Heart & Soul - Part 5 (Contribute)
May 15, 2022Today's message was given by Pastor Patrick Tanton. A video of the message is here.
We became partners with God in building the kingdom at Creation. A literal translation of Genesis 2:2 includes "God had finished all the work He created to do." For whom to do? God? With this immediately following the creation of humans in the previous chapter, one reasonable interpretation would be it is the human race that now has something "to do." There's stuff left to do. Humans are now in God's creation to carry on building it. That's the macro. In the micro, everyone of us has something to do to finish building creation, the kingdom. Seems like "serving" to me.
Speaking of Creation, it's pretty clear right from the get go, long before Psalms 24:1, that everything is the Lord's. Out of nothing, God created everything, and by extension, everything that flows from that initial creative event. Case closed.
When it comes to giving money, the Torah is quite clear. Tithing, 10%. And that's off the top, e.g. first priority. Charity is more than tithing, including giving money and other less tangible things (e.g. advice/expertise) to those in need. The tithe was for the church which for early Israelites was the priesthood and the Levites who supported the priests in service.
Oikonomos (stewarding resources) relates to the Biblical Hebrew word hab-ba-yit which has a strong "household" connotation, as in a household manager. You could think of building our house and/or building God's house (vs. kingdom).
What did "building the kingdom" mean to the early Israelites? God made that pretty clear. It was why the Jews were chosen. Hear and obey my laws and pass them on to, teach, the world; be a light to the world, a kingdom of priests to the nations. And teach your future generations of Israelites through study and ritual. Do not we Christians see our role similarly? Take the good news and what it means to the world.
Bonus
"How great are Your works, O Lord" (Psalm 92:5).
The family had a little front yard Lunar Eclipse party last night. The moon show was only slightly better than watching the kids play around rolled up in blankets and riding kid toys. The nice moon photo was taken with a cellphone looking into a little tabletop 30x telescope; whodathought.