CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FOUR
SCRIPTURAL REASONS FOR GIVING
When our Lord was once questioned as to the rightness or otherwise of paying taxes to the Roman rulers,
He replied: "Render to Czsar the things that are Cezsar's, and to God the things that are God's"' (Matt.
22221):
Man, the creature, is bound to give of his substance to God his Creator. It is again and again stated that God is not only the Creator of all, but also the Giver of all things. And it is man's duty to give to Him of His own.
The Jews were urged to make their offerings to. God on the additional ground that they had been redeemed from Egypt. Since He had redeemed them, it was urged, they ought to show their gratitude to Him by bringing to His temple a part of all their substance—of all they enjoyed in the land that He had given them for an inheritance.
There are thus three grounds upon which Scripture urges the duty of giving: God the Owner of all; God the Giver of all; God the Redeemer of all. Therefore,
** Render to God the things that are God's ". What does recognition of God's ownership of all things mean? The Scriptures state this in various ways.
Psalm 24:1 says: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof "'. It is interesting to remember that the Jewish grace before meals probably included the recitation of this verse. The Jew was thus constantly reminded of the fact that he owed his food to the Giver of all good gifts, whose is the earth and all the fullness of its bounty.
If we own land and enjoy its gifts, let us remember that exactly as the State has a claim upon it and there-
fore to the State the tax is rightly due, so also it belongs to God, and, in consequence, to God is rightly due a share of the income from it."
See further Psalm 50:10-12:
" Every beast of the forest ig mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the air, and all that moves in the field is mine', The inspired Psalmist reminds us that our farm cattle and domestic fowls, too, ultimately belong to God.
We thus see the reason for the prophetic teaching that the first-born of all the cattle and fowls ought to be given to God in recognition of this ownership.
Further, in David's prayer in 1 Chronicles 29 : 11, 12, 14, the acknowledgment is made: "All that is in the heavens and in the earth is thine.
. Both riches and honour come from thee. .
. All things come from thee, and of thy own have we given thee "'. It is good for us to read such a frank recognition of God's right to all.
It is equally good to be reminded that, when we give to God of our substance, we are only giving to Him what really belongs to Him. When David and the people of Israel willingly offered various articles for the building of the Temple, David prays: "O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building thee a house for thy holy name comes from thy hand, and is all thy own " (1 Chronicles 29: 16).
God Himself gives to all life and breath and all other things. " In him we live and move and have our being "
(Acts 17 : 28), and St. Paul adds that this recognition that God is the permanent source of our life and being is found even in ancient non-Christian poets. Our dependence upon God moment by moment is a truth universally acknowledged. What the Psalmist says of the animal world is true of man, too:— "These all look to thee, to give them their food in due season.
*In India all land is regarded traditionally as belonging to the State; those who use the land are " occupiers"' or tenants.
When thou givest to them, they gather it up; when thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good things.
When thou hidest thy face, they are dismayed; when thou takest away their breath, they die and return to their dust" (Psalm 104: 27-29).
Hence our prayers in the morning on rising, and our prayers at night before going to bed. These ought to be
_ constant reminders that day by day we receive from the hands of our loving Father life, breath, and all things we value in life.
From the earliest days man recognized that all the increase of the earth and the increase of the cattle came from the bountiful hands of God, and that it was man's duty to acknowledge this bounty by offering Him gifts
Does not the ancient story of Cain and Abel indicate this? "Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions."
(Genesis 4 : 2-4).
St. Paul refers to this universal truth in his address to the heathen people in Lystra. God " did good "', he says, "' and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14 : 17).
When the Israelites were given possession of the land of Canaan, they were enjoined to give to God and His worship a portion of whatever they enjoyed as the produce of the land.
The three Feasts that every Jew was directed to observe were all festivals connected with agricultural operations. The first was the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
It occurred at the time when they began to " put the sickle to the standing grain"' (Deuteronomy 16 : 9); it synchronized with the first cutting of barley—the earlier crop—and the people were enjoined to bring " the sheaf of the first fruits of their harvest " to God for an offering
(Leviticus 23 : 10). The second was the Feast of Weeks,
which came seven weeks after the first barley harvest.
This took place at the end of the reaping season, when all wheat and barley had been cut and gathered, and marked specially the termination of the wheat harvest
(Deuteronomy 16 : 9,10). The third was the Feast of Tabernacles—the Jewish Harvest Festival, celebrated when all the harvests of fruit, oil and wine had been gathered in (Deuteronomy 16 : 13). All the three festivals thus were connected with harvests of one kind or another, and at all three the Israelites were to make their thankofferings to God in recognition of the fact that all the produce of the land was a bounty from the hands of God Himself, and that He was entitled to such an acknowledgment of the fact.
Deuteronomy enjoins: "The Lord your God will bless you in all your produce, and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful. Three times in a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God . .. and they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which he has given you" (16: 15-17).
Someone may here object that, after all, the harvest is the result of the husbandman's labours, and that he is certainly entitled to the fruit of his toil. This is true enough; but the Bible looks deeper than this obvious point. Deuteronomy says:
" You shall remember the Lord your God,. for it is he who gives you power to get wealth " (8 : 18).
When we come to the New Testament we are confronted with additional arguments for generous giving.
Our Lord's answer to the Scribe who asked which was the first commandment is well known: " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength "
(Mark 12 : 30). One way of showing our love to God with all our mind and with all our strength is surely by consecrating to Him what we earn with our mind and
our strength, and offering to Him of our earnings !
In setting forth the commandments regarding giving to the poor, the prophets often reminded the Israelites that it was their duty to help the poor, because once they had themselves been poor, needing other people's help and sympathy. After the injunctions regarding free-will offerings and harvest offerings at the time of the Feast of Weeks, it is said: " You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt: and you shall be careful to observe these statutes"? (Deuteronomy 16 : 12). Gratitude for God's redeeming mercies was made the ground upon which generous giving was recommended.
Far greater in scope and extent than the redemption of Israel from Egypt was the universal redemption of the Cross. When the Apostle Paul urges sacrificial giving upon the Christians at Corinth, he draws his argument from Jesus Christ Himself : " You know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich ". And again, as the crown of all arguments, he adds: " Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift "
(2 Corinthians 8 : 9; 9 : 15).
These, then, are the fundamental reasons why we should give—God is the Creator and Preserver of all;
God is the Giver of all good gifts; God is our Redeemer.
We therefore owe our all to Him.