IT IS MORE BLESSED TO GIVE.....

It is More Blessed to Give . . .


Claudia was troubled.1  The year’s biggest celebration was coming and
she had no gift to give her host family.  An exchange student from a
Europe still struggling to rebuild after World War II, her wealthy
host family seemed to her to have everything in the world anyone could
ever want.

What can you give people who already have everything?

Her host family had been so kind and generous to her.  She knew in the
up-coming celebration they would shower her with gifts as they did
their own children.  What did she have to offer people who had no
needs and could buy for themselves anything that struck their fancy?

The big day drew closer and closer.  Finally, two days before, Claudia
knew just what she could do.  Taking a bus downtown, she went to a
nice department store and bought the prettiest baby dress her money
could buy and had it gift-wrapped.  Leaving the store, she approached
the doorman and asked, “Pardon, but you know where I can find where
poor family live?”

He looked at her askance and turned away.  She approached a policeman.

“A poor family?  You don’t want to go there, miss.  That part of the
city isn’t safe.  You go on home now and have a nice holiday.”

New York City is busy at any time of year and two days before a major
holiday is no exception.  Claudia felt very alone as busy shoppers
rushed past.  She began walking not knowing where to go next to finish
her plan, worried that she would fail.

After awhile, she came to streets that were not as affluent as those
she had been used to since coming to America.  Here, the buildings
were more run down; the people, not so nicely dressed.  She heard the
tinkling of a bell and, to her relief, saw a man in a red uniform
ringing a bell next to a Salvation Army offering bucket.  She knew the
Salvation Army.  They were in Europe, too.

Hesitant, shy, fearful of being rebuffed again, Claudia approached the
man.  “Pardon, but you know where I can find poor family?”

The man, a kindly grandfather sort, sensed there was more to the
question.  At his encouragement, her words, in stumbling English, fell
on sympathetic ears.

The Salvation Army officer understood.  “Yes, I do know a poor family.
Too many, in fact.  My shift is almost over.  If you can wait a few
minutes, I will take you to one.”

Hailing a taxi cab a little while later, the man gave directions to a
tall tenement building.  It certainly was poor.  Claudia had not known
such poverty even existed in America.  The Salvation Army officer got
out and held the door open for Claudia.  She shook her head.

“No.  Please, you take gift to them.  It is not mine to give.  Please
explain: it is gift from someone who has everything.”

The cabbie drove her safely home but would not let her pay for the
fare.  He had listened to their conversation and was a man of
understanding as well.

The big day of celebration arrived.  The piles of presents did not
disappoint.  Claudia, as she had expected, received many generous
gifts.  When all had been opened, shyly, hesitantly, she tried, in her
halting English, to explain why there appeared to be no gift from her.

“Please understand.  I want to give you very special gift.  But you
have so much already.  You need nothing I can give.  Nothing I can buy
can show my thank you from my heart for all you do for me.  So, I buy
prettiest baby dress I can find and give it to very poor family.  They
need much.  I give it in your name.  Is gift from you.”

The gratitude of the poor family was for them, Claudia explained, not
her.  This was her gift to them, who had everything.

Silence enveloped the room.  Tears stood in the eyes of her host
family.  The beauty of her love gift was remembered long after Claudia
returned home and continued on, as it inspired them to “go and do
likewise” in the years to come.

A heart that loves, wants to give.  Gratitude for love received finds
its expression in giving in return.

But what do you give the one who has everything?

God has everything.  In fact, He is the source of everything!
What can a human give his Creator when everything is His to begin
with?

God Himself has told us the sort of gift He values most:

Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this: to visit
orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted
from the world.  (See James 1:27.)

God does not need a new shirt.  He has no use for a book, a watch
or the latest computerized gadget.  The gifts God cherishes are
those gifts He would give were He on earth: loving, kind deeds; words
of cheer and encouragement; food and clothes for those who need them;
heavenly truths for the hungry soul.  “Assuredly, I say to you,
inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you
did it to Me.”  (Matthew 25:40

Anything that is done to relieve the suffering or the ignorance of
another is accepted by God as a personal gift, given to Him.
Jesus assured: “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My
name, because ye belong to Christ, verily, I say to you, he
shall not lose his reward.”  (Mark 9:41)  Even
alleviating someone’s thirst, is accepted as done for God!

The reason is simple: The Heavenly Father and Jesus feel everything felt by
their earthly children.  “For we have not an high priest which cannot
be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points
temped like as we are.”  (Hebrews 4:15, KJV)  Therefore, if someone is
suffering hunger, God feels the pangs of hunger as well.  A gift
of food provides relief from the pain felt by the hungry person which,
in turn, relieves the pain God feels when one of His children is
suffering.

Words of hope and faith spoken to encourage a troubled, hurting soul,
eases the emotional pain felt by God when one of His children is
sad and discouraged.  Probably the greatest gift of all that can be
given is the knowledge of truth.  Multitudes are living in sorrow and
the blindness of error and superstition.  Giving them the gift of
truth, so that they can rejoice in God’s salvation and be saved
into His eternal kingdom, is a gift especially treasured by the
Heavenly Father.

It is important for people who hold home churches and have no
organized structure to which to give their monies to understand the
principles of returning tithes and offerings.  There are a number of
ways one can return to God what is His – even when one is
attending home church.

There is a difference between tithes and offerings.  Tithes are given
to God for the express purpose of advancing His work on earth,
either in the support of His servants, or in the spread of the gospel.
Offerings, on the other hand, are gifts given to God out of
gratitude and love.  These love-gifts may take a variety of forms and
include much more than money.

Offerings

Jesus was not just our Redeemer.  He was also our example of how to
live.  He was the world’s greatest teacher, but before teaching the
people the truths of salvation, He first met the physical needs of the
people.  He healed their diseases, gave sight to the blind, hearing to
the deaf, relief to the demon possessed, and courage to the faint of
heart.  When needed, He even provided food for them!  Once their
hearts were warmed with gratitude, the people were more open to
hearing the words of divine truth He wanted to share.

In following His example, it is perfectly acceptable for believers to
use their offerings in alleviating suffering around them.  Scripture
is full of admonishment to show mercy and kindness to those in need.

Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts: Execute true justice,and show mercy and
compassion man to his brother.  And oppress not the widow nor the
fatherless, the stranger nor the poor.  (See Zechariah 7:9, 10.)

If you know an elderly man who does not have enough to eat, a gift of
food to help him in his distress, is an offering of love God
delights to receive.  It was the custom of devout Israelites to take
food to beggars on the sixth day of the week so that their wants could
be met and they would not have to beg over the holy hours of the
Sabbath.

If there is a single mother struggling to support her children, gifts
of winter coats and boots that meet a specific need are an acceptable
offering to God, for when the distress of His earthly children is
comforted, His own suffering with them is comforted.

God’s heart of love is always touched whenever there is suffering.
His attention is focused on those in need, and anyone who works to
alleviate that need, works with God and the gifts thus given, are
truly offerings given to Him.

He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which
he hath given will He pay him again.  (See Proverbs 19:17.)

A gift is different than a loan.  A gift is given without any
expectation of return.  A loan, on the other hand, is merely lent for
a specified period of time with the expectation that it will be
returned to the owner at a later date.  It is impossible to out-give
God.  He is the source of all generous giving.  Offerings given to
the poor and needy are considered by God to be a loan.  He will
make sure that the giver is never left in want, but will more than
restore anything given to help another.  God even keeps an
accounting of food and hospitality that is given to bless His saints,
and will make sure the giver receives a full reward.  “He that hath a
bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the
poor.”  (Proverbs 22:9, KJV)

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.”2 These words have lost none of their
force through the lapse of time. Our Heavenly Father still continues
to place in the pathway of his children opportunities that are
blessings in disguise; and those who improve these opportunities find
great joy. “If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the
afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy
darkness be as the noonday: and the Lord shall guide thee
continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water,
whose waters fail not.”3

To his faithful servants today Jesus says, “He that
receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him
that sent me.” No act of kindness shown in his name will fail to be
recognized and rewarded. And in the same tender recognition . . .
Jesus includes even the feeblest and lowliest of the family of God.4

In our modern world, it is easy to take too limited a view on just
what constitutes “tithes and offerings.”  It is easy to think that
unless it is money given to support an organization it cannot count as
tithe or offering.  However, this is not consistent with Scripture.

Ancient Israel was an agrarian society: the people were, for the most
part, farmers, ranchers and shepherds.  Tithe could be paid in
animals, jugs of oil, bushels of fruit, bags of grain or barrels of
flour.  Offerings could be anything one desired to give God.

A woman who was good with needlework, could embroider a fine piece of
cloth, or weave something on her loom.  When her family traveled to
the tabernacle for the Feast of Tabernacles, her husband might bring
bags of grain as tithe on the increase of his farm, but she could also
bring a personal offering: a love gift to show her gratitude to
God for His blessings throughout the year.

Because not everyone could travel every year to Jerusalem for the
feasts, allowance was also made for those who, for whatever reason,
could not make the journey.  A second tithe was saved for the express
purpose of hosting the poor in one’s own home for an annual feast.
God cares for the poor, the sick and the elderly.  He made
provision for all to share in the blessings of the feasts.

Those who were too poor to bear the expense of traveling to Jerusalem
could still enjoy the blessings of a bountiful harvest and the
spiritual feast by accepting the hospitality of those who had more.
Thus, the entire Hebrew economy was based on a system of generosity
and helping the poor and needy.  Such gifts, although not monetary,
were considered offerings and were accepted by God as gifts given
to Him.

He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his
eyes shall have many a curse.  (Proverbs 28:27, KJV)

Tithes

Unlike offering, tithe is not a gift one gives to God.  Tithe
already belongs to Him!  In fact, everything belongs to the Creator.
He owns it all because He made it all!

Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of
hosts.  But ye said, Wherein shall we return?

Will a man rob God]?  Yet ye have robbed me.  But ye say,
Wherein have we robbed thee?  In tithes and offerings.  (Malachi 3:7,
8, KJV)

God graciously allows us to use 9/10s of everything He gives us.
His only request is that we return 1/10 to Him.  While offerings may
be any gift given in love to God, in the person of His saints,
tithe is for the express purpose of advancing His truth in the earth.

This can be done by supporting His servants directly; either with
money, food, or whatever else one has that can provide for their
support in their work of spreading the gospel.  Tithe can also be
returned in a number of other ways.  Any expenditure that supports the
spread of truth qualifies as giving tithe.  This includes purchasing
Bibles and other spiritual materials to be shared with others.

Those who do not have their own printers, can return their tithe by
printing off truth-filled articles at Internet Cafés and having them
copied at copy shops.  These can then be shared with others.  The work of salvation can be
greatly advanced if all who have tithe would put it directly into the
work of advancing truth within their own circle of influence.

God has promised to bless abundantly those who return to Him the
tithe that belongs to Him.

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts,
if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not
destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her
fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.

And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome
land, saith the Lord of hosts.  (Malachi 3:10-12, KJV)

God has promised a supernatural blessing on all who trust Him
enough to unselfishly return to Him tithes and offerings.  No one
should feel that his tithe is too small to count, or that her gift
will not make a difference.  It is God who gives the increase!  (1
Corinthians 3: 6, 7)

Regardless of the work one does, or the amount of tithes and offerings
he returns, God looks upon the heart, and in proportion to the
desire of the giver, He supplies the increase.

A small gift, given from a pure heart of love, in humble faith, will
receive a greater reward than thousands of dollars given from a
motivation of self-seeking and pride.

Jesus wanted to make sure everyone understood this point.  One day,
as He was in the Temple with His disciples,

He looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury,
and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.

So He said, “Of a truth I say unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more
than they all; for all these have of their of their abundance have cast in unto the offerings
of God, but she of her penury hath cast in all the
living that she had.”  (Luke 21:1-4

The wealthy who were giving a lot of money, had plenty of money left
over.  The poor widow had only two mites to give.  However, she gave
more than all the rest put together, because she “put in all the
livelihood that she had.”  In other words, the small amount of money
that she had to sustain her for that day, was what she gave: she gave
everything.

As a result, her reward will be that much greater than the wealthy who
put in a lot, but had much more left over.  Someday in Heaven, the
Saviour will show her what was the result of her unselfish giving:
missionaries and doctors were sent to all parts of the world,
hospitals were built, schools and orphanages were supported.  What
began as a tiny trickle with two mites, grew and grew until it swelled
into a mighty ocean of benevolence and generosity, all inspired and
made possible by her example of self-forgetful giving.  How great will
be her reward!

What is in your hand?  What is in your power to return to God?
The form of the love-gift does not matter.  The amount of the tithe
makes no difference.  All that counts is the love that prompts the
gift.  All that matters is the desire to work with God in
spreading His truth.

Not even the smallest gift will fail of receiving an abundant return.
Great will be the reward of all who give of what they have to the
Master.

________________________________

1 Name has been changed to protect privacy.

2 Hebrews 13:2

3 See Isaiah 58.

4 E. G. White, “The Reward of Hospitality,” Review & Herald, August 28, 1913.