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.
Seed in the cupboard or seed in the ground? 4 April
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Seed in the cupboard or seed in the ground?
Easter is the story of a man who talked about plants. If you want to grow flowers, or wheat or tomatoes, you have to plant a seed. And the seed has to die. If you keep the seed alive in a cupboard nothing grows. If the seed dies in the ground, you get lots of fruit.
Jesus said life is like that. At least his was.
He said some people want to keep their life safe in the cupboard. He talked about people who loved their life, protected and preserved it and made it safe and comfortable. That, he said, was the way to lose it.
Is this a strange idea? Or does it make sense?
Read more: Seed in the cupboard or seed in the ground? 4 April
Palatable doesn’t save 28 Mar 10
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- Written by: Dale Appleby
- Category: Weekly Reflections
Palatable doesn’t save
Some of us have spent the six weeks of Lent reading, pondering and talking about the death of Jesus Christ. We have looked at it from many angles, mostly just scratching the surface of this amazing event, sometimes digging deeper and understanding more than we did before.
It is like a diamond, turn it this way and that and you see more beauty and wonder. And yet, like a diamond, it is a simple thing. Christ died for us. Christ died for our sins. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement. This is how God loved us: he gave his one and only Son for us.
And yet it is not just an event in history, although it is at least that. It is a personal act between our Creator and us. It is part of a relationship God has established with us humans. It is an act that is meant to secure that relationship. It expresses the profound and gracious love God has for us.
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