I'm so thankful for Thanksgiving Break. This is simply because it gives me a reason to fly home, gather around the table with my lovely family, and indulge in Chinese food to make up for all the lost time I haven't had it in New Jersey. I have finally returned home.
It has been 2 and a half months since becoming a youth pastor, and boy, has time flewn. It was just yesterday I met this filipino community, getting acquainted through the college group, the first youth night, and we cannot forget the first Sunday morning when they presented that awkward, expanded picture they took from facebook to be shown on powerpoint. Now, they've come closer and closer to being family to me. As I've been reflecting on how the Lord has transformed my heart as I've been in this filipino community -- besides daily growing more in love with his Word and experiencing the struggles of ministry -- the word firstfruits have raced into the forefront of my mind.
Let me tell you a story that I was told; a story that we, as a church was told on a Sunday morning.
A young couple was sharing a testimony one Sunday on why they give. They were both born in the Philippines, and they had met at my church, Bible Church International. They eventually got married and lived on a very low budget. Month by month, they were getting by, constantly trusting that the Lord would provide. The husband's income would not be able to pay off the house they owned, nor the car they drove; it took both of them. They knew their expenses were tight. They were living from paycheck to paycheck. Even so, they continued to tithe, knowing that giving to God was their call. They knew that even before building their own houses, that building the house of God was their priority. They could trust in the sovereignty of God in the midst of their finances and they desired to continue in their faithful response of worship to God by giving what they had. One day, the wife saw person after person getting laid off, and eventually she did as well. They had begun to give themselves to despair. How would they pay their rent? How could they pay off their car? It was impossible. The day drew near to pay their rent, and they knew that they would not be able to gather enough scraps to give the full payment. They would be living on the streets! In the midst of this struggle, they believed in the power of God. When the offering plate came by, they handed in the little that they had, praying for the Lord's provision. That day, with many brothers and sisters lifting up their prayer requests to the Lord, two generous individuals within the church gave them money enough to cover their rent cost and more. Their obedience to God gave them a taste of the early church community; where no one had any lack. This is as accurate a story as I can remember.
As I've received paycheck after paycheck, it hasn't been a struggle to tithe enough, but it has been a struggle to tithe even when it is inconvenient. Certain weeks, I'd remind myself of my low budget, promising myself that I'd tithe after the next paycheck. Many Sundays, I'd forget to tithe, promising myself that I'd tithe the week after. The truth is, week by week, tithing is not always convenient; and I also believe that tithing wasn't always meant to be convenient. The imageries within the scriptures automatically come to mind of the Corinthian church. Paul exhorted them for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. And also, the story of the widow's offering in Luke 21, when she threw into the pot everything she had, which came down to two copper coins. The Lord sees this kind of faithfulness. These are hearts -- between the filipino couple, to the Corinthian church, to the poverty-stricken widow -- of profound faithfulness that shouts at the gates of hell, "The Lord is greater than my circumstances! The Lord will triumph over my cumbersome situations! The Lord reigns!" They recognized just how much our God, who sits on the throne, deserves everything we have. We don't just give when we offer our possessions and resources to God, we give back. We have nothing to give to God that was not first given to us.
I believe that this is why we're called to the practice of firstfruits. We are to offer no room for excuses or circumstances to overtake us. The moment we are given our paycheck, before spending any of it, we give to God in the building of his church. Before we do anything with our time during the day, we give him the first of our time by the practice of prayer and the the reading of the scriptures. God wants the first of our time, the first of our money, the first of our everything. This is the practice of firstfruits. Our God reigns and is deserving of everything we can give back to him. Do we believe this?
I do.
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