Worship and Giving (Notes)

What is Worship?

1. "Worship" comes from the Old English word weordhscipe of "worth-ship". It originally meant the worthiness of certain people and hence the respect or honour they were reckoned to deserve.

2. When we talk about worship of God, we mean that absolute value we place on him as our Creator and our commitment to serve him as our Lord.

3. What we truly worship is evident in what is most important in our lives. What has highest value for us? What is most important for us? What is the central focus of our lives? What do we worship?

What is the Focus of our Worship?

An American missionary couple had sent their son home for tertiary studies. They hoped very much that he would keep a strong interest in missionary work. Perhaps in time he would hear God's call to missionary service. So in one of their letters home they sent a photo of a pagan shrine and the words, "Son, remember that they worship this here." His following letter enclosed a ten-dollar note - "Mum and Dad, they worship this here!"

Why should we worship God?

We worship God because -

1. He truly is the greatest. We do many creative and clever things, using the potential he has built into the universe and into us. In worship, we lay our creativity and cleverness before him - he is the Creator and Lord!

2. He is the source and measure of goodness. We may choose to set all our own rules or we may try to live by the ones he has given us. Either way, the truth is that we are sinners. In worship, we lay our moral failures before him - he is the final Judge of all our actions.

3. He is love. Love is his character. He has reached down to sinners. He wants to forgive us - that's why Jesus died for us. He invites us to be part of his family. We worship because the awesome, holy God makes us welcome.

Why should we give to God?

We give to God because -

1. We ourselves and all we have are God's. Our time, our talents, our opportunities, our possessions... all are ours on loan from him. We belong to him by our creation and our redemption.

2. In Old and New Testaments alike, God has made it clear that giving is to be part of our response to him.

3. The God who expects us to give is the same God who has promised to provide our needs. Giving is an act of commitment and trust.

4. God has committed to human believers the task of telling the Good News. Giving is part of our commitment to that task and enables it to happen.

How much should we give to God?

How much we give is personal and private - a matter between ourselves and God. But too often we say that - and never really ask God about it! Both Old and New Testaments tell us -

1. each is to give "as he is able, in proportion to the blessings that the Lord your God has given him" (Deut. 16.16-17);

2. "each of you is to set aside some money, in proportion to what he has earned" (1 Cor. 16.2).

   Tithe for the maintenance of the Levites. Tithe for the purposes of the festival. Tithe for the poor. Wave-sheaves. First-fruits. Ungathered fruit left for the poor. Tithes of the increase of cattle and vines. The cost of sacrifices and loss of time involved in worship at Jerusalem every three years.

3. The Jews were expected to tithe (give 10%). Actually there were several tithes. When they brought the full tithes, they knew the blessing and provision of God.

4. The proportion is to be fixed on our knees (with bowed spirits), kept for God and used only for his glory.

Giving and Faith

We live in days when politicians have asked us to trust them - and then have seriously let us down.

Malachi was calling on the people of his time to trust God. We sometimes talk in a rather nebulous way about trusting God. Malachi was quite specific. In their failure to bring the full amount of the tithes and offerings they wre cheating God - a serious offence. But to bring their full tithes and offerings would not just be obedience, but trust, for God was promising to "pour out in abundance all kinds of good things."

We hear a lot these days about economic rationalism and, yes, budgets do have to balance. The question for us all, as we reflect on the stewardship of money, is whether we calculate what we need and give God the left-overs, or whether we are truly putting God first and trusting him that there will be sufficient for our needs.

Jesus said it is safe to do that. "You cannot serve God and money." Our heavenly Father knows all our needs - "be concerned above everything else with the Kingdom of God and what what he requires of you, and he will provide you with all these other things."

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