What does it look like for God to demand our worship? What kind of sacrifices do we expect? Ultimately, it’s a whole life surrender; but within God’s explicit instructions to Israel, He breaks down specific means of devotion. In the last post, we looked at the 7-year economic cycle, honing in on the Levitical Tithe and Charity Tithe. Both of these commanded sacrifices were made in order to practically care for humans God cares about. Today, we’re diving into the Festival Tithe, another commanded sacrifice as an expression of allegiance to the King of kings. Let’s take a mental walk and ponder the Festival Tithe together.

Imagining the Festival Tithe

To get really clear on God’s imagination for the Festival Tithe, notice in Scripture the aspects that are definitely present in His vision casting. In particular, as you read these two passages, pay attention to (1) what’s being offered/eaten, (2) who is present and eating, and (3) the disposition and atmosphere of the gathering.

Deuteronomy 14:22-27

22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. 23 Eat the tithe of your grain, new wine and olive oil, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks in the presence of the Lord your God at the place he will choose as a dwelling for his Name, so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always. 24 But if that place is too distant and you have been blessed by the Lord your God and cannot carry your tithe (because the place where the Lord will choose to put his Name is so far away), 25 then exchange your tithe for silver, and take the silver with you and go to the place the Lord your God will choose. 26 Use the silver to buy whatever you like: cattle, sheep, wine or other fermented drink, or anything you wish. Then you and your household shall eat there in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice. 27 And do not neglect the Levites living in your towns, for they have no allotment or inheritance of their own.

Deuteronomy 16:13-15

13 Celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. 14 Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. 15 For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

God’s Command: Have fun at the party!

Let’s be clear here. God is ready to party. He wants the Israelites to bring what they’re going to enjoy! Gather the steaks. Gather the wine (or other fermented drink of choice). Gather all God’s people– and even those who aren’t His! Your kids, your servants, the priests, the immigrants, the orphans, the widows– everybody is coming, and it’s going to be merry! 

Why? “...so that you may learn to revere the Lord your God always.” “For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.” By celebrating that God provides abundantly for us, we tune our hearts to revere Him always because we are rehearsing the truth that He took care of us again. He will continue to take care of us. He is to be trusted and, frankly, that should inspire awe. His kindness and generosity is unmatched. 

Applying the Wisdom into Modern Contexts

As we take a look at the wisdom principles, really considering a modern expression, curiosity is stirred, but also a little bit of incredulity.

Bring a tenth of your income. That sounds absurd. God is extravagant. And if I’m honest, the idea of it sounds wasteful. Is He really commanding us to spend thousands of dollars on a party? In our global economy beholden to the god of compound interest and maximizing financial efficiency, it’s easy for me to think “God, how could you ask us to waste this on a party instead of taking care of the poor?” It’s offensive. But you know what? The disciples asked a very similar question.

In Mark 14, “a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume,” and she used it to worship Jesus. His disciples cried out in dismay, “Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus rebuked them for rebuking her. He said we will always have the poor with us (which does not mean we don’t need to care for them– as demonstrated by Deuteronomy 15:11). Rather, anointing Him was an appropriate and timely act of worship before His death and burial.

Jesus approves of her extravagance. And the Festival Tithe is one of extravagant worship, praising God in every bite for how He took care of Israel. Maybe you already set aside money to care for your pastors, priests, and missionaries. Maybe you already set aside money to care for the poor. Both of these are also commanded as means of worship and sacrifice to God. But don’t neglect to set aside a tithe of your income to celebrate from a heart of gratitude and awe that God is your shelter and provider.

Everybody is invited. Everybody in the Church (maybe all the Churches in your city), and everybody not in the Church. The immigrants, the kids without dads, the widows and people without family to provide a safety net. Your next door neighbor, your houseless neighbor, your Muslim neighbor. This isn’t just for your family. It’s not just for you. It’s not even just for your local congregation. It’s a big community event. And in that way, it still manages to care for the vulnerable– just not in the way we deem most “efficient.” (A short aside: efficiency is not a Kingdom value because God can do things like multiply fish and loaves. He cares about our surrender, not our output.)

It’s a party. This celebration is visibly connected to God and His provision, but it’s not exclusively for the Church. On the flip side, even though in some ways it is an outreach, it’s not a service project trying to be missional. It’s more “come and see” than “let me tell you.” This is one of those ways where God’s people are just so compelling by enjoying life in the Kingdom that blessing radiates out and joy is infectious.  

Finally Brainstorming

It seems to me that a giant city Harvest Festival thrown by all of the churches in the city is the most natural conclusion. In my first imagination of it, ignoring all the practical cynicism, it would be something like this:

Every Christian from every denomination sets aside a tenth of their income– ranging from $50 for people working part time or kids mowing lawns all the way to $50,000 and more for people making bank– to pool together to throw the greatest Harvest Festival of all time (annually) and the whole city is invited. There are bouncy slides and catered food that blesses all the small business owners in town. There’s face painting and local breweries and everywhere, it’s clear that Churches put this on not to get people together to preach a sermon, but to say thank you to the God they believe gave them all of this. All of these Christians seem to really think God is happy about this party, even though some of those folks are getting drunk and some of these people are making fun of the Christians. But the homeless folks are well fed and enjoying conversations with people, and the foster care kids are having a blast, and Christians are organically praying for people based on casual conversations.

Obviously, that is not a first year vision. Maybe it’s not a tenth year vision. But God’s playing the long game. So what does it look like to build up? 

Maybe it is a festival by your church. 

Maybe it’s a potluck dinner by your small group.

Maybe it’s you and a couple friends from other churches hosting a public picnic in the park near the apartments filled with immigrants.

Another thought is that the festival tithe was part of their Feast of Tabernacles– a weeklong holiday everybody celebrated. Is there a holiday rhythm you already celebrate with your community? Christmas has been largely co-opted into a “family holiday” rather than a Church one, but in my community, I wonder if Easter might be the time to do this– using Holy Week for our seven day Festival Tithe.

My First Attempt

The Festival Tithe has been in my husband and my minds for a few years, but we hadn’t taken any action yet. Recently, we had some unexpected, extra money come in with an inheritance my sister and I share. My brother-in-law suggested we use the extra to take our extended family out to dinner. My brain immediately connected it to the Festival Tithe. It didn’t quite hit the communal, invitational aspect of the Festival Tithe, but we were able to do a big celebration dinner, thanking God for His provision through this inheritance (by which I funded the startup of Third Way Formation) and honoring my great grandpa from whom the inheritance came. My dad brought wine. We ordered four appetizers-- which felt really extravagant to me even though we had 16 people. And afterwards, (since I did a poor job explaining before ordering) I got to vision cast the extravagance of the Festival Tithe with my little brother. He had encouraged his bride-to-be to maximize how far the money went by ordering the cheaper kind of steak with more ounces for the same amount of dollars. I think he caught the vision because he replied, “I wish you’d said all that before we ordered. But now we can make steak and eggs tomorrow.” 

Your Turn

Think communally. Think celebratory. Think generously. When you feel the tension, don’t forget the Festival Tithe is in the context of additional tithes and a lifestyle that provides for the needs of others. It’s all to thank God and join in celebrating at His table because He blesses you, and He will bless this, too.