In the state of Ohio, it is illegal to get a fish drunk. For all of you heading south for summer vacation, if you visit Alabama, you cannot wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church. In Alaska, you cannot wake a sleeping bear to take a photo.
I think there is a tendency exists to think of the tithe in a similar fashion. We think of it as an old-fashioned law that belonged to a different time and place. When Jesus died to fulfill the Law, we think of the tithe as an old requirement that doesn't belong to modernity. I've seen statistics that put giving around 2.5% of income for Christians.
But whenever Jesus talked about Old Testament requirements, he never lowered the standard for how we should obey them. He fulfilled the parts of the Law that focused on ceremony, but when it came to giving to God, that aspect remains.
In Malachi, the prophet accuses the people of robbing God by not bringing the whole tithe into the storehouse. The prophet invites the people to test God, and tells them that God is ready to throw open the windows of heaven and pour down blessings. I love that image.
I don't think tithing is formulaic, where God does something once we do something else. God's not at our beck and call to fulfill our desires if we put the right coin in the vending machine.
But I also believe that we're invited to give generously, to give richly, to give of our firstfruits to God, and when we truly give of ourselves to God, when we live with God's Kingdom first in our hearts and minds, then we experience blessings.
We're invited to test God, to see what might happen. May we have the wisdom to put God first and do just that!
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