“It’s for the children.”  That always gets us.  It is the politician’s mantra.  And it crushes all objections to school fundraising campaigns.  Our forefathers fought a War of Independence over the imposition of a ½% increase in taxes.  And we would pass over most of the goods proffered in fundraising campaigns. (With the possible exception of those Domino’s “slice the price” cards.)  Yet we will gladly accept more taxation and invest in premium priced chocolate bars to further the opportunities of our young.  What in any other context would make us grumble, scoff or rebel is transformed into cheerful giving when “it’s for the children.”

Like our Scots ancestors we do not part easily with our brass.  Unless, of course, it is something we care deeply about.   Jesus observed that “where our treasure is, there our heart will be also.”  Our giving and our love track together.  We not only give to what we love but we give willingly and cheerfully.  How we spend our money, our time, our energy, our aspirations, our preparation, and our conversation identifies the locus of our heart.  Cheerful giving is homing beacon for what matters most.

Where does your treasure go?  And where is your heart?  And where is God in that calculus? What does your giving to the Lord say about where He stacks up in the loves of your life?  Scripture has much to say about giving.  We are called to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.”  We are commanded to “honor the Lord with our wealth and with the firstfruits of all our produce.”

We are warned,

Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions….  Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Malachi 3:8-9

And we are encouraged to cultivate cheerful giving.

Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:6-8

Are you giving?  Are you giving the first fruits of your time, your energy, your thoughts, your words, your aspirations, and yes, your wealth, to the Lord?  Is your giving grudging or cheerful?   A constant danger when studying Leviticus is getting mired down in the minutia but missing the main point.   This is especially true in Leviticus 1-7 as we unpack the details of the sacrificial law.  

As we move from the burnt offerings to the grain offerings this danger grows. Various ingredients, recipes and preparation methods boggle us. But what does it all mean? Though packed with law, Leviticus is not legalistic!  It overflows with the grace of God, pointing Israel, then as now, to the great hope of our faith, justification and sanctification through the sufficient mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It shows us the cost of our sin, the plan of redemption, and the beauty of life in Christ.   And it beckons us to respond to the grace of God with grateful worship.

The pagan idolatry of Egypt and Canaan worked to pacify immoral and capricious Gods.  Pagan sacrifice was grudging and resentful.  The gods were greedy and hungry and needed to be fed, bribed. The ancients universally held contempt for their gods.  But the true and living God is worthy of our love.  A love that is first known then shown.  Indeed, “we love because He first loved us.”  The reconciliation pictured in the burnt offerings moves quickly in Leviticus 2 to the grain offering.  Offerings cheerfully given to the Lord in gratitude for his grace. 

Are you a cheerful giver? Is your worship joyful?   Are you preparing yourself for worship with the oil of gladness, the sweet incense of prayer, the refined flour of gratitude, all seasoned with the salt of grace?  Psalm 96 tells us to “bring and offering and come into his courts,” and “thus worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.”  What are you bringing?  Are you a cheerful giver?

Join us as we examine Leviticus 2 and consider what the instructions about the grain offering teach us about cheerful giving.  We meet each Lord’s Day on the square in Pottsville, right next to historic Potts’ Inn at 10:30 am for worship.  Get directions here or contact us for more info.  Or join us on Facebook Live @PottsvilleARP or YouTube.