HEARING THE HEART OF GOD ABOUT TITHING

HEARING THE HEART OF GOD ABOUT TITHING Malachi 1:6-8, Malachi 3:6-12 November 19,  2000 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Rubel Shelly tells this story about "The Problem with Wealth." When Warren Bailey died July 14, 2000, at age 88, he had no family to mourn his passing. And he wasn't much of a church-going fellow either. To the best of anyone's memory, Mr. Bailey hadn't been to church in at least twenty years. So there was stunned silence among the assembled parishioners of St. Marys (Georgia) United Methodist Church when Pastor Derek McAleer broke the news that the man who had owned 49 percent of the region's Camden Telephone Company had left the church $60 million in his will. He had made annual gifts to the church for years, but nobody had anticipated such largesse in the businessman's will. Mr. Bailey's will included no instructions on how the money was to be used. So the church has set up an advisory board to decide how to handle its newfound and unexpected wealth as good stewards. Rev. McAleer reports that he has been besieged by calls asking for money. And he admits to a worry that greed could consume his congregation. This was his lament: "How do we remain a Christian church?" Good question. If we admit the truth of what Jesus said about God and Money (Matthew 6:24) and recall what Paul said about the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10), it becomes clear that the church in St. Marys has not only a potential blessing but also a possible curse in so great a windfall. So many things involving money tend toward hoarding, selfishness, and covetousness. Having money can become either a preoccupation in itself or simply a diversion from what really matters in life. Hmmm. What should a church do with that kind of money? Give it all away? Eliminate homelessness in the county? Set up a trust fund to educate all the town's children? Set up a drug rehab program for people in the county jail? I'm not sure I know what they should do with so much money. That church has a real challenge on its hands. While Pastor McAleer and his members are figuring out how to honor Christ with their bulging church treasury, the rest of us need to settle the same issue with our personal funds - no matter the size of the bank account involved. While you may be thinking you'd like to have that church's challenge, perhaps the most important issue before us is to realize that we have the personal challenge to be good stewards and to honor God with the bountiful mercies He has put in our possession. This morning we turn our attention to the subject of TITHING - that is, giving ten percent of one's income back to the Lord in the form of free will offerings. I purposely say "BACK to the Lord," because if we are a Christian people with a biblical mindset, we must agree that everything already belongs to the Lord. What we have we have only as a temporary loan and stewardship from Him. Some in the auditorium this morning are slack-jawed at the preposterous notion of giving ten percent away to anyone, even God, and you're not sure you want to hear this message. There are others here who are not put off by the idea at all-they've been tithing for years-and they are happy to be reminded of the virtue and blessing of tithing. Still others have by God's grace learned a deeper level of faith and have been giving way beyond 10% for a good long time. They are tempted to be bored with the idea of another teaching on tithing. If you were bringing this teaching this morning, what would you say to try to meet the needs of all of these categories of people? You don't know? Neither do I. So I purposed to just preach a message from the Word of God to see if all of us, and each of us, might be able to hear the heart of God on the whole matter. Okay? Let's turn to the book of Malachi-the last book in the Old Testament. What we must understand is that the book of Malachi was written at least 400 years before Christ came. It was written during the period of the Law. In the first chapter we see our first glimpse at the heart of God. Read verses 6-8. "'A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?' says the Lord Almighty. 'It is you, O priests, who despise my name. But you ask, "How have we despised your name?" You placed defiled food on my altar. But you ask, "How have we defiled you?" By saying the Lord's table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?" says the Lord.'" The Law stipulated that when offerings were brought to the Lord from the herd, they were to be the first and the best, not the dregs. An offering to the Lord was never to be second best. What if you were invited to someone's house for dinner. You went with your family and after greetings they sat you down in front of the TV while you they watched their favorite show. Then for the meal they served you "leftovers"! You're the guest. Common courtesy says that you are to be treated with kindness and consideration. Back to the scene in Israel. God is bringing His legitimate complaint before the people-"Your bringing me leftovers!? I am the God of Israel, I am your Father-and you bring me an offering of crippled animals!? I am Jehovah Jireh-I have given you everything you have, all your crops and herds, and you bring me this slag, this scum, offscouring as a thank offering!?" Unthinkable! "I'll tell you what," the Lord says, "You take this pitiful offering over to your governor and see if he finds it acceptable! Of course he won't-and you know it. But you would bring such scum to me and pretend to call it a holy offering to the Lord?" Look at verse 10ff: "'I am not pleased with you,' says the Lord Almighty, 'and I will accept no offering from your hands. My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to my name, because my name will be great among the nations,' says the Lord Almighty. 'But you profane it by saying of the Lord's table, "It is defiled," and of its food, "It is contemptible." And you say, "What a burden!" and you sniff at it contemptuously,' says the Lord Almighty. 'When you bring injured, crippled or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?' says the Lord. 'Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord.'" Did you catch the impact of how the people were viewing the whole idea of the sacrifices? They were saying it is "contemptible" and nothing but a "burden." They "sniffed at it contemptuously," as if to say, "Harrumph! It's just the sacrifice-take those calves that are lame, and that lamb that got caught in the briers-they'll be worth nothing at the market anyway!" Have you ever thought that way about church offerings? "They're taking an offering again!?" You drag out your wallet and find 3 twenties, a fiver and two ragged one dollar bills. You're feeling just a little put out anyway, so you thumb past the real sacrifice-the good stuff-and you grab the ones. And just before the tray gets to you you fold them over so it looks like there's twice as much. Or maybe you've thought contemptuously about your regular giving. Maybe it's been easy to say, "Hey, I don't have anything left over-after the payments on that third car, the boat, the credit cards and our vacation savings! What do they expect of me, anyway!" In this text we are hearing the heart of God. And what His heart is saying is, "Look, guys, I don't need your money. I just want to know if you love me, if you're at all interested in the things I'm interested in. I just want to know if you would be willing to acknowledge that everything you have is from ME, and I am craning my neck to see if you are at all thankful. If you are even the least bit interested in expressing your love for me by selecting the best of your earnings-the first ten percent-to demonstrate that I am important to you. John Maxwell tells of the time when his fourteen-year-old son, Joel, graduated from just getting a small allowance, on which he always tithed, to getting his first real paycheck. "Boy, was he thrilled. He came home and showed me his paycheck. Then he marched into the room where Mom was and said, 'You know, I've thought it over and I'm not sure I can afford to tithe!" The heart of God-He asks that in their sacrifices before Him they give Him their best-just as the law required-as a token of their gratitude and respect and love for Him. Let's move to chapter 3, where another Law requirement was under scrutiny. The law of the tithe. And here, with the same kind of question and answer approach, the people are indicted again. "I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty. "But you ask, 'How are we to return?' "(Let me answer your question with a question) "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse-the whole nation of you-because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house." (Malachi 3:6-10a) Once again, God is reminding His people of the Law they knew well, but had not been obeying. The law required of the Israelites that they give 10% of all their earnings, whether it be monetary income or produce from their fields or, again, their livestock. The first, and the best, was to be an offering to the Lord. The Bible refers to this as the "firstfruits." Just as the people had been disrespecting God concerning the sacrifices by bringing Him the least and not the best, so they had also been dishonoring Him in the area of their tithe. They simply were not giving Him the ten percent that they had vowed under the Law. God does not treat this as a slap-on-the-hand misdemeanor. This wasn't just an oversight, a little mistake or childish irresponsibility. God says this has been a travesty, because, not only have you disobeyed the Law, not only have you not done what you vowed, not only have you shortchanged the "storehouse" (temple, synagogue) by not supporting it as you should, but you have ROBBED GOD! The God who made you, who saved you from your enemies and restored you to your land, the God who graced you with the ability to earn what you have earned, the God who is Adonai Almighty! The holy, righteous and just God over all-you have robbed Him! This insight into how important God saw the tithe of the Old Covenant ought to give us pause about our sometimes indifferent, sometimes nonchalant attitude about tithes and offerings. The mark of the genuine disciple of the Lord is that he cares about the things that his Lord cares about. And, frankly, this is a very stark truth represented in the whole of the Bible-Old and New Testament alike-God is quite concerned that His people give back to Him a substantial offering that is sacrificial, consistent and generous. This is important to Him. Again, he doesn't need our money-but He knows that when He has our pocketbook He has our hearts. Bob Russell, in his teaching, "Take the Risk," shares an insightful observation: A handful of our people went on a mission trip to Eastern Europe several weeks ago. When they came back, they told me they were really impressed with the dedication of the Christians in Rumania. Christians there don't have very much, but they believe they should tithe. They think that's God's standard. But the government of Rumania is repressive, and they are allowed to give only 2.5 percent of their income to charitable organizations. They're trying to minimize the opportunity for any anti-government organization. So Rumanians are searching for loopholes in the law, so that they'll be able to give 10 percent. The Rumanian Christians have less, and they're looking for a way to give 10 percent. We have more, and we're free to give as we please. In fact, we get a tax break by doing so, and we're looking for loopholes in the Scripture to avoid doing it. What an indictment. Now we understand that this is an Old Testament teaching in Malachi 3, but notice the grace that is here. Verses 10-12. "'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 you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,' says the Lord Almighty. 'The all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,' says the Lord Almighty." Here is the third attribute of God's heart. He longs to bless and prosper His faithful people. He is not out to get us, looking for a reason to condemn. He wants to see things go well for us. He has plans to do good to us, not to harm, to bless His people. And he ties this promise to bless to the action of tithing. In fact, this is the only place where God dares you to do something. That's really what His offer in verse 10 is-it's a dare-really, He's asking His people to call Him on His word. If you give faithfully, I will give you so much you won't be able to hold it all. I'm not saying that if you tithe you'll be a millionaire. Most of us have about all God can trust us with now. But you'll always do more with nine-tenths and God than with ten-tenths by yourself. Notice one more thing. This promise is given to the Jews under the covenant of law. We are living under the covenant of grace, and we know even better the heart of God in the matter of giving. The New Testament calls on believers to give sacrificially, consistently and generously, and repeatedly extends the same great promise of God's reciprocal blessing when we do-Mark 6:38.. Preacher Adrian Rogers makes a great point when he says, "Any (Christian) who will let a Jew do more under the law than he would under grace is a disgrace to grace!" I think He's right. I have a couple of specific exhortations with which I close this message. Knowing the heart of God in the matter of giving, I encourage you to TITHE. Why? Because it's the law? No, we don't live under the law. Who wants to live under the law and HAVE TO make love offerings to the Lord when you can be free under His grace to give as much as you want to? You know, the average Christian in the US now gives somewhere between 2.5 and 3%. Some people argue that tithing is not taught explicitly as a standard for Christian giving. Yet, I find ten percent a whole lot more often in my Bible than I find 3 percent! When I first learned about the principle of tithing over 30 years ago, just weeks after becoming a Christian, I was dumb enough to just do it because it sounded right. And Charlotte and I have given at least 10% of the gross of every dime we've earned for three decades now. And I tell you unashamedly that God has been our portion, and He has faithfully showered His blessings on us, even when we weren't wise with the remaining ninety. You can't out give God! If you are giving less than ten percent, ask the Lord to help you learn to give ten percent. The happiest people I know are those who've learned to tithe. Not only that, they seem to always have what they need, and they're more mature believers because of it.   Set yourself an agenda: first, to begin giving a percentage of your income to the Lord-the firstfruits. Stretch yourself one more percentage point every six months and shoot for tithing. You watch the Lord bless you when you do. If you are tithing, ask the Lord if you are to move on. Hey, if giving ten percent is such a spiritual kick, then twenty percent's got to be twice as good!     [Back to Top]