The offering
Leviticus 6
Good Morning Everyone.
Let’s pray
Prayer- Father, today I ask that you would allow your word to pierce all darkness and bring the light of God to each of us, to allow your word to speak to us and to be an encouragement and strength during these tough times. I ask for extra-ordinary instead of the same old thing! Speak to us and may we have a heart open to receive. In Jesus Name, Amen!
If people were asked to sum you up in a few words, what would you want people to say about you?
They were kind.
They were generous.
They were caring and loving.
They were strong?
They loved their family
Hard worker
If God were to sum you up in a few words, what would He say about you?
Would they be the same words of what people say about you?
The mark we leave in life and the things people say about us may not be the same thing-
The world could say one thing because they only see only one side of you and God may say another because He sees everything.
He may see your kindness but also see the negative reason why you did something.
I see your mark on life as your offering to mankind and also to God.
I don’t think you can separate the two. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength… and love your neighbors as yourself.”
I cannot release that verse from my mind because you cannot separate who you are with how you act. Given time, they will expose each other.
To say that you love God, the next thing we ought to see is your actions that reflect that love to God and love to others.
If you love God, you give God the best that you have been given. That would be in offerings of blessing, it would be the best of your time and talents. It would be the best of your worship.
The same way that you act in front of people is the way that you act when you are alone with God.
Your offering is a gift back to God and a gift back to the most precious thing to God and that is people. The ones that are his children by faith and the ones that He is desiring to come to faith and a relationship with Him.
Illustration Home Plate- You know I am a baseball guy-
In 1998, A man named John Scolinos was a guest speaker at a baseball convention in Nashville. He was 78 years old and had coached his whole life at various levels during his career. He went to the podium with a full size home plate tied around his neck. He spoke for 25 minutes and never mentioned why he had that home plate around his neck. They were kidding amongst themselves that maybe he had forgotten that he had it around his neck. He finally said I bet your wondering why I’m wearing home plate around my neck. I have come today to talk to you about what I have learned from Home plate.
Do you know how wide home plate is in little league? After a pause someone said 17inches.
Do you know how wide home plate was in Babe Ruth’s day? Long pause 17inches.
How many high school coaches here today? Show of hands
How many college coaches here today? Show of hands
They were getting it now! How wide is home plate? 17 inches!
In the major league, how wide is home plate? 17 inches
What happens if a big league pitcher is not able to get the ball across the plate? He is sent down to the minors.
What they do not do is change the width of the plate-
It is not okay when Johnnie cannot handle the width of 17 inches, to make it 20 inches so he would have a better chance.
What we do not do with players that do not adhere to the rules of the team is change the rules for them.
Maybe your’e not into baseball analogy, but you get the picture of importance- they were there for a baseball convention but they were shown a principal that works for all of life.
2009 at the age of 91 John Scolinos died but left a mark on those leaders- at every level of life you do not change the level of what is right- in your family, in your church, in your workplace, in your government. The problem is instead of doing what is right and staying within the confines of the 17inch home plate, we are widening the plate for everyone and it is doing anyone any good-
Representatives in congress make rules for everyone else but don’t apply them to themselves.
In schools, education is going downhill because teachers are stripped of the tools they need to be successful because they lower the standard instead of holding people accountable to the higher standard.
In churches, the plate is being widened because some don’t like the rules that God has put forth for us to obey and some churches are widening the plate.
This morning I am here to tell you that God has not widened home plate when it comes to the Word of God He has laid down for us- it has not changed and He is still expecting each of us to stay within His guidelines.
I want to tell you that in the Old Leviticus law that there were many offerings that were to be brought to the Lord for different things that had been done or needed to be done.
Burnt offering, sin offering, guilt offering, grain offering, fellowship offering are only a few.
I am glad that a lot of things have fallen under the blood of Christ!
There are still some offerings that the Lord still expects and are needed from our lives to see the blessings and miracles of God.
Turn to Leviticus 6:8-13
The Lord speaks to Moses to give these commands to Aaron concerning bringing the burnt offering to the Lord. He is given instruction on what to bring and how to bring it.
You go back to Leviticus 1 and you see very straight forward instruction of what to bring-
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them; when anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, bring as your offering an animal from either the heard or the flock.” If it is an animal from the heard, you are to offer a male without defect. (10) “If the offering is a burnt offering from the flock, from either the sheep or the goats, you are to offer a male without defect.”
So could a 3 legged animal that no longer is needed to breed an acceptable offering to bring to the Lord?
Would it be acceptable to bring a blind duck cut up and given to the priest as your offering?
No, because God is expecting our best and He is expecting us to obey His words concerning an offering. The way we bring our offering is as important as the offering itself. It shows us and God where our hearts and lives are at.
The first things we see- God cares how we worship and bring our offering.
What we are bringing is important.
How we bring it is important.
How we lay it down to the Lord is important.
The role of the priest (corporate worship) and us as an obedient child of God showing our life to God is important.
We can read the account of the widow’s mite in Mark chapter 12
(41) “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small cooper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, truly I tell you this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others, they all gave out of wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything- all that she had to live on.
It is not the amount- it is where the heart is- one gave out of abundance and one gave from the heart.
Scripture says that some gave to be seen- the man or women who would be standing at the temple gate and plunking down coins in the offering to be seen.
Not bringing what they were supposed to, but making noise and show for themselves.
Your offering keeps you in the presence of God.
The burnt offering that we bring to God is a way for us to commune and fellowship with God and His people.
That offering represents our wanting to meet with God because we are coming to His altar with our sacrifice the same way that Christ came to the altar as a sacrifice for each one of us.
He set himself up as our priest and brought the offering so that we could have that relationship with a holy and powerful God.
God takes the initiative and brings reconciliation at the altar where the sacrifice is laid.
Catch this- it is important
The Lord spoke to Moses, who spoke to Aaron and the priestly family about how the offering was to be kept and given.
That is passed down to each and everyone of us- We bring our offering/ or lack of offering everyday.
The priest (you and I) bring our offering into the house of the Lord. We are to have clean clothes (clean heart) and lay that offering on the altar for the Lord to consume. The burnt offering comes to the Lord as a sweet aroma of our obedience and love for God. The ashes are carried out of the temple and placed outside of the camp so we are ceremonially clean.
We are ceremonially clean because what happens on the altar of God- he takes that offering and with a clean heart and a pure offering, we have entered into the presence of God because of His presence and our hearts for God. The two meet and we are the beneficiary of God’s abundant grace and love.
We come clothed in His holiness.
It is the obedience to God that brings His presence-
1 Samuel 15:22
“But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”
So many people believe churches are only after the money- if you believe this is a tithing message and I am trying to get your wallet this morning- you have missed what God is saying to you this morning.
The offering has to be brought to the Lord with a cheerful heart!
It has to be because you want to be obedient and it is not only about money.
Money keeps the temple going and it is needed- let’s be clear- nothing here is free- lights, heat, ministry expenses come as we reach out like Jesus has commanded- but so our other offerings- our talents, our compassion for others, our ability to be Jesus when Jesus gives us opportunity in other people lives.
Matthew 5:23-
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift at the front of the altar, first go and be reconciled to them, then come and offer your gift.”
Isaiah 1:11- “says the Lord has enough of burnt offerings”
It seems like a contradiction of words-
The Lord wants your offering out of a pure heart of worship and love for Him.
It is at the altar we are blessed with His presence and His blessings for obedience.
It is at the altar the Lord works on our hearts and we become living sacrifices!
The point here is to make sure our worship and sacrifices are given with a right heart, in obedience, and desiring God to bring us into His presence!
Last thing- stay with me!
(12) “The fire on the altar must be kept burning’ it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offering on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.”
Why would the Lord God tell you to to never let the fire go out?
There are many reasons and here are a few that can be backed with Scripture.
When you stop/or never start to bring your offering, you will lose your desire to be in God’s presence.
The burning flames are a reminder that we are to be in uninterrupted worship with the Lord.
The flame itself is a reference to the presence of God among His people.
It represents a devotion to God and our dependence of Him in our life.
The flame must be maintained because the flame was ignited divinely by God.
All our subsequent offerings would be consumed by divine flame of God.
When we bring nothing of value back to God, we lose our opportunity to be in His presence by our rebellion not because of His lack of love.
Closing illustration-
When I was a youth pastor, I was involved in a skit that showed the inside of a church and it was offering time and the preacher was calling for the ushers and all these people were dressed fancy and a lot of play money was thrown in the offering plate as it went around showing people giving of their abundance and not obedience and as the camera is scanning, it shows a young girl, dirty, not well kept ready to offer up a few coins in her hand, and as the plate goes around, she not only puts the tow coins in but sits the plate down and stands in it to signify that she wanted to be a living sacrifice unto the lord-
I want to be obedient
I want to give my offerings
I want to be a living sacrifice open to hearing and being in God’s presence.
Amen.
Prayer-
