Tithing as Revolution

Week 3:

Why I tithe

Welcome to week3 of our series called enough

This series is all designed not so that you will look at your life and decide that you have enough but that Jesus is enough for you

Last year I gave a sermon that I simply gave 4 reasons of why I tithe…And I have to confess to you, I have been preaching that same sermon once a year for the past 4 years...

Now I only do this with this one sermon: Otherwise, You will nearly never hear a repeat from me…I love exploring the Bible so much that re-preaching a sermon does not excite me at all...

But I had a retired pastor in my congregation who pulled me aside and said, if I was smarter I would have written that sermon, but if I were brilliant, I’d preach it once a year

His wisdom to me over the years was that more than sex, more than pride…Money was the thing that people were hung up on and the biggest area of problems for others…So he told me to preach it once a year shamelessly

And so just for this sermon, I have taken his advice and I am re-preaching the same content

So, today I would like to have a candid conversation with you about why I tithe.

Why do I faithful return the whole tithe to the storehouse? I say I because I am talking about me. Why do Desiree & I do this?

Why do I say return?

See when you borrow something from someone you return it to them, you don't give it to them…

The word return defines ownership….Desiree and I return the first 10% because its God’s. This is not a charitable donation, this an act of worship…

It's a tithe…the word tithe is a mathematical term, it simply means 1/10th

It’s an act of worship that that God asks of us

And so I want to take this time today to talk about what it means to me…

So I get to tell one of my favorite tithe jokes right now…

Two men were shipwrecked near an island. When they landed ashore, one of them began screaming and yelling, “We’re going to die! We’re going to die! There’s no food! No water! We’re going to die!”

The second man leaned calmly against a palm tree.

When the first man saw how calm his friend was, he went crazy and shouted, “Don’t you understand?! We’re going to die!!”Undisturbed, the second man replied, “You don’t understand, I make $100,000 a week.”

Dumbfounded, the first man looked at him and asked, “What difference does that make?!? We’re on an island with no food and no water! We’re going to DIE!!!”

The second man answered, “You just don’t get it. I make $100,000 a week and I tithe ten percent on that $100,000 a week. Wherever I am, my pastor will be sure to find me!”

Most of us think. Well the pastor probably would find that guy he was giving 10K per week for 52 weeks that's $520,000 per year!

Of course…Because the pastor and the church are all about the money!

Usually we say the pastor and the church are all about the money because we don't want to have an honest conversation about how often we are about the money…

You see business is about money

Business is for consumers

Church is about ministry

Church is for worshipers

Whenever we get these confused…we get into trouble

What you give is an act of worship, not a charitable contribution…because lets face it; the church is about giving ourselves away…

As an organization our church practices this. We give away money to missionaries …we support them every month…Through something called the United Stewardship fund, we give money to new church plants.……we give thousands of dollars to disaster relief…We give food to families in need, clothes to homeless people, socks to veterians…we host huge events for kids in the neighborhood…and many more we helped give assistance to…Our church practices this

The church gives itself away…No business does that

The way we operate is by what comes in the offering!

And yet the question we have is how do we stay operationally solvent and yet, give ourselves away

“So the church is all about money…” Really?

Now some prosperity groups out there are all about money…raising money so the ministry can get a second gulfstream…

There are a small number of churches out there that yes, they have made money their god

But the heart of the matter is that its not about money at all with us…Its about your spiritual formation, its about your life with Jesus

I care about your obedience! I care about your relationship with God! That's what tithe reveals…your worship to God…So would you agree that as your pastor I should care very deeply about whether or not you tithe…?

See I don't believe its possible for you to really have trust and have intimacy with God, to really have peace with him… until you settle the financial issue in your faith

And many people pray and talk one way on this issue but they live financially in a way that is outside of God’s favor…and it doesn't have to be that way.

By the end of this service it could be a whole new beginning for you…

Now I want to give you the 4 reasons for me…why I tithe…

1. Because I trust God with my economic life

I know this is super simple

I trust in the one true God. God the Father…God the son…God the holy spirit…I actually believe this stuff…that Jesus died on the cross and has forgiven our sins…that there is a heaven and a hell…That Jesus Christ is the one way to the father…I believe this….

So I based my life on it!

I believe that God has established, this way of understanding his word…and he draws a number of lines...He says, hey if you want my favor in your life then I want you to live for me in every way

I think God says, hey live within the lines, the boundaries that I have drawn up and you will find favor with me….But if you talk and pray one way, but then act a totally different way…then you tie the hands of God…Your not the type of person that God will trust with his favor!

Open your Bibles with me to Leviticus 27

Leviticus 27:30-34

30 “‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord. 31 Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.33 No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’”

34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses at Mount Sinai for the Israelites.

God told Israel hey this is just the way it is!

This is what I want from you…a tithe is 1/10 of everything in the land…

God doesn't want his people to become mistaken on this! He wants his people to live inside of his favor and he wants to teach his people faith!

But towards the end of the Old Testament…God has to call his people to the carpet… They were not living the way that he had laid out

Malachi 3:6-10

6 “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them.

God is saying, You keep going outside of my favor…You pretend like I don't care…you act like I don't exist…You are acting like you are god of your own life…and particularly…in the area of economics… you act like I am not the author of economics and I am, I am the provider…

God says you keep walking outside of my favor so, what does he say next?

Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’

8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.

“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’

“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

God is simply saying, I am the source…acknowledge it…live inside of my favor…

See I tithe because every time I give its an acknowledgement of who God is…The provide for everything

And here God gives the second reason:

2. The Tithe Belongs to God

I have debated many Christians on this point who want to tell me where they stand on the matter…And you know what…opinions on this are great…But you can go into the Bible and God is like…start with my opinion…here is what I actually believe on the matter…

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;

So incase we are not clear what earth, everything and all means…he lays it out for us quite nicely here…

Pretty comprehensive!

Listen God has not given up ownership…he has entrusted stewardship….

God says I own all of this…and I freely give it all back to you humanity…now honor me with the first fruits!

And you know what we say!???

Oh but its mine!

Don't touch what’s mine…

It reminds me of my a story with my Nephew Andrew

He is now in his 20’s but when he was 5 we were at Red Robin and I am not sure if they still do this but they have bottomless french fries…You could just ask and they would bring them to you

So Andrew and I sat next to each other and we got Andrew his fries early…and as uncle Dave goes, I swiped a fry off of his plate…because they are bottomless so why not...

And this kid just threw the biggest tantrum

What his childish 5 year old brain thought was that these fries were rare…He was living in a scarcity mindset

But what I knew is that there were freezers full of french fries and I am sure Red Robin gets new deliveries all the time…My mindset was we can have all the fries in the world

His mom swoops him up, takes him to the bathroom and all of the sudden he comes out apologizing

But what Andrew didn't realize was that I am paying for the meal and Red Robin has no shortage of fries in their freezer...

I could have snapped my fingers and had mountains of fries delivered to this kid,

instead his mom didn't let him have another french fry that day because she loves him and disciplines him

And by the way discipline works, Andrew is in his 20’s now and a great kid....

But 5 years olds being stingy with french fries should not surprise any of us.....

They freak out!

Now what I’d submit to you is that there are 4 main things kids often forget and these are in your notes

1. They forgot I was the source

Don't mess with the source

See they don't get it!

I’m their daddy…I’m the man I am the source of all their french fries! I can go to mc Donalds and make it Rain!

2. They forgot I don’t need their french fries.

I’m not a rich man. I’m not wealthy by American standards, I do not need my kids lousy french fries…I can afford my own …

3. My kids forgot I can take away their french fries

Ok so in my story I didn't take away my nephews fries, but his mom did.

She said, if your going to act like that you don’t get any french fries....See she had to take away a material thing so that his heart would feel the grief of what he had done…She was trying to shape him into a giver but in order to do that she had to make it hurt a little

Hey parents, we need to train our kids to be responsible stewards of what they have…Otherwise how will they ever be responsible stewards of what God gives them!

4. They forgot that they need to give the fries

Don't miss this

See my kids need to remember to give me french fries voluntarily because it defines the relationship that I have with them.

When my Nephew withheld his fries from me and I asked for them, his demeanor toward me changed…When his fries has to be taken from him he was hard hearted toward me the rest of the time

See when you learn to give joyfully it sets the tone between the giver and the receiver...

Guess what, when my kids share with me it warms my heart toward me...

I start to favor them

The other day my daughter generously bought her brother a pack of gum and he immediately took gum out and gave it to me…He’s now my favorite kid

You need to give your French Fries…it sets your disposition toward the Lord…

See all four of these points are so true in our relationship with God, Let me say them again

1. God provides for us. Our income our economic life, it is his!

2. God doesn't need our money!

3. He can take it away if he wanted to

4. And we need to give…because it sets our disposition toward God.

I tithe because I trust God with my economic life

I tithe because the tithe belongs to God

And I tithe number 3 because

3. I want his favor on my life

See everyone wants God’s favor…God’s favor is when God does for you what you can not do for yourself…

There are tons of scriptures all through the Old Testament that the Lord fights for you! I mean I want that so I want to get inside the fence of God’s favor

Proverbs 3:5-6; 9-10

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.[a]

9Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; 10 then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.

You see that? Trust God…honor Him with the first fruits…and you will be in his favor!

Trust and Honor…

My wife and I have been in places in our life where we have been financially strapped. We were living so tight every month and we still tithed…And my wife just says…Its simple, when you give to God first you will always have it…Even if everything is tight…when you honor God first.. he will always take care of you..

And I have heard people say…hey life is just so tight if I had money I’d give it…and the reality is that when you think that way what you are saying is if I had money left over…when all of my desires are satisfied…then I’d give it…

No you wouldn't…

Because you did have it and you gave it to something else…

See God asks for first because that’s his role in your life…

DID YOU CATCH THAT: God asks first, because that should be his role in your life

And I’ve had people say…hey that is Old Testament…that is the law I am a New Testament person…I am a Love person…

So if your there the question I have for you is which one demands more…

In the Old Testament: Do not Commit Murder: Law

New Testament: Jesus says: You have heard what it says do not murder, but I tell you whenever you are angry with someone you have sinned…whenever you call them raca or fool you are in danger of hell..

Which one demands more? The law or Love? Yes, love

OT: Don’t commit adultery

Jesus: You have heard do not commit adultery but I tell you don't even look at a woman lustfully or else you will commit adultery in your mind

Which one demands more…law or love

OT: Eye for an eye…tooth for a tooth

Jesus : Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you…give to them

Which one demands more Law or Love?

OT a lamb was fine for sacrifices

NT Jesus was the final sacrifice

Jesus when he is talking with the pharisees even affirms the tithe

Luke 11:42 NIV

“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

What he is saying is that you tithed and said there you go that is my form of justice but what Jesus says is hey you should have done both! Give justice to others and don’t neglect the tithe

Which one demands more Law or Love???

By the time the new testament is written, the tithe is just the benchmark for what the believer ought to do!

And if you want to follow New testament giving then guess what…you’re going to be giving way beyond 10% because in the time of Jesus & Paul the tithe was simply the standard…But instead of Paul saying…pay your tithe…he said this

2 Corinthians 9:6-7

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

See the New Testament standard is generosity! Because that’s what love does!

So I want to live in the favor of God more and more and more because the more I live in God’s favor…the more it freed God up to use me and work in my life…

That’s why Desiree and I have been married 15 years and we’ve never missed a month of tithing.

I honor God with first fruits because I trust God in my economic life

I honor God with first fruits because it belongs to God

I honor God with first fruits because I want to live in his favor

4. Because I want treasure in heaven

Matthew 6:19-21

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Listen, you are either bent on storing up treasure on heaven or here on earth…its one of the two…

But he says on earth its going to get destroyed and rotted and you are going to forget what you invested in and in reality you will live for a far greater portion of your in eternity…so store up your treasure there!

By honoring God, you store up treasure in heaven

And see Jesus got this…He knows that where your treasure…there your heart will follow…

So if you changed what you treasured…you’d change where your heart was…

So what you can’t see this verse as is if I give I am going to heaven…that’s not what Jesus is saying…

Jesus is calling out priorities…In the Gospel of Matthew Jesus continually talks about the Kingdom of Heaven…Or His kingdom…

Now the question is what really matters to you? What do you really want to invest in…This stuff!

Or people

The mission of the church is people…its transformed lives…

Our church exists to transform lives, families and communities through the truth power and love of Jesus Christ…

We exist for people…THAT is where we invest, that is what we treasure, changed and redeemed lives….

Closing thought:

Now if you're here and you are seeking out who God is and this is all new to you…what I am about to say is not for you…

Who I’d like to talk to now are people who call NCF Home…

So I want to give you an invitation…This is not an obligation…See so many people see the way that the church talks about money as trying to take from them…and that couldn't be further from the truth of the scriptures…

When you give you honor, you proclaim to God that he goes first in your life…it is a statement of putting your economic life in God’s hands…So I want to challenge you…

If you Call REC Home.

If you have been attending here or are a member here for some time…And you don't give…or like most people…you give to God out of what’s left rather than what is first….I want to challenge you to try out Malachi 3

Many of you did last year and I know you’ve told me it was a major change in your life...

Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.

I know what your thinking…black Friday is coming up, then there is Christmas…I cant do that!

Are you a worshiper or are you a consumer…

So I want to challenge you, Test God…It is one thing that he says Test me in this…Tithe and for the next 90 days, see if the bible is true, give the first 10% to the lord…every paycheck…Take the first of what God has given to you and honor him with it.

Maybe you need to go home and sit down with excel and figure out how you will do this, maybe you simply need to decide right now that the whole tithe belongs to the Lord...

This is between you and God...

Its not between you me and God...

Lets pray