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“Tithing: the First Step in Giving”
Sermon - First Sunday
11/2/14
God's Word for today comes from 2 Corinthians.
Paul speaks about the Macedonian Christians and a collection
they are sending to the people in Jerusalem. Times were
particularly hard for Christians in Jerusalem. So the entire
Christian Church throughout the Mediterranean stepped up to
help.
About the collection taken in Macedonia Paul first tells us,
"They did not do as we expected, because they gave
themselves first to the Lord…”
Second, Paul pointed out that they gave beyond their ability.
"They gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their
ability."
People might look at them and ask, "How can they do that?" –
The third thing Paul noted is that they were “cheerful gives”.
They were giving with joy.
A missionary in Chile was wrestling with something and
didn't know what it was; one of his conversations with the Lord
went something like this: "Lord, what am I missing telling your
people? What more should I tell them beyond the cross of Jesus
and that they are saved by faith in Him?” The missionary felt that
there was something that he wasn't telling the people.
They were a very poor people. Poverty was something with
which they were well acquainted. Then, after months of wrestling
in Word and prayer, he came to one thing that he felt the Lord
wanted him to do that he had not done. It really bothered him to
have to do this. However, he felt compelled by the Holy Spirit to
teach his people about the tithe – giving ten percent and more –
to the Lord. The result was that he got up that Sunday, feeling
awful about it, yet he felt compelled to do it. He told them about
tithing.
The next week the people came back and at the time of the
offering they put their chickens on the altar.
They put their eggs on the altar.
They put their grains and some of their crops on the altar.
They put the clothes that they had woven on the altar.
They put leather goods on the altar.
The altar was heaping with the gifts from this very small and poor
people.
After the service, the missionary felt guilty for taking these
things from these poor people. So he took some things and
distributed them among the poor in the community. Some of it he
sold and raised money to provide things the church needed.
Then Sunday after Sunday the people kept coming back with
their offerings. And then the people, along with the pastor, began
to realize that the Lord was really blessing them. Their crops
were abundant. The harvest was bountiful. It got to the point that
the communities around them were buying from them because
their crops did so well. They were making money. Now they were
not only bringing some of the firstfruits tithe, from what they had
made off the land, but they were bringing offerings of money as
well. It was an incredible blessing for this small congregation.
This all took place because the pastor was faithful to proclaim the
whole counsel of God.
Every pastor when he talks about tithing has a bit of a
struggle, like that missionary in Chile. All pastors know their
people, their needs and abilities. In a congregation like ours I
know that most of us struggle to make a living and few people
have more than they need.
Still God challenges us with His Word and His promises.
Ten – for – Ten…It is our goal as a congregation that everyone –
the entire congregation will commit themselves to give a tithe –
10% for the next ten weeks…
or…if you are already tithing to increase your tithe…
or… if you are not quite sure… to increase your giving by 10% for
the next ten weeks…
Then decide what the Lord would have you do after that.
The ten weeks is basically November 23 – February 1
I hope everyone knows that in the Old Testament, the tithe
was required. They were required to give ten percent or more.
And many people gave more. In the New Testament it is not a
requirement to give the ten percent, but Paul wrote,
"You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous
on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in
thanksgiving to God" (2 Corinthians 9:11).
Bill Asceim authored a book about church growth wrote…
that it seemed to him that 20 percent of the people in a
congregation are really giving generously and they are having 80
percent of the enjoyment of their giving. Then he went on to say
that people he knows who are generous givers are happy people.
They really know how to live life. They're not hurting. He then
remarked that he's never known a tither who didn't know how to
live.
Pastors do their people an injustice when they fail to preach
about money. I pray that, as we read what Scripture has to say
on this subject, we will be able to stand on the foundation that
God is laying for us. He wants us to honor Him with what we give.
He wants us to find joy in giving to His kingdom. He wants to
bless us as we follow His Word in this.
Now, what does Paul have to say to us? One of the first
things that struck Paul is that these people did not give as he had
expected. That is because they gave themselves first to the Lord.
What does it mean to give yourself to the Lord?
It means that you recognize God's ownership of everything in
your life – everything, including yourself. That's right. When you
were baptized, you became a child of God. Through faith in
Jesus Christ, a relationship is established that we are his.
Once upon a time a man who had a beautiful pearl.
Someone wanted to buy it asked how much it would cost.
The seller responded, "How much do you have?"
He answered, "Well, not a whole lot. Will I be able to afford it?"
"Everyone can afford it," replied the seller. "How much do you
have?"
"Well, I've got $10,000 in the bank. Is that enough?"
"What else do you have?"
The man reached in his pocket. "Oh, you mean like in my wallet.
Okay, I have 10, 20, 100, - $120.”
"Fine. I'll take it. What else do you have?"
"That's it."
"Well, where do you live?"
"Oh, in my house."
"Great. I'll take your house."
"My house, too?" Does that mean I'll have to live in my camper?"
"Oh, you have a camper!" "Good. I'll take it, too."
"That means I'll have to sleep in my car."
"Oh, you have a car?"
"Well, actually, I have two."
"I'll take them both."
"Well, that's it. I don't have anything else."
The seller asked, "Are you alone in this world?"
"No," replied the man, "I have a lovely wife and three children."
"I'll take them."
"Well, now I am left alone."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," the seller exclaimed, "I want you too! You
belong to me. Everything that you have belongs to me. It's mine.
But - I'm going to let you use it all. You can use it all the time.
But any time I need any of it, I will ask for it.
That's what it means to give yourself first to the Lord: to
recognize his ownership. It begins with baptism, and builds a life
of faith in Jesus Christ, and trust in God.
What is the second thing Paul saw?
When he looked at these Macedonian Christians, he said.
They gave generously! People who saw what they did thought,
"Wow! Where did all this come from? They don't have that
much." I'm sure the missionary in Chile was thinking the same.
"Where is this coming from!" Or better yet, a question might be,
"What gave them the power to give like that?"
The same thing gives you and me the power to give like that.
There was a wise woman who was walking along when she
found a precious stone in a stream. She picked it up, put it in her
bag along with her food, and went on her journey. As she was
going along, she met a traveler. She could see that he was
hungry, tired, and weary. She opened her bag and offered him
some food. He looked in the bag, and the sun reflected on that
precious stone. Instead of taking the food, he asked, "May I have
that stone?" Unhesitatingly, she reached inside her bag, and with
a smile gave it to him. He grabbed the stone in his hand and
raced off. She closed her bag and went along on her journey. A
few days later the stranger came back to her holding out the
stone. "Here, I give this back to you if you will give me something
even more valuable." Even though the traveler knew that the
stone could provide for a lifetime, he returned the stone to the
woman, saying, "I hope you can give me that which enabled you
to so freely give it to me."
He wanted the gift of giving, the gift of generosity.
What is it that enables people to give…like Mother Teresa
for example? What was it that enabled Mother Teresa to give so
freely in such difficult circumstances?
It was the grace of God. The grace of God is given to each
and every one of us by the power of the Holy Spirit.
He lives in you.
He enables you to be people different than what you imagined
you could be.
The Holy Spirit alive inside our hearts can change us.
We're not a people who are getters; we are givers.
We're transformed from people who keep score - into people who
are forgivers.
We're people who are not superstars, but rather we're servants of
our Lord and of one another.
God's grace enables us to give beyond our ability.
He has changed us. We're different.
And God's grace also enables us to be cheerful givers.
He wants to change our "I have to" into "I want to."
In fact, that is the difference between Old Testament tithing and
New Testament giving.
In the Old Testament, a believer was required to give 10
percent. In fact, it was more than met. When we read the Old
Testament Scriptures, we find that people gave about 23% of their
income during the course of a year. Talk about giving.
In the New Testament, it's by the grace of God that we give.
Imagine - cheerful giving is people writing out their checks at
home and kind of dancing around like they just won the lottery.
Cheerful giving is people putting money in the envelope and
saying, "ALL RIGHT!"
Cheerful giving is people – when the offering plate goes by, they
are smiling.
Cheerful giving! Our envelope, our giving, our dropping that
offering in the plate, our use of time and talents need to bring a
smile to our faces. And I see that smile.
I see it when we collect food for needy people;
I see it when people take those shoe boxes for the children;
I see it when the angel tree is put up at Christmas.
I see cheerful giving all the time around here.
We should never lose enthusiasm and excitement for God’s work.
What is tithing? –
It is not just giving 10% - it is an attitude of the heart…
 We give ourselves first to the Lord.
 We give beyond our ability.
 And we give cheerfully.
May God grant his grace to work powerfully in your life and in
mine that we might continue to see new horizons as we live lives
of faith in Jesus Christ and trust in him alone for salvation.
Amen…
Please pray with me…
Thank you, Lord, for all that you do and all the gifts you give us.
Thank you for the gift of the Spirit who works faith within us and
stirs us up to acts of love. Lord, open our eyes and give us hearts
full of gratitude for your great and wondrous love revealed in your
Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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