 01:19:30.800 --> 01:19:33.600 outside of this congregation that are harmful. 01:19:33.600 --> 01:19:37.600 And as we've said before, the LCMS is one of the denominations 01:19:37.600 --> 01:19:39.040 that's in that shape. 01:19:39.040 --> 01:19:42.720 At this point, congregations need to be cutting off the funding to 01:19:42.720 --> 01:19:43.600 the synod. 01:19:43.600 --> 01:19:47.520 And that means don't send a dime to district, because the things 01:19:47.520 --> 01:19:50.880 that they are doing are causing real harm. 01:19:50.880 --> 01:19:52.880 And they're also doing good work. 01:19:52.880 --> 01:19:56.000 That's the problem because you have different programs and some of them 01:19:56.000 --> 01:19:58.320 are good and some of them are actively evil. 01:19:58.320 --> 01:20:01.760 Some of the things they're doing are actually evil, and they're celebrating 01:20:01.760 --> 01:20:02.960 some of that wickedness. 01:20:02.960 --> 01:20:05.280 And we're not going to get into that today, but the point 01:20:05.280 --> 01:20:07.200 is if you become aware of that. 01:20:07.520 --> 01:20:11.600 You don't need to petition for redress of grievances. 01:20:11.600 --> 01:20:14.160 You can just cut off the funding. 01:20:14.160 --> 01:20:15.520 Stop writing the check. 01:20:15.520 --> 01:20:18.560 And as an individual, as Corey said, you can earmark and say, 01:20:18.560 --> 01:20:21.120 I want this to be my funds to be for local use 01:20:21.120 --> 01:20:23.920 only. I don't want it going upstream. 01:20:23.920 --> 01:20:26.960 If as a congregation you come to an agreement that that's the 01:20:26.960 --> 01:20:30.240 best thing spiritually, cut them off. 01:20:30.240 --> 01:20:34.160 Don't spend your tithe on wickedness. 01:20:34.160 --> 01:20:35.360 That's a key part of this. 01:20:35.360 --> 01:20:39.920 See when we look at the biblical examples, there's always a presumption 01:20:39.920 --> 01:20:43.600 that the tithe is going to be spent in a godly fashion. 01:20:43.600 --> 01:20:45.440 That's no longer the case today. 01:20:45.440 --> 01:20:48.240 Whether or not it was in the past, it doesn't matter. 01:20:48.240 --> 01:20:49.520 It's not the case today. 01:20:49.520 --> 01:20:54.160 There are many cases where when you give freely of an unbounded 01:20:54.160 --> 01:20:57.920 Christian spirit, it's then taken by men to other places where they 01:20:57.920 --> 01:21:00.880 do actively evil things with it. 01:21:00.880 --> 01:21:03.840 You have an obligation to cut them off, just as you would 01:21:03.840 --> 01:21:06.320 cut off your kid who was buying drugs with money you were 01:21:06.320 --> 01:21:07.200 giving them. 01:21:07.200 --> 01:21:10.880 To knowingly participate in that is to do something evil, even if 01:21:10.880 --> 01:21:13.760 it started as a tithe, even if it started as doing a 01:21:13.760 --> 01:21:17.200 good thing, when you send money elsewhere and it's used for evil 01:21:17.360 --> 01:21:21.760 in whatever your context, that is something you have to be concerned 01:21:21.760 --> 01:21:24.720 about. As I said at the beginning, people shouldn't be paranoid about 01:21:24.720 --> 01:21:25.200 this every day. 01:21:25.200 --> 01:21:28.560 You don't have to like be checking whatever newsletter to try to 01:21:28.560 --> 01:21:30.960 find some reason to cut them off. 01:21:30.960 --> 01:21:33.360 That's not the spirit that we're talking about. 01:21:33.360 --> 01:21:38.160 When you become aware of things and it violates your conscience, cease 01:21:38.160 --> 01:21:39.760 to participate. 01:21:40.080 --> 01:21:44.960 One of the other things that we're dealing with in current year 01:21:45.120 --> 01:21:49.360 in as Christians is that there are many places where churches are 01:21:49.360 --> 01:21:53.600 slowly dying through attrition, mostly because no one was having kids or 01:21:53.760 --> 01:21:55.760 the few kids they did have moved away. 01:21:55.760 --> 01:21:58.720 And so it's a sea of gray hair and there are you 01:21:58.720 --> 01:22:01.280 know two or three people left on a Sunday and then obviously 01:22:01.360 --> 01:22:03.760 when the pastor goes there's never gonna be another pastor, they're just 01:22:03.760 --> 01:22:05.280 gonna shudder. 01:22:05.280 --> 01:22:08.240 There are discussions for other days about how to prevent things from 01:22:08.240 --> 01:22:13.200 getting to that state, but it's also important for us to understand 01:22:13.200 --> 01:22:13.520 that 01:22:14.640 --> 01:22:20.880 just because the specific circumstances change where a full-time pastor is no 01:22:20.880 --> 01:22:25.040 longer possible, it's still necessary for us to figure out something that 01:22:25.040 --> 01:22:25.760 we can do. 01:22:25.760 --> 01:22:28.240 And while we're not going to get into the specifics today, I 01:22:28.240 --> 01:22:31.680 want to again highlight the general guidance we're trying to provide today 01:22:31.840 --> 01:22:38.480 is that the wisdom of thinking about these matters is regularly reevaluating 01:22:38.480 --> 01:22:42.800 what we're still doing in the particular context of the local congregation 01:22:43.280 --> 01:22:48.960 and giving to a pastor for his rightful salary, is that although 01:22:48.960 --> 01:22:51.840 that is what we've been doing for a long time, because that 01:22:51.840 --> 01:22:54.880 is what the Western Church has been able to sustain 01:22:56.000 --> 01:23:00.960 if that sort of paradigm ceases to work, that doesn't mean the 01:23:00.960 --> 01:23:01.840 church ends. 01:23:01.840 --> 01:23:04.880 It doesn't mean the believers gathering together ends. 01:23:04.880 --> 01:23:05.200 And 01:23:06.080 --> 01:23:09.680 so it's not It's not necessarily the most important thing for us 01:23:09.680 --> 01:23:11.760 to cling to the particular form. 01:23:11.760 --> 01:23:17.040 What is important is we continue to participate as active givers and 01:23:17.040 --> 01:23:21.840 as cheerful participants in whatever is going on in the local gathering 01:23:22.240 --> 01:23:23.760 of believers. 01:23:23.760 --> 01:23:27.280 In 1 Corinthians 9, I want a specific example that where it's 01:23:27.280 --> 01:23:31.120 clearly laid out that it is important for church workers to be 01:23:31.120 --> 01:23:33.520 supported financially. 01:23:33.920 --> 01:23:36.080 Paul writes Am I not free? 01:23:36.080 --> 01:23:37.360 Am I not an apostle? 01:23:37.360 --> 01:23:39.760 Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? 01:23:39.760 --> 01:23:42.080 Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 01:23:42.080 --> 01:23:44.560 If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am 01:23:44.560 --> 01:23:47.520 to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the 01:23:47.520 --> 01:23:50.800 Lord. This is my defence to those who would examine me. 01:23:50.800 --> 01:23:52.800 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 01:23:52.800 --> 01:23:55.200 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, 01:23:55.200 --> 01:23:56.800 as do the other apostles? 01:23:56.800 --> 01:23:59.440 And the brothers of our Lord, and Cephas? 01:23:59.440 --> 01:24:02.000 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to 01:24:02.000 --> 01:24:04.400 refrain from working for a living? 01:24:04.400 --> 01:24:07.360 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense, who plants a 01:24:07.360 --> 01:24:10.400 vineyard without eating any of its fruit, or who tends a flock 01:24:10.400 --> 01:24:12.080 without getting some of the milk? 01:24:12.080 --> 01:24:14.960 Do I say these things on human authority? 01:24:14.960 --> 01:24:16.800 Does not the law say the same? 01:24:16.800 --> 01:24:19.360 For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not 01:24:19.360 --> 01:24:21.840 muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. 01:24:21.840 --> 01:24:24.080 Is it for oxen that God is concerned? 01:24:24.080 --> 01:24:26.400 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? 01:24:26.400 --> 01:24:30.080 It was written for our sake, because the ploughman should plough in 01:24:30.080 --> 01:24:33.840 hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. 01:24:33.840 --> 01:24:37.200 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much 01:24:37.200 --> 01:24:39.600 if we reap material things from you? 01:24:39.600 --> 01:24:43.120 If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even 01:24:43.120 --> 01:24:43.440 more 01:24:44.880 --> 01:24:48.080 So what Paul is talking about here is that while may the 01:24:48.080 --> 01:24:51.760 other apostles and missionaries who were sent out at the very beginning 01:24:51.760 --> 01:24:55.920 of the church were full time workers, he and Barnabas were actually 01:24:55.920 --> 01:24:58.480 still they saw side hustles. 01:24:58.480 --> 01:25:02.000 They were in some cases funding their own way, at least in 01:25:02.000 --> 01:25:05.360 part. And so one of the disputes in Corinth was that the 01:25:05.520 --> 01:25:09.200 There were people saying that he wasn't an apostle because he wasn't 01:25:09.120 --> 01:25:12.480 getting paid and he hadn't personally talked to Jesus, you know, apart 01:25:12.480 --> 01:25:14.160 from the road to Damascus. 01:25:14.160 --> 01:25:17.520 So part of this passage in 1 Corinthians 9 was him refuting 01:25:17.520 --> 01:25:19.920 that, but part of his also laying a claim to 01:25:21.040 --> 01:25:24.800 the right of a f someone who is a full-time church worker 01:25:25.040 --> 01:25:28.000 being able to sustain himself. 01:25:28.000 --> 01:25:31.680 And this has been the historical norm in the church, but it's 01:25:31.680 --> 01:25:35.040 never been universal continuously. 01:25:35.040 --> 01:25:39.280 There are many places in the early church where it wasn't possible 01:25:39.280 --> 01:25:42.080 for believers even to get together without being killed. 01:25:42.080 --> 01:25:46.000 And so they didn't have full-time shepherds who were being paid. 01:25:46.160 --> 01:25:49.200 You know, they were gathering in catacombs in some cases. 01:25:49.200 --> 01:25:51.680 They were hunted, they were being murdered. 01:25:51.680 --> 01:25:53.760 They didn't necessarily have employees. 01:25:53.760 --> 01:25:58.080 They weren't 1099ing anybody on an annual basis. 01:25:58.080 --> 01:26:02.960 I highlight this because as we're looking at what the tithe looks 01:26:02.960 --> 01:26:06.320 like for us in current year, not in the history of the 01:26:06.320 --> 01:26:10.240 Old Testament or the New Testament or the Church Age, as we 01:26:10.240 --> 01:26:14.080 look at things today, if we get back into a position where 01:26:14.080 --> 01:26:17.520 it becomes more and more difficult for us to have the normal 01:26:17.520 --> 01:26:21.760 things, to have a building, to have a full-time employee, it's still 01:26:21.760 --> 01:26:24.800 necessary for us to tithe somehow. 01:26:24.800 --> 01:26:26.480 Again, it's not a number. 01:26:26.480 --> 01:26:31.840 It's giving freely as is needed for whatever the immediate purpose is. 01:26:31.840 --> 01:26:35.360 If you're blessed to have a pastor, make sure that you're taking 01:26:35.360 --> 01:26:36.400 care of him. 01:26:36.400 --> 01:26:38.480 Yeah, I was a pastor's kid. 01:26:38.480 --> 01:26:41.200 My dad's salary in ninety-two when he got his first call was 01:26:41.200 --> 01:26:42.640 twenty-two thousand dollars a year. 01:26:42.640 --> 01:26:43.760 It was nothing. 01:26:43.760 --> 01:26:46.560 And it was nothing because the church was trying to destroy him. 01:26:46.560 --> 01:26:49.920 The congregation he had been sent to had already destroyed like the 01:26:49.920 --> 01:26:52.720 last three pastors, and they were gonna destroy him. 01:26:52.720 --> 01:26:56.320 And then you know, it was that was basically why they existed. 01:26:56.320 --> 01:27:00.080 Sometimes there were really bad situations that occur in the so called 01:27:00.080 --> 01:27:02.960 in the church, you know, that was certainly at the corporate level, 01:27:02.960 --> 01:27:05.840 but that while there were Christians there, there were some evil men 01:27:06.000 --> 01:27:11.040 too. It was not just for a man with a family of 01:27:11.040 --> 01:27:15.120 four to be paid $22,000. 01:27:15.120 --> 01:27:16.560 That's what he signed up for. 01:27:16.560 --> 01:27:18.640 I mean, he signed up to be a church worker. 01:27:18.640 --> 01:27:21.680 He didn't sign up to live in that kind of poverty. 01:27:21.680 --> 01:27:26.240 So I certainly as a first party to having seen the sacrifices 01:27:26.320 --> 01:27:30.000 that pastors make in their lives, I'm not gonna be one to 01:27:30.000 --> 01:27:32.000 say, cut these guys off. 01:27:32.000 --> 01:27:34.720 If you have a faithful pastor, do whatever you can to take 01:27:34.720 --> 01:27:35.600 care of them. 01:27:35.600 --> 01:27:38.880 If your congregation is no longer in a position where it can 01:27:38.880 --> 01:27:42.800 even afford a faithful pastor, you're not off the hook. 01:27:42.800 --> 01:27:45.360 Even if the church closes, you're not off the hook. 01:27:45.360 --> 01:27:46.960 We continue to be Christians. 01:27:46.960 --> 01:27:50.080 We continue to be a part of the Capital C church, the 01:27:50.080 --> 01:27:53.040 first level church, even if the other things fall apart. 01:27:53.040 --> 01:27:56.240 And And so there may be a time in the future where 01:27:56.480 --> 01:27:59.840 the idea of tithing is no longer even possible to write a 01:27:59.840 --> 01:28:00.960 check to anybody. 01:28:01.200 --> 01:28:04.800 If they bring along the replacement for the dollar with digital currency, 01:28:04.800 --> 01:28:07.280 which I think is pretty likely, it may well be that they 01:28:07.280 --> 01:28:11.520 say it's no longer permissible for you to transmit money to Christians 01:28:11.760 --> 01:28:13.520 or to a Christian institution. 01:28:13.520 --> 01:28:15.600 That's entirely possible. 01:28:15.600 --> 01:28:19.760 So these are potentially questions in our lifetime where the idea of 01:28:19.760 --> 01:28:24.640 tithing and giving and being participants in a local congregation ends up 01:28:24.640 --> 01:28:28.560 looking like and meaning something completely different than it is does today 01:28:28.720 --> 01:28:32.560 or did 10 years ago, let alone 100 or 500 years ago. 01:28:32.560 --> 01:28:34.800 That's why I want everyone to keep your head on a swivel 01:28:34.960 --> 01:28:38.080 and to think about these things as we go on because even 01:28:38.320 --> 01:28:43.760 when the current forms, if they pass away, it doesn't change the 01:28:43.760 --> 01:28:48.000 church. It may change the form for a while, it may mean 01:28:48.000 --> 01:28:51.360 that we end up in a situation where we have less material 01:28:51.360 --> 01:28:52.560 than we have in the past. 01:28:52.560 --> 01:28:55.760 Which is why I said in Corey read from 2nd Corinthians 8 01:28:55.760 --> 01:28:56.720 and 9. 01:28:56.720 --> 01:29:00.320 That congregation was in dire straits financially. 01:29:00.320 --> 01:29:02.960 We don't know exactly what the details were, but the men he 01:29:02.960 --> 01:29:08.160 was talking to were in real trouble materially, and yet they were 01:29:08.160 --> 01:29:10.880 still giving abundantly and joyfully. 01:29:11.040 --> 01:29:14.880 Have that Christian attitude, and whatever happens in the future, you're going 01:29:14.880 --> 01:29:16.240 to be blessed. 01:29:16.240 --> 01:29:18.480 Who knows what it's going to look like in 10 years? 01:29:18.480 --> 01:29:20.640 I think it's personal, I think it's going to look very different 01:29:20.640 --> 01:29:21.760 than it does today. 01:29:21.760 --> 01:29:26.240 I think that a lot of things that are taking form right 01:29:26.240 --> 01:29:30.080 now are going to be culminated by then. 01:29:30.080 --> 01:29:32.960 I think a lot of the ways that we're used to gathering 01:29:32.960 --> 01:29:38.000 and conducting our Christian lives and our church lives will be very 01:29:38.000 --> 01:29:40.000 different in some serious ways. 01:29:40.000 --> 01:29:42.480 You can make guesses, you can make predictions. 01:29:42.480 --> 01:29:45.600 The point is that when we get to those places, if it 01:29:45.600 --> 01:29:49.760 happens in our lifetime or someone else's, when we're confronted with those 01:29:49.760 --> 01:29:51.600 things, we still have to have the principle. 01:29:51.600 --> 01:29:55.280 You have to have the principle of tithing, of giving cheerfully, of 01:29:55.280 --> 01:30:01.040 continuing to sustain not only the proclamation of the gospel among you, 01:30:01.040 --> 01:30:02.960 but of the care for the poor, of the needy, of the 01:30:03.520 --> 01:30:08.640 sick, making sure that whatever material blessings you have, you're thankful for 01:30:08.640 --> 01:30:11.440 them and you're sharing them as best you can with others. 01:30:11.440 --> 01:30:14.800 Because that duty isn't tied to a denomination. 01:30:14.960 --> 01:30:18.240 It's not tied to your salvation, it's tied to the Christian life. 01:30:18.240 --> 01:30:21.360 You're a Christian 168 hours a day. 01:30:21.360 --> 01:30:22.880 So act like it. 01:30:22.880 --> 01:30:23.920 That's not a burden. 01:30:23.920 --> 01:30:25.120 That's a blessing. 01:30:25.120 --> 01:30:27.760 There's so many things in life where I don't know what to 01:30:27.760 --> 01:30:29.120 do. What's next? 01:30:29.120 --> 01:30:31.920 Do I do this or do I do that? 01:30:31.920 --> 01:30:36.000 Being a Christian and knowing God's general principles for these things and 01:30:36.000 --> 01:30:39.360 where God gives us wisdom is such a tremendous blessing. 01:30:39.360 --> 01:30:41.920 Because in a lot of cases it takes out the guesswork. 01:30:41.920 --> 01:30:45.680 Even if there's no clear cut answer, even if it's just okay, 01:30:45.680 --> 01:30:48.720 I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing, but I'm gonna pay attention. 01:30:48.720 --> 01:30:52.160 And by paying attention, I know that if things change, I'm still 01:30:52.160 --> 01:30:54.400 gonna be able to act with a clean conscience because I'm paying 01:30:54.400 --> 01:30:56.080 attention. Like sometimes that's it. 01:30:56.080 --> 01:30:57.360 You have to change anything. 01:30:57.680 --> 01:30:59.120 Just be attentive. 01:30:59.120 --> 01:30:59.920 Be awake. 01:30:59.920 --> 01:31:00.800 Be watchful. 01:31:00.800 --> 01:31:04.960 Be a steward who is managing what you've been given faithfully. 01:31:04.960 --> 01:31:09.040 And whatever situations arise in the future, if our churches crumble and 01:31:09.040 --> 01:31:11.680 fall, if we all get rounded up and we have to have 01:31:11.680 --> 01:31:14.160 these conversations in prison or whatever. 01:31:14.160 --> 01:31:15.520 Doesn't change anything. 01:31:15.520 --> 01:31:17.120 Not as a Christian. 01:31:17.120 --> 01:31:21.760 Our lives might change entirely, but it doesn't change the Christian life. 01:31:21.760 --> 01:31:27.200 Because the Christian life has the same guidelines, the same principles, because 01:31:27.200 --> 01:31:30.720 we always have the same God and His will doesn't change. 01:31:30.720 --> 01:31:37.280 Help, be thankful, be generous, and know that everything is from God, 01:31:37.280 --> 01:31:40.880 and whatever we do is God blessing others through us. 01:31:40.880 --> 01:31:42.080 That's it. 01:31:42.080 --> 01:31:45.600 That general principle will work no matter where you are. 01:31:45.600 --> 01:31:47.440 You be the richest man in the world, the poorest man in 01:31:47.440 --> 01:31:51.040 the world, it's still gonna work the same way because that's how 01:31:51.040 --> 01:31:53.600 God has made everything. 01:31:53.920 --> 01:31:54.160 I 01:31:54.160 --> 01:31:58.400 mentioned something earlier in the episode that I want to expand a 01:31:58.400 --> 01:31:58.960 little bit because 01:32:00.960 --> 01:32:04.160 there are various considerations in play, and I want to be very 01:32:04.160 --> 01:32:07.120 clear about what we are and are not saying. 01:32:07.120 --> 01:32:12.400 I mentioned that you can tithe to those who are not necessarily 01:32:12.400 --> 01:32:18.400 the congregation, your local congregation itself, and that does include teachers and 01:32:18.400 --> 01:32:20.160 other ministries. 01:32:20.160 --> 01:32:25.360 So for those who have been giving to whatever it may be, 01:32:25.360 --> 01:32:30.240 and that includes, quite frankly, I would say this podcast. 01:32:30.240 --> 01:32:34.320 I would say that does count as part of your tithe, because 01:32:34.320 --> 01:32:38.480 we are teaching the faith, and so the words of scripture about 01:32:38.800 --> 01:32:43.040 those who teach the faith living from that proclamation of the gospel 01:32:43.440 --> 01:32:44.720 is in play here. 01:32:44.720 --> 01:32:47.760 I'm not burdening your conscience. 01:32:47.760 --> 01:32:50.800 I am clarifying and how I want to clarify that is explicitly 01:32:51.520 --> 01:32:55.520 this If you have given to this podcast, thank you very much 01:32:55.520 --> 01:32:57.040 for your support. 01:32:57.040 --> 01:33:02.320 However, if there are those in your family, in your neighborhood, in 01:33:02.320 --> 01:33:07.600 your congregation, your local community, who are in need, give to them 01:33:07.600 --> 01:33:13.760 first. We want to be essentially last on your list. 01:33:13.760 --> 01:33:16.320 If you give to us again, we are very thankful for that 01:33:16.400 --> 01:33:20.320 if you buy a challenge coin that supports us, but give to 01:33:20.320 --> 01:33:25.440 those in your life for whom you have a particular duty first. 01:33:25.440 --> 01:33:29.920 You do not have a particular duty to us. 01:33:29.920 --> 01:33:31.840 Yes, we're a ministry. 01:33:31.840 --> 01:33:35.680 Yes, we are proclaiming the gospel and teaching the faith. 01:33:35.680 --> 01:33:40.080 But your duty as a Christian flows to those nearest to you 01:33:40.080 --> 01:33:45.200 first, as we have emphasized so many times in so many episodes, 01:33:45.200 --> 01:33:49.520 your duty is to your family, to your neighbors, to your clan, 01:33:49.520 --> 01:33:52.080 to your tribe, to your nation. 01:33:52.080 --> 01:33:55.360 Concentric circles expanding outward. 01:33:55.360 --> 01:33:56.080 four for 01:33:57.040 --> 01:34:00.400 some few of you we may very well be in your local 01:34:00.400 --> 01:34:02.560 community, relatively speaking. 01:34:02.560 --> 01:34:05.040 For most of you we're part of your nation, but that's a 01:34:05.040 --> 01:34:09.920 fairly large circle among those concentric circles. 01:34:10.880 --> 01:34:14.720 Give to those who are closer first and foremost. 01:34:14.720 --> 01:34:17.200 That is your duty as a Christian. 01:34:17.200 --> 01:34:21.840 The reason that we highlighted the fact that you can tithe to 01:34:22.160 --> 01:34:27.200 teachers and other ministries, is one because it is true, and two, 01:34:27.200 --> 01:34:31.920 it is one of the ways, under the current set of circumstances, 01:34:31.920 --> 01:34:35.600 in which you can still fulfil that Christian duty to give back, 01:34:35.920 --> 01:34:40.000 even if you don't have a faithful local congregation. 01:34:40.000 --> 01:34:44.080 And unfortunately there are many men in that situation and we hear 01:34:44.080 --> 01:34:45.920 from them all the time. 01:34:45.920 --> 01:34:48.880 We wish there were more faithful congregations so that you could tithe 01:34:48.880 --> 01:34:52.640 to the congregation, so things could function as they are supposed to 01:34:52.640 --> 01:34:57.200 function. But if you do not have that opportunity, then at least 01:34:57.200 --> 01:35:01.520 you still have the Christian opportunity to fulfill that Christian obligation to 01:35:01.520 --> 01:35:07.280 give back because there are faithful ministries, there are still faithful teachers, 01:35:07.280 --> 01:35:14.160 even if they are not necessarily part of your local congregation. 01:35:14.560 --> 01:35:18.640 Before we close out this episode with a reading from the Psalter, 01:35:18.640 --> 01:35:22.560 I would like to read one more passage from Scripture, and I 01:35:22.560 --> 01:35:26.160 would hope that some of you have had this passage come to 01:35:26.160 --> 01:35:30.320 mind already while we have been discussing the issue of tithing in 01:35:30.320 --> 01:35:31.840 this episode. 01:35:31.840 --> 01:35:35.280 And so one more reading from the book of Malachi. 01:35:35.280 --> 01:35:39.280 For I the Lord do not change, therefore you, O children of 01:35:39.280 --> 01:35:41.200 Jacob, are not consumed. 01:35:41.200 --> 01:35:44.720 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my 01:35:44.720 --> 01:35:47.360 statutes, and have not kept them. 01:35:47.360 --> 01:35:51.200 Return to me and I will return to you, says the Lord 01:35:51.200 --> 01:35:52.320 of Hosts. 01:35:52.320 --> 01:35:54.880 But you say, How shall we return? 01:35:54.880 --> 01:35:55.920 Will man rob God? 01:35:56.640 --> 01:35:58.560 Yet you are robbing me. 01:35:58.560 --> 01:36:01.280 But you say, How have we robbed you? 01:36:01.280 --> 01:36:05.680 In your tithes and contributions, you are cursed with a curse, for 01:36:05.680 --> 01:36:08.560 you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 01:36:08.560 --> 01:36:12.320 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food 01:36:12.320 --> 01:36:16.480 in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the 01:36:16.480 --> 01:36:17.680 Lord of hosts. 01:36:17.680 --> 01:36:20.720 If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and 01:36:20.720 --> 01:36:24.480 pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need, 01:36:24.480 --> 01:36:27.840 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not 01:36:27.840 --> 01:36:31.360 destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field 01:36:31.360 --> 01:36:34.880 shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 01:36:34.880 --> 01:36:38.320 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a 01:36:38.320 --> 01:36:44.240 land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. 01:36:44.240 --> 01:36:49.520 God God explicitly tells us to put him to the test with 01:36:49.520 --> 01:36:53.120 regard to the tithe. 01:36:53.120 --> 01:36:57.040 I won't even comment on this passage extensively. 01:36:57.040 --> 01:37:00.560 I just want you to think about what it means for God 01:37:00.560 --> 01:37:06.880 to explicitly invite us to test Him on something, and how seriously 01:37:06.880 --> 01:37:08.720 we should take that. 01:37:08.720 --> 01:37:10.880 He does that here with the tithe. 01:37:10.880 --> 01:37:18.080 That's not something that scripture does frequently, to say the least. 01:37:18.160 --> 01:37:22.800 And so to close out this episode, I would like to read 01:37:22.800 --> 01:37:25.440 Psalm 116. 01:37:27.680 --> 01:37:31.360 I love the Lord because He is heard, my voice and my 01:37:31.360 --> 01:37:35.600 pleas for mercy, because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I 01:37:35.600 --> 01:37:38.640 will call on him as long as I live. 01:37:38.640 --> 01:37:42.880 The snares of death encompassed me, the pangs of Sheol laid hold 01:37:42.880 --> 01:37:46.000 on me, I suffered distress and anguish. 01:37:46.000 --> 01:37:48.160 Then I called on the name of the Lord. 01:37:48.160 --> 01:37:51.360 O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul. 01:37:51.360 --> 01:37:56.080 Gracious is the Lord and righteous, our God is merciful. 01:37:56.080 --> 01:37:58.080 The Lord preserves the simple. 01:37:58.080 --> 01:38:00.720 When I was brought low he saved me. 01:38:00.720 --> 01:38:04.400 Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt 01:38:04.400 --> 01:38:06.160 bountifully with you. 01:38:06.160 --> 01:38:10.640 For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, 01:38:10.640 --> 01:38:12.720 my feet from stumbling. 01:38:12.720 --> 01:38:16.480 I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. 01:38:16.480 --> 01:38:20.880 I believed, even when I spoke, I am greatly afflicted. 01:38:20.880 --> 01:38:25.040 I said in my alarm, all mankind are liars. 01:38:25.040 --> 01:38:28.960 What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to 01:38:28.960 --> 01:38:32.480 me, I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on 01:38:32.480 --> 01:38:33.920 the name of the Lord. 01:38:33.920 --> 01:38:37.120 I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of 01:38:37.120 --> 01:38:38.800 all his people. 01:38:38.800 --> 01:38:41.520 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his 01:38:41.680 --> 01:38:45.920 saints. O Lord, I am your servant, I am your servant, the 01:38:45.920 --> 01:38:49.760 son of your maidservant, you have loosed my bonds. 01:38:49.760 --> 01:38:53.760 I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call on 01:38:53.760 --> 01:38:55.120 the name of the Lord. 01:38:55.120 --> 01:38:58.400 I will pay my vows to the Lord, in the presence of 01:38:58.400 --> 01:39:02.080 all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, 01:39:02.080 --> 01:39:04.560 in your midst, O Jerusalem. 01:39:04.560 --> 01:39:07.440 Praise the Lord. 01:39:07.440 --> 01:39:08.320 Amen.