Offering (6)

But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny. (12:42)

There are some people who consider offering and material blessing as something closely related to each other by quoting related Bible verses mostly from the Old Testaments. Malachi mentions about tithe. It says, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”(Mal. 3:10)

When we interpret the word of God, especially the Old Testaments, one important action for us to take is to distinguish whether it is in general or in peculiar matter. The fact that God created the world is in the general term but the account on the prohibition to eat pork is in the peculiar form. The general one is applied beyond history but the peculiar one is limited only to the particular history. As pork is a peculiar matter, so also tithe a peculiar one limited to the history of Israel.

Our offering does not have any relationship with the material blessing. If you give an offering with the expectation of getting such blessing, then it will be a meaningless offering. On the contrary, even though we do not give offering, we can be materially blessed. Though Japan does not give offering in the arena of their Christian religious rites, they are abundantly and materially blessed.

Combining offering and blessing is to secularize the holy activity. Do we do business with God? We do not do that. It is because real relationship with God can only be established at the ground level of life. How can we buy the life with offering which is given to us and being kept? The only thing we can ask God for material thing is to pray, “Give us our daily bread”.