Friday, January 30, 2009

Tithing, Jubilee, Sabbath Years...

We have all been here before, if we've been around for a while. Needs come up and I mention the basket, and then there's a question about tithing, and before we know it, my phone is blowing up with all kinds of WONDERFUL, AMAZING, GREAT, INTELLIGENT, BEAUTIFUL DISCOVERIES!!!

I
Love
the
way
you
people
learn
from
Jesus.

I love that you call me up and say, "Hey, what's the deal with the Jubilee..." or the sabbath year cycles, or gleaning, or alms, or all that... I love that we discover together that the Mosaic law of the tithe is a THING that we can look at and discover and understand and examine...

i love that you aren't powerless to evaluate what you hear, anymore. I love that you know that you can understand things, because you trust in Him and in His word. I love that you will save me from stumbling one day, if I need it!

I love the idea that someday I'll be knocked down, but good. There I'll be, with my hopes shattered and my mind riven by black despair. And there you will all be, armed with the Word--even the words that I've said myself so many times--ready to teach me what I taught you and what we are all being taught!

I love that I need you people, and that I have no strength or authority on my own--that my strength and authority derive, not from my perfect alignment with God's Word (hah!), but from His perfect Love for me, who is Jesus Christ the Friend of Sinners! And that perfect Love, who is Jesus, is in you who are becoming wise and strong all around me.

I am watching a forest of people growing on all sides, and what was once a barren plain, destroyed by war and fire, is now host to all kinds of richness and life, yet wild and untamed...


...where the wild things are!
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2 comments:

  1. LewJanuary 30, 2009 at 3:59 AM

    and by the by... i won't pass up a chance to say that nobody better be trying to get you to live by the law. Live by Jesus, Himself, who isn't talking to you about checking some 10% box on your card, but is talkign about the riches and poverties of LOVE.

    so live loved, and love. we'll see on That Day what meant what! And take care of each other! Take people into your homes! What?!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DoctorEricFebruary 24, 2009 at 8:44 PM

    The tithe thing can be a can of worms if you let it be.
    I can't tell you how many churches I've heard preach it, and in many unhealthy ways (prosperity gospel, a la Malachi 3:10; sacrament, equal to baptism and Lord's supper; Law, equal to 10 Commandments; etc.)
    I'd like to hear what you came up with, although I bet I already have a good idea!

    ReplyDelete

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