Reading from Nehemiah this morning made me think a little differently about giving. I read about the Jews re-committing themselves to God’s service after the temple and walls in Jerusalem were rebuilt. As part of that commitment, they said this:
"We also assume responsibility for bringing to the house of the Lord each year the firstfruits of our crops and of every fruit tree. As it is also written in the Law, we will bring the firstborn of our sons and of our cattle, of our herds and of our flocks to the house of our God, to the priests ministering there . . . . And we will bring a tithe of our crops to the Levites, for it is the Levites who collect the tithes in all the towns where we work..” Nehemiah 10:35-38.
I noticed, maybe for the first time, that there were two levels of commitment here, firstfruits and tithes. To me, that suggests a couple of different principles at work.
The firstfruits seem to say that I will attend to God’s kingdom before my own, and I will do it as soon as I can with the best that I have. It’s a principle of priority.
In addition to that, I will tithe for the upkeep of the church and provision for those called to work fulltime in it. This is a principle of obligation. It’s God’s earliest model for how to fund ministry.
Not addressed here is the question of what I call offerings. To me, these are the responses of the heart either in gratitude for what God has done or in empathy for the hurting of the world. Beyond the symbolic commitment of firstfruits and the regular obligation of tithing, there are those times when God touches my heart either with a need or by a strong sense of blessing, and from that I want to give back. That’s why we sponsor a Compassion child, and support Wycliffe. And why thanksgiving offerings are so big.
So, three principles: God’s kingdom before mine, meet my obligations to support ministry, and give when my heart is touched. There are certainly other good understandings of when and why we give, but this is mine.
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