The Weightier Matters of the Law

On Sunday we begin our season of stewardship. Over the next month we’ll be focusing on the nature of biblical stewardship, inviting the Holy Spirit to speak to each of us as we continue to grow into the people, and the congregation, that God has called us to be.

We often think of stewardship primarily in terms of giving money to the church. That is certainly a component of stewardship, but without the proper biblical and theological grounding, our financial giving can actually hinder our discipleship. In this Sunday’s gospel reading from Luke 18, we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, in which the Pharisee feels quite good about himself because he tithes. Jesus is clear that the contrite tax-collector, not the law abiding Pharisee, went home justified in God’s sight.

Jesus isn’t against tithing, he just wants our giving to be motivated by a deep love for God and others. In another incident, recounted in Matthew 23, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees, who, although they tithe meticulously, neglect the “weightier matters of the Law,” which are “justice, mercy, and faith.” Importantly, Jesus doesn’t abolish tithing. He exhorts the Pharisees, instead, to prioritize the practice justice, mercy, and faith, without neglecting tithing.

How, then, does one practice justice, mercy, and faith? The answer, as is so often the case, starts with the gospel. If we believe the Christian story that God created the world in love and created humans to be his image-bearing stewards of creation, yet that the entrance of sin into the world has corrupted both the creation and our capacity to function as a “kingdom of priests” (cf. Exodus 19:6, 1 Peter 2:9, Revelation 1:6), then the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, rather than simply a means to rescue individuals from God’s judgment, is the beginning of creation’s renewal, and, through the Holy Spirit, humans begin to rediscover what it means to be stewards of creation. Or, an N.T. Wright recently said in an interview with Christianity Today:

The long story of God’s plan to put things right, starting with Abraham, climaxing in Jesus and the Spirit, and looking ahead to the new heavens and new earth, isn’t the story of guilty humans being forgiven so they could go to heaven, but of idolatrous (and yes, therefore guilty) humans being rescued in order to be worshippers and workers in God’s restoration movement, God’s kingdom-project.

In this light, seeking the right ordering of society (justice), giving assistance to all whose lives are in danger because of human sin (mercy), and trusting that God has redeemed creation, and, beginning with the resurrection of Jesus, is now, through the Spirit, renewing creation (faith) become the central thrust of Christian life. From that, offering (at least!) a tenth of all we have to God for the purpose of supporting the church’s ministry naturally follows.

As we enter this season of stewardship, then, let us hear the gospel anew. As Paul writes to the Corinthians, “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Corinthians 5:19). As we are reconciled to God, we begin to regain our capacity to be stewards of creation. In his book Generous Justice, Tim Keller notes, “There is a direct relationship between a person’s grasp and experience of God’s grace, and his or her heart for justice and the poor.” May we, then, know the grace of God in such a way that justice, mercy, and faith might be our passions, and then, of course, we return (again, at least!) a tenth of all we have for the sake of the church’s mission.

Peace,

Chris