The Celebration of Giving
“On the day of firstfruits, you are to hold a sacred assembly when you present an offering of new grain to the LORD at your [Festival of] Weeks; you are not to do any daily work.”
—Numbers 28:26
Observation:
The harvest of grain came once a year during the harvest season in ancient agrarian societies. Payday in essence came after months of laborious work. It was after this time of Harvest that Israel was to have a celebration of weeks in which they had a day of first fruits on which they gave offerings to God.
Application:
How awesome is it that giving offerings to God was framed in the context of celebration in ancient Israel. Their offering of firstfruits came once a year in ancient Israel. Today we do not have to wait a year to get paid; we get paid bimonthly or every two weeks. Imagine if the Church today embraced the day of firstfruits as a celebration. Every two weeks we would take a day off, get together, and celebrate while we gave our first fruits to God. Hold up if I am not mistaken we do have something similar to that it is called a weekend and most of us have two days off, the only difference is we do not celebrate giving our firstfruits to God.
I remember growing up in church and hearing the messages about tithing (giving ten percent of your income to God). Most people I knew begrudgingly gave their tithe to the church, if they gave at all to the church. It definitely was not a celebration.
When I came back to the church in my mid-twenties I didn’t have much money, but I gave my tithe faithfully at first. It was a duty I was bound to fulfill as a good Christian. But in my first year of Bible College a professor of mine pointed out that tithing was not in the New Testament of the Bible and thus as Christians we were not bound to tithe. “I don’t have to tithe,” I must have screamed at the top of my lungs in my thoughts. I stopped tithing regularly and decided that using my money to do other things to help people was just as good as giving to the church. I learned over the next few years that many people used this excuse that tithing was Old Testament in order to not give to the church.
While I was in Hawaii I had the privilege to visit a traditionally Black church, named City of Refuge. Tithes and offerings at this church were not merely pass the bucket a long and pout as you watch your money walk off with the usher. No, tithes and offerings in this church were a time of celebration. Everyone got up and danced down the isle placed their envelope in the basket and shook the pastors hand or even gave him a big hug. Tithing was a party at the City of Refuge.
The difference between City of Refuge and my traditional experience in Church around tithing was celebration. Giving to God is a cause to celebrate, but often our greed, or bondage to money makes it a solemn occasion of duty rather than a festival. The Church, as a whole, needs to learn from churches like City of Refuge and recapture the celebration of giving to God.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for all that you have blessed me with. Sorry for ever begrudgingly giving back to you. It should be an honor and a privilege to tithe, not a solemn duty. Lord, help me to recapture the celebration of giving to you. In Jesus name I pray Amen…
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