Giving Good Gifts

Good morning!

Last week we talked about the mysterious Melchizedek.

In all the rest of the scripture, there is extensive genealogical work done to show the relationship of the main characters with the rest of the characters.

Think about the genealogy of Jesus as presented by Matthew.

We learned last week that Melchizedek, very purposefully, has no genealogy and the author is not pointing to a priestly line in terms of heredity, but a typology.

The King-Priest Melchizedek is used to foreshadow the kind of king that Jesus, the Messiah, would be.

Today we are picking up in chapter seven verses four through eleven.

Read with me and then we will break down what the author is communicating to the church.

Hebrews 7:4–10 CSB

4 Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him. 5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers and sisters—though they have also descended from Abraham. 6 But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. 7 Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives. 9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham, 10 for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

I always start my preparation by asking the question, what is the significance behind what is being said?

His focus is on this gift.

This whole section has been on Jesus as the high priest.

Why was the gift significant enough to include in the argument?

We will address this later, but for now, let’s start with understanding the cultural significance of an offering.

What is an offering and when did giving them begin?

Genesis 4:1–7 CSB

1 The man was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” 2 She also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 3 In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also presented an offering—some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. 6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? And why do you look despondent? 7 If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.”

There has been much speculation over why God rejected Cain’s gift, but jump ahead with me to Hebrews 11 at what the author says about it.

Hebrews 11:4 CSB

4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was approved as a righteous man, because God approved his gifts, and even though he is dead, he still speaks through his faith.

Genesis 1–11:26 (Genesis 4:3–4)

God’s response toward Cain and Abel, therefore, was not due to the nature of the gift per se, whether it was grain or animal, but the integrity of the giver. The narrative ties together the worshiper and his offering as God considers the merit of their individual worship: “The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor” (vv. 4–5).

264 Both giver and gift were under the scrutiny of God. Cain’s offering did not measure up because he retained the best of his produce for himself. For the writer to the Hebrews (11:4), Abel’s offering was accepted because it was offered in faith. As Luther noted, “The faith of the individual was the weight which added value to Abel’s offering.”265 Unlike a human observer, God sees the condition of the human heart and weighs the motive of the worshiper (e.g., 1 Sam 16:7). Elsewhere Scripture shows that the Lord requires of the giver an obedient and upright heart (e.g., 1 Sam 15:14; Hos 6:6; Matt 5:24).

In the first appearance of an offering in scripture, sin gets in the way.

It nullified the gift and spawned jealousy that ended the life of Abel.

On a much less serious note, think about gifts that you have been given.

Which ones have meant the most to you?

Sometimes a really expensive gift is nice, but often, the ones that mean the most are the ones that show that the giver really though about you.

They are gifts that reveal the amount of thought, love, and sacrifice that required.

On the opposite side of the coin, the worst gifts are ones that show that you weren’t thought of at all.

The person gave you the gift out of obligation not of love.

When I was kid, maybe 8 or 9, I was given a can of spinach as a gift for Christmas.

No kidding.

When it comes to giving gifts, the heart behind it is what is most important.

God rejected Cain’s gift because there was no heart behind it.

He gave out of obligation rather than love.

Jesus teaches his disciples about this in Luke.

Luke 20:45–47 CSB

45 While all the people were listening, he said to his disciples, 46 “Beware of the scribes, who want to go around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and say long prayers just for show. These will receive harsher judgment.”

Prior to this, there is an interaction between Jesus and the Sadducees where they are questioning his claim to be the Messiah.

They were purposefully trying to trip Jesus up by asking ridiculous questions.

On the heels of that, Jesus uses a teachable moment to show the truth of what he is saying.

They witness two very different approaches to giving and Jesus wants them to completely understand what they are seeing.

Luke 21:1–4 CSB

1 He looked up and saw the rich dropping their offerings into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow dropping in two tiny coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all of them. 4 For all these people have put in gifts out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in all she had to live on.”

The integrity of our gifts reveals the condition of our hearts.

In the interactions with the religious leaders of Jesus’s time, we see over and over their hearts.

They are more concerned with their positions than they are with the idea that the promised Messiah was there.

The members of the early church would have been very aware of this.

The author is drawing on this knowledge with this argument in Hebrews.

He is purposefully showing division with the Levitical line.

Not only is Jesus not from the tribe of Levi, but Abraham, the father of all the tribes, gives an offering to Melchizedek.

The author is making the point to the church that one of the ways that they can know that Jesus was greater than the priest of Levi is because of this tithe.

The Levitical priests were honored by the giving of the tithe, but here, through Abraham, they are giving honor to Melchizedek and his line, which is Jesus.

Hebrews 7:4–10 CSB

4 Now consider how great this man was: even Abraham the patriarch gave a tenth of the plunder to him. 5 The sons of Levi who receive the priestly office have a command according to the law to collect a tenth from the people—that is, from their brothers and sisters—though they have also descended from Abraham. 6 But one without this lineage collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed the one who had the promises. 7 Without a doubt, the inferior is blessed by the superior. 8 In the one case, men who will die receive a tenth, but in the other case, Scripture testifies that he lives. 9 And in a sense Levi himself, who receives a tenth, has paid a tenth through Abraham, 10 for he was still within his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.

This idea that the Levites were participants in the giving of the tithe was common logic for these people.

In his commentary on this passage, Dr. George Guthrie shared that most of his students in the US struggle with this idea because our family culture is so different.

However, he taught some Messianic brothers and sisters in Israel, and this makes perfect sense to them.

The actions of the patriarch spoke for the whole family, forever.

Russ wrote and published an article this week about God’s call for Abraham to leave his family.

He shares that for you and I to leave our family and move across the country is no big deal.

"For a long time when I read Genesis 12—which starts answering the question of humanity’s view-of-God problem raised in Genesis 11—about Abraham leaving his father’s house, the American experience is the primary context I brought to the passage. Here was seventy-five-year-old Abraham just now making his way out from under his dad’s roof. It was his chance to shine, to make something of himself, to set out to conquer the world. He had to have been giddy finally to get going with the rest of his life, I thought. The only problem with reading the Abraham story this way is that it’s wrong.

In a culture lacking a government safety net, the bet ab (the father’s house) was everything.

God’s call to Abraham in Genesis 12, then, was nothing like I imagined. God wasn’t asking Abraham to finally set out on his own personal adventure. No, God was asking Abraham to die, or rather to trust that God would do for him all the things his “father’s house” did—give him food, work, community, purpose, and structure, in sum, life. Abraham’s response to Yahweh’s call required—and demonstrated—enormous faith in a God he’d just met.”

I mention this because I want us to understand how big of a deal it is for Abraham to both leave and give.

He is setting the tone for the rest of his family.

Abraham is putting in motion God’s plan for all humanity by walking in obedience.

God told Abraham to leave and he did, setting the example to put your entire trust in the word of God.

Abraham gave a significant amount of his wealth, that was going to be used to care for his family, to honor Melchizedek and God.

As we have seen today, the giving of gifts is a significant part of the human experience.

It was first put into place by God in giving Adam and Eve life and the garden.

It has been reciprocated to God and to one another ever since.

In looking at this passage in Hebrews, we need to see that we are setting the tone for our families and communicating the condition of our heart in the gifts that we give to God.

Thinking about the gifts that you give God every week, where do you fall on the spectrum?

Are you giving like Cain, out of duty, or like Abel, out of love?

The giving of an offering on Sunday mornings is not something we do because we are supposed to or are required to.

It is an act of worship.

It is intended to be a gift that is given in the same way that God has given to us.

It is intended to be a gift that is given in the spirit of Abel and Abraham.

If your giving hasn’t been out of worship and love, that doesn’t mean you should stop giving.

That just means you need to allow the Holy Spirit to work in your heart and change it.

We don’t cancel Christmas because our kids are bad.

If giving has been a struggle for you, let God work in that area of your life.

His desire is that when you give, it blesses your heart.

God doesn’t need your money, he wants your heart, and he will use your finances to get there.

Over the last several months, I have encouraged all of us to pray about our giving.

I joined you in that and felt the Lord telling me that I need to increase.

It wasn’t a huge amount, but it was significant for me.

We are a single income family and it felt like a stretch.

But, I increased as God directed.

A few weeks went by and I was notified that my income was going to increase.

…by the same amount that God told me to increase in my giving.

It was such a blessing to see God work in that way.

I know that I am not the only one to have that kind of experience.

You have heard stories like that from Glen and others.

Here is the thing though, God wants you to have a similar experience where you place your whole trust in Him.

Let God show you how good He is to his children.

I want to end today with one of my favorite lyrics from Hillsong United.

You know it and it has been the catalyst in my life on several occasions to trust God.

I hope that this message today will do the same for you.

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior

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