No Rules Giving
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
No Rules Giving
(Part 6 in a series about Giving in the Bible)
So what did the Christians in the New Testament do with their money and wealth? If there were no rules about giving what did they do? How did they know how much to give and to what needs or purposes?
Not surprisingly they followed the Old Testament ways. Not by carrying forward all the rules, but by adopting the heart of the Old Testament. They had thankful and generous hearts. They gave food to the hungry, shared their possessions, sometimes sold their assets to be able to use the money for those in need, they offered hospitality, sent people to help others, and gave money.
They gave to help those in material need, especially groups who were suffering from a famine. They looked after certain kinds of widows and orphans, they gave to support apostles and evangelists so that others could hear the gospel. They also supported ministers who worked among them as pastors and teachers.
Tithing? 16 May 10
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Tithing?
(Part 5 in a series about Giving in the Bible)
Of course the people of Israel did not always give what they were supposed to give. One of the reasons for the exile to Babylon was the failure to do what God had commanded (Neh 9.32-37). After the exile in the time of Ezra, the people repented and entered into a written commitment to keep the commands. You can see a wonderful list of all the things they were committed to contribute in Nehemiah 10.32-39: wood for the sacrifices, first fruits, tithes, offerings and so on - a very comprehensive list, of which the tithe was only a part.
A tradition has developed within a section of the Christian church that the tithe was somehow the main or whole offering that the Lord required.
Gifts for the Lord? 9 May 10
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Gifts for the Lord?
(Part 4 in a series about Giving in the Bible)
Some of the rules for looking after the poor sound a bit like “spare change” giving. Not all of them of course, though they would have the effect of restraining those who wanted to count every penny. But there is more to giving in the Old Testament.
The first-fruits were to be given to the Lord. This included their first-born – both human and animal. The sons, donkeys and unclean animals could be redeemed – all the rest were consecrated to the Lord. The first-fruits of the harvest also belonged to the Lord – to show the people’s thankfulness for the Lord’s goodness (Deut 26.1-11).
The Open Hand 2 May 10
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
The Open Hand
(Part 3 of a series about Giving in the Bible)
So the people of Israel gave very generously on two great occasions. What about for the rest of the time? Is that all they did apart from tithing?
“Apart from tithing” suggests tithing was a simple matter. But there is more to the story which we will look at another day. Apart from that, there were various guidelines, regulations you could say, that focussed their minds, and wealth, on the priests and the poor in particular.
For example. The gleanings of their fields, and the bits around the edges, were to be left for the poor. The gleanings were the remnants of the crops that were not gathered the first time. The harvesters were not to go back and have a second attempt to reap the bits they missed. (What is a modern urban version of gleanings?).
Willing generosity 25 April 10
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Willing generosity
If the response to the setting up of the tabernacle was amazing, the giving for the Temple was more so. Although David was not allowed to build the temple he seems to have laid out plans for it, and provided a lot of the precious metals for the furnishings.
The leaders of the people followed David’s example. They gave willingly, and generously – huge amounts of gold (250 metric tons), silver (345 metric tons), bronze and other precious stones. And the “people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the LORD.” 1 Chr 29.6.
David acknowledged where this enormous wealth had come from and how it had been given.
A typical Christian? 18 April 10
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
A typical Christian?
It is a pity that Shylock has become the stereotypical stingy Jew. Perhaps Shakespeare didn’t know very many, since all the Jews had been expelled from Britain 300 years earlier. Perhaps he had had dealings with some of the few who had slipped back in.
Shylock would not have been recognised as a typical Jew of the Old Testament times. Quite the contrary. The descendants of Jacob have an entirely different image in the Bible. They were generous, open handed, caring for widows, foreigners, orphans. The compassionate and liberal spirit characterised by some of the Christians in The Merchant of Venice is actually the spirit of the Old Testament Israelite.
What does it take to believe? 11 April
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
What does it take to believe?
Poor old Thomas has been maligned. He was not a doubter. His fellow disciples were doubters, but he wasn’t. He was a straightforward unbeliever. A natural man, a man of facts. Of observable data. No ghosts or apparitions or wishful thinking for him.
If he was going to believe that Jesus had come back from the dead, he wanted to press the flesh, to check the wounds, to examine the body. And rightly so. No use believing an event for which there was no evidence.
Coming back from the dead was a big claim – is a big claim. It had never happened before in this way in the whole history of the human race. History was against it. Philosophy and theology was against it. Maybe such a thing would happen at the end of the world, but not in ordinary times.
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