Today in our series on the various elements of our Sunday morning worship we are looking at the offering given and received in worship.  We are especially focusing today on the giving of money in our offering.  Later, with the conclusion of this series on July 30^th, we will look at our response to God in the giving of our lives to God.  Our Scripture readings for today are just three verses, one from the Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and two verses from the beginning of the twelfth chapter of Romans. (Read Malachi 3:10 and Romans 12:1, 2)

In every worship service we take an offering.  That is, if we follow the direction of John Calvin, the founding father of Presbyterianism, who believed every service—if we were going to call it “worship”—included a moment for giving back to God.  Calvin makes sense—not because the church needs the money, although certainly the ministry and mission of the church can’t happen without it.  Rather, Calvin is right that every service of worship should include an offering because we need to worshipfully respond to God’s grace with gratitude.  The church could simply have you mail your offering envelopes in, or just bring them by the office sometime.  With today’s technology, we could probably even set up online payments!  But, the place for our offering is within worship.  If you pay your pledge in advance, or perhaps monthly, even then, in each and every worship service at the time for the offering, recall your giving with a humble prayer of gratitude to God.

Taking an offering in worship is not controversial.  Visit any church on Sunday morning and I’m quite sure there’s a time for the offering.  I forgot to call for the offering once.  When I was in seminary I was back in Colorado during a break and was invited by our home church in Greeley to assist in worship.  Somewhat nervously, I did my assignment of prayers and Scripture readings, then sat down next to the pastor, who looked at me for a moment with a bemused expression on his face while I wondered why there was nothing happening—absolute silence.  Finally, he said to me, “You might want to introduce the offering.”  Somewhere between the prayers and the Scripture readings and all, I’d forgotten to call for the offering!  I can guarantee you we weren’t going to just skip it!  In good Calvin fashion, we were going to have an offering even if we had to go back for it!  I have heard of churches that pass the offering plates again when the feeling is the giving the first time wasn’t enough!  I’ve heard of churches that publicize what every member gives!  Don’t worry; we’re not going to do that here!  Because it misses the point.  The point is, the offering is an act of worship, an expression of gratitude to God and it is between God and you.

The key in such an offering, as Calvin reminds us, is gratitude.  Our offering is an expression of gratitude to God.  It is not, first and foremost, about supporting the ministry and mission of the church.  It is that, but not first and foremost—not even close.  The offering, first and foremost, is all about our response to God for what God has done for us.  In that sense, of course, we can never give enough.  How do we repay God for all He has done for us?  In the economy of God, God gives first.  And God gives to us for our benefit.  In turn, we are to use wisely everything that God gives us, to exercise good stewardship over everything given us.  Then, in the economy of God, we are to give a portion back to God as an expression of our gratitude for all God has given us.  The Biblical model of that portion given back is a tithe, 10% given back to God as the passage in Malachi tells us.  It is not a demand, not an obligation—in some faiths it is, but not in ours.  Rather, it is a guide, a goal for our expression of gratitude.  God wants us to give cheerfully and not under compulsion.  However, more than anything else we might say or do about our faith, what we give back to God in our offering communicates the most about where and in whom our faith and trust resides.

Our Book of Order, again, is most helpful here.  Some of the writing in the Book of Order can be tedious and difficult, but its words about our worship is a rich mine of valuable nuggets.  For example, regarding our offering as being an expression of our faith and trust, the Book of Order says this:

“Giving has always been a mark of Christian commitment and discipleship.  The ways in which a believer uses God’s gifts of material goods, personal abilities, and time should reflect a faithful response to God’s self-giving in Jesus Christ and Christ’s call to minister to and share with others in the world.  Tithing is a primary expression of the Christian discipline of stewardship.” (Book of Order, W-5.5004)

Giving has always been a mark of Christian commitment and discipleship.  How we give, what we give says a great deal about our faith…and our worship.

As for our giving of money, or, in the language of the Book of Order, our giving of “material goods,” it says:

“God created the material universe and pronounced it good.  The covenant community understood that the material world reflects the glory of God.  They also came to see that material realities can be a means for expressing suitable praise and thanksgiving to God…The prophets warned, however, against offering the material as a substitute for offering the self to God.” (Book of Order, W-1.3031)

By the way, the “material universe” being understood as good is a specific denouncement of the Da Vinci Code-like Gnosticism that views the material world as bad.  No, it is not bad.  God created it.  It is good.  It is for us to use wisely and it is for us to use in a grateful, worshipful response back to God.  Note, however, that the giving of material goods alone is not enough.  We are to give of ourselves, our “time” and “talents” as well—about which we’ll have more to say on July 30^th regarding our final response in worship to God.  “Hands on” giving along with material goods is always better than giving material goods alone.  This is something the Jeffco Action Center has learned.  As a member of the Board of Directors, I’ve learned what “POE” means in the Jeffco Action Center vernacular.  It means “point of entry” and it is an intentional effort to invite monetary supporters of Jeffco Action Center into a “hands on” experience of what takes place at the Center.  The same is true for the Church, as the Book of Order and the prophets remind us.  Giving of material resources is good.  It is made even better, in God’s economy, by the giving of ourselves to the work of the Kingdom.  So, while the topic of giving of ourselves will be more directly addressed on the 30^th, a question that arises in validating our giving of material goods is, Where is your point of entry in the ministry and mission of the church that brings greater meaning to your offering of material goods?