THE TENTH PART
Malachi 3:10
Ah! That first bite of that first juicy ripe homegrown tomato! How sweet it tastes!
From that first harvest of the year, not many of my homegrown veggies make it into the house. I've been known to eat them all at the hose bib by the back door. Wash and munch. It is the gardener's right to consume that first fruit. The one who labors gets to eat.
One day last summer, I was washing that first tomato at the hose bib when it occurred to me that this luscious fruit didn't really belong to me. I thought of Leviticus 27:30, "And the first tenth of all the produce, whether a soil crop or a tree crop, belongs to the LORD. Set it aside for the LORD's use." I ate the tomato, but I had a nagging feeling that I owed the first tenth of my veggies to the Lord. That pome sat uneasy in my stomach.
I went into the house and got my Bible, hoping that my memory of that verse was mistaken. It wasn't. Searching further, I came across Malachi 3:10, "Bring the best tenth of your crops into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, so much that you cannot store it all."
Then I found Deuteronomy 14:22 "You shall honestly tithe all the increase of what you plant and harvest from your fields every year." The tithe is the Lord's reserve, what He has given us to use for His service. One tenth is really a very small amount.
Well, I thought, I can do better than that! I can give more than a tenth if I put up what I need first and give all the surplus to God. I finally remembered the story of Cain and Abel. Abel gave God the best young lambs of his flocks; Cain offered the overripe fruit he found on the ground. Abel's gift was loved by God; Cain's was rejected. Ow! I realized that God rejected Cain's gift because he had selfishly offered not the best, but the leftovers!
For a while longer, I was able to rationalize my stinginess by saying, "that was Old Testament, this is New." But as soon as I looked into the New Testament, I could see how wrong I was. Matthew 23:23 says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay tithe of even trivial herbs like mint, anise and cumin, but have neglected the more important matters of the law, like judgment, mercy, and faith: you ought to have done this, and not left the other undone." Wow! Jesus confirmed that we ARE to tithe from our gardens (even our herb gardens) as well as attend to our spiritual fruits.
But churches today aren't set up as storehouses, I told myself. I can't tithe my veggies, because there is no place to take them. "Nonsense!" God said, "What about the foodbanks and meal kitchens that are operated in My name? These are the storehouses."
Matthew 25:35-40 reminded me that when we take our tithe into those storehouses, we not only feed hungry people, we are serving God in a most necessary and humble way. When we feed the hungry stranger, we are feeding Jesus. He said, "Whenever you do this for the lowliest of My siblings, you have done it to Me."
Suddenly my claim on those tomatoes was relinquished. I wanted to share my beautiful tomatoes with the One who had given them to me. I bagged up the best of them and drove to the downtown meal kitchen, where they feed two hundred proxy Jesuses each day. I offered those vegetables to God. The kitchen was happy to receive the rare treat; fresh vegetables are expensive.
It was the most satisfying offering I had ever made, and I thanked Him for giving me a place to garden and a crop to share. I continued to do that all summer.
Obedience is sweet, too.
(Whoever gives to the poor lends to the LORD; and whatever is given the Lord will repay. Proverbs 19:17)
Malachi 3:10
Ah! That first bite of that first juicy ripe homegrown tomato! How sweet it tastes!
From that first harvest of the year, not many of my homegrown veggies make it into the house. I've been known to eat them all at the hose bib by the back door. Wash and munch. It is the gardener's right to consume that first fruit. The one who labors gets to eat.
One day last summer, I was washing that first tomato at the hose bib when it occurred to me that this luscious fruit didn't really belong to me. I thought of Leviticus 27:30, "And the first tenth of all the produce, whether a soil crop or a tree crop, belongs to the LORD. Set it aside for the LORD's use." I ate the tomato, but I had a nagging feeling that I owed the first tenth of my veggies to the Lord. That pome sat uneasy in my stomach.
I went into the house and got my Bible, hoping that my memory of that verse was mistaken. It wasn't. Searching further, I came across Malachi 3:10, "Bring the best tenth of your crops into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me and see if I won't open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, so much that you cannot store it all."
Then I found Deuteronomy 14:22 "You shall honestly tithe all the increase of what you plant and harvest from your fields every year." The tithe is the Lord's reserve, what He has given us to use for His service. One tenth is really a very small amount.
Well, I thought, I can do better than that! I can give more than a tenth if I put up what I need first and give all the surplus to God. I finally remembered the story of Cain and Abel. Abel gave God the best young lambs of his flocks; Cain offered the overripe fruit he found on the ground. Abel's gift was loved by God; Cain's was rejected. Ow! I realized that God rejected Cain's gift because he had selfishly offered not the best, but the leftovers!
For a while longer, I was able to rationalize my stinginess by saying, "that was Old Testament, this is New." But as soon as I looked into the New Testament, I could see how wrong I was. Matthew 23:23 says, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay tithe of even trivial herbs like mint, anise and cumin, but have neglected the more important matters of the law, like judgment, mercy, and faith: you ought to have done this, and not left the other undone." Wow! Jesus confirmed that we ARE to tithe from our gardens (even our herb gardens) as well as attend to our spiritual fruits.
But churches today aren't set up as storehouses, I told myself. I can't tithe my veggies, because there is no place to take them. "Nonsense!" God said, "What about the foodbanks and meal kitchens that are operated in My name? These are the storehouses."
Matthew 25:35-40 reminded me that when we take our tithe into those storehouses, we not only feed hungry people, we are serving God in a most necessary and humble way. When we feed the hungry stranger, we are feeding Jesus. He said, "Whenever you do this for the lowliest of My siblings, you have done it to Me."
Suddenly my claim on those tomatoes was relinquished. I wanted to share my beautiful tomatoes with the One who had given them to me. I bagged up the best of them and drove to the downtown meal kitchen, where they feed two hundred proxy Jesuses each day. I offered those vegetables to God. The kitchen was happy to receive the rare treat; fresh vegetables are expensive.
It was the most satisfying offering I had ever made, and I thanked Him for giving me a place to garden and a crop to share. I continued to do that all summer.
Obedience is sweet, too.
(Whoever gives to the poor lends to the LORD; and whatever is given the Lord will repay. Proverbs 19:17)
