Give to the Lord

Good morning everyone! I hope you are all having a blessed morning. Right now I want to ask our kiddos to go and join your most amazing teacher this morning. Can we just, as a church family, clap for our awesome kids teachers (pause for clapping). Listen, teaching kids is kind of a thankless job most of the time, and so I want to really encourage everyone, not only parents to be grateful to our kids teachers here at LRBC. You see, these are the people that are working with the parents to make sure that these kids are growing and learning more about the Lord in a way that makes sense to them.

I also want to welcome those of you that are joining us online, we love the fact that we can have you join us as a part of our extended Spiritual family. As always we would encourage you to be a part of a local church family if you are able. If you are in Ogle County or close by we would love you to come and join us in person and be a part of our fellowship of believers here on Sunday morning.

That said let me remind you all about our current series that we are in. Last week we started this series called “Not Ours”, the reason that we titled this series Not Ours was spelled out really well last week. You see, if you were here last week, you would have heard me say a phrase multiple times. This morning Im going to ask you to finish the phrase for me... “God owns everything…I own nothing”. Exactly, now…if that phrase is true, then what we are going to talk about today will make total sense. However if you are struggling with that phrase, or if you would reject that phrase, then what we are going to talk about today will not make sense to you at all. You see, in this series we are talking specifically about stewardship and how we are being stewards of what is Gods. I even defined stewardship last week, so that we are all on the same page.

Stewardship means: “The process of being responsible with someone else's property while it is entrusted (to you).”

So that is the definition of stewardship that we are working with through this series. Specifically if God owns everything, and I own nothing, then the property that has been entrusted to me, is God’s. Now, I want to give a little background on the concept of stewardship this morning. Specifically, I want us to look at what a steward was. You see, Stewards were servants in charge of managing the household affairs and keeping order in the family. They were usually slaves, although at times the wife or the eldest child could take that role.

Now, this is the series we are talking about having a heart of stewardship, in every aspect of our financial lives. That means being a good steward of the resources that God has given me and using those resources appropriately. Remember, if God owns everything, and I own nothing, then I am simply responsible to handle God’s money the way that he would have me handle it. Let me tell you a story this morning.

Imagine there is a guy that has a few small convenient stores, and he personally manages all of these stores. He also has assistant managers in all of his stores. These assistants have been trained and have watched the way the owner manages these stores and the type of opportunities that this man makes in order to run his businesses well and make a profit. Well, he needs to leave out of the country for a year or so and he puts the various assistant managers in charge of each individual store. When he comes back to the states he goes to each of his stores and he hears about various opportunities they had to be able to raise profits. One store was contacted by a local craftsman and started to sell his products making a large profit from these products. Another had an opportunity to use their commercial kitchen by renting it out to a local baker who needed more kitchen space at night when the store was closed. Almost all of the stores had some sort of opportunity like that where there was little risk, but big reward and almost all of the managers took the needed risk in order to turn a larger profit for the owner. Some turned a higher profit, and some lost a little, but all acted in a way that was consistent with the owner. However, there was one store manager who had been with the owner for a while and had gotten kind of comfortable with the owner. Well, that manager didn’t take any risk at all because he didn’t want to loose anything. Well, when the owner came to him to settle the accounts and see how things went he saw that a competitor next store had a brand new pizza company that had partnered with them. Well, that kind of bummed out the owner because he would have loved to have that in his store. As he talked with the manager that took care of this location he learned that the pizza company wanted to partner with his store, but it had a slight risk as no one knew of this company, their pizza could have been aweful. Well, when the owner asked the manager why he didn’t take the risk, the manager revealed that he knew how the owner would have managed this situation, but it was a little uncomfortable as he didn’t want to be responsible for any loss. That manger was immediately fired. You see, even though that manager had been with the owner for a while, he admitted to knowing how the owner would have wanted to handle that situation…he just didn’t handle it that way.

You see, whatever the reasons were for this manager to not managing the way the owner would have doesn’t matter because that manager is nothing more than a steward of the owners property. That means that the manager had a responsibility to manage in a way that the owner would have managed his store. When he didn’t do that, the owner knew he was untrustworthy and could not longer manage any of his stores. Now, to be honest this is a modern retelling of the Parable of the Talents found in Matthew 25. I told you that story because it is important to remember that our stewardship is simply us being entrusted to manage God’s resources.

Today we are going to talk about part of that financial resource management that is pretty hard for alot of pastors to talk about. Now, I talked about this partially a few weeks ago when I talked about being a generous church member. I told you then that this was a topic that alot of pastors avoid because your finances are your business, no one else's. I think, or at least I hope, I showed you how your generosity is actually a matter of obedience as a believer and that means it is something that I should be teaching on.

However, I do want to take a brief moment and acknowledge the reality that anytime a pastor starts talking about money it kind of strikes a nerve on some people…maybe you are one of those it strikes a nerve on, maybe it’s your neighbor. But I wanted to just get that out of the way, and I wanted to share 3 reasons that it strikes a nerve with a lot of people. First of all it strikes a nerve becuase the false prosperity teachers have polluted the topic with much of their false teaching. I want to be very clear that those that are around today like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, TD Jakes, and many, others are not something you will ever here from this platform.

The second reason that this topic strikes a nerve is becuase it seems like pastors are only ever after your money. Listen church…I couldn’t care less how much money you give to the church…what I actually care about is your heart while you are giving. Are you giving with an attitude of gratitude, or are you giving out of compulsion, or guilt…Another reason that this topic strikes a nerve in some people is because your heart is not right with the Lord with regards to this topic. If that’s you, then let me tell you its going to be an uncomfortable few weeks here. That said, if you fall into one of these categories and have already begun to turn me off, I ask you to just hear what I have to say and line it up against the Scripture, examine your heart and follow the leading of the LORD through Scripture. Deal?

So this morning we are going to talk about

Giving to the Lord

You see, a few weeks ago we talked about generosity in general. We talked about being a generous person. However, we had not yet realized that God owns everything and I own, (allow congregation to answer)…thats right, nothing. I own nothing. When I realize that I own nothing, then my ability to be generous changes a little bit. It changes because I am no longer worried about having enough funds, because these funds are God…not mine. However, I should understand the first thing that I should do with these funds that I am entrusted with. Take a look with me at

Genesis 4:3–6 (ESV)

In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen?

So we see there is something very specific here in this passage. You see, when we look at the offerings of both Cain and Able, we see that Able brought the first of his flock, but Cain only brought some of his crops. For many years I struggled to understand this. I struggled simply becuase I did not see that small, but extremely important descriptive word, first, in that story. You see, when we are giving to the Lord, we are to be giving the first…not simply some of what we have. I’m going to show you something that I think will encourage as well as challenge you. This morning we are going to briefly look at

Malachi 3:6–12 (ESV)

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Ok, so we have all heard this sermon before, haven’t we? I mean we have all heard about tithing, so whats the big deal. In this passage there are two main points that I believe we should pay attention to. First of all we need to remember that

God does not change

Why is it important for us to remember that god does not change? Well, simply put…the God we read about in Scriptures is the God we serve today. Now take that promise of God’s and apply that to your life. If God does not change, then how may other promises will God still keep for you today? If God does not change then what do we know to be true about God? If God does not change then we can be assured of our salvation through his son Jesus’ sacrifice. You see, if God did change, then we would not be sure of anything in Scripture, because maybe God changed his mind between then and now.

Now, there is another question about change I believe. That is the question o f OT vs NT This morning we are talking about tithing, and there are many people who would say that the believer is no longer under the law of the tithe. However, what we just saw predates the law of the tithe in the OT. Remember that Able brought the first of his flocks as an offering, and that was pleasing to the Lord. We are called to bring our first at the very least. We also read that we are to be cheerful when we give in

2 Corinthians 9:7 (ESV)

Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

You see, Paul tells us that we must have a predetermined gift in our hearts, and that we are to give cheerfully. That speaks to your heart of giving, what your attitude is while you are giving. However, this passage in Malachi really speaks to the fact that we are called to give. Now, there is something pretty disturbing going on here in Malachi. You see, Israel, God’s people, are being accused of

Robbery

Now this seems pretty harsh, so let me show you three ways they are committing robbery this morning., and three ways you may be committing robbery. First of all I should tell you that this passage is written by a prophet named Malachi. Malachi is rebuking the people of Israel because they have been unfaithful to the Lord. Now, I know…that wouldn’t apply to any of us here, would it? Well, probably not you, but maybe the person sitting next to you has occasionally been unfaithful to the Lord, right. So, that means that this might as well be written to us…So as Malachi rebukes Israel, and the people heard Malachi call them to return to the Lord, instead of obeying that call, they began to argue with God’s prophet. They remind me of people who try to get out of an issue by saying, “Define your terms! What do you mean by ‘return’?” But Malachi didn’t hesitate to tell them how to start returning to God: “Bring God the tithes and offerings that are rightfully His!” You see, Malachi was accusing the unfaithful of robbery in at least three different areas. First

The unfaithful rob God

I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t want to do that. We have to remember that God owns everything, and I own (pause for congregation to answer), nothing, right…Well if God owns everything and I own nothing he doesn’t need anything that I would bring to him. The needs of the Priests and Levites were met through the faithful sacrifices, tithes and offerings that were brought to the temple by the people of Israel. The word “tithe” comes from a Hebrew word that means “ten.” A tithe is 10 percent of one’s grain, fruit, animals, or money. There were special storage rooms in the temple for keeping the grain, produce, and money that the people brought to the Lord in obedience to His Law. Since God made and owns everything, He doesn’t need anything that we can bring Him. But when we obey His Word and bring our gifts as an act of worship with grateful hearts, it pleases him. So by not giving to the Lord you are robbing God. We also see that

The unfaithful rob themselves

Ok this seems insane to me and it is actually deeply personal for me as I have seen this promise fulfilled time and time again. You see, simply put, in robbing God, the people were not fulfilling the covenant they had made with the Lord; therefore, God couldn’t fulfill His promise and bless them. Whenever we rob God, we always rob ourselves. To begin with, we rob ourselves of the spiritual blessings that always accompany obedience and faithful giving. But even more, the money that rightfully belongs to God that we keep for ourselves never stays with us. It ends up going to the doctor, the auto body shop, or the tax collector. The thing is that if we don’t trust God to care for us, whatever we do trust will prove worthless. People who cheerfully give tithes and offerings to God find that whatever is left over goes much farther and brings much greater blessing.

Listen, Im sure Ive told you this before, but ill tell you again. I know that when we withhold from God, we will face hardships. Maybe those hardships will be financial, relational, spiritual, but we will face some sort of hardships. So, many many years ago I was given a car by Beths mom. It was an old 1998 Saturn station wagon. I probably got that car in around 2008 or 2009, so it was around 10 years old, but it was used hard. Frankly 10 year old cars then weren’t like 10 year old cars today also. Anyway, Beth and I were not well off but we were serving the Lord faithfully with everything we had. I used the station wagon for work while Beth was able to take the kids to the library and doctor and whatever else she needed to do. Well, we were giving to the Lord faithfully as well, even if we didn’t have enough money to do other things that we might want to do, we faithfully gave to the Lord, first…Well, eventually God blessed me with the opportunity to get a truck. I mean after 10 years of not having a truck, I was finally going to have a truck again (well until I moved to Illinois). Anyway, I had this opportunity to get the truck and the station wagon was running great for me. So, I traded the station wagon for a chunk of the truck cost. Immediately after I signed the wagon over to the guy I bought the truck from…the very next day it broke down with over $1000 worth of repairs. You see, God was holding that car together becuase of my faithfulness to him as an answer to this very promise right here. By not giving to the Lord, you are robbing yourself. We also see that

The unfaithful rob others

Now here you question…where does it say anything about anyone else’s financial situation? You’re right…it doesn't say anything about anyone else’s financial situation. Look at what we read in vs 12 though. We read that, “all nations will call you blessed”.

The remnant of Israel that returned to Judah after they had been exiled had a great opportunity to trust God and bear witness to all other nations that their God was the true and living God. Had the Jews trusted the Lord, He would have done great things for them and they would have been a testimony to others. As it was, they floundered in their faith and nobody could look at them and call them blessed. The Gentiles would have come to Jerusalem to learn about this great and wonderful God who could take a group of exiled refugees and turn them into a great blessed nation.

If you will trust the Lord enough to give him the first of what you have with a cheerful heart, imagine what God can do within your life that will allow others to see how real the God you serve really is! Now, I know you may be here this morning, or you may be joining us online and say, “but Pastor Billy, we are no longer under the law, but under grace”…Ok, I’ll go with you on that journey…Do you think that you should give more or less to God? Message me and let me know...Listen, If giving a tithe to the church is new for you, then let me encourage you with the idea of first fruits, percentage based giving. In other words, you look at your income and you decide in your heart, through prayer, what percentage you are going to give to the Lord through the church before anything else comes in your budget, maybe that is 2%, or maybe it is 5%, maybe its 50% if God has blessed you with an abundance. Whatever it is, give that cheerfully, not withholding from the Lord. Then, stretch your faith as you see God prove his faithfulness, not just to you…but to those around you.

For me, 10% is a starting point, then I stretch my faith beyond that as God directs my family. So, this morning as you think about your budget and about how to build out a budget for you and your family…Let me encourage you to put God as the first line item on your budget. Next week we will look at another part of your budget as you seek to live a life pleasing to the Lord. For now,

LET’S PRAY…and then the worship team will lead us in song of reflection over Gods Word.