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Purpose Statement: Do we give our best for God, or have we conveniently placed the church and our religion low on our list of priorities?

Three ministers were talking about the way they handled the morning church offering. The Baptist said he drew a small circle on his office floor and threw the money from the offering plate into the air. What came down inside the circle he kept; what fell outside the circle belonged to God. The Presbyterian said she followed the same procedure, only reversed the allocation: what fell inside the circle was God's, and what fell outside was hers. The Methodist said her plan was similar: she threw the money into the air, God took what God wanted, and everything that fell to the floor belonged to the pastor. Everybody knows that Cain killed his brother, Abel. Few people know why. Each brought an offering to God: Cain, a farmer, brought some of his harvest to God; Abel, a rancher, brought the best or firstborn of his flocks for his offering. God said Abel's offering was better, and Cain became jealous (Genesis 4:1-7).

a. God deserves our best. The Israelites were instructed by God to always offer their firstborn males as an offering: their animals as a burnt offering and their children to serve God (Exodus 13:2, 11-12). The first fruits of their harvest, herds, flocks, or labor were to be dedicated to God. Offerings to God were so central and important in the worship of the Israelites that Leviticus and Numbers are largely given over to describing the kinds of offerings and the way they should be presented. Priests are to be very careful concerning the ritual procedure, the way they dress, and even concerning their own purification (Leviticus 22:1-3). Proverbs 3:9 stresses the need to present the very best of what the land produces, and it is a central theme of much of the Old Testament. Christians have justified building magnificent churches or lavish cathedrals in the spirit of giving only the best to God. This has occasionally been done even in areas of serious poverty, such as South America. We (used to) dress in our best clothes and make our worship formal and stately as an attempt to show reverence for God.

b. Is God getting our second best? Malachi makes a very pointed accusation (3:6-10) that the people are cheating or robbing God in the offering department. Is the message relevant for us today? Recall how Jesus visited the temple, observed what was going on, and became uncharacteristically angry. He drove the moneychangers and animal sellers out, calling them thieves. Part of the reason was because they had commercialized the house of worship (John 2:13-16). We have been told that part of the problem also was the scandal of the dealers forcing worshipers to exchange the gifts they brought, as inferior or imperfect, for perfect gifts provided by the moneychangers and animal vendors. God deserved only perfect animals, and of course the animals the worshipers brought from home for the burnt offering would be found to have blemishes. They would have to replace the defective animal with one of the vendor's perfect ones. Of course perfect animals would cost so much more than ordinary ones. God does not want burnt offerings from us today. However, if our reverence for God is serious, we should contribute only the best of our money, time, and talents. Where does worship and church work fall on our list of priorities? We can make it to Sunday morning services if company doesn't come. We will attend the Bible study sessions if they don't conflict with bowling night. We need to make a serious appraisal of where our faith and its responsibilities stand in our priorities.