קורבן Qorban or, A Gift for the King

קורבן

Qorban

or,

A Gift for the King

Jas. Duvall, M. A.

Silver Wings Press
Big Bone, Kentucky
delivered at East Bend Baptist Church
17 May 2015

Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

For Moses said: Honour thy father and mother.

And: Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:

But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother,

It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me

(he shall be free)

And ye suffer him no more to do aught for his father or his mother;

Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition,

Which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.

Mark 7. 9 - 11.

Have you ever given anyone a gift? Why did you do it?

Did you do it because you were supposed to? It is expected to give gifts on birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries, and so forth. We really don't get much

credit for these gifts; just a black-eye if we don't. We give graduation gifts so our friends and neighbors won't think we are cheap-skates. We give people

things we don't want because we hate to throw them away — in other words, we force other people to throw them away for us. People give to charities

that way — maybe the stuff gets re-used, but the giver really doesn't get much credit. A gift is valued by how much it costs the giver, so that a gift that costs nothing is generally not even considered a gift. Remember the little drummer boy who played his drum: It is the thought and that counts. According to the intention we give either a gift or a bribe.

Do you ever give gifts so you can get something back? Most people do. In many socities including our own people have children so they can take care on them in their old age. I worked with a man once who was sending his son to college to get a certain job; then he was going to support his father in

retirement. I hope it worked out for him.

In our society many parents don't take care of their children. And many children don't take care of their parents when they get old. This really adds up as a burden for everyone: An article I read recently said that it costs the government more than $20 billion a year in medicaid because people don't help their aged parents. It is a law in some places that you must support your indigent parents.

Here is an old paper I found in the courthouse: KRS 405.080:

"Any person who is eighteen years of of age or over, residing in this state and having in this state a parent who is destitute of means of subsistence and

unable because of old age,m infirmity or illness to support himself or herself, shall, after a reasonable notice, provide that parent with necessary shelter,

food, care and clothing, if he has, or is able to earn, sufficient means to do so."

This is exactly the same law that Jesus was talking about in the book of Mark. This is what we might call a universal law of mankind. Your parents gave you life — well it wasn't exactly their gift, and some of them weren't too happy about the results, but still they took care of us for awhile. It is what in law they call a quid pro quo. You do something for me, so I do something for you.

It used to be a law in Kentucky, and still is in some states that you must support your indigent parents. Some states, about one third, still have a law that you must support indigent parents. A few states still try to enforce it. Some people would like there to be a national law to that effect — they want to save the taxpayers $20 billion or more. And so far as Qorban goes — most states have an exception to the indigent parent law: If your parents abandoned you when you were young you don't have any obligation to support them when they are old. It's quid pro quo. If they didn't help you when you were young, you don't have to help them when they are old. That's fair — but it isn't Christianity.

So what is the status of this law? Most people don't like it very much. Did you know that researchers found that when people have to take care of indigent parents that the children encourage them to save more money for old age? Isn't that a little strange? In Kentucky that law was repealed in 1974 and the repeal took effect 1 Jan 1975. Now you don't have to do anything for anybody, if you don't want to. Socialism made that possible. That's the $20 billion in Medicare, and much more in Social Security, and other spreading the loot around as well. Now we don't have to follow God's commandments because the gov't does it for us. Kentucky might repeal unpopular laws, but the law of God cannot be repealed — because they are about how we treat our fellow humans they are valid for all time.

Now for Christians this law based on honour your father and mother is even broader than it was in the Kentucky Revised Statutes and among the Jews. In Christianity is called the Royal Law, and that is pretty unpopular among a lot of Christians too. I don't know why, because we are all agreed that you can't take any money with you when you die, so what's the big deal?

Let's look at the Royal Law:

James 2. 8 says: If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture: Thou shalt love they neighbor as thyself, ye do well . . . .

The Apostle James also calls the Royal Law the law of liberty, that is, God's Law, and it is even stricter than the law of Moses: We are talking about a gift for the King:

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?

If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and if one of you say unto them: Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (Jas. 2 .14 - 17)

Among the Jews and many parts of the world it was considered that God especially loved the rich. In fact their riches were a mark of their special favour. Marco Polo said that in Asia many people would curse the poor and say: "If God loved you like he loves me he would have given you what you need." Marco said that the Great Qa'an taught the people that is was a good work to give money unto the poor. A heathen King taught his people to give to gain merit; Jesus teaches us to give as an act of faith. The less you expect to get in return the greater the act of faith.

Jesus said: Inasmuch as ye have done it to one of these little ones ye have done it unto me. If we want to serve Jesus we must serve people and especially those that need it the most. Proverbs says you are cursed if you give to the rich!

We are talking about the essence of religion here. A gift for the King: James says:

If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deveiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (Jas. 1. 26-27)

To give for the wrong reason is self-deception. God knows the difference. Religion that hopes to fool God is nothing but practical atheism. You might give me something you call a gift and I not understand your true motive. Can you do that with God? Do you think he will accept your gift at face value?

Cannot the judge of all discern a bribe? That's a crime in every jurisdiction, but the world seems to run on bribes — gifts in name only.

What is the gift God wants? He needs nothing, he wants only the man or woman, boy or girl.

Isaiah the Prince of Prophets wrote:

10 ¶ Heare the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, giue eare vnto the Law of our God, yee people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices vnto me, sayth the Lord?

I am full of the burnt offerings of rammes, and the fat of fedde beasts,

and I delight not in the blood of bullockes, or of lambes, or of hee goates.

12 When ye come to appeare before mee, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? ( you wear out the floor)

13 Bring no more vaine oblations, incense is an abomination vnto me:

the new Moones, and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies I cannot away with;

it is iniquitie, euen the solemne meeting.

14 Your new Moones, and your appointed Feasts my soule hateth:

they are a trouble vnto me, I am weary to beare them.

15 And when ye spread foorth your handes, I will hide mine eyes from you;

yea, when yee make many prayers I will not heare: your hands are full of blood. (Remember the poor you told to be warmed and filled?)

16 ¶ Wash yee, make you cleane, put away the euill of your doings from before mine eyes, cease to doe euill,

17 Learne to doe well, seeke iudgement,

relieue the oppressed, iudge the fatherlesse, plead for the widow.

18 Come now and let vs reason together, saith the Lord:

though your sinnes be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimsin, they shall be as wooll. (Hebrew. the scarlet worm)

19 If yee be willing and obedient, yee shall eate the good of the land.

20 But if yee refuse and rebell, yee shalbe deuoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. (original King James spelling)

God is not to be fooled. You might fool some preachers, but never God.

Some philosophers have taught that good must be totally disinterested. If you receive anything in return then it doesn't count as a righteous or ethical act. The great philosopher Kant was one of these. The idea behind it is not wrong: we can't give or do good things just to get something back. But in relation to God that won't work for us. We cannot even give God anything He hasn't given us. It is like when one of my children bring me a present — I like for them to give me little things they buy with my own money. It is the thought that counts. There is an old hymn, "We give Thee but Thine own" — and the idea comes right out of the Bible:

We give Thee but Thine own,

Whate’er the gift may be;

All that we have is Thine alone,

A trust, O Lord, from Thee.

Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the Temple included this recognition:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee;

how much less this house that I have builded? (1K 8. 27)

The Temple was for man: God permitted it as a means to think about Him and worship Him. By the time of Isaiah it was merely going through the

motions even when people had abused their neighbors and had hands full of blood. This is the origin of practical atheism. We do church stuff because it

benefits us. In the days of Robin Hood the priests were corrupt and fat just as many of the religious leaders are today. There is plenty that could be said

about that. But what about the question of pure giving; can we give from truly disinterested motives? I say it is very selfish to give from a totally

disinterested motive — you would only be doing it for yourself. In reality we can't do it; everything belongs to God. We are the custodians of a trust. It is

our very interest in a case that tells us if we should give or not.

Can we give without getting? That is a good question.

Ecclesiastes 11. 1 says: Cast your bread upon the water: for thou shalt find it after many days. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; — that is, give, and then give some more — for thou knowest what evil shall be upon the earth.

Caddie Woodlawn tells the story of the preacher who helped the Indians when some of them were sick even though his family did not have enough to eat. The Indians gave him in return some small gifts they had, including an old $5 gold piece one of them had picked up somewhere. That gold piece was enough for them to eat well for the rest of the winter. Thou knowest not what evil is upon earth, but hoarding that which others need it not a good insurance policy.

God's insurance is pro-active. He honours acts of faith. It flies in the face of human reason, but a few verses after we are told to cast our bread upon the

waters it says: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. (Ecc. 11.5) This kind of giving is a pure act of faith. We don't know what the

return will be, or when, or what; but that is the way God works. If we knew the result it wouldn't be faith.

How do you get faith? Some people say things like: I'm believing as hard as I can. Or: I've decided to believe. That is not faith. My first pastor wrote in his book Faith is the Victory: "When you pray long enough to realize just how big God is — you generate faith." How many people pray that long? Faith is knowing Who God is and what He can do, and that is only something He can show us through prayer, fasting, and various experiences in our lives. It is not something we can do ourselves. Faith is the gift of God.

However, we can prepare ourselves for the gift. The story of Cornelius in the book of Acts is a good example. He fasted and prayed and gave alms. That didn't save him, but it got him ready for it when it happened. For some reason God seems to save more people in church than at ball games and in bars. You can be saved anywhere; but God honours those who try to follow His commands, even when they don't know exactly what they are doing.

A man who loves and helps his fellow man is closer to God than deacons, priests, and preachers who say: Be ye warmed and filled.

If we can't do things that are obvious like help family, how are we to save the whole world? Have you ever heard people say: If I won a million dollars I

would help poor people; but they aren't helping anyone now. They need to practice up a little so they will know how to do it if they win.

Any other motive for giving to God leads to practical atheism:

Malachi 1. 6 - 8, 13 – 14:

¶ A sonne honoureth his father, and a seruant his Master.

If then I be a father, where is mine honour?

and if I be a Master, where is my feare, saith the Lord of hostes,

vnto you O priests, that despise my name? and yee say:

Wherein haue we despised thy name?

7 Yee offer polluted bread vpon mine altar; and yee say:

Wherein haue we polluted thee?

In that yee say: The table of the Lord is contemptible.

8 And if hee offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not euill?

and if yee offer the lame and sicke, is it not euill?

offer it now vnto thy gouernour:

will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person, saith the Lord of hostes?

9 And now I pray you, beseech God, that hee will be gracious vnto vs:

this hath beene by your meanes:

will he regard your persons, saith the Lord of hostes?

10 Who is there euen among you that would shut the doores for nought?

neither doe yee kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I haue no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hostes,

neither will I accept an offring at your hand.

11 For from the rising of the Sunne,

euen vnto the going downe of the same

my name shall be great among the Gentiles,

and in euery place incense shall be offered vnto my name,

and a pure offring:

for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hostes.

12 ¶ But yee haue prophaned it, in that yee say:

The table of the Lord is polluted, and the fruite thereof, euen his meate, is contemptible.

13 Yee said also: Behold what a wearinesse is it, and yee haue snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hostes,

and yee brought that which was torne, and the lame, and the sicke:

thus yee brought an offring:

should I accept this of your hand, saith the Lord ?

14 But cursed be the deceiuer, which hath in his flocke a male,

and voweth and sacrificeth vnto the Lord a corrupt thing:

for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hostes,

and my name is dreadfull among the heathen. — nations

Can the gods see? The Egyptians used to cheat in their offerings once they decided that the god didn't really eat the stuff they brought. The question here is: Do we really believe our religion? That is the question for every generation.

If we believe we will live like people who believe, if not we will find another religion. If we are not the kind of people who could follow the spirit of the old religion the chances are about 100% the the new religion will be worse: a religion of man: Socialism, Naziism, Communism, or worse. A lot of people go into cults because they do not really believe in Christianity, that is in Christ, and they must follow something.

Are we playing games? Are we pretending to believe, but bending the rules for our own gain? Do we say one thing and think another? Do we wish that everything were just a little easier, that the Bible was a little more comforting to the lazy and the greedy? Do we make up our own god and pretend he is just as good as the God of the Bible?

So what are we bringing to God, a gift or a bribe? Do we say I'll do this if You will do that? Do we try to make deals? Do we remind God of all the good things we have done — all very disinterested things, of course.

Do we compare ourselves with other people? We gave or did more. We put up with this and that and didn't even complain (then — It sounds like maybe we are complaining about it now.)

In short, doesn't God know who we are and give us our just deserts. Maybe if we looked deeper into the mirror of the Word we wouldn't have quite as good an opinion of ourselves. Maybe we would realize that we are only giving back some of what we were given.

Malachi 1. 6 - 8, 13 – 14:

¶ A sonne honoureth his father, and a seruant his Master.

If then I be a father, where is mine honour?

. . . . for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hostes,

and my name is dreadfull among the heathen.

That is the question that remains: What is your gift for the King? All He really wants is you — all of you. Will you give Him what belongs to him?

קורבן Qorban or, A Gift for the King