Give It To God

INTRODUCTION

Good morning and welcome to First Christian. We are so excited that you are here with us this morning. I want to go ahead and invite you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 16, and we will be starting in verse 1 today. If you do not have a copy of the Bible, there should be one in the pew in front of you, and the verses will also be on screen.

There is a statement, “show me your budget, and I will show you what you value,” and I wholeheartedly agree with it. If you look at your budget or your checking account, you can quickly realize what you value. Where do you spend the most money or where are you most often spending money? For some of us we might also realize we have been paying for some subscription streaming services that we have forgot about.

We tend to spend our money on things that we like, love, and value. I am not making a donation to an organization that I disagree with or going to a shop that I don’t like to spend money. As followers of Jesus, we should also be using our money to help the mission of the Gospel. Today we are going to look at a small passage from the last chapter of 1 Corinthians and see what Paul says about money and our hearts behind it. Would you join me in prayer this morning?

PRAY

Why Do We Give?

Let’s start by looking at 1 Corinthians 16:

Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. 3 And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.

1 Corinthians 16:1–4.

We have reached the ending of Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth, and since it is the closing, Paul hits some rapid fire points. These four verses that start out chapter 16 are not just talking about taking up money, but taking up money for a specific cause. In fact in many of Paul’s other writings will mention this offering that is being taken up. So what was this offering?

Paul was petitioning the other churches that were outside of Jerusalem to take up an offering each week to help the church in Jerusalem. There is a large famine impacting the area, this is actually predicted in Acts 11:27-30, and the churches that are outside of that area are gathering a collection to be able to give to the church in Jerusalem to help them. This is the context for the giving that we see happening at the end of this letter.

Since this is a specific collection that was being taken up for a specific cause, what does it matter to us today? You could look at this passage and say, “not about us, doesn’t mean anything today, let’s keep rolling on.” I don’t want us to do that today though. I think that even in these 4 verses we can see something about what giving means for the church.

How Do We Give?

I think it is best for us to have a quick overview of what it means to give in the Bible. The best way to do this is start at the beginning and get to where we are now

Abram and Melchizedek

The first instance we see of this giving to someone for the Lord is in Genesis. We see Abram rescue Lot and on his return back to his home he encounters Melchizedek. Let’s look at what the word says:

And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) 19 And he blessed him and said,

“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,

Possessor of heaven and earth;

20 and blessed be God Most High,

who has delivered your enemies into your hand!”

And Abram gave him a tenth of everything

Genesis 14:18–20.

This is the first time we see an offering given like this. Abram is giving a tithe, or a tenth, of all the assets that he had gained, not just his income. I want us to note here, this is before Moses is even born. The law has not been given yet. It won’t be until we get to Deuteronomy 14 that we see a really explanation of what the tithe will look like for the nation of Israel.

The tithe is an offering to the Lord. The Israelites had specific instructions about how they are to give that tithe. If you want to you can see that explained in Deuteronomy 14. The tithe went to not only give a sacrifice of what the people had grown to God, but to also help the priests to survive. Every three years, though, they kept that offering in their own town.

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.

Deuteronomy 14:28–29.

Every three years they would bring the tithe of the produce to their own town to help take care of the Levite, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widows. Not only do we see an offering to God, but we see the offering used to help those that are in need. This is the same thing happening thousands of years later in the town of Corinth.

What Does It Mean For Us Today?

What does the New Testament tell us about giving? These passages from 1 Corinthians are some of the verses we have about giving in the New Testament. Let’s look at a couple others.

With these verses we see that an offering is being taken up that would be over and above the normal offering that would be given. We see in the book of Acts that the church was contributing all they could together to help each other.

And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.

Acts 2:45.

If the Israelites in the Old Testament were given 10% then the church at the start was going above and beyond to 100%. What is really interesting is that the New Testament never gives explicit instruction in regards to giving like it did in the Old Testament. There is no instruction, “a Christian gives 10%.” What we do have is guides for how we are to give. That is the important thing, just because there is not a clear instruction does not mean that we are not to give. There is 0 indication that the church is to stop giving.

Our section here in 1 Corinthians shows us that we are to give to help those that are in need. When we are aware of a need, we should not hold back from helping those that need it. Christianity is marked by this. This giving is simple an outpouring of the love we have experienced. When we are truly loving others, we do not think twice to meet a need.

We also should be people that give joyously:

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

2 Corinthians 9:7.

We are people that give out of the joy to give back to God. We are not giving reluctantly or out of compulsion. I want to be clear with that today. I am not up here to give you a false promise about what will happen when you give. I am not telling you that if you “sow a seed” you will receive some kind of blessing from God. We know that when we give with a joyous heart and don’t hold back, God will do things.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6.

How are you sowing? Notice there is not a money amount tied to this, but it is tied to how we are giving in correlation to what we have. 10% is a great place to start if you are looking on where and how to give, but first you need to make sure your heart for giving is correct.

When we look at the New Testament church we also see the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5. This couple sells a piece of property and hides some of the proceeds from the church. Peter confronts Ananias about it in verse 3:

Acts 5:3–6 “But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him.”

A few moments later, his wife is confronted, she lies, and dies. How serious is the call to give and be honest with our giving? God still takes it serious. The church still takes it serious. And most importantly we, the believers, should still take it serious. This is an outpouring from our hearts back to the God who gave it all to save us. God knows your finances, He knows what your giving looks like, don’t lie to God about it. We have no idea the amount the property sold for or what was held back, the monetary value was not the issue, it was the heart of the matter. Where is your heart in your giving? What is the motivation? Do you think you can rob God? Cause I will burst your bubble this morning, you can’t. And you are foolish to try to.

Ananias and Sapphira. Far more interested in a reputation for generosity and godliness than in generosity and godliness themselves.

D. A. Carson

Do not pursue the reputation for being generous and godly and in doing so never actually grasp either for yourself. There are no shortcuts in this life to either. Don’t believe those that would offer them.

So, we know that we as believers should be giving. We can start with a tithe which we take here weekly during the service. This tithe makes sure that the church can function, lights stay on, and it is used by our church to support missionaries around the world. Even with our own budget, the money that comes to the church through your giving, we are tithing it back into the work that is being done for the Gospel.

Over and above our tithe we have times where we give an offering for something specific, just like the Corinthian church was doing for the people of Jerusalem. And there would be times here at our church when we would do the same. We have taken up items for the Jail ministry and others while I have been here and that will continue.

Paul also made it clear that this offering was being taken up on the first day of the week, Sunday, so that when he arrives they don’t have to rush to take up this offering. That would indicate to me something else we need to do with our money is be smart. Not only individually, but corporately. How we spend money, where we spend money, what we do with our money should not just be decided by one person, but it should be done in a way that allows the church to prosper with its choices.

What does that mean today? We don’t rush to spend, we get quotes and make smart business decisions. We don’t just think about today, but in the future. We want to make sure that the church is set up to be able to sustain itself, not living week to week and that we are not sunk in debt. I want you to know personally, I will and am striving to make sure that we do not go into debt. That is my, and the boards, commitment to this church.

Paul ends this section by giving one more word of advice, that he will be sending a group out with that offering to Jerusalem to deliver that gift. He will also be with them if it seems advisable to that group. What does that tell us? We have to protect what we have. We have to be smart with our money. Paul recognizes that it is better for a group of people to take this offering to Jerusalem, protecting the money and also to be able to see where it is going and what it is doing.

We would call this transparency. WE need to be transparent with our money when it is given to the church. You may not know it, but every month a budget update is printed and copies are made available in the fellowship hall. You may just blindly trust the church, but we are doing what we can to be up front and honest with what is spent and why.

Conclusion

To put a bow on this: We give out of a joyful heart, to support the church, help those in need, and promote the Gospel around the world. You, if you follow Christ, should be giving not from compulsion but as an offering to the God who has given all for you. A tithe, 10%, is a great starting point, but our heart posture toward our giving is what I am concerned over.

Ultimately we give in recognition of the gift that has been given to us.

GOSPEL

Holiness is better than morality. It goes beyond it. Holiness affects the heart. Holiness respects the motive. Holiness regards the whole nature of man.

Charles Spurgeon