“Don Campbell – THE BLESSING OF GIVING – Numbers 7 Ref: Luke 21:1-4”

From February 26th, 2019

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Rev. Don Campbell

Numbers 7

THOUGHT FOR TODAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

THE BLESSING OF GIVING

Today’s reading has 89 verses, making it the longest chapter in the first five books of the Bible and tells of the offerings brought by the 12 heads of the 12 tribes given for the benefit of the priests. If you made it to the end of the chapter you know that the chiefs brought identical gifts. A style critic might tell us that this was redundant, and Moses should have stopped writing after verse 11.

If there is a lesson for us to learn from these 89 verses, perhaps it is this: God takes note of each individual gift, not just the aggregate, which you can arrive at, should you wish, by multiplying every gift by 12.

Suppose that a congregation of 100 family units, which could be one person of many, is trying to raise money to add an addition to their building. They need $100,000 for the project. One family gives $20,000. Ninety give $8,000 a piece for a total of $92,000. Four give $2,000 each for a total of $8,000. Five give $20 each for a total of $100. The congregation exceeded its goal by $100. Who gave the most?

The answer is not found in the arithmetic. A collection was being taken, and “Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:1-4). If the five were widows or otherwise of limited means, then they may have given more than all the others combined.

God takes note of gifts large and small and credits everything given freely and cheerfully to our account: “For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance may supply your need, that there may be fairness. As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack” (2 Cor 8:13).

CONNECTIONS Acts 20:35

1. Since the goal of the hypothetical congregation was met without the five $20 gifts from the widows, should their money be returned to them? Why or why not? (Acts 20:35).

2. In praising the widow’s giving, is Jesus condemning anyone’s having an abundance? Why or why not?