It's a wonderful talk. It helped me to put things into better perspective in my life, and pretty much destroyed all excuses I had built up for not giving my all to the Lord first.
After listening to it a few times, I took it a step farther. Any place he talked about the financially "poor", I interpreted it to also mean those who are poor in time, energy, physical comfort, capabilities, opportunities, mental capacity, social skills, mood, spirit, friends, etc., and how much we are expected to sacrifice in the simple everyday duties of our often mundane day-to-day lives. I realized I need to start giving the "firstlings" of my personal resources to my Lord in all he commands me, instead of trying to keep a death-grip on them in hopes keeping the "pint of creme" will protect me when things get rocky or I'm afraid I won't have enough for myself afterwards. (Goes against the many voices and philosophies of the world out there about what to do when someone's life takes a downturn...).
I encourage you to give it a read, and give yourself some time to really ponder it - you might expose a few excuses of your own that need to be laid on the alter. It's good stuff.
(It also goes well with a nice side of Maxwell on consecration or enduring to the end.)
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"Tithing—a Commandment Even for the Destitute", Elder Lynn G. Robbins, April 2005 Gen. Conf.
Here are a few things that stood out for me:
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Among those who do not sacrifice there are two extremes: one is the rich, gluttonous man who won’t and the other is the poor, destitute man who believes he can’t.
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But how can you ask someone who is starving to eat less? Is there a level of poverty so low that sacrifice should not be expected or a family so destitute that paying tithing should cease to be required? The story of the widow of Zarephath (starving woman who fed Elijah) is an example of extreme poverty used to teach the doctrine that mercy cannot rob sacrifice any more than it can rob justice.
- ... the truer measure of sacrifice isn’t so much what one gives to sacrifice as what one sacrifices to give (see Mark 12:43).
- Faith isn’t tested so much when the cupboard is full as when it is bare.
- In these defining moments, the crisis doesn’t create one’s character—it reveals it. The crisis is the test.
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One reason the Lord illustrates doctrines with the most extreme circumstances is to eliminate excuses. If the Lord expects even the poorest widow to pay her mite, where does that leave all others who find that it is not convenient or easy (or almost impossible) to sacrifice?
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No bishop, no missionary should ever hesitate or lack the faith to teach the law of tithing (or sacrifice) to the poor (in any aspect). The sentiment of "They can’t afford to" needs to be replaced with "They can’t afford not to."
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When serving a meal, it is much easier to set one more plate at the beginning of the meal than it is to find food for a latecomer once the meal is over and the food has been served. Likewise, isn’t it actually easier to give the Lord the firstlings or the firstfruits than it is to hope that there are sufficient "leftovers" for Him? As the founder of our feast, shouldn’t He be the guest of honor, the first to be served?
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