Give It Your Best

Leviticus 27:30,32
"All tithes from the land, whether the seed from the ground or the fruit from the tree, are the Lord's, they are holy to the Lord. All tithes of herd and flock, every tenth one that passes under the shepherd's staff, shall be holy to the Lord."

October is the time for the pledge campaign and prayerful consideration of the scriptural imperative of tithing. There's not much in Leviticus to tell us what sort of attitude the folk had when they gave up their ten percent. Nevertheless, I like the idea that the tithes of "herd and flock were holy to the Lord." What we do is not simply a financial transaction. We are not engaging in a fund raising campaign at All Saints like a public radio or television pledge campaign. In our faith we are talking about something that God regards as holy.

Perhaps its easier to talk about our spiritual gifts this way. It is easier to see that our talents are God given. If I were good at numbers (I'm not), I could develop this gift into being a CPA or an engineer. In that way I can take God's gift and leverage it into something that is beneficial to others and well as income producing for my family.

The money we earn is a result of God's gifts, not only of talent, but of material abundance. We are giving a holy gift when we give our time, talent, and treasure to God. When you love someone and you want to give that person a gift, do you check first for opportunites for "regifting" something or do you give it your best effort?

Ask yourself what it means to Give God your best rather than your leftovers.

Pick Up Your Cross

Luke 14:27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

It was the practice in first century Palestine that when someone was to be crcified, the criminal had to carry the horizontal piece of the cross through town. People could throw things at the criminal who would not be in a postition to defend himself. Jesus is saying that when you follow him, you will be exposed in this way. As our society is increasingly less supportive of Christian behavior as a norm, we, as Christians may , for example, suffer some ridicule for using vacation time to go to scenic Biloxi to do construction work. I just read in the paper today that there is a 5K family walk in Baker Park on Sunday morning September 9. While faithful church attenders are now a minority, we have not reached the level of persecution of first cnetury Palestine. Try to imagine what it would be like to go to Yankee Stadium and cheer for the Boston red Sox for a glimpse of what it would feel like to be a despised outsider.

Ask yourself what you are willing to endure for your faith? Not everyone is called to die as a martyr, but each of us is called to pick up a cross -- our unique cross. What is your cross? Where do you get help when your cross is too heavy? Keep in mind that "[His] yoke is easy and [His] burden is light." (Matthew 11:30)