Rev. Ted Huffman

The Third day of Christmas

A couple of months ago we had an interesting conversation in a meeting of our Department of Worship. We were discussing our Christmas worship services, specifically the services we hold on Christmas Eve. Some of the members of the department were concerned about hospitality and making our guests feel welcome. The feeling was that passing the plate makes it seem as if we are asking our guests to pay for the expenses of operating our church. After a good conversation the decision was to use a donation box in the entryway of the church instead of passing the plates during the service. Interestingly, the box ended up being placed right at the front door as people came into the building and couldn’t be missed by visitor or regular.

The offerings at that particular service don’t go to the operating costs of our congregation. They go to mission projects. This year the offerings were designated for Church Response and for the mission meals served by our Department of Ministries at Cornerstone Rescue Mission and at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

While the conversation was a helpful discussion, it focused on a contemporary sense of hospitality without venturing into the history of offerings and their role in worship. The practice of bringing offerings as an act of worship is ancient, far more ancient than the observance of Christmas. Making offerings to God appears in the earliest stories of the Bible and the tradition of bringing offerings as an act of worship was well established practice before the birth of Jesus.

Of course there is a practical side to offerings. The church is an institution with expenses and we do use some of the money given as offerings to operate that institution. We pay the light bills, salaries, maintenance, and program costs out of the offerings that are made by our members and guests. This tradition of institutional maintenance was part of the offerings at the Temple in Jerusalem back in the days when agricultural products were being offered. Part of the offerings made at the temple were used by the priests for food and to offset the costs of operating the temple. There are, however, meanings attached to offerings that reach beyond the maintenance of the institution.

The first chapters of the Book of Leviticus outline 5 different kinds of offerings that are appropriate for the worship of God. The burnt offering was a sacrifice that was completely burnt. None of it was to be eaten at all, and therefore the fire consumed the whole sacrifice. It was the tradition that the fire on the altar was to be continually burning and never put out, similar to the perpetual flames that are common as memorials in contemporary churches. Meal offerings were often cooked bread or dough. A portion was placed on the fire and consumed, but the bulk of the loaf was used as food for the priests, except in the cases when the original gift had been made by a priest. A peace offering was shared by the fire on the altar, the priests, and often with common people within the temple. Peace offerings were generally animals which were slaughtered and cooked within the temple. Unleavened cakes were also offered as peace offerings. Sin offerings were given in response to sins that were identified and recognized in the community. The offering was a method of reconciling with God and other people. The size and type of offering was different depending on the perceived size of the sin that had been committed. The trespass offering was similar to the sin offering, but usually was an offering of currency in response to a sin that involved fraud, stealing or mismanagement of money. The book of Leviticus takes seven full chapters to address the subject of offerings and this simple summary doesn’t do justice to the nuances of the various offerings.

In our contemporary worship, the process of offering is simplified. Giving is a way of expressing gratitude. In the act of offering we acknowledge our gratitude to God for the gift of life. Even in the midst of difficulties or illnesses there is much for which to be grateful and making an offering is a way of expressing that gratitude. It is common for people’s attention to be drawn to money when we make our offerings because we pass a plate to receive gifts of money, but the intention - and the words used in our worship - always focuses on gifts of time and talent as well as financial gifts. The prayer of dedication often mentions that monetary gifts are symbolic of the wider gifts of lives that are offered in this portion of our worship service.

The conversation that we began at that meeting is worthy of continuation. There are many ways to make offerings in the context of worship. In addition to using an offering box and passing the plates, there are congregations where offerings are brought to the communion table by worshipers and placed there as a sign of dedication. Many of our members make their most substantive offerings through monthly or annual checks or electronic transfers of funds. The passing of the plate is largely symbolic for them. Others like to actually place their gifts in the plate and listen carefully as the prayer of dedication is given. There is room in the church for many different kinds of offerings. We don’t follow the practices of the law as outlined in Leviticus. There is no continual flame on our table that consumes the offerings of our members.

We do, however, understand that the primary reason for having offerings as a part of our worships the need of our members to give, not the need of the institution to receive.

In popular culture the gifts of the Magi are often associated with Christmas though in the church we wait until January 6 to celebrate their visit and see Epiphany as a separate season from Christmas. Giving gifts, however, is associated with all of the twelve days of Christmas and is an appropriate focus of our attention during this season.

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