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Gratuities and Wills

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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 6, 1879

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 39, No. 8.

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Gratuities and Wills.

By W. H. Littlejohn; L. P. Bailey; James Harvey

ADDRESS OF THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED BY THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, DEC. 29, 1871, TO CONSIDER THESE SUBJECTS.
It is a remarkable fact, that, in many respects, the religion of Jesus Christ seems to stand upon the same footing with the numerous false systems with which it is compelled to contend. Like them, its success is largely dependent upon the energy and industry of its adherents. The commission of the Master ran thus: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel unto every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be damned.” The execution of this command involved infinite labor and sacrifice. Before it could be carried out, it was, of course, necessary that thousands should devote themselves wholly to the work of the ministry, and that, having qualified themselves for the task, leaving home and friends, they should cross seas and continents, and penetrate to every quarter of the globe where men, however fierce and barbarous, still lingered, who had not heard the good news of a crucified and risen Lord. Nor was it sufficient that individuals should give themselves to this stupendous labor. Without the necessary appliances of a written or printed gospel, their efforts would have proved abortive. This necessity, therefore, called into action another class of persons who, while they were not by nature qualified to expound, nevertheless possessed the equally indispensable mechanical skill and scholarly ability by which they were enabled to multiply, indefinitely, copies of the word of God.
But these, again, would have been utterly powerless without support; hence, it has become necessary that those who could perform neither of the duties in question, should furnish of their substance the required means for the maintenance of those thus employed, and for the furnishing to their hands of the required resources. As a consequence, the millions who have lived and died within the pale of the church, have, in their respective ages, been called upon, in the providence of God, to contribute largely for the advancement of his truth. As it was in the days of our Saviour, so it has been since; from the widow with her two mites, to the wealthy citizen of Arimathea; from the fishermen of Galilee who deserted their nets and their boats, to the multitudes who sold their possessions and laid the proceeds at the apostles’ feet, in order that it might be employed in the service of the Master—rich and poor, learned and unlearned, have always been required to do as much in the proclamation of the word as the condition of things in their time seemed to demand.
Why it is that God has adopted this plan, might be difficult to ascertain. It cannot be for want of other resources, on his part, for he to whom belong the cattle on a thousand hills, and the untold riches hid away in the dark recesses of the earth, cannot be dependent for pecuniary aid upon the paltry treasures of his people, the majority of whom have always been straitened in their finances. Nor can it be true that the Father of lights is dependent upon the feeble lamp of human wisdom with which to illuminate the pathway of those who are walking in darkness. Had he seen fit to employ them, myriads of angels are at his right hand, ready to do his bidding, who might easily have been commissioned to exonerate men from the labors and privations and dangers of a missionary life, by themselves speeding with the rapidity of lightning to the remotest bounds of the earth, while acting as instructors and teachers in the way of life. It must be, therefore, that the considerations which moved him to the course pursued, were those of advantage to the creatures whom he has thus employed. Doubtless, eternity will exhibit the fact that the very toils and hardships which have been endured, the contributions which have been required at our hands, and the continuous anxiety which we have felt for the cause in which we have been employed, have been the very things which have secured to us the good which we needed. In fact, it is manifest from the teachings of Christ that for every dollar thus invested, and for every effort put forth, there is to be reward in the future life.
Such is, unquestionably, the whole drift of the parable of the unjust steward which contains these remarkable words: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”
Such, also, is the obvious import of the following utterance given on another occasion: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” Who shall say, therefore, in view of such declarations, that the reward of the Christian in his future home will not be in the exact ratio of the sacrifices of ease and property which he has made in this life?
Why is it not reasonable to suppose that, inasmuch as we enter into the joy of our Lord, and as that joy is to consist in the contemplation of the happiness of the creatures whom he has saved, our individual felicity will largely consist in the satisfaction which will spring from the thought that while in this life we have co-operated with the Master, according to our limited ability, in the accomplishment of the grand result? To our mind it seems highly probable that this will be the case; and, for this reason, we believe that as it has been heretofore, so will it be hereafter. In other words, as God has ever granted as much of his Spirit as was necessary for the guidance of his people, and then left them to work out the desired results, so it will be true, for the time to come, that everything will be left for its accomplishment to human energy and intellect, which it shall be possible for them to perform. This being the case, it will be true in the future, as it has been in the past, that as “faith without works is dead,” the only way for a man to “show his faith” will be “by his works;” or, otherwise expressed, our willingness to do and sacrifice in the service of Christ will furnish the exact measure of our faith in the gospel which we are called upon to proclaim. This being so, how important it becomes that we examine well into our surroundings, in order that we may decide, conscientiously, just how far we have carried the work of individual consecration. How is it with us who profess to believe in the extreme brevity of all things? Are we really established in the conviction that the closing work of Judgment has already been entered upon, and that we have reached the very verge of that generation which is to witness the glorious coming of our Lord in the clouds of heaven, and the utter destruction of the things of this world? If it be so, then nothing is more manifest than that, in all the relations of life, we shall furnish proof of this conviction. How insane, then, would be the action of an individual who, believing this to be true, should shape his temporal matters just as would one who looked forward to a long, peaceful, and prosperous future! That man who plans for coming time so as to be able to divide among his infant children, when grown up, possessions which shall be ample for their support, may be an Adventist in name, but he cannot be in fact. To say nothing of the close scrutiny of One who is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, even a common observer will unhesitatingly declare that such an one, instead of having a living faith in what he professes, is simply fearful that it may be true; i. e., in case the Lord should make his appearance, he is anxious to meet him in peace; nevertheless, he at heart believes that this is not about to take place, and he therefore shapes his matters accordingly. And that such a decision would be correct, becomes evident at a glance when we remember that incessant labor and painstaking are not naturally agreeable, and are always avoided when the circumstances of the case will render it possible; and consequently, no man who is really confident that the burning day is just before us can consistently accumulate and hoard property which very soon must furnish food for the devouring flame.
We do not wish to be understood that a thorough-going Adventist could, under any circumstances, be an indolent man; on the contrary, we believe that the nature of his faith is such that he would unavoidably and persistently seek for activity. With each recurring day, energized by the thought that the night in which no man can work for the benefit of his race is at hand, he would press into the service of his Master as never before. His motive, however, would be entirely different from that of the one who, professing the same faith, should seek to accumulate merely. Instead of seeking for the purpose of increase and future use, he would be prompted in his efforts by the pressing necessity of means for immediate employment in the cause of God. If our faith be correct, then every consideration demands that what we do should be done quickly. This is so,
1. Because there never will be a time when we can accomplish more with a given amount than at the present. A dollar invested now, will go farther in the accomplishment of good than would a thousand which should be withheld, and invested only at the very close of the dispensation, since its influence is cumulative, and will gather with each recurring month.
2. Because the infancy of any cause is the period when it needs help if at all. The critical moment when its supporters should rally to its rescue is not when it has won its victories, and is ready to bestow its rewards, but when the battle goes hard, and its friends are straining every nerve to bring its great truths before the people in as rapid and complete a manner as possible.
3. Because God, in his providence, is calling loudly upon us for immediate action by opening the field of labor in every direction, and by furnishing us with a system of publication at once so rapid and so economical as to afford even the individual of limited resources with an opportunity to do more, by the judicious investment of his money in books and tracts, which ought to be scattered like the leaves of autumn, than a man of giant intellect, unaided by these resources, could have accomplished in the past.
4. Because there is no certainty that if we do not donate now, we shall have it in our power to do so when the time which we have fixed upon in the future for such action shall be reached. The Scriptures represent worldly goods by a thing of life which may take to itself wings and fly away. And God, as if anxious, in these last days, to impress upon us more fully the instability of all earthly affairs and the importance of using our substance for his glory while we have it, has illustrated this fact before our eyes by the utter destruction, in a single night, of Chicago, one of the proudest and most promising cities of modern times; thus presenting before us the sad spectacle of men, in many cases half clad, and in others bereft of reason, who, twenty-four hours before this, were worth their millions.
5. Because, should we withhold our charities when God says, Give, as he is manifestly doing at the present, we shall not only fail of obtaining the spiritual benefit which we so much need, but we shall find, as the result of such a course, that we shall steadily backslide, and our affection for a cause which we refuse to succor will grow less and less, until, at last, we may be, perhaps, separated from it altogether.
Finally, brethren, while we see the evidences of the correctness of our position multiplying on every hand, and with every month, let us not fail to respond cheerfully, in every particular, to the financial demands of God’s great plan for the propagation of his precious truth. It is cheerful giving which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord; and for this reason, aside from the liberalities which we have discussed above, he has provided, not a compulsory, but a benevolent, system of tithing. It works admirably, neither distressing the poor, nor exempting the rich from bearing their share of the expenses incident to the carrying on of the message. Let us enter into this, also, heartily and conscientiously.
Again, there is another matter which demands our immediate attention. Many of our people, believing as they do in the speedy advent of the Son of Man, have their minds fixed upon that event, and are rather hoping for deliverance through translation, when that shall occur, than preparing for the contingency of death, which is, nevertheless, liable to surprise and overtake us individually, at any moment. It not unfrequently occurs that brethren and sisters drop away suddenly, without making that disposition of their pecuniary affairs which they ought to have done, and which was necessary to prove that they were “good and faithful” stewards of their Lord’s money and without which they entertain but a vain hope of meeting him with joy in the clouds of heaven. As the result of this unlooked for close of their lives, the cause of truth loses very largely, and much of the means which it would have afforded them the highest pleasure to devote to the interest of the Health Institute, the Publishing Association, or some other department of the message, is scattered in directions where it can accomplish but very little, if anything, for the glory of God. Such a condition of things is lamentable indeed. What a misfortune that they could not have previouslyarranged their matters so that, when they shall come up in the first resurrection, they might find that their treasure had gone before them, and was safely laid up for their benefit in bags which wax not old within the vaults of the heavenly bank! For this evil there is one, and only one, remedy. Every person possessed of property, respecting the final disposition of which, in the event of his death, he has a choice, should not fail, while in health, to have his will properly made out and deposited in some safe and accessible place, as a duty which is at once imperative and demanding immediate action.
Perhaps, while we are considering this point, we cannot do better, by way of impressing its importance upon the mind of the reader, and instructing him as to the best course to be pursued in this matter, than to extract somewhat at length from an article contributed to the columns of the Christian Union of Dec. 6, 1871, by one reputed to be a lawyer of long experience in the city of New York. It is as follows:—
“Reader, if you have any property, as there is a fair presumption in a country like this that you have, it is undoubtedly a question of interest to you what shall be done with it when you are gone. You must go at some time, and may go very suddenly. At any rate, you probably will not live nearly as long as you expect to. If you die without a will, the law will do the best it can in making a just disposition of your property among your relatives. Perhaps you are satisfied to let the law do this for you; if so, very well. But it is altogether probable that you have some preference as to the disposition of your property. You may wish to bestow some of it in charity; this the law will not do for you. You must see to it for yourself, or else let it go undone; and, in letting it go undone, you may be letting a very clear duty go undone. You may have some child that is feeble in body or mind, or that has had special misfortune, and needs special consideration. It is for you alone to consider this child. The law knows nothing about its special wants, and cannot provide for them. You may have no children, and may have quite a choice which among your nephews and nieces shall take your property. If so, you must see to it. The law will not select for you. The rich and the poor, the deserving and the undeserving, will all take alike. You may have an adopted daughter whom you have accustomed to comforts and perhaps luxuries, who will be left penniless unless you provide for her. You must remember her, and not trust to the law to do it. And you may, with a rare sense of justice, recognize the right of your good wife to a more ample allowance for her comfort than the law would give her; if so, it is for you to think of her and provide for her. The law does not know what a remarkably good wife she is, and what a special claim she has upon you, and gives her only her fixed and too limited portion, dividing the rest, if you have no children, among collateral relatives, some of whom, perhaps, you never saw. Consider well, then, whether it is not a clear duty to those whom you love, or to some good objects which you might aid, for you to make a will.”
“And now, in the second place, if you have made up your mind that you ought to make a will, let me say to you most emphatically, MAKE IT NOW. You don’t know how soon you will die. Your only sure way is to attend to the matter at once. If you put it off from day to day, you will probably never make one. The fact that so many wills are made by men on their death-bed, shows how often persons who intended to make a will, and would be sorry to die without one, neglect it till they find themselves just about to die. Now let me give you three reasons against postponing the making of your will till you are fatally sick, either of which is reason enough of itself:—
“1. You may never have any such sickness. You may drop down dead, or be killed in a railroad accident, or be burned up, or be blown up, or drowned.”
“2. If you have a leisurely death-bed time of it, your mind will be enfeebled; things which you could easily have settled by a little thought when you were well, will trouble and perplex you, and you will, very likely, decide them unwisely and wrongly.”
“3. Your will, thus made, may be contested, and will really invite parties adversely interested to contest it, on the ground of your feeble condition, of which evidence can be easily obtained; and, as a result, your will is either set aside, and all your plans defeated, or, if it is sustained, half your property may be spent in litigation and a life-long family quarrel engendered.
“And now, in the third place, if you are so thoughtful and prudent as to have made a will, another most important matter is to be considered. Do you keep your will revised and adapted to new circumstances? Has your property doubled since the will was made? Then probably you want to give more to your wife, more to A, more to B, more to the Lord. Consider this: Have you given to one of your children a piece of real estate as his fair share of your property, and have you since sold that real estate so that child will get nothing unless your will is changed? Look well to this. The writer who has had long experience as a lawyer, can recall many cases where most unfortunate results have followed from the neglect to keep a will in order. Everybody has heard of the Washburn will case. After the will was made, by which Mr. W. had made ample provision for a cherished wife, in certain valuable stock, the stock was so changed in form as not to answer the description of the will, and a long and still pending controversy has grown out of it.
“And while I am talking about wives, I wish to remind them that if they have property of their own, it is as important that they make wills as that their husbands do so. Where a wife has property, it generally comes to her by inheritance, and it may be presumed that her brothers and sisters have property also. If she has no children, she would naturally prefer that it should go to her husband. To accomplish this, she must make a will.
“And now let me say to you lastly, though the matter is not last in importance, do not attempt to make or revise your own will, but go to a good lawyer. The writer gives this advice against the interest of his profession. Nothing is more fruitful of litigation and lawyers’ fees than badly drawn wills. The learning pertaining to wills is recondite and complicated, and no man who is not a lawyer can hope to understand it. A good fee paid for a well-drawn will is the best of economy.”
“Let me sum up the whole matter in a few words:—
“1. Consider well whether you will make a will or die without one.
“2. If you think it best to make one, attend to the matter at once.
“3. If you have already made a will, see that it is kept in repair.
“4. See that your wife is made sure of all she needs if there is property enough.
“5. And go to a good lawyer to have your will drawn.”
Such are the suggestions of one who is evidently master of the subject upon which he treats. What he has said is at once so just and so ample that further comment would seem to be uncalled for. Believing as we do that the recommendation to employ a good attorney in the drawing up of wills, as given above, is a wise one, and that such a course is every way preferable to that of attempting this work ourselves, in order to avoid the necessary investment of means for that purpose, we shall not furnish a particular blank form of will as one which should be generally employed. We leave the subject with you, therefore, after presenting the following resume of the points which we have endeavored to impress upon your mind:—
1. As God has seen fit to grant us the privilege of laboring for, and contributing to, the propagation of his truth; let us obtain the full benefit which he designed to confer, by manifesting a liberality fully equal to that which our circumstances will admit of, and the exigencies of the case demand.
2. That which we have proposed to do in the indefinite future, let us perform in the living present, since the demands of the cause will probably never be greater than now, and since it is better to give during our lifetime that which we design to donate, as in this way we shall be able to see to it ourselves that it is properly appropriated, thus preventing the possibility, both of trouble to those who shall attempt to administer upon our estates, and that of our utter misapplication of our bequests.
3. If our circumstances at present are such that we cannot do as much for the Lord as we could wish that we had in case we were called upon to lie down in death, then let us see to it immediately that our wills are carefully and legally drawn, and, in every respect perfected, so that, in case our demise should be a sudden one, our wills, when opened, shall specify in a manner not to be mistaken, the exact amounts which we wish to bequeath, and the legal names of such persons and institutions as we wish to bestow them upon.
W. H. LITTLEJOHN, } Com. L. P. BAILEY, JAMES HARVEY,