Slop-Bucket Religion**

Matthew 6:33

Introduction:  Natives of a Pacific Island have a strange custom of roasting a pig & eating the entire part except the tail.  Then they present the pig’s tail as an offering to their god.  They expect their God to be content with the leftovers.  This is not too different from what some of us do in the USA.  We are content to give God what we have no intention of using.  We are like the farmer who takes table scraps & puts them into an old bucket to feed the hogs.  This is called the slop bucket.  This word comes from a practice in old England of distilling alcohol.  The leftover mash was not fit for human consumption.  In Malachi 1:6-14, God rebukes those who give God the leftovers in religious worship & service.  The law demanded their best.  Deut. 15:21 did not allow them to give inferior gifts to God.  “And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be Lame, or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the Lord thy God.”  How are we different from the islanders?  Do we give God leftovers?  The Slop-bucket?  A 4th grade Bible teacher gave Oreo cookies to each one of his students except one, & gave him crumbs.  That student felt slighted & his feelings were hurt.  The teacher pointed out that even though they were young, they were responsible to give God the best & not leftovers because God is angered when we disrespect Him.

 

1.      Slop-Bucket Loyalty

a.       Jesus taught that God must come first.  Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  First means priority or 1st-place.  But many place God far down on their list of priorities.  They are more loyal to job, family, friends, sports, or something else than they are to God. 

b.      Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” means nothing was to come between them & God.  God demanded an exclusive relationship & when His people gave allegiance to other things, God called that adultery.  What does it say of us when we push our kinds to play ball or play in the band but we never encourage them in Bible school?  Where are our loyalties?  We get upset at someone at Walmart & we keep shopping there, but if we get upset at anyone at church, we drop out?  In the OT, king Asa started out good but turned away from God.  He stole gold/silver from the temple in order to pay a foreign king of Syria to protect Judah.  After he made an alliance, God sent the prophet to rebuke him for his lack of trust & loyalty to God.  You went about your own way to seek peace.  From now on, you will only have war.  A great statement:  “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…”  This passage teaches that God is omniscient, He sees & knows everything.  Therefore, He knows when we put Him on the backburner.  But He also knows when we realize the need to do better.  He is looking for those whose hearts are perfect, Shalom, meaning complete, safe, peaceful, or whole.  Are you loyal to God or have you stolen from Him what he was due?

2.      Slop-Bucket Time

a.       Next to our soul, time is the most precious possession we have.  We are commanded to redeem time b/c the days are evil (Eph. 5:16).  But so often, we are content to give God only what little time we have left over from job, hobbies, TV, or other pursuits.  When we sleep in on Sunday morning as a matter of habit b/c we just don’t get up---that is giving God the leftovers.  When we are as a matter of habit, late for Bible classes or for worship, or, when we come only when it is convenient---we are giving God the leftovers.  What does it say of us when we arrive early for a movie but as a habit are late for worship?  Or, when we spend about 30 hours or more watching TV but, do not even spend a fraction of that reading the Bible or thinking about God?  Are we like couch potatoes who are content to let everyone else do the work while we benefit from their hard work? 

b.      The command to redeem the time in Eph. 5:16 is also connected in Col. 4:5 with wisdom.  It is foolish to waste time.  Redeem is the idea of buying back.  One who wastes money will waste time.  Proverbs 3:9-10 Honor the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty…”  What if we gave God the 1st part of each day?  We’ve been put here by God to accomplish a number of things & if we don’t, He will raise someone else up to get these things done.

3.      Slop-Bucket Money

a.       After the car payment, house payment, utilities, groceries, entertainment---many grudgingly give God a portion of what is left.  God ought to come first!  “Upon the first day of every week (NASB) let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him” (1 Cor. 16:2).  If we work on a job making $5 per hour, & we give $25 on Sunday, that represents 5 hours of our life.  When we give God what is leftover, rather than the 1stfruits, we are robbing God what is due Him.  Have you ever been robbed?  Has your house or car ever been broken into?  What would you do if you caught someone breaking into your home & trying to harm a family member?  If we have within a sense of justice that cries out for things to be done right, how do you think God thinks? 

b.      Malachi 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.”  Tithe is ten percent & offering is beyond 10%.  When all was totaled up, the Jews gave close to 40% of their income to God.  When the tabernacle was built, God said that anyone who wanted to give could give what they wanted to give (Ex. 25).  They responded so enthusiastically that Moses told them to quit giving b/c they gave too much (Ex. 36).  2 Cor. 9:6-7 “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.  Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.”

4.      Slop-Bucket Worship

a.       The greatest command is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind & strength.  When we worship God, we are giving God what He is due.  Psa. 29:2  “Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.”  Is it proper to enter into the court of God & not sing, not participate, or sleep when He talks to us through Scripture?  When we refuse to tell Him how great He is, we are robbing Him.  The very thing that angels do every moment in heaven.  Acts 12:22 Herod made a speech & when done, the crowd shouted, the voice of a god & not a man.  Because he accepted flattery, an angel struck him with parasitic worms & he was consumed inside & died. 

b.      The sin of idolatry involves taking what belongs to God & giving it to something else.  John 4:23-24 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

 

Conclusion:  God deserves better than leftover pigtails or the slopbucket.  He will never be satisfied with our crumbs.  Only our first and finest will do for God. 

** Idea suggested by Franklin Camp's Old Truths in New Robes, vol. 2, pp. 112-114