April 30 / I Cor. 9:1-18

I Corinthians 9:1-18

Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (vv. 13-14) I like all of what Paul says in today’s reading, including his claim that he does not “profit” in any way from his preaching. The verses that I quoted above seem to capture the essence of what he is saying. But there is a flip side to these verses that Paul does not mention – that there has to be someone making those offerings! All of us need to support people like David and Kelly; they are Kingdom workers! And a number of us also support overseas missionaries; they are also Kingdom workers! And there are also many “tentmakers” and “bi-vocational” clergy out there, and even though they have chosen that particular life, they would surely welcome that occasional unexpected gift.

I have done a bit of preaching on the topic of giving. In fact, our overseas CZ and SK missionaries appreciate it when someone else takes their pulpit and talks about giving – it takes the burden off them. When I speak on this topic, I naturally go fairly quickly to the Biblical standard, the tithe, where I offer a couple of references and speak a few paragraphs on that standard. Then I move to “first fruits” – the notion that the Israelites were offering the “first fruits” of their harvest, not knowing that further “fruits” would be forthcoming. There I encourage people to make their pledge every week or on the first week of the month, to make their offering their “first fruit”. But finally, I save the best till last – the “widow’s mite”. And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.” (Mark12:41-44)

No, Carol and I don’t give according to the “widow’s mite” principle. But in our Men’s Group we have had a number of discussions as to how we in the USA should handle our vast resources, both as a nation and individually, especially the reasonably large sums of money that we have built up in our retirement funds. We don’t have any easy answers; we don’t want to be a burden to our children, but what of the huge needs in the world around us? Just musing, wearing my Treasurer’s hat, I guess…

Slava Bohu!