1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,660 Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons. 2 00:00:08,660 --> 00:00:13,500 This week we're wrapping up our sermon series titled The Struggle is Real, where we've been 3 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:16,400 going through the Book of Habakkuk together. 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:22,080 And this week we find Habakkuk in a state of giving up. 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:28,520 There are no more crops blooming, there are no sheep in the pen, everything seems to be 6 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,920 going wrong, and there's nothing left. 7 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:35,880 So join us as Rob explains what does it mean to actually give up and what does that look 8 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:36,880 like? 9 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:47,280 The first of today's reading is from Habakkuk chapter 3 verse 17 to 19. 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,640 Though the fig tree does not bud, and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive 11 00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:59,200 crop fails, and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen, and 12 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:07,640 no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour. 13 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:13,560 The Sovereign Lord is my strength, he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables 14 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:20,080 me to tread on the heights, for the director of music on my stringed instruments. 15 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:21,080 The word of the Lord. 16 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:22,080 Thanks be to God. 17 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:28,360 This is Ruth, not to be mistaken for Ruth of Lannach of course, but Ruth was the very 18 00:01:28,360 --> 00:01:35,920 first pig that we ever owned when we were doing a bit of hobby farming back in the early, 19 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,880 well this was taken in the year 2013. 20 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:44,440 And we decided early on we wanted to raise pigs and so we bought Ruth. 21 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:51,360 Ruth was a black Berkshire pig and we decided we wanted to breed her and so what we did 22 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:59,640 is we borrowed a boar, if you will, but the breed of the boar that we borrowed was a Tamworth, 23 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:04,520 and I don't know if you know this, but Tamworth pigs are like red rusty coloured pigs, and 24 00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:12,800 what you get when you cross a black Berkshire with a red Tamworth, well what you get is 13 25 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:19,800 piglets, 13 piglets that all look like little cheetahs, because they're all like mixed with 26 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:24,000 the black and the red and my goodness, I don't know if you know this, but pigs generally 27 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:26,040 only have like 12 or 14 teats. 28 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:33,100 So Ruth had her hands full, she had everything full for the first few months as these little 29 00:02:33,100 --> 00:02:42,040 piglets over time grew from piglets into pigs and then from pigs into pork chops and that 30 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:43,760 was a really, really good year. 31 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:45,760 Was a really good year for us. 32 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:47,360 13 piglets. 33 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:53,120 And so what we decided the next year we said let's do it again and I don't know if Ruth 34 00:02:53,120 --> 00:03:00,960 wanted to do it again or not, but we brought in the same boar and then we waited three 35 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:06,840 or four months and then sure enough right on time out came one, out came two, out came 36 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:13,560 three, out came four and that was it. 37 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:15,920 No more were coming and I couldn't understand it. 38 00:03:15,920 --> 00:03:17,880 I was like wait, wait, there must be a problem here. 39 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:22,800 There must be a problem because last time there was 13 and now there's only four and 40 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:24,080 she's still lying down. 41 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:25,440 Maybe there's more in there. 42 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:26,560 I was getting nervous. 43 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:30,560 I was actually convinced that one of the, there was another piglet in there that was 44 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:36,680 like blocking the birth canal and other piglets couldn't get out and I wasn't about to call 45 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,080 a vet, you know, a little bit expensive. 46 00:03:39,080 --> 00:03:44,160 So if you will, I took matters into my own hands. 47 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:50,440 Some of you are never going to take communion from me again after you hear this story, but 48 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:52,440 I clipped my fingernails. 49 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,520 I washed my hands. 50 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,600 I said Ruth, things are never going to be the same between us again, but I, and I went 51 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:04,040 up looking and I explored and I explored and you know what I found? 52 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:05,720 Absolutely nothing. 53 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:11,600 There was, there was no problem and there was just no more piglets, no more piglets 54 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:16,680 and so when I, you know, took my hand out and Ruth and I looked at each other and we 55 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,560 agreed we'd never do that again. 56 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:25,720 Then that year we raised a measly four piglets and I guess the lesson is, you know, some 57 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,480 years are really good years and other years are just not so good years. 58 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:31,600 That was the lesson we learned. 59 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:34,160 I could also tell you a story. 60 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:41,160 When we were on that same farm, one year we planted 200 tomato plants and not just ordinary 61 00:04:41,160 --> 00:04:45,160 tomato plants, like the heirloom tomatoes, you know, the crazy ones, the black tomatoes, 62 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:50,960 the blue tomatoes, the tomatoes that are yellow and shaped like pears and man, oh man, it 63 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:52,080 was a bonanza. 64 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,240 We had a huge, huge harvest. 65 00:04:55,240 --> 00:04:56,680 We were swimming in tomatoes. 66 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:57,680 We were eating them. 67 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:58,680 We were cooking them. 68 00:04:58,680 --> 00:04:59,880 We were freezing them. 69 00:04:59,880 --> 00:05:03,280 We were giving them away and of course the girls, we took the girls down to the farmer's 70 00:05:03,280 --> 00:05:06,440 market and they were selling the tomatoes there. 71 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:12,880 I mean it was the hottest tomato stall in town, all the tomatoes we grew. 72 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:17,800 But I gotta tell you, that very same year we decided to plant wheat and we had about 73 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:22,520 25 acres and so I paid a guy to cultivate the whole field. 74 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:28,080 I paid for the wheat, of course, and then I paid for someone to come and plant all that 75 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:29,080 wheat. 76 00:05:29,080 --> 00:05:33,320 I had a lot of money invested in this by the time it started to rain and rain was good 77 00:05:33,320 --> 00:05:36,200 except for it kept raining and it kept raining. 78 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:42,520 And it kept raining and it kept raining and the ditches blocked up and the fields flooded 79 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:47,280 up and again, I don't know if you know this, but a wheat kernel can only survive two or 80 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:54,720 three days underwater before it rots and it will not germinate and that's what happened. 81 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:56,840 None of it grew. 82 00:05:56,840 --> 00:05:59,400 It was a total loss. 83 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:05,560 But again, the lesson, the lesson, some years are really good years and other years you 84 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,200 lose everything. 85 00:06:08,200 --> 00:06:11,820 Now for the past four weeks, this month of November, we've been looking at the writings 86 00:06:11,820 --> 00:06:17,480 of the author Habakkuk and we've been asking the question, what do you do when you lose 87 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:19,920 everything? 88 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,040 Habakkuk has seen all sorts of loss and pain. 89 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:27,040 He has seen political corruption, religious hypocrisy. 90 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:31,880 He's seen rampant idolatry, violent injustice, the abuse of power. 91 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:36,800 He's seen it all, but it's not over yet because as we come to the very end of the book of 92 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:42,000 Habakkuk, we see that in the midst of all the other struggles that they were facing, 93 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,560 there was one more struggle that they still had to deal with and that was the struggle 94 00:06:46,560 --> 00:06:52,620 of economic insecurity, economic struggles on top of it all. 95 00:06:52,620 --> 00:06:56,720 What do you do when in the midst of all your suffering and all your problems and your sorrows, 96 00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,000 you're feeling it in your pocketbook, you're feeling it in your wallet and you're feeling 97 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,680 it in your bank account as well? 98 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:06,760 Or to use Habakkuk's language, what do you do when the fig tree does not bud and there 99 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:11,520 are no grapes on the vines and the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food and there's 100 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,560 no sheep in the pens and there's no cattle in the stalls? 101 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:21,280 What he's describing here, my friends, is an economic crisis because you see figs and 102 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:28,000 grapes and olives and field crops, that was your most basic agricultural resources in 103 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:32,520 Israel's time and that was, yes, of course, it was food that you would eat but it was 104 00:07:32,520 --> 00:07:38,280 also stuff that you would sell to get money, right? 105 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:43,520 And then as for the animals, the sheep and the cattle, those were your long-term investments. 106 00:07:43,520 --> 00:07:49,640 It takes nine months for a cow to give birth to a calf and so when you were building your 107 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:54,480 herd, you know what you were doing, you were actually building your portfolio, right? 108 00:07:54,480 --> 00:08:00,000 There was, of course, money in those days but really, your cash was in your crops and 109 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,960 your investments were in your land and your livestock, not RSPs, there were no pension 110 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:10,200 plans and so for farmers, there was a very, very thin line between economic stability 111 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:13,740 on the one hand and economic crisis. 112 00:08:13,740 --> 00:08:15,260 You just never knew. 113 00:08:15,260 --> 00:08:17,320 You never knew how it was going to go. 114 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,520 You planted your crops and you prayed and you waited. 115 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:27,560 You bred your animals and you prayed and you waited and you hoped that maybe months later, 116 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:33,080 often during a very small window of time, if everything went well, your harvest would 117 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:38,280 come in and the income would come in and it was only when the harvest was all in the barn 118 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,920 and it was only when the pigs, they didn't have pigs, of course, it was only when the 119 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,760 sheep and the cows were all in the stalls. 120 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:49,200 It was only then that you knew how much money you had made that year. 121 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:57,460 You could not count your chickens before they hatch because there are good years and there 122 00:08:57,460 --> 00:08:59,720 are bad years. 123 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:06,800 Now, we are not farmers but a lot of us do get our income in a similar way. 124 00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:11,560 You don't know necessarily how much you're going to make this year until the investments 125 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:17,800 come in, until the bonuses are handed out, until all the contracts are signed. 126 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:23,520 In the gig economy, you don't have one steady job where you get a paycheck every single 127 00:09:23,520 --> 00:09:24,520 week. 128 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:25,520 You got a lot of short-term jobs. 129 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:28,080 You got a lot of freelance gigs that you're doing. 130 00:09:28,080 --> 00:09:31,080 Uber drivers do not have a guaranteed income. 131 00:09:31,080 --> 00:09:34,400 You know, freelancers, they don't really have a safety net. 132 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:40,800 And so some years you might have great years and other years could be really, really bad 133 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:42,440 years. 134 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:46,400 And Habakkuk here, he's describing a really, really bad year. 135 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:51,040 No figs, no grapes, no olives, no nothing. 136 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:52,360 It's like a depression. 137 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,400 Your portfolio is completely wiped out. 138 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:59,240 And when something like that happens, it affects everyone, not just you. 139 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:00,760 It affects your whole community. 140 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:01,760 And here's why. 141 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,880 Because when you don't have enough money for yourself, that's often the time in your life 142 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,040 that you stop giving away. 143 00:10:08,040 --> 00:10:13,280 That's when you stop giving charitably to the synagogue or to the church or to the poor, 144 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:14,280 right? 145 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,520 We need it for ourselves. 146 00:10:16,520 --> 00:10:19,920 And who suffers most in economic downturns? 147 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:21,760 It's the poor, right? 148 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,940 But that's often the time where we resist giving the most. 149 00:10:24,940 --> 00:10:30,920 So economic hardship, like Habakkuk is describing here, it spells disaster, not just for individuals, 150 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:35,880 but for whole clans, whole families, whole communities. 151 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:41,160 And so the question I want to ask you this morning is what should our attitude be when 152 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:48,880 business dries up, when the recession hits, when the fig trees do not bud, when your wheat 153 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,960 field floods and you only get four piglets instead of 13? 154 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,320 Well, this is what most of us want to do. 155 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:58,280 We want to give up, right? 156 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:04,300 Studies show job loss, economic struggles, it erodes people's hope, it diminishes their 157 00:11:04,300 --> 00:11:06,300 sense of self-worth. 158 00:11:06,300 --> 00:11:09,160 A depression causes depression in people. 159 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,400 I mean, do you remember, for example, the book Job? 160 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:15,520 Do you remember when Job had an economic crisis? 161 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,200 He was a rich and wealthy man. 162 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:23,360 He had cattle and crops and camels and everything, but he lost it all one day, right? 163 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:28,520 The oxen one day were plowing, the donkeys were grazing, and then the Sabeans attacked 164 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:30,180 and made off with him. 165 00:11:30,180 --> 00:11:33,640 And then the fire fell from heaven and burned up the sheep. 166 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:38,120 And the Chaldeans, by the way, the Chaldeans become the Babylonians that we're reading 167 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:39,600 about in Habakkuk. 168 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:44,840 The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and they swept down on the camels and made 169 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:45,840 off with them. 170 00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:49,640 Look at that, all of Job's investments gone, just like that. 171 00:11:49,640 --> 00:11:52,880 All of his bank accounts were now empty. 172 00:11:52,880 --> 00:11:54,960 And Job wanted to give up. 173 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:55,960 He nearly gave up. 174 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:59,880 He scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery. 175 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,660 He sat on a pile of ashes. 176 00:12:02,660 --> 00:12:07,480 Some translations say dung, the dung of the animals that he no longer had. 177 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:12,960 And his wife said, oh, Job, why don't you just curse God and die? 178 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:13,960 Thanks honey. 179 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:19,480 All his bank, you know, in other words, just give up, just give up. 180 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,280 And it doesn't look good for Habakkuk either in the end of the book of Habakkuk. 181 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:28,440 We read that just before our reading, his heart is pounding, his lips are quivering, 182 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,600 decay is creeping into his bones, his legs are trembling, and it looks like he's going 183 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:33,760 to give up. 184 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,160 And that's exactly what he does. 185 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:45,280 In the midst of his dark days, in the midst of his economic woes, Habakkuk gives up. 186 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,840 But not like you think. 187 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,440 Because there is more than one way to give up. 188 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:55,200 It turns out that Habakkuk doesn't give up in despair. 189 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:59,200 Instead, he gives up his praise. 190 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:02,100 He gives up his thanksgiving. 191 00:13:02,100 --> 00:13:03,800 It seems absolutely crazy. 192 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:04,800 But look what he says. 193 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,040 Yeah, there's no figs and there's no olives and there's no wheat, sheep, cattle. 194 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:09,040 There's none of that. 195 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,040 Yet, he says, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. 196 00:13:13,040 --> 00:13:16,840 I will be joyful in my Savior. 197 00:13:16,840 --> 00:13:20,080 This is a very different kind of giving up. 198 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:26,040 Not giving up in defeat, but giving up praise to God, giving up thanksgiving to God, giving 199 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,120 up your whole life to God. 200 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:31,960 It's a different kind of giving up. 201 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:37,680 And if you're here today and you are going through, you know, dark days, if your fig 202 00:13:37,680 --> 00:13:43,640 tree is not budding, if your finances are not flourishing, if you feel like giving up, 203 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,200 I want to encourage you, do it. 204 00:13:46,200 --> 00:13:47,720 Give up. 205 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:48,920 But don't give up in despair. 206 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:51,480 Instead, give up like Habakkuk. 207 00:13:51,480 --> 00:13:52,800 Give up your praise. 208 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,640 Give up your thanksgiving. 209 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,900 I know it makes no sense. 210 00:13:57,900 --> 00:14:06,760 But in dark days, God encourages us to give up to him rather than give up on him. 211 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:10,400 Look, whether you got good times or bad times, whether you got the raise or you didn't get 212 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:16,000 the raise, whether you got 13 piglets or four piglets, don't give up on God. 213 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,640 Give up to God. 214 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:19,640 Give up your thanks. 215 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,400 Now, I want to show you how to do this, but I admit what I am about to share with you 216 00:14:24,400 --> 00:14:27,660 this morning, these two ideas. 217 00:14:27,660 --> 00:14:30,200 They make no sense from a worldly perspective. 218 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:37,020 No financial counselor or planner is going to advise you to do these things, but this 219 00:14:37,020 --> 00:14:39,240 is God's economy we're talking about. 220 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:41,920 This is God's way, not the world's way. 221 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,320 So this is how you give up in a time of trial. 222 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:47,320 Ready? 223 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:48,320 Here's the first one. 224 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:53,520 When times are tough, give up your offerings to God. 225 00:14:53,520 --> 00:14:55,600 Wait, wait, wait, Rob. 226 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:56,600 Wait. 227 00:14:56,600 --> 00:15:01,960 When times are tough, I don't have much, so I stop giving. 228 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,160 I stop donating offerings. 229 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:05,740 I know. 230 00:15:05,740 --> 00:15:10,480 But when Habakkuk says, I'm going to keep rejoicing, I'm going to keep thanking God, 231 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:15,000 I'm going to keep praising God, we need to know that for him, that also meant that he 232 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,520 was going to continue making offerings to God. 233 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:19,520 And here's why. 234 00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:25,920 Because for Israel, thanksgiving and praise were always expressed through generous offerings. 235 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,040 Whenever you went to the temple, you went with a grain offering, you went with a sin 236 00:15:30,040 --> 00:15:34,800 offering, you went with a peace offering, you went with a burnt offering, you went with 237 00:15:34,800 --> 00:15:35,800 all these offerings. 238 00:15:35,800 --> 00:15:37,240 A guilt offering was another one. 239 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:40,160 You went with your tithes, you went with your gifts. 240 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:47,600 They had a financial generosity which is part and parcel of how you gave praise and thanks 241 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:48,600 to God. 242 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:49,600 Right? 243 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:51,800 You gave up your gifts. 244 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:52,800 Right? 245 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:57,040 And that was true whether you found yourself in good financial times or in bad financial 246 00:15:57,040 --> 00:15:58,040 times. 247 00:15:58,040 --> 00:15:59,040 Either way, the Bible says give it up. 248 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:00,040 Give up. 249 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:02,560 Give up your offerings to God, give up your gifts to the temple, give up your donations 250 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:04,200 to support the poor. 251 00:16:04,200 --> 00:16:08,160 You see, in the Old Testament, there was, this is a long reading, but anyway, in the 252 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:12,840 Old Testament, there was this thing they did that was called first fruits giving. 253 00:16:12,840 --> 00:16:15,200 Can you guys just say that with me? 254 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:17,120 First fruits giving. 255 00:16:17,120 --> 00:16:18,320 Which meant this. 256 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:23,720 People would actually give up the first part of their harvest to God. 257 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,560 They would give up the first piglets before they knew how many piglets there were going 258 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:28,560 to be in the herd. 259 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:33,200 They would give up the first few baskets of tomatoes before they knew how many tomatoes 260 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:34,720 there were going to be. 261 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:35,720 Right? 262 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:39,520 Even before they knew they were giving it up. 263 00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:44,080 And so God says, you know, take some of the first fruits of all that you produce, put 264 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:50,440 them in a basket, go to the priest and say, here's the first fruits of the soil that you, 265 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,480 Lord, have given me. 266 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:55,600 Most of us would never think this way. 267 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:57,460 Most of us would say, no, Rob, you got it wrong. 268 00:16:57,460 --> 00:17:00,480 What you do is you wait till you have all the harvest in. 269 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:04,920 You wait until you see how many tomatoes you have and how many piglets you have, how many 270 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:09,320 grapes, how many contracts, how many vats of olives, how many gigs. 271 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:13,240 And then at the end of the year, once it's all in and counted, and once you've subtracted 272 00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:17,360 all your expenses, and after you buy what you need to live, then you take the surplus 273 00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:20,400 and out of that surplus, you give something to God. 274 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:21,400 Right? 275 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,600 Gosh, wait until the harvest is in, Rob. 276 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:25,600 Right? 277 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:27,240 Then figure out what you're going to do. 278 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:28,240 That makes sense. 279 00:17:28,240 --> 00:17:29,240 Right? 280 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:31,240 Especially in difficult times. 281 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:33,000 Right? 282 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:34,000 Not according to God. 283 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:41,260 God says, I want you to give your first fruits, bring the harvest in before you know how it's 284 00:17:41,260 --> 00:17:42,260 going to go. 285 00:17:42,260 --> 00:17:44,280 Oh my God, I don't know how big it's going to be. 286 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:45,560 I don't know how much you're going to make this. 287 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:46,720 Yeah, it doesn't matter. 288 00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:47,720 Right? 289 00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:48,840 Give me the first part. 290 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:53,000 You gave before you knew. 291 00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:56,800 And I can see why, actually, God would say something like that. 292 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:57,800 Because think about it. 293 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:03,800 If you give the part of your harvest to God after all the bills are paid, then what you 294 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:05,800 end up giving God is the leftovers. 295 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:06,800 Right? 296 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:12,520 It's the part of your income that you can afford to give without it affecting you. 297 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:13,520 Right? 298 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:16,480 It's, you know, you can still do all the things you want to do, buy all the things you want 299 00:18:16,480 --> 00:18:20,600 to buy, you know, go all the places you want to go, pay all your bills, live the life you 300 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:23,960 want to live, and then see if there's some surplus, and then say, God, I want to give 301 00:18:23,960 --> 00:18:24,960 some of this to you. 302 00:18:24,960 --> 00:18:26,520 God says, no. 303 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,000 I don't want you to give me your leftovers. 304 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,580 I want you to give me your firsts. 305 00:18:31,580 --> 00:18:36,080 Even in difficult times, even in challenging times, give up. 306 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:38,920 Give up the first fruits. 307 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:39,920 It's crazy. 308 00:18:39,920 --> 00:18:42,280 I know, this is absolutely crazy. 309 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:47,720 But folks, this is not just an important principle 2,500 years ago. 310 00:18:47,720 --> 00:18:50,680 This is still an important principle we need to grasp hold of today. 311 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,920 And I wanted to show you why first fruits giving is still very, very important. 312 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:55,920 Here's three reasons. 313 00:18:55,920 --> 00:19:03,100 First of all, when we practice this kind of giving, it allows us to become more trusting 314 00:19:03,100 --> 00:19:05,480 in God's provision. 315 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:12,600 You know, if you give God what's just left at the end, there's no trust involved in that. 316 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:16,560 But by giving God the first part, it's kind of risky. 317 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,640 You kind of have to live by faith. 318 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:21,220 You're prioritizing God. 319 00:19:21,220 --> 00:19:22,280 You're trusting God. 320 00:19:22,280 --> 00:19:23,280 You know what you're doing? 321 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:25,920 You're kind of being like the author of the 23rd Psalm. 322 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:28,280 It says, the Lord is my shepherd. 323 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:32,440 He's going to look after me, and I will lack nothing. 324 00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:37,400 So to give the first grapes, to give the first crops, to give the first part of my income 325 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,680 is and was a way of trusting God's provision. 326 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,480 God, you're a good shepherd. 327 00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:43,480 I trust you. 328 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:45,640 I know you're going to look after me. 329 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:47,640 I know you're going to look after me. 330 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,580 But the second reason why it's an important thing to practice as principle is that it 331 00:19:51,580 --> 00:19:56,920 helps us realize all of God's goodness and grace in our lives. 332 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:02,800 It's a way of saying, God, all of this belongs to you anyways. 333 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:07,200 In the Old Testament, when you brought your first fruits offerings, you were actually 334 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:09,880 supposed to recite this line as you did it. 335 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:11,920 You were supposed to say this. 336 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,000 God brought us to this place. 337 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,140 God gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. 338 00:20:18,140 --> 00:20:23,040 And now I bring the first fruits of the soil and I give it to you. 339 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:26,600 Now this is not how most of us give. 340 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,280 Most of us give saying, I earned this with my own effort. 341 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:30,600 I worked really hard. 342 00:20:30,600 --> 00:20:31,960 I got really smart. 343 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:37,240 I have lots of good skills and I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps. 344 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:40,480 And now here I've decided to give this. 345 00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:42,440 No, no. 346 00:20:42,440 --> 00:20:47,000 First fruitsgiving says it is only by God's grace. 347 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:48,840 Did you have any of this? 348 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:51,360 God, you have given me this land. 349 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:53,360 God, you've given me these skills. 350 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:55,320 God, you've given me this health. 351 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:56,720 You've given me the opportunities. 352 00:20:56,720 --> 00:20:58,720 God, you have put me in a place. 353 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,280 You have opened doors that I never could have opened on my own. 354 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:08,120 It's only because of you that I have any of this in the first place. 355 00:21:08,120 --> 00:21:10,560 That's what first fruitsgiving does. 356 00:21:10,560 --> 00:21:13,140 Reminds us of God's grace in our life. 357 00:21:13,140 --> 00:21:17,220 But here's a third reason why we need to practice this kind of first fruitsgiving. 358 00:21:17,220 --> 00:21:21,020 And that is it enables us to provide for the poor. 359 00:21:21,020 --> 00:21:24,600 God wants us to give up our offerings for the poor. 360 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:29,920 Because in Israel in those days a big part of that first fruitsgiving was designed to 361 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:35,600 provide for the poor and provide for the widows and to provide for the orphans and the foreigners. 362 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:42,080 In fact, right after you gave your gift, we read this that you shall give it to the Levite 363 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:46,880 and to the foreigner and to the fatherless and to the widow so that they may eat in your 364 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:50,280 towns and be satisfied. 365 00:21:50,280 --> 00:21:55,720 Giving up your offerings, especially in difficult times, created this redistributive kind of 366 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,440 economy that helped balance the wealth in good years and bad years. 367 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:00,520 Oh, you had a bad year? 368 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:01,520 No problem. 369 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:02,520 I had a good year. 370 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:03,520 I'm giving it up. 371 00:22:03,520 --> 00:22:04,520 Oh, I had a bad year. 372 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:07,520 Oh, I'm going to be okay because you are giving it up. 373 00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:13,800 Giving up a resources was like giving up a safety net for your whole community. 374 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:14,800 But here's what I want to say. 375 00:22:14,800 --> 00:22:19,280 That the biggest reason that we would ever give in this crazy way, give when times are 376 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:23,560 bad is because we're following the teachings of Jesus. 377 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:28,320 You see, Jesus once looked at a bunch of people that were going into the temple and they were 378 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:32,120 giving their gifts and putting them in the treasury and they're making a big deal about 379 00:22:32,120 --> 00:22:33,120 it. 380 00:22:33,120 --> 00:22:34,120 But that's not what caught his eye. 381 00:22:34,120 --> 00:22:39,080 What caught his eye was a widow, a widow who walked in and threw into the offering 382 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:42,080 basket two little copper coins. 383 00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,280 And he said, Hey, hey, hey, disciples, disciples, come over here. 384 00:22:44,280 --> 00:22:50,360 He said, Hey, I tell you this woman, she has put in more than any of the others. 385 00:22:50,360 --> 00:22:51,360 Why? 386 00:22:51,360 --> 00:22:58,520 Because they all gave out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in everything, 387 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:01,520 all she had to live on. 388 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:04,280 Do you see what Jesus is teaching his disciples? 389 00:23:04,280 --> 00:23:05,720 Do you see what he's teaching us? 390 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:11,520 We're his disciples in dark times, in difficult times. 391 00:23:11,520 --> 00:23:15,520 Give up your offerings to God. 392 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:18,600 And in the early church surely did this. 393 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:24,000 In the New Testament, Paul was super impressed, for example, with this one church from Macedonia. 394 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:25,000 Why was he impressed? 395 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,120 It's because they gave up. 396 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:30,840 They gave up their offerings despite their poverty. 397 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:34,320 He writes this in the midst of a very severe trial. 398 00:23:34,320 --> 00:23:36,880 You ever been in a very severe trial? 399 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:46,080 Listen to this, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up into rich 400 00:23:46,080 --> 00:23:47,400 generosity. 401 00:23:47,400 --> 00:23:49,880 That math makes no sense in our world. 402 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:56,400 How does overflowing joy plus extreme poverty well up into rich generosity? 403 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:58,560 They gave as much as they were able. 404 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:03,480 And in fact, they even gave beyond their ability in times of economic crisis. 405 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:04,480 They gave up. 406 00:24:04,480 --> 00:24:06,800 They didn't give up hope. 407 00:24:06,800 --> 00:24:09,280 They gave up their offerings. 408 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:11,480 Now you might say, well, why on earth? 409 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:12,480 How? 410 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:13,480 How could someone do this? 411 00:24:13,480 --> 00:24:16,160 How do you get to a place where this is something you can actually do? 412 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:21,720 And the answer is actually easy because they knew that that's exactly what Jesus had done 413 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:23,360 for them. 414 00:24:23,360 --> 00:24:28,360 Because Paul goes on, he says, you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though 415 00:24:28,360 --> 00:24:40,160 he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor so that by his poverty, you might become 416 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,160 rich. 417 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:48,440 It's very common to hear people say, ah, you know, you can't be expected to give. 418 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:50,280 We can't expect people to give these days. 419 00:24:50,280 --> 00:24:53,120 We're in tough times, tough times, right? 420 00:24:53,120 --> 00:24:55,720 It feels like it's always tough times. 421 00:24:55,720 --> 00:25:03,480 But when there's a knock at the door, when there's an opportunity to give, what are we 422 00:25:03,480 --> 00:25:05,480 going to do? 423 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,200 Habakkuk models a different response. 424 00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,840 Instead of giving up in despair, we give up in generosity. 425 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:20,760 Though the fig tree does not bud, though there's no sheep in the pen, I will rejoice in the 426 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:21,760 Lord. 427 00:25:21,760 --> 00:25:25,280 I will be joyful in my Savior. 428 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,920 That's the first big piece I want to talk to you about today. 429 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,700 We give up our offerings to God. 430 00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:32,840 But let me end with this. 431 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,760 There is another clear lesson from the book of Habakkuk about how we're supposed to give 432 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:39,000 up in life. 433 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,860 And it comes right at the very, very end. 434 00:25:41,860 --> 00:25:46,920 And that is that Habakkuk gives up his worship to God. 435 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:52,260 You see, in difficult times, not only are we likely to hold on tightly to our resources, 436 00:25:52,260 --> 00:25:55,480 but we may also be likely to restrain our worship. 437 00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,960 I mean, after all, why should we worship this God who's not done anything for us? 438 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,440 You know, like Job, we could say, well, who's the Almighty? 439 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:02,640 Why should I serve him? 440 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:03,640 Right? 441 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:05,940 What is the profit of me praying and worshiping to this God? 442 00:26:05,940 --> 00:26:06,940 Look at my life. 443 00:26:06,940 --> 00:26:09,240 Look at all the things that have happened around me. 444 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,720 But again, that's not Habakkuk's response. 445 00:26:12,720 --> 00:26:19,800 After three chapters of prayer and lament and complaint, he finds himself in this place 446 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:26,040 where he gives up, not gives up, but gives up his worship to God. 447 00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:27,880 I will rejoice. 448 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:30,520 I will be joyful. 449 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:37,240 The word there means spin around in God, my Savior. 450 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:41,560 But I think the best part of this whole book is the very last line. 451 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:43,040 And a lot of people don't even read it. 452 00:26:43,040 --> 00:26:46,880 In fact, some Bibles don't even include it because it's really more of a notation than 453 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:48,440 a line. 454 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,200 And when I saw this, it made everything click for me. 455 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:55,880 This is the final words in the Book of Habakkuk. 456 00:26:55,880 --> 00:27:02,800 For the Director of Music on Stringed Instruments, or as another translation says, for congregational 457 00:27:02,800 --> 00:27:05,040 use with a full orchestra. 458 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,600 Do you know what this means? 459 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,800 Just get this in your head. 460 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:13,880 That whole book we just read for the last four weeks, with all the ups and downs and 461 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:21,080 the highs and the lows and the complaints and the promises, it was a song. 462 00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:25,720 What we just studied, it was a worship song. 463 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:27,760 It's supposed to be sung. 464 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:32,600 This is musical notation. 465 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,700 Habakkuk's not just a prophet. 466 00:27:34,700 --> 00:27:43,240 He's a worship leader, which is telling us that even in dark times, you can find a song 467 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:44,240 of faith. 468 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,720 You can find a song of trust to God. 469 00:27:46,720 --> 00:27:52,080 This whole book has been about giving up, not about giving up our hopes, not about giving 470 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:59,640 up our dreams, but giving up our praise, giving up our worship, lifting up our hands. 471 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,800 What a courageous act of worship. 472 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:06,200 Despite everything that's going on, he says, I'm still going to praise God. 473 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:10,200 You know, it is super, super easy to praise God when life is good and everything's going 474 00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:11,200 well. 475 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:16,160 But the worship that you offer in seasons of pain and in seasons of uncertainty, that 476 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:17,740 is precious. 477 00:28:17,740 --> 00:28:19,200 That is courageous. 478 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,440 It is defiant in a way. 479 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:29,280 You're declaring God is still worthy of my praise, even in the darkest of days. 480 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,800 But don't miss this. 481 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:37,800 If this whole thing that we just read is a song of worship, that means that something 482 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,100 is supposed to be sung together as a community. 483 00:28:40,100 --> 00:28:41,360 We just sang two songs. 484 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:42,960 We're going to sing another three or four songs. 485 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:45,180 We sing them together. 486 00:28:45,180 --> 00:28:48,300 So you don't sing a song like this solo, right? 487 00:28:48,300 --> 00:28:49,300 You sing it together. 488 00:28:49,300 --> 00:28:52,380 Here, Trinity, we lament together. 489 00:28:52,380 --> 00:28:54,380 We process grief together. 490 00:28:54,380 --> 00:29:01,400 We ask questions together and we find hope in Jesus together. 491 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:08,720 So Trinity, when the dark days come, when the fig tree does not bud and when the pens 492 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,160 are empty, will you give up? 493 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:15,160 Will you still give up your worship to God? 494 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:22,520 Will you still choose to sing despite it all? 495 00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:26,400 Dark days come for nations and for individuals. 496 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:31,680 They could bring violence, injustice, and now as we've seen today, even economic challenges. 497 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:34,080 But when they do, give up. 498 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:35,520 Habakkuk says, give up. 499 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:37,400 Give up your offerings to God. 500 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:43,960 Free to put God first, trust Him, keep caring for the poor in the midst of dark days and 501 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:45,800 give up your worship to God. 502 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:53,600 Week by week, continue to gather with us as we sing courageous and defiant songs together. 503 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:59,480 We surrender to God and give our lives to Jesus. 504 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:00,480 Thanks be to God. 505 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:01,480 Amen. 506 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,920 Thank you for listening to Trinity Sermons. 507 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,700 This week's sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville in Mississauga, Ontario 508 00:30:09,700 --> 00:30:36,720 on November 24th, 2024.