Luke 11:42

"But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" Luke 11:42.


"Pastor Edwin, I don't have any mint or rue or other herbs, so what's your beef today? Besides I tithe on all of my income. So lay off will you?" I hear you loud and clear. Today, I won't preach about tithing. I won't even tell you that you need to tithe on the small things in addition to your regular income. (Oh, by the way, have you ever thought about tithing on your birthday
presents?) And that wasn't Jesus' point either.


Jesus was talking about the letter and the spirit of the law. The law was to tithe 10% of the "increase." The Pharisees didn't have a problem with that. They were so strict that they counted even the smallest details. I mean, get real, you tithe off the increase of your herb garden?


No, the point was not tithing. It was the spirit of the law. They tithed, but they did things against God's law that no self-respecting church going man would ever do. For example, the Law stated that a man could not walk over a certain distance from his home on the Sabbath. That was rather restrictive since Sabbath dinner at Mom's house was beyond the limit. So some rabbi somewhere down the line said a man's house was where his hat was. Alas! Friday afternoon would find a man walking so far and leaving a hat in a tree. He would travel that distance and leave another hat. He would do that until he could reach Mom's house -- only a Sabbath's day walk away from his hat -- err, I mean "home" (or should I say "homes"!) Pretty slick.


Another ploy used by good Pharisees was this. The Law says that a man should take care of his family. Mom and Dad were in need, but Jr. didn't want to help. So what did he do? He dedicated all he had to the Lord -- and appointed himself as God's representative. He certainly couldn't take care of Mom and Dad with the Lord's money. It wasn't his to distribute. Mom and Dad went hungry. Jr. extracted his "maintenance fee" from the "Lord's property" and lived quite well, "thank you very much."


"OK, Pastor Edwin. What's the point?" Glad you asked. We often justify ourselves with "spiritual excuses." Carmel might ask me to do something for her. I often forget. I might come up with an answer like this: "I'm sorry, Honey. I was praying and time just got away from me." See the "spiritual" excuse? It sounds good, but it's a lie just the same. Or I might have indeed been praying -- no lie -- but the truth of the matter is I was just too lazy to do it! I'm sure if you think about it you can come up with something that you really did along this line.


Jesus was saying that we should live our lives in service -- not just paying our tithe -- or doing our good deeds -- or praying -- or reading the Word (though these are vitally important and not to be ignored). There is a difference. Hell will be quite well populated with men and women who "paid their tithes" but live like hellions during the week. Hell will be the eternal home for many who "went to Church every Sunday" but hit the bars every Friday. And that's not to mention the men who "love their wives" but have affairs with the women they work with. Good deeds, paying the tithe, praying, even preaching, do not guarantee your salvation. Only the application of the Blood of Jesus can do that. And that only if we don't wash it off the first time we get a chance! Hallelujah, Amen and Amen.