The Discipline of Giving
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I once was at a church service and the pastor was preaching about worship. He he said something to the effect, I can tell much more about how your worship by looking at your checkbook that I can by looking at your hands while we are singing. Now that’s a bold claim! But I am inclined to agree with him. Worship is so much more a lifestyle than it is singing in church or being extra spiritual and dancing or clapping…
Main Text- Matthew 6
While your turning there…when I first received the church profile…we are a church that loves to give to the Lords work.
Matthew 6:19-24 - Treasures in Heaven (Read all then break down)
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. 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6:19-21 - Where is your treasure?
Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth…where moths and vermin destroy…and thieves steal.
Jesus is basically saying, hey y’all life isn’t fair, and if your going to store up for yourselves treasures on earth…one day they won’t be yours anymore.
Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
Be On the Lookout (Matthew 6:22-23)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Your eyes are the portal for how you perceive this world. And if your eyes are unhealthy as Jesus said, your whole body will be unhealthy…what does he mean by this? I am not going to pass over it, but rather we will cover this in detail in a few minutes…
You cannot serve Two Masters (Matthew 6:24 )
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
You can’t serve two masters, you will pick one or the other and so many of us think we can do both. Jesus is straight up saying, you can’t worship God and worship Money. You can either worship God, or you will worship the other. THERE ARE NO DOUBLE AGENTS IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD
It’s the same old story as Israel fought against their entire history…either choose Him or Baal.
Because there is a Spirit of darkness, a Spirit of this World that we fight against as believers and worshipers of Jesus.
In other translations, that word money there is translated as Mammon. And we have sanitized Scripture a little. This was understood for the longest time as a Spirit of Mammon.
So what is the Spirit of Mammon, the Spirit of the world?
Gain, Greed, Lust.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
This world and the Spirit that tries to get us to store up treasures here in it has a three fold trap.
- Lust of the Flesh- sensual pleasures, Good things that have been made corrupt and get people to abuse them. Whether they are of sexual nature or something as simple as food, these are things that God has meant for good, but the Spirit of the World, Mammon has turned them into lust traps. Your eye sees something it desires and it goes after it.
Lust of the Eyes- Greed, covetness, Gain. This is where we see something and we just have to have it, no matter what it takes. This is why Jesus was warning us back in Matthew 6 saying, the eye is the portal, the gateway. THE LAMP OF THE BODY. If your eyes are unhealthy, you will destroy your entire body seeking after the lust of the eyes.
Pride of Life- The desire to have praise and honor, or a title. This is where I think so many young people fall prey to in this generation…
It’s the Instagram…selfie craze. Your value is deteremined by how many likes or shares your getting…It’s the look at me, I need affirmation and the world is going to give it to me.
Let’s look at a quick story to illustrate how this Spirit of Mammon works…sneaks in.
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.
How to deal with the Spirit of Mammon.
The Parable of the Rich Young Ruler is the classic example of a life controlled by the Spirit of Mammon. What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus said, “Go back and sell everything you posses.”
Give it all away. Be like Mary, who seemed wasteful in her giving. But her heart was spent on worshiping her King.
This drives Mammon crazy…
Why on earth would you give money to the church? Well FIRST THING FIRST, YOUR NOT GIVING IT TO THE CHURCH!
You’re giving it to God, but realize that your not giving it to God because He needs it. The very act of giving is a practice of releasing control back to God. It’s a practical step to saying God I trust you, not Mammon…not my own effort or anything else.
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God. 8 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. 9 I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, 10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. 13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14 “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, 15 and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
God doesn’t need it, the giving is for your benefit. It is a practical step towards releasing the control that Mammon has on our lives and handing it over to our good Father.
It all comes down to trust…
Do you trust God who gave us everything to begin with or do we trust ourselves, our abilities?
Do we trust God to give us our daily bread or do we trust our 401K?
I’m not saying don’t have a plan and don’t be prepared for the future, but what i am saying is that you need to put your faith and trust in Jesus and not in them. Moths will destroy, Theives will steal, but the the Good Lord Jesus will always reign on his throne!
But does that mean we do not save?
Having that extra couple months of expenses sitting in the bank account provides a certain level of security to my mind. And I don’t feel that is a bad thing. In fact, I would go so far to say that having 3-6 months of expenses saved up in your checking account is a very good thing to have, and It’s just not good, it’s biblical.
Bring the whole tithe to the storehouse. Malachi 3, says, bring all the tithe into the storehouse. What’s a storehouse, a savings account. When bad things happened it’s the place where they would go to We learn from Nehemiah 10:37-38 that the Levites, the priests were responsible for taking 10% of the tithe to the storehouse. That means 10% of whatever was given in tithes by Israel was to be saved for another day.
-Proverbs 21:20 NIV
“The wise store up choice food and olive oil,
but fools gulp theirs down.”
But for now, I felt God calling us as a church to a season of trusting in Him. And calling us to an area of spiritual discipline that is sometimes overlooked and rarely taught on from the pulpit in this church.
The Discipline of Giving
The world says, you have to get yours.
Earn it, ————————> Receive it
Spend it ————————> Give it
Save it ————————> Save it
Give it. ————————> Spend it
God says, it’s all mine.
By giving back to God through the practice of tithing you are actively saying, God I trust you and I want to show you that I trust you by this act of worship.
What is the discipline of tithing and should we still do it today? I mean that’s an old testament law thing that we are bound to anymore so why do I have to do it?
Tithing is an OT Principle and Discipline.
- Abraham gave a 10th as a sacrifice to God (Genesis 15)
- The law required Israel to give a 10th. (Lev. 27:30-33, Num. 18:20-21; Deut. 12:17-18; Deut. 14:28-29)
- Should be of our firstfruits. (Proverbs 3:9-10)
Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.
Tithing in general is an old testament discipline and there are many believers today who use this as their standard in giving.
And that’s not a bad standard to live up to. But are we required to do it anymore? No
Jesus fulfilled the Law and we are no longer held liable to obey it.
Romans 7:6 NLT
6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
Yes, we are no longer a slave to the law. We no longer have to follow it’s decrees and obey it’s demands. We are set free by Christ. We have freedom in Christ.
Matthew 5:17 - he fulfills the law.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
See giving in the new testament is not about the tithe. It’s not giving to God because we have to.
The law says you have to. But Grace says we get to.
10% is a great starting point but ask God, ask him how much you should give.
The purpose of tithe is discipline…placing trust in God first. This is a good discipline to put into practice in our lives BUT!
The reality is that 10% isn’t enough when you look at the gospel. When you look at Grace.
See the New Testament examples of giving are far above and beyond a 10% requirement. They are sacrificial gifts to God because:
2 Corinthians 8:7-9 - Jesus gave up everything for us. Paul uses this example to encourage giving in the Corinthians church.
7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
Mark 12:41-44 - The widow gave everything she had.
41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
Acts 4: 32-37 - All the believers sold all their possessions and no one claimed anything as their own.
32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35 and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need. 36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
What does your giving do?
Supports the vision and purpose of the church
Provides for the expenses of the building.
Provides for your pastor and his family. (1 Timothy 5:17-18 )
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”
The oxen that is driving the mill to tread grain needs to eat. If they were to muzzle the ox, then it would grow weak and not continue to do the work. Did God write this for the ox’s benefit, no, but ours.
This is why we pay our pastors y’all. So they can focus on the work of preaching and teaching.
I’ma be real for a second. The reason I don’t like preaching on giving is because I don’t want you to think that I am asking for money for myself.
Here’s a quick couple things you need to know…
- When you give to support yes you are giving to support me and my family and I can’t thank you enough for that. I am so grateful for your support. It allows me to focus on Jesus. It allows me to study the word of God, to spend time with you all, to seek God’s direction and vision for our church.
In essence, what I am trying to say is that I am thankful and blessed that you support this church. Our vision, our expenses and my family.
So what? What should I do?
Respond to Grace. What is God calling you to give?
2 Corinthians 9:6-9
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. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:“They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever.”