Loose Change Torah
Be as careful with a minor commandment as with a major one, for you do not know the rewards of the commandments. Pirke Avot 2:1B
Minor – A penny here, a penny there. Accomplishing God’s purposes one tiny deed at a time seems to be God’s effective plan for nearly all His children. But in our culture, the constant rhetoric about millions and billions leaves us feeling helpless. What can we really do to make any significant difference? When I started the project of building a road to serve the small community of Ranquitte, Haiti, many people commented, “But Haiti is a disaster. Nine million people are starving or dying from AIDS or something. What difference will my contribution make? You can’t fix a problem this big. The government will have to do something.”
They were right. You and I can’t fix the problem. By the way, neither can the government. If you went with me to Haiti, you would realize why money is not the solution (it helps, of course). But the whole approach, that the problem is too big for you and me, really avoids God’s personal responsibility requirement. We can’t fix the big problems, but we can make a small difference. And that’s why this comment from the sage found in Pirke Avot is so important. We just don’t know how keeping even the smallest commandment will fit into God’s grand plan.
Yeshua underscored this “tiny steps to triumph” approach when He recognized the contribution of the widow’s two small coins. God uses the things that the world does not value to accomplish His purposes. God is not measured by world standards. We all concur, but too often when it comes to actually doing our small part, we defer. Why? Because we look at the enormity of the problem and determine that our tiny effort doesn’t really matter.
And, by the way, it’s not just about money. When I was in India, I asked a young Christian woman why she threw her paper coffee cup onto the street. I asked her if her action didn’t dishonor the God who created this beautiful earth. She responded, “I used to think about that, but there is so much trash everywhere in this country, what difference is my little piece going to make?”
There are so many big issues in Torah, what difference will my ignoring that tiny little one make? “All these I have kept from my youth,” said the man. “I’ve kept all the important ones. I have honored my parents. I haven’t murdered anyone. I haven’t committed adultery. I don’t lie or steal. What difference does eating shrimp make?”
“I have a heart for compassion, but what difference will $1.00 make?”
Topical Index: minor, Pirke Avot 2:1B, commandment
Yah is so good!! I was driving home after dropping my kids off to school just this morning thinking, what difference does it make if I keep Torah. I hardly go anywhere, I even work at home, and have little contact with people outside of my immediate family. I am quite sure that the people I meet do not notice anything different about me, as I do not really interact with them except a smile or a wave or something like that – not even that all the time. 🙂 I do not see how that makes any difference in restoring Yah’s purposes in this huge world. I got home and read this Word for the Day. Just what I needed. I guess it makes a difference. Thanks again!!
It is so true. Because we are so disconnected from each other we struggle to find meaning in keeping Torah.
But keeping Torah isn’t just for us. What we eat isn’t just for our health, it is first and foremost for fellowship with YHVH. Keeping Torah molds us into the image of our Creator for the purpose of intimate relationship.
Have you tried to go to a Christian pot luck since you began keeping the dietary laws? Was it a comfortable experience? Did you have a lot in common with everyone and were you able to speak freely about Him? Did they look at you like a cow looking at a new gate? Or did they placate you and brush it off.
All that because you choose to guard the image of YHVH by what you eat. Is that fellowship? How do you think Elohim feels? Could He speak freely to Adam and Havah after they decided to eat? That doesn’t mean he abandons us He just can have deep fellowship with us. Why should He cast pearls before swine?
It’s not about us. It’s all about HIM!
Thanks Pam. Not sure I really have even thought about it in this way. I was raised in a very strict home and denomination and have a hard time focusing on anything but keeping rules. I have graduated to keeping them because of my love for YHVH, but never really thought about it in these terms. Hmmm. I do not worry so much about fellowshipping with Him. He seems always ready when I approach through the blood of Yeshua. Will have to mediate on this. Be blessed. Thanks again.
I early January I will post something about the FREEDOM that comes with Torah. Once again, we are caught between a worldview that would have been true for the children of Israel in the 16th Century BC and our idea of “freedom” based in a Greek worldview. You will see why freedom has an entirely different meaning in the Pentateuch.
Am looking forward to it. But even more than that I’m so looking forward to being gathered into a kingdom where all live and love Torah! 🙂
Hi Pam, Before I became convicted of learning more about Torah, and what it means in the lives of the people of God (maybe to a lot lesser extent than what the phrase may conjure in one’s mind), I had a hard time even going to church, much less fellowshipping around a meal. I noticed that more people attended meetings where food was served and I noticed many of the attendees came ONLY when food was served. I also noticed that many of the regulars at these “special events” had attended the church in times past, but found other places to “worship” or just left “church” completely. This observation caused me (and still does) to take another look at what this might mean overall.
I found much of the conversation at these venues, even with the most “religious” was geared toward topics in common with those who do not know or care about Christ. Basically, any attempt at conversation centered around me, mine and what the world clamors after. Little chatter, for the most part was heartily in search of the reason for living and how to serve our Father. Those uplifting and meaningful conversations were quite limited in number and depth.
At present, meeting in ours and one other home, with 1 small young family and 2 unmarried men (our small Fri night or Sat. congregation; and we always have as closely as we know how…a Biblically clean meal), has so much more depth and satisfying discussion than the disheartening, seemingly vain meetings of many who seemingly are showing up in a building without a true heart. (I say “seemingly” since I cannot peer into ones’ heart…I can only hear and see compared to Scripture)
Experientially, this is the path I have been led to thus far…and the search for The City made without hands continues…
Shabbat Shalom
Shabbat Shalom Mary.
We find the same thing in our little fellowship(s). What we find is that just the fact that we all cook and eat clean foods allows us to come to the table in anticipation of being able to partake of everything freely and without reserve or suspicion. It allows freedom of conversation as well. We are truly serving, worshiping, and delighting in YHVH together in spirit and in truth. Nothing compares to it. And it can’t be known or understood until it’s experienced. It’s so sad that so many refuse to engage in such delight and freedom.
Invariably, in our meetings now, we may talk about everyday life, however, the talk goes back to Yah, His Plan and Purpose for us as His children. We find we have alot in common when we discuss the basic prideful nature of sin, and how the battle against it drives us to YHWH for diagnosis and cure!
I have found that others Yah leads to cross paths with those searching for Him, are open to hearing about Scripture because they do NOT already have God figured out. Please pray that I will have His Answer, not mine, and speak it boldly and with compassion.
Yet we live hopefully looking to Yeshua to show us the Way.
Amein sister in Torah! Lets pray for each other. Shalom Shalom
(with God) “Little things- DO mean a lot.”
~ Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much.. ~
God is the God of the (seemingly) small and insignificant. Lol! “Lifestyles of the ‘Poor’ and Insignificant!” We sing (with gusto hopefully!) “I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder- Thy power throughout the universe displayed”- and this rightly praises the grandeur of our God, but here is what thrills my soul: He is LORD of all. The macro AND the micro. The stars AND the sparrow. After all.., -What is big to God and (more importantly?) what is small? ~It is the “little foxes” that spoil the vine ~. Even something as (seemingly)trivial as one (evil) thought, for aren’t we to ~ bring into captivity “every thought” to the obedience of Christ? ~
O “little” town of Bethlehem. Where was our Savior born? Was there great fanfare and celebration? No. How silently, how silently- this wondrous Gift is given. Silence and stillness- not very much hoopla here- ~ You will be delivered by returning and resting; your strength will lie in quiet confidence ~ (Isaiah 30.15)
~ Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? ~ He might as well have been from Podunk Junction, USA. (with apologies to the fine folks from Podunk Junction!- lol!) No.. “this is the day of small things..” Today, I will celebrate the small and (seemingly) insignificant. We haven’t thought much of the tiny snowflakes lately, but will be “exposed” soon enough. Nor of the lilies, how they toil not, neither spin, but how beautiful and intricately delicate they are by our own Creator’s design. And what of the “internal workings” of our own bodies? ~ I will praise YOU for I am fearfully and wonderfully made~ Thank you God for my teeth and for my tongue, for my blood and for my breath! -You have given Life to me! Hallelujah!
In two days I will celebrate an anniversary. It will be six years I arrived home from the hospital with a new heart. ~ My heart is fixed O LORD, my heart is fixed!- I will sing and give praise ~ (Psalm 57.7)
Now listen to this question, (please). Literally? or Figuratively? And the answer is? YES. Absolutely- “both.” Would you like to argue with a beating heart? This one, dear friends, is turbocharged! I have been given the gift of a beating heart! But wait!- there’s more… (always more..)
My parents sent me a box of freshly picked oranges from sunny South Florida. You just can’t beat “fresh!”- (amen?). I was anxious to “get into” these oranges and “test” them! Out with the knife, and the cut was made. ~O taste and see that the LORD is good! ~ Taste and see? Friends, I was weeping! Let me be very quick to confess: I do not, normally weep while eating an orange! But what was it that inspired this (kairos) God-moment? Oh, how I have waited and waited to testify concerning this..
I shouldn’t be alive. Had I been born twenty years previous, I would no longer be here, and I knew it! How good, how gracious, how wonderful God had been to me. I would love for you to be in my (dancing) shoes when I left the hospital,- walking at least two feet off the ground for the Providence, the goodness, the grace of our God. This is why I wept. Weeping for joy and with a grateful heart. I’m (now) home, -I’m with my family and the “goodness of God” has led me to repentance.
This was six years ago. Is this “story” over? No, it continues, even unto “this” day. For ~ “this” is the day which the LORD has made- (and yes) I will rejoice and be glad in it! ~
Another question- When those three Hebrew men emerged from the fiery furnace (was it “Literal or Figurative?”) , perfectly heated seven times hotter than it ever had been before- did they (he asked) have a “testimony” to share? Did this “event” rock their world? I’m thinkin’ it did. The only things that were burned were the things that held them bound. And they didn’t even smell like smoke! Message? “No test, -no testimony”
~ Blessed is (the) LORD YHWH everyday, for God our Savior has chosen us as His inheritance; God is (daily) delivering us ~ (Psalm-Song 68.19) Great is Your faithfulness.. O God, my Father..!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQAPMRpNoe8
“Yeshua underscored this “tiny steps to triumph” approach when He recognized the contribution of the widow’s two small coins.”
“I have a heart for compassion, but what difference will $1.00 make?”
Hi Skip,
I think that Yeshua is speaking metaphorically about the “two small coins”
And that what is important to Yeshua is the “state of the heart” of the person giving the “$1.00” rather than the dollar itself
A dollar will not buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks today, and I’m not a big believer in the power of money itself to solve most problems
In Judaism, as I understand it, the obligation to repay a debt is regarded as an affirmative religious commandment
Most Americans today, however, would seem to be so far in debt that they will never be able to pay off their mortgage
Or afford a college education for their children
Far too many Americans (us) could be be on this planet for a long time without jobs or money or health care
I think the so called “fiscal cliff” is a “sign” of things to come
I agree that it is a matter of the heart. But the heart leads to ACTIONS, not sympathies. So $1.00 is still an act of righteousness. And, by the way, where did we get the idea that parents should pay for their children to go to college? Or that they should go to college at all? I have taught hundreds of undergrads and most of them had no business being in college. They hadn’t grown up, were not serious students and were not grateful for being there. It was merely an extension of another 4 years of not being an adult. What does that teach our children? Four more years of someone else paying the bill.
Well put.
Henry C. Link (a gem of an author) – wrote two books “The Return to Religion”, and “The Rediscovery of Man” (~ late 1930s). Although he did not escape ‘Greek thinking’ in all he wrote – he did write a very beautiful chapter called “The Vice of Too Much Education”, in the first book I mentioned. I think he articulates the ‘higher’ education point very well.
“So $1.00 is still an act of righteousness.”
Hi Skip,
Sorry for being so cranky, I haven’t been feeling well lately
But I’m having a difficult time with this line of thought
Seems to me that I might be able to lay claim to some degree of righteousness
In the act of contributing to your charitable function
But I don’t think we can quantify it in dollar terms
For example, would I be ten times as righteous if I gave ten dollars?
Regarding college, I think most parents do pay for their kids to go to college
And kids that work their way through are at a competitive disadvantage
Where I live in Silicon Valley, the kids must compete academically
With wealthy Indians and Asians who are very formidable and competitive academics
And they tend to populate the high paying jobs in the companies where I worked
On the other hand the working class jobs tend to go to the Mexican immigrants
And my son and daughter certainly have no chance of competing with them
They are very durable and capable of working long hours in the hot summer sun
I think the hundreds of students that you taught probably did benefit from your teaching
Though I agree many are not prepared or suited for college life
I was very immature and unprepared for college myself
And it took me longer than most to get out
But next to having kids I would say that the University experience
Was the best time of my life
At the same time I agree that becoming an Adult is the most important thing
And “school days” tend to prolong the adolescent in us
I agree righteousness is not quantifiable. That’s why 2 coins are more valuable than large donations. But righteousness is also not limited to even the smallest act. And it is not demonstrated in “thinking about it.”
Just a thought:
Think of a small wildflower on the side of a hill
where nobody ever passes by,
Maybe the main thing is that it brings joy to the Lord.
“We can do no great things; only small things with great love.” (Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
~ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice ~ (1 Kings 19.11-12)
Hi Carl,
I really like both of your quotes above, but don’t recall you quoting Mother Theresa before
Rarely a day goes by that I don’t recall small things with great love and big trouble
And after the fire a still small voice
If I could throw this lifeless life-line to the wind
Leave this heart of clay, see you walk, walk away
Into the night, and through the rain
Into the half light and through the flame.
Bono, Bad
I seem to recall Carl quoting Mother Theresa in previous letters and such refrences would fit his literary style; but when Carl starts quoting Bono is when I’ll take note!
~ righteousness is also not limited to even the smallest act. And it is not demonstrated in “thinking about it.”
Even a cup of cold water, in the Name of Jesus (who is the) Christ, must be “given.” Love must be “demonstrated.” It is not in the “saying” but in the “showing.” “Show me your faith” ~ Faith without works is dead, (unproductive, sterile) being alone ~ Abraham believed God and his faith was counted for righteousness- but the next morning (after a dark night of preparation) he got up and saddled his donkey and set out “to do” what God had asked him to do. We (all) are saved ~ (1) by grace (2) through faith (3) unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them ~ (Ephesians 2.8-10)
We (all) “walk” (and action?) by faith- not by sight. We have been instructed “go” into all the nations and proclaim (action?) the Good News- “The long-promised, long-awaited Messiah has come.”
We (all) “walk” (and action?) by faith- not by sight. We have been instructed “go” into all the nations and proclaim (action?) the Good News- “The long-promised, long-awaited Messiah has come.”
These “churchisms”…how are they working in reality? Do the numbers really add up? When I read about the “Numbers” reported in “crusades” of those declaring salvation/conversions, the whole world should look so different now!!!!!
Is the World manifesting the Presence of YHWH…is the Garden in sight? Are we at the Gate of Heaven now? REALLY? Is the faith spoken of here as YHWH proposed it or has it morphed into “another gospel” of licentiousness and sloppy agape? I mean, in light of what God spoke as pleasing to Him, can we honestly say that just talking about it cuts it any longer?
It appears (to me) that the practice (form of godliness) without the Power is coming to a head and God is ready to pop the pimple…at that point all hell will be unleashed for a period of time to show how disgusted He is with our lack of mercy and show of sacrifice as mere religiosity. Our true religion, so to speak, has complicated our world rather than making it conform to His Image. Jew or Greek, the practice of religion without the heart of YHWH is the same.
It is high time to start living the life as HE said to! It is time to stop theologizing Him out of the equation and, as Skip said, to start DOING it. Live out the gospel AND use Words, His Words and not those of the commentators and/or the “church Fathers” and expositors who had a glimpse of glory/revelation yet hated the chosen of YHWH. Live it according to EVERY Word that proceeded (and still proceeds) from the Mouth of the Creator of all things!
With a “church” on every street corner, nook and cranny…what is truly happening. Take a look at the world today…how much LIGHT is the light that is shining today? Think people THINK!!!