I recently fished in a Cowboy Church bass tournament on a Saturday morning. I went with my friend Bubba who has a decked out fishing boat with all the gear. Bubba loaned me one of his poles along with the pole I brought. I had to poles in the water, one had a rattletrap lure the other had a plastic worm. I put both poles down for a minute and wouldn’t you know it a fish hit both lures at the same time. Both poles went into the water and I had to make a decision which pole to grab first.
I grabbed the pole with the rattletrap first, then I went to grab the pole with the plastic worm when suddenly it sped through the water and vanished. I felt sick I lost the fish that would have probably won the tournament, but I felt worse for loosing Bubba’s pole. The Christian life is like that, we have to make choices of how we live and how we give. We can’t honor one without the other. Living and giving can be a tug of war in our life, like I experienced a tug of war to decide which pole to grab. Consequently the pole I grabbed the fish got off the hook, empty catch.
If we want to show God our gratitude for what He has done for us, we need to grab the pole of giving. First, giving our lives to Christ, then giving our heart, mind, and soul for the rest of our live. Our money is just one aspect of how we give, however, in the United States we love our money and equate God’s blessings with money. The greatest blessing God ever gave man did not involve money, but His Son Jesus whom He gave as a gift, the payment of our sins, the Sacrificial Lamb.
How would you like to play tug of war with God? Who do you think would win? This is what we do everyday when we don’t honor Christ with everything we have. Is not giving your money to the Lord wrong or does it imply a deeper issue? If I give 10% does the get me out of the dog house with the Lord? What does the bible say about giving? We will answer these questions over the next couple of lessons.
The first thing when someone reads this or hears this lesson on giving money to the Lord’s work will probably be something like this “heeeeerrrreeee it comes, talking about money. I thought we were something special and didn’t need to talk about money, but heeeeerrrrrrrreeeeee we go.” This reaction is typical for those who only “tip” God or give nothing to God’s work.
The person that says to himself, “awesome, I need to hear some encouraging words about giving because I am so committed Christ,” these will always be the ones who build and not tear down God’s kingdom. I have always enjoyed sermons on tithing and giving because it encouraged me. Sharon and I, during our entire marriage, have always been committed to tithing. God doesn’t always “double our money,” there have been times where there are only two cookies left in the cookie jar.
Have you ever given to God and didn’t feel like you got a return on your investment? I have heard people say, “I gave to God but it didn’t work for me.” They didn’t give to God, they bought a spiritual lottery ticket. When we give to God, we don’t expect anything in return, we do it out of gratitude because of how He has provided for us. You can always try to sue God to get your money back.
Earlier this week, Ernie Chambers, the longest serving member of Nebraska’s state senate, filed a lawsuit naming God as the defendant. He did so, he said, in response to another lawsuit he considers frivolous, and claims he is trying to make the point that anybody can sue anybody.
In his suit, Chambers claims God has made terrorist threats against the senator and his constituents, has inspired fear and caused widespread death and destruction through such things as floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. Chambers said God could be sued in Douglas County, Nebraska, but God is omnipresent. The senator is asking for a permanent injunction against God, banning him from sending any more natural catastrophes.
Chambers, who does not attend morning prayers during the legislative session and is a critic of Christians, said in his suit that he had tried numerous times to contact God to serve the "Defendant" with the suit, but was unable to do so. However, Chambers said he was willing to waive personal service on the Deity since God is omniscient and therefore will know of the suit against him.
Elsewhere in his filing, Chambers said that God has shown no remorse for his calamitous actions.
The senator said he filed his suit in response to the suit filed by the purported victim in a sexual assault case against a judge who recently barred her describing herself as a victim and from using the words "rape" or "sexual assault" to describe what happened to her. Chambers considers her suit frivolous though several women’s groups support it and many other observers think the judge went too far in banning the words.
There is yet no report as to what will be done with Chambers’ lawsuit.
More on this story may be found at these links:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20827350/?GT1=10357
Jesus said more about money than he did about heaven and hell. Here are a few of the parables concerning money:
1. Harder for rich man to go to heaven than a camel through the eye of a needle Mark 10:25
2. Rich man who wanted to build bigger barns Luke 12:16
3. Faithful in money Luke 46:11
4. Rich man and Lazarus Luke 16
5. Rich young ruler – go and sell all you got and give to poor and follow me. Mark 10:21
6. Riches of this world chokes us Matt. 13:21
7. Poor widow and her two pennies Mark 12:43
8. Woe to the rich Luke 6:24
9. Disciples gave up everything
10. Parable of the talents Luke 19
11. Sale of perfume John 12:5
12. Sale of two sparrows Luke 12:6
13. The lost coin Luke 15:8
14. Paying taxes Matt. 22:21
15. Count the cost Luke 14:28
16. Coin in the fish Matt. 17:27
17. Where your treasure is where your heart is also Matt. 6:21
18. Treasure in a field Matt. 13:44
19. Can’t serve God and money Luke 16
20. Tithe like you should have Luke 11:42
21. Parable of the land owner – Matt. 20
22. The money changers Mark 11:15
23. Parable of the unforgiven debtor Luke 7
24. Told disciples take no money for their journey Luke 9:3
I once heard John Piper say, “The reason God gives us money is to use our money to show money is not our God, but God is our God. To show the world that money is not our treasure but Christ is our treasure.” As a preacher, I am not here to give you percentages, that is between you and God. However, if our spending shows where our heart is, shouldn’t our gifts to Christ and His work be in our top three outflows in our budget? Deuteronomy and Leviticus shows the typical tithe for the Jews was somewhere between 20%-50% of their income. We want to scrape by with ten percent.
Have you ever heard someone say, “I am a slave to this house, the payment is overbearing?” Didn’t Jesus tell us to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Him? There are many things I would like to buy, however, I know if I buy them I become a slave to them. When we have debt up to our eyeballs, many times it is because we chose not to honor God with our money and not deny our-self. I know there are those folks because of illness or mishaps they accumulate debt, but it would be interesting to know the giving to God of those folks before the illnesses and mishaps.
There were times Sharon and I accumulated debt, and I can honestly state it was because of greed and trying to short cut hard work. The business debt came from trying to market our way to prosperity and avoiding the daily grind. But we lived through and learned from it and I can honestly state today I am a different man because of it, and closer to Christ. When we fall in love with God, our checkbooks fall in love with him also.
Imagine time passes by and the year is now 2099 and your great grandchildren want to see the kind of person you were. Due to technology advances, they can use your social security number and see every expenditure you ever made. The natural conclusion people will draw about you is to see where your money went. Wherever that money went they will immediately recognize who your god was.
I know churches can be just as guilty at this. I have seen churches more interested in raising money than making disciples. It has appeared to me, when disciples are growing closer to Christ it is amazing how those churches flourish financially. I am not talking about outward appearances of the church, but the internal things that matter. Like how many people give and serve sacrificially. If a church is in a wealth community and builds an expensive structure from wealthy peoples “tips”…not impressed. However, if that same church builds an expensive structure but continually spends the bulk of their money to advance the cause of Christ “impressive.”
Now lets go to the other side of the tracks. If a church in a poor community is dirty and run down, “not impressed.” However, if the people constantly take care of that structure, give sacrificially of their time and their little bit of money and their largest expense is making disciples “impressed.” And I am sure Christ would say the same thing. The treasure of our heart is either ourselves or Christ, nothing in between. Where do you spend the bulk of your time? There you will find your treasure. Where do you spend the bulk of your thoughts? There you will find your treasure. Where do you spend the bulk of your money? There you will find your treasure.
Rick Warren, The pastor at Saddleback Community Church in California and author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” has become tremendously successful. This success is seen in both his ministry and his personal finances. God moved on Rick Warrens best selling book which resulted in Rick earning millions. Rick and his wife do reverse tithing. The give away 90% and live on 10%. They live in the same house they lived in before the book and the money has not changed their life except how they give.
Just because a person has wealth does not mean they are blessed by God. The devil makes billions each year off different “sin” businesses. The disciples possessed the idea of a wealthy person is blessed by God also. When Jesus told the rich young ruler to sell everything
I recently watched at Cowboy Church a group of men do the following items:
1. Set up a tent to meet in
2. Mow and Weed eat
As I watched these men serve the Lord through their actions my mind went to scripture thinking about what Moses felt as he watched the people come and bring their gifts and talents to construct the temple of the Lord.
The Purpose of the Tabernacle
1. Provided a way for God to dwell in the midst of the nation (Ex. 25:8)
2. It provided a way for God to reveal His glory (Ex. 40:34-35)
3. It provided a way for sinful people to approach a holy God because it was the center of sacrificial worship. (Lev. 17:11)
4. It was a reminder of the separation of a holy God from a sinful people.
5. It anticipated the redemption in Christ (Heb. 8:5)
In Exodus 35, during the construction of the tabernacle, the bible gives the following account:
Verses 1-3 begins with talking about the Sabbath. First glance it is unusual to see talk about the Sabbath. But look at it from the perspective of other people. These are the unique people where God dwells and they have been set apart from others. The Sabbath is a special sign to the Jews and to the others there is something special about them. This is the people where Yahweh (Lord God) dwells.
Verses 3-9 Talks about the offerings of the Tabernacle.
Verses 10-19 speaks of the articles of the Tabernacle.
Verses 20-29 discusses the bringing of the offerings to the Tabernacle.
For the building of the sanctuary great and expensive preparations were necessary; a large amount of the most precious and costly material was required; yet the Lord accepted only freewill offerings. "Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take My offering" was the divine command repeated by Moses to the congregation. Devotion to God and a spirit of sacrifice were the first requisites in preparing a dwelling place for the Most High.
All the people responded with one accord. "They came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation, and for all His service, and for the holy garments. And they came, both men and women, as many as were willinghearted, and brought bracelets, and earrings, and rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold: and every man that offered, offered an offering of gold unto the Lord."
20 And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
Notice the people left after Moses told them what God wanted. What conversations do you suppose took place as the people left? “Honey, you know all that gold we took from Egypt? I know the Lord provided it, should we give it back to Him?” “I know we wanted to hang on to this treasure for our kids inheritance, but what greater inheritance can we give them but a legacy to the Lord?”
These people had been slaves for about 100-150 years in Egypt. Gal. 3:17 says the Israelites were in Egypt 430 years. That time table is from the time Abraham entered Egypt until the law given at Mount Sinai. The last two generations became slaves making bricks out of mud and straw. Slaves did not have money and for the first time in their lives they possessed wealth.
Now the test. Were they going to keep that wealth for themselves or honor God with what God had given them? Moses didn’t plea, beg or coerce, he simply told them what God said. The people now have a choice, as slaves they didn’t have a choice.
The bible says we were once slaves to sin and the flesh (Rom. 6:6, 17, 22), then Christ came and redeemed us from slavery. This redemption allows many people to become more productive with less stress in their lives. What are you going to do with this blessing? Does it move your heart in gratitude?
We give fathers day cards and mothers day cards and gifts on those special days. We give out of gratitude and love for them. What about the Lord’s day, which comes around every week? Are we moved with gratitude and love to honor Him? The church has never been built on wealthy peoples offerings but on the simple working people. Every statistic shows the wealthy may give more, but they don’t sacrifice more. There are always those exceptions to the rule and I know a couple of those exceptions personally.
21 Then everyone came whose heart was stirred (nasa), and everyone whose spirit was willing (nadab), and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. 22 They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing (nadab) heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD.
The root of the Hebrew word for offering means height. Giving is truly the height of our worship. The creator of the universe is willing to accept our gifts? If you sent President Bush a birthday gift what do you think our chances are of him accepting that gift personally? The Lord will not only accept your gift but He values your gift!
Where do you think that jewelry came from? The downtown jewelry store? These were items given that probably had special sentimental meaning to them. The people were so in love with God they valued Him above anything and everything else. These could have been irreplaceable family heir looms probably given down through the generations. Could you imagine parting with your great great grandmothers wedding ring because the Lord asked for it?
In exodus ch. 3:22 the gold and silver came from the Egyptians, whom God freed the Israelites from. That would be kind of stingy, since God gave them the gold and silver to begin with. Ever wondered why the Israelites would need gold or silver in the wilderness. The additional articles of material, also came from Egypt. God’s reason for giving them physical wealth was to test the spiritual wealth! All those who were WILLING to bring the articles. God prepared His people ahead of time to build His tabernacle.
Do you suppose they missed those things once the tabernacle was built? How could they, God almighty dwelt among them. This became a time of great joy and blessing for the Israelites. My mind tends to think about all the times the Israelites did not turn to the Lord, but the same could be said about us.
23 And every man, with whom was found blue, purple, and scarlet thread, fine linen, goats’ hair, red skins of rams, and badger skins, brought them. 24 Everyone who offered an offering of silver or bronze brought the LORD’s offering. And everyone with whom was found acacia wood for any work of the service, brought it. 25 All the women who were gifted artisans spun yarn with their hands, and brought what they had spun, of blue, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. 26 And all the women whose hearts stirred (mithnassay) with wisdom spun yarn of goats’ hair. 27 The rulers brought onyx stones, and the stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, 28 and spices and oil for the light, for the anointing oil, and for the sweet incense. 29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering (nedawbaw) to the LORD, all the men and women whose hearts were willing (nawdab) to bring material for all kinds of work which the LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.
The Result Exodus 36
Then Moses called Bezalel and Aholiab, and every gifted artisan in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, everyone whose heart was stirred, to come and do the work. 3 And they received from Moses all the offering which the children of Israel had brought for the work of the service of making the sanctuary. So they continued bringing to him freewill offerings (nedawbaw) every morning. 4 Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5 and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do.”
6 So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, 7 for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done—indeed too much.
The Moses Model of Giving
1. Willing, every one whose stirred him up, and whom his spirit made willing. Underline how many times you see the word willing.
2. According to Ability
Each gave as he was able (23-29). The princes gave costly gifts, the others brought silver and brass. Others gave wood. Those who could not give anything else gave work (25, 26).
3. Universal
All classes gave. The prince, the people, young and old, men and women.
4. Overflowing, so zealous was the spirit of the people, and so abundant were their gifts, they had to be restrained from bringing more. (Gen. 36:7).
Let’s examine some of these Hebrew words to get a nugget:
Nasa= lift up
Nawdab = verb, free movement of the will
Nedawbaw= offered voluntarily,noun, sacrifice out of devotion, not precept or promise. This word celebrates a state of favor and blessedness arising from a proper relationship with God.
Mithnassay – from nasa (lift up),
No mention of a tithe, these were free will offering. Given out of devotion, not expecting anything back. They did it because they loved the Lord and that was the only reason!
Conclusion Narrow Path or Wide Path?
Two questions result from this chapter…Are you stirred? Are you willing? Salvation is the same way, once our hearts are stirred with the gospel then we must be willing to give our hearts to Christ. The Israelites whose hearts were stirred was only half of the equation to complete the temple. After being stirred, then they must make the decision to physically bring their offerings if they were willing.
Many people believe they are saved because their hearts were once stirred. But they never became willing to give Christ total control over their life. Jesus said in Matt. 7:13-14 the gate is narrow and the path is narrow that leads to eternal life. Watch a tall person go through a short door. They must duck their head to get through, however once they pass they stand back up straight. Once we come through the narrow gate, the path does not become wide again but becomes very narrow.
A converted heart is an everyday life on constant indebtedness to Christ. It is a daily renewing, a daily change from sin and self. We cant go through the narrow gate then live life anyway we choose. The Israelites passed through the Red Sea in a narrow path which the Lord opened. They then tried to make their path wide doing what they pleased. But the above episode in regard to giving to the temple became a very narrow path. They were stirred and they were willing.
Giving 10% and calling it good enough is not the narrow path but the wide path. Having a heart stirred by the Holy Spirit and a heart willing to please and honor God with EVERYTHING He has given us is the narrow path! Like the Israelites, your health, wealth and prosperity comes from Christ, it is not yours to own, but yours to manage for His glory. It’s not too late to change the result of that time capsule to leave a legacy of Christ for your great grand children.
