Balance...balance...balance...

Balance…Balance …Balance

First things first. More than worshipping God for the blessings, which He pours into our lives, we need to learn to worship Him, just for what He is! Worshipping Him, awed by His unique attributes is noblest form of worship, for it emanates right from the depths of the heart with no strings attached. Worship in its pristine form is nothing but an unalloyed form of an ethereal romance between the Creator and His favorite creation (Isaiah 62:5, Zephaniah 3:17). In this context, let it be said that the driving force for winning a soul to the Lord ought not to be only the need of saving it from scorching hell-fire but also to acquaint it, with the indescribable heavenly joys’ one is enjoying of walking aright with the Creator.

Ah focusing on one of his many sublime attributes…all along His life on Earth, was not our Saviour the very definition of balance? Be it in caring for both the spiritual and the physical needs of His enraptured audience (Matt 15:32-39) or be it in appreciating or rebuking Peter all in a matter of a few minutes (Matt 16:13-23) when it was needed or be it balancing the Law and Grace when it came to dealing with the adulterous woman (John 8:1-11) or for that matter in giving a balanced riposte on taxes to His critics’ (Mark 12:13-17), His demeanour oozed transcendent balance.

While there are several sublime qualities in our Saviour realization of which would evoke spontaneous worship, in this message I would like to focus on His singular genius in creating and maintaining oh-so-delicate balance in the natural as well as the spiritual realm.

Tithing….

Life as we know exists on Earth thanks to reverse breathing order of Plant and Animal life which the Almighty in His infinite wisdom instituted at the time of Creation. What plants exhale (created before us so as to set the stage for man to make “a regal entry”-Gen 1:11-27) we inhale and vice-versa.

Similarly in the spiritual realm the good Lord had instituted tithing in order one group supports the other and vice-versa. The Clergy are ordained by the Almighty to spend all their time in seeking messages from the Lord (not allowed to do any business or pursue any secular vocation for their livelihood) in order to pass on the same to the laity for the latter to act upon them (Mal 2:7) thus facilitating accomplishment of Divine Will in the lives of His Chosen people….be it Israel in OT times or their counterparts or we the Church in N.T. Times. The Laity (who are not constrained from taking up any legitimate profession for their livelihood) on their part are commanded to financially support these Divine messengers with their tithes (1/10th of their gross income).

Before anybody points an accusing finger that tithing would require a return to Legalism of Pharisaical times, let it be said that tithing which the Saviour himself mandated (Matt 23:23) anti-dates the Law itself. Do not we see a scene of a wondrous Divine Messenger with a wise instruction approaching the Father of Faith and the latter on receipt of the same, quite spontaneously paying “one-tenth” to the Conveyor of the Message in “gratitude” in the very first act of tithing in the Scriptures and soon acting rightly too as per the message conveyed?

Let’s hit a re-wind button and visit Genesis 14:14-24. Post a stupendous victory of Father Abraham in a war (more of a brave rescue act), we see the emergence of the First-known High Priest of the Scriptures…Mechizedek…with the wise two-fold Divine message to the Victor. Firstly of giving glory to God for his military victories rather than priding on the strength or acumen of his army which has been the bane of a many a misguided Conqueror in human history (Isaiah 37:26-27). Secondly we see the First Priestly messenger reminding Abraham that since His God owned the heaven and earth, there was no need for him to take any of the spoils of the battle, as was the norm of the victors in those times. Quite instinctively, propelled as though by Divine Decree from within, out of gratitude of receiving the Divine instructions, Father Abraham paid a tithe to the First known Biblical Priest!!!

A few minutes later, when Abraham met the king of Sodom, he applied the wise advice given by refusing to take even a thread from the spoils (Gen. 14:22-24) on the ground that it was God - the Possessor of heaven and earth- who had given Him the victory. Right message conveyed through Right channel prompting Right reaction (paying tithes to the messenger) and finally culminating in Right action maintains the “balance” as it were in God’s “scheme of things” (Read His Kingdom-1 Cor 9:14/Gal 6:6/I Tim 5:17).