September 8, 2024

Community Scripture Reading

Malachi 3:10 ESV

10 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.

Mark 12:41–44 ESV

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

The Habit of Generosity

Introduction

• Opening Illustration: Share a story about a child who gives a small but heartfelt gift to someone they love. The value of the gift isn’t in its size or cost but in the heart and intention behind it.

• Transition: Today, we’re going to talk about the habit of faithful giving to God—not just financially, but giving of our time, talents, and resources. It’s a vital sign of a healthy Christian because it reflects our trust in God and our gratitude for His blessings.

1. Faithful Giving Reflects Our Trust in God (Malachi 3:10)

Malachi 3:10 ESV

10 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.

This section in Malachi begins several verses earlier where God challenges his people to consider whether they are stealing from him.

Malachi 3:8 ESV

8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.

So how is Israel robbing God? How is that even possible? If you read just the first two chapters of this book you see that there are treacherous and mean towards each other especially their wives they worship idols they intermarried with pagans they tolerated sorcery adultery perjury and people who took advantage of defenseless people. There were quite a few things that god could have pointed out at this point. But instead he focuses on one thing. Their tithes and contributions.

You see in the Old Testament land is a big deal. It was a big deal that God gave his people a home to live in. Just like each one of you has a home to live in. And we've got a home to live in in this town in this state in this country. God gave it home to Israel. But when he gave this home to Israel he reminded them that it wasn't a possession that they owned. They were given it simply to take care of it for him.

Leviticus 25:23 ESV

23 “The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers and sojourners with me.

God wanted to remind the Israelites of their relationship with him. He wanted them to never forget what he had done for them. It's so easy to forget isn't it? Whether it's something your parents ask you to do or your spouse or it's how God has been faithful in the past.

Deuteronomy 8:17–18 ESV

17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.

From that God warned them back in deuteronomy and said be careful don't think that you got all this stuff remember that God gave you it. You know we need to remember this lesson today. If you think that your power and might have gotten you the wealth you have think of all the ways that God has protected and preserved you. Think of how much you have to be grateful to others and to God.

And you know what's cool?! God didn't just tell them to bring stacks and stacks of money to him. He gave them a whole bunch of festivals…. parties to do where they could be reminded to give back to him because he's given to them. There was the festival of the first fruits festival of the weeks festival of the tabernacles every week there was a Sabbath rust every seven years there was a Sabbath year where everyone rested and and didn't work every 50 years there was a year of jubilee where debts were cancelled and there were regular sacrifices and offerings where you would give a sacrifice to God and on top of everything else there was a tie of 10% of your income you gave back to God from what he gave to you. These offerings these sacrifices and these tithes were all sorts of moments in the life of the community where they reminded themselves how much God had done for them.

I love this verse telling them what to do in one of these festivals

Deuteronomy 14:23 ESV

23 And before the Lord your God, in the place that he will choose, to make his name dwell there, you shall eat the tithe of your grain, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.

Now for the Israelites this tithe was 10% of their income and they gave it to the levites to the people who served at the temple and who served as priests. And they would also every three years dispense the tide in their hometown for people that didn't have a home foreign residents widows fatherless levis and amore the ties in Israeli society was designed to benefit the poor and needy. But God wanted the Israelites to remember that everything they had was from him. And he commanded the Israelites to give 10% back to him as a reminder that everything belonged to him in the 1st place. But he also wanted them to see that choosing not to give back to God was like robbing him.

Malachi 3:9 ESV

9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.

You see God designed this wonderful system of festivals offerings and different opportunities where the whole community could gather together celebrate what he had done remember his faithfulness and give back to him. And these offerings and these tithes would go towards supporting the people who encouraged the nation the levites and the priests. But it would also go towards the poor and the needy in the community. And when they chose not to give this they were robbing God.

Malachi 3:10 (ESV)

10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.

Remember, part of the purpose of the tithe was to feed the Levites and Priests

Deuteronomy 14:28–29 ESV

28 “At the end of every three years you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in the same year and lay it up within your towns. 29 And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do.

You know what's interesting. God gave everyone of israel's sons land in the promised land. The promised land was carved up and divided as inheritances for each one of those tribes. But he left one out. Have you ever been left out or forgotten? That's not what happened here. What God did here is he made the tribe of Levi a tribe dedicated to serving him taking care of the temple teaching the people his law and when the Israelites paid the tide that went toward providing for these levites. These levites encouraged and ministered to the people.

In the same way that the levites were dependent on the generosity of the tithe Israel was dependent on God.

Haggai, Malachi (2) Call for Tithes (3:8–10a)

Therefore, “the function of Levi in the land is to remind Israel that her ultimate calling is not merely to enjoy its produce, but relationship with him.” So “if the Levites are neglected, it is not simply a sign of disobedience, but of a falling away from the relationship which the Levites themselves model.”

In short God owned everything that Israelites had and he owns everything we have. God commanded the Israelites to give a tithe back to him and that was to be used to provide for others and that was to be used to provide for the people that ministered to them. It was to be a constant reminder that they depend on God. Isn't that what given to God today does.? It reminds us that we depend on him. But there's also a neat bit of hope here.

Malachi 3:10 ESV

10 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.

Can we test God?

There's quite a few times in the Bible where God is provoked to anger by people who test him. And even in the New Testament Jesus says you should not put the Lord your God to the test when Satan tries to get him to act. So what's going on here?

It seems that it is wrong to test God with complaining rebellion or disbelief.

Numbers 14:22 ESV

22 none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,

Exodus 17:2–7 ESV

2 Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” 3 But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?” 4 So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

It is not wrong to test God with obedience.

It is not wrong to test God with obedience. Is not wrong to practice obedience to God and then say God here it is here I am I've been faithful to you now be faithful to me. It is OK with humility to obey God expect him to watch over you.

Now we live in the New Testament era. We don't have the laws and festivals that God commanded the Israelites to practice in our lives today. And God doesn't demand a set tithe of our income. But God is still the same God today. God still provides and owns all we have. God still invites us to test him with obedience and see if he will not overwhelm us with his blessing

• Illustration: Think of a child who jumps into their parent’s arms, trusting they will be caught. Similarly, our giving should demonstrate our trust in God’s provision and care.

• Application: Challenge the congregation to examine their trust in God. Are they willing to “test” Him with their finances, believing He will provide?

2. Generosity as a Heart Posture (2 Corinthians 9:6-8):

2 Corinthians 9:6–8 ESV

6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

• Illustration: Imagine planting seeds in a garden. The more seeds you plant, the greater the harvest. Our generosity works similarly—the more we give, the more we receive, not just materially but spiritually.

So jumping from the Old Testament into the New Testament we run into this teaching by Paul. And he challenges the church that’s u by the way…. 2 practice generosity. Not many of us are farmers but we still understand the concept that you have to sew a lot of seeds if you want to get a big harvest. But also the problem with sowing a lot of seeds is that's a lot of risk. A lot of seeds cost a lot of money.

I've got this big bag of grass seeds right here and it wasn't cheap. I need to plant and grow grass in my backyard this summer this fall before the freeze sets in. If I want to grow a lot of grass I need to plant a lot of seed right? In the same way if we want to reap God's blessings in our life God calls us to be generous in giving to him.

And then in verse seven he defines how we should choose to give. Remember we're not under the law we don't have these festivals and sacrifices and offerings but we should be guided by a relationship with God. We shouldn't be guided by someone guilting us or pressuring us or forcing us we should be guided by our relationship with God.

Here's the deal though come on if you're not daily building your relationship with god you don't have a good sense for how God is calling you to give. In the same way for those of you who are married if you're not investing in getting to know and knowing your spouse you can't accurately make calls on what they would want you to do. Or if you're not married and you've got friends around you you have to invest in those friendships to know those people and what they want. If you want to know what God is calling you to do you need to invest in getting to know God. You need to invest in spending time with him every day.

2 Corinthians 9:8 ESV

8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

And we spend time with God for a number of reasons but in part it is because God is able to make grace abound to us. That means he's able to bless us and provide for us and help us to abound in good works. We need to remember God's abundant supplies are not meant to increase our wealth or personal pleasure but they are to make it so that we can abound in good works. That means you can give generously to God and still get fired from your job. It may be that God has something different in mind for you. That means you can faithfully serve God for decades in church and still get cancer. Because God is abundantly providing for ways for you to do good work but that doesn't mean you and I are going to be healthy and wealthy our whole lives.

• Application: Encourage the congregation to reflect on their attitudes towards giving. Are they giving reluctantly, or are they cheerful givers, understanding that generosity blesses both the giver and the receiver?

3. The Measure of Sacrifice, Not Amount (Mark 12:41-44):

Mark 12:41–44 ESV

41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”

I'm not going to spend a lot of time explaining this parable. It's about what we are giving to God not about the size of what we give.

Our capacity to give time talents and treasure to God shift throughout our lives. God calls us to give sacrificially to him. Because it blesses us because it belongs to him.

• Application: Encourage the congregation to consider their sacrifices. God values the heart behind the gift more than the size of the gift. It’s about giving with a spirit of sacrifice and devotion.

Object Lesson: The Jar of Seeds and God’s Storehouse

• Object: A small jar with seeds (representing individual giving) and a large jar labeled “God’s Storehouse.”

• Demonstration: Have children or volunteers take seeds from the small jar and put them into the larger jar, explaining that each seed represents our gifts to God. Just as planting seeds results in a greater harvest, so does our faithful giving result in blessings.

• Engaging the Children: Allow the children to participate by placing seeds in the jar, explaining that every little bit they give—whether it’s time, talents, or resources—adds up and is valuable to God.

Practical Tips for Faithful Giving:

1. Start with Tithing

: Encourage those who aren’t tithing yet to start by giving a portion of their income, gradually increasing as they experience God’s faithfulness.

2. Give Beyond Finances

: Emphasize that giving includes time and talents, suggesting ways they can serve in the church and community.

3. Make Giving a Habit

: Encourage setting up a regular giving routine, whether it’s weekly or monthly, and sticking to it as an act of worship and trust.

Challenge and Call to Action:

What will you give to God of your TIME, TALENTS, and TREASURES?

• Challenge: Encourage everyone to consider what they can give—time, talents, or treasures—and to commit to faithful giving this week.

• Call to Action: Ask them to prayerfully decide in their hearts what they will give, remembering that God loves a cheerful giver.

Conclusion

• Reiterate Key Points: Summarize the importance of

trusting God through giving,

being generous with a cheerful heart, and recognizing the

value of sacrificial giving.

• Closing Prayer: Pray for hearts that trust God fully, for the spirit of generosity to overflow, and for the joy that comes from giving to be experienced by all.

Closing Community Prayer

Matthew 6:9–13 ESV

9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.