TITHING AND GIVING

TITHING AND GIVING Malachi 1:6-8; 3:6-12 November 14, 2010 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction July 14, 2000, Warren Bailey died at age 88. You’re not the only one who didn’t know him—neither did the members of the church he belonged to, because he hadn’t attended in at least twenty years. But one Sunday morning there was stunned silence among those in attendance when the pastor of St. Mary’s UM Church broke the news that Mr. Bailey had left the church $60 million in his will. He had made annual gifts for years, but no one paid much attention until the big ship came in. His will included no instructions on how the money was to be used, so the church set up an advisory board to help determine how they should steward the funds. Pastor Derek McAleer reported he was besieged by calls asking for money. He admitted he was worried that greed might consume the congregation, and lamented, “How do we remain a ‘Christian’ Church?” Good question! Maybe the only question that really matters. Jesus said you cannot serve God and Money, and Paul warned that the love of money was the root of all kinds of evil. The church was sitting on a powder keg, all because they were blessed and cursed with a gift that could easily divert their attention from their primary purpose. What should a church do with that kind of money? Give it all away? Eliminate homelessness in their county? Set up a college trust fund for every child in the city? Sponsor a thousand missionaries for 5 years? Pay off every member’s mortgage and declare a Jubilee? While Pastor Derek was figuring out how to honor Christ with their bulging treasury, the rest of us were probably praying that the power bill could be paid with the next week’s offering. And we think we’d like to have the challenge that church had, but the real challenge we face is how to be good stewards of the bounty God has put in our possession. This morning we will look at the topic of Tithing. A tithe, of course, is a tenth, and the Judeo-Christian practice of tithing is giving 10% of one’s income back to God in the form of offerings. I said back to the Lord deliberately, because, as Christians, we begin with the premise that everything belongs to the Lord, and what we have is but a temporary loan from Him that we are to care for in a way that honors Him. There are a few here who might be simply stunned at the prospect of giving 10% of their income away to anyone, even God, and you’re not sure you want to even listen to this teaching. Others here are not put off by the idea at all—you’ve been tithing for years, and you’re happy to hear the biblical reminders of the virtue and blessing of tithing. Still others have by God’s grace learned an even deeper level of obedience, and they have given beyond the 10% level for a long time. You’d think they would be almost bored with such elementary teaching, but they probably aren’t. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament, written at least 400 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem. Let’s read from chapter one, verses 6-8 to get an introduction to the prophetic word of this prophet. “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 Almighty" The Law required that when offerings were brought to the Lord from the herd, they were to be the first and best of the sheep or goat, oxen or dove, not the dregs. It could have been very tempting to drag in animals that were lame or sick and of no value to the owner, make that his offering, and fulfill his commitment and get rid of a useless animal both at the same time. But that would be a most disrespectful act. Have you ever been invited to someone’s home for dinner and they served you leftovers? Would you be happy to find out that the expensive outfit you bought turned out to a factory seconds? How about if you ordered the fresh Sea Bass recommended by the waiter, and found out later it was just cod? God is bringing His legitimate complaint before the people-"You’re bringing me leftovers!? You’re offering me your dregs?” “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 off scouring of your herds as a thank offering!?" Unthinkable! "I'll tell you what," the Lord says, "You take this pitiful offering over to your governor and try to pay your taxes with it. ‘See if he finds it acceptable! Of course he won't-and you know it. But you would bring your runts 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." The whole idea of bringing the sacrifices just seemed to wear the people out. They were saying it is "contemptible" and nothing but a "burden." They "sniffed at it contemptuously," as if to say, "Harrumph! It's just a church offering—take those calves that are lame, and that lamb that got caught in the briers-they'll be worth nothing at the market anyway!" When their love for God is on the wane, their relationship with Christ weakened, Christians can slacken in their giving. Worldly pursuits look more attractive and God gets pushed down on the priority list. Why would anyone profane God in this way? To offer Him less than our best, to actually despise the whole idea of giving to Him? When we start thinking of the offerings as a cold duty, a miserable requirement, it means one thing—we’ve stopped loving God. You see, you can give without loving God, but you can’t love God without giving. 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 credit cards and vacation! What do they expect of me, anyway!" These are the whining of someone who has left his first love. In this text we are hearing the heart of God. And what His heart is saying is, "Look, little children, I don't need your money. I 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. I’m craning my neck to see if you are thankful—if you are 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 anymore!’" This is the heart of God. He wants our heart. He is looking for those whose love for Him is real enough to sacrifice for Him. He wants to know who is grateful enough toward Him, respectful enough toward Him, and committed enough to His purposes to give more than the minimum, more than a tip, but an offering right off the top—the first fruits, the best that they have. Let's look now at chapter three, as we move from the law of the sacrificial offerings to the law of the tithe. And here, with the same kind of question and answer approach, the people are indicted again. Malachi 3:6 - “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 not only knew well, but had also covenanted to obey, but they 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 first fruits, right off the top 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 calls it a travesty, because, not only had they 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. What is it that honors God? It is giving (to Him and His kingdom cause) that is generous, sacrificial, loving and cheerful. Once again, we under-stand that God does not need our money, but He knows that when He has our pocketbook He has our hearts. Bob Russell 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 impressed with the dedication of the Christians in Rumania. Christians there don't have 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 % of their income to charitable organizations. They're trying to minimize the opportunity for any anti-government organization. So Rumanian believers are searching for loopholes in the law, so that they'll be able to give 10 %. The Rumanian Christians have less, and they're looking for a way to give a tithe. We have more, and we're free to give as we please. In fact, we get a tax break for doing so, and we're looking for loopholes in the Scripture to avoid doing it. What an indictment. We understand this is a teaching under the Law, but notice the grace here. Vs 10-12 - "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. “Then 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 be better off 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.   God loves us, and He longs to bless and prosper His people. 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. Luke 6:38 – Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 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 Target the Tithe in your giving. 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 around 2.5%. Tithing is not taught explicitly as a standard for Christian giving. And we at MECF do not teach or require tithing. Yet, I find ten percent a whole lot more often in my Bible than I find 2.5 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% for three decades now. And I tell you unabashedly that God has been our portion, He has faithfully showered His blessings on us, even when we weren't wise with the remaining ninety. You can't out give God! Build toward the tithe with percentage giving. If you are giving less than ten percent, ask the Lord to help you learn to give ten percent. The happiest Christians 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. Watch the Lord bless you when you do. Arrive at the tithe and be faithful. You will enjoy the rich benefit of God’s favor in your life as He opens the floodgates of heaven and pours out uncontainable. Move on beyond the tithe and be faithful. 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! Keep going until He tells you to stop. Conclusion Before going to Europe on business, a certain man drove his Rolls-Royce to a downtown New York City bank and went in to ask for an immediate loan of $5,000. The loan officer, taken aback, requested collateral. The man replied, "Well then, here are the keys to my Rolls-Royce." The loan officer promptly had the car driven into the bank's underground parking for safe-keeping and gave him $5,000. Two weeks later, the man walked through the bank's doors and asked to settle up his loan and get his car back. "That will be $5,000 in principal, and $15.40 in interest," the loan officer said. The man wrote out a check, got up, and started to walk away. "Wait sir," the loan officer said. "While you were gone, I found out you're a millionaire. Why in the world would you need to borrow $5,000?" The man smiled. "Where else could I safely park my Rolls-Royce in Manhattan for two weeks and only pay $15.40?" There is a place to safely park your money – in God’s keeping. We are instructed more than once in the New Testament to invest in the kingdom of God. When you do, you lay up for yourself treasures in heaven. And those treasures never rust, corrode or get stolen. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also.         [ Back to Top]