Today – conclude the series on Stewardship.
* First sermon – God owns everything we have. God gave us the responsibility to manage his resources.
* Second sermon – Stewardship of time
* Third sermon – Stewardship of talents (gifts)
* Today – Stewardship of treasures (money)
Don’t leave! I haven’t started yet! I am simply going to allow God to speak His Word to our hearts. We’ll look at what the passage says to us and then you and I need to decide what we should do about it.
We will be looking at a lot of Scripture. Have your Bible ready. Take notes if you wish, although you can find the whole sermon on our website at www.sakcc.com. At the very least write down your questions that you can study later on your own time.
House rules – the blessing and curse of daily life. Pick up your socks. Brush your teeth. Mow the lawn. Take out the garbage. Set the table. Walk the dog. “Seriously Dale, you’re worst than the girls" laments my weary lady! Well, not really!
We’re not fond of rules but we understand we need them. Without rules we would be a 21st century version of the Dark Ages or maybe only as bad as the Wild, Wild West era.
Tithing lessons:
1. GOD ESTABLISHED THE TITHING HOUSE RULES
Tithing: the tenth part of agricultural produce or personal income set apart as an offering to God (dictionary.com)
God created rules to establish us because the alternative is chaos and anarchy. Let’s explore a few of God’s house rules.
a. Leviticus 23:10
When God restored the people to identity as a nation, his nation, he instituted the act of first fruits giving.
This offering – a single sheaf of grain offered to the priest represented the entire harvest. The people gave this offering before they could eat any of the harvest. One source notes, “In this rite they show that all they possess also belongs to {God}. This would remind us that we are not free to spend our own energies, abilities or income first upon ourselves and then, if there is a surplus, share with the Lord. Our first-fruits belong to God. *Kingdom interests have priority. **All we are and have belongs to God. We are but stewards.” (Wesleyan Commentary, p. 355)
*Luke 12:31, “Seek his kingdom and these things {food and clothing} will be added to you.”
**Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the LORD’S and all it contains.”
**Romans 12:1, “Present your bodies” – not the physical body but the entirety of ourselves as people. As John Gill exposition states, “presenting of them, designs a devoting of them, with all readiness and willingness, to the service of God for his honour and glory.”
b. Leviticus 27:30-32
31 – “If a man wishes to redeem part of his tithe, he shall add to it one-fifth of it.” – if a person wanted to keep the livestock or crops that should be tithed they could do so but only by giving money to replace the original tithe and they were required to add another 20% of its value in exchange for the item they wished to keep.
E.g. Many people have known, though they can’t explain it, that when they began tithing to God, they had resources that never existed before and they can’t explain how it works – but it works. They have more than before they tithed.
Hold out on God’s tithe and the decision costs us more in the long run.
32 – “Passes under the rod” – e.g. a shepherd counting off his sheep, passing through single file, would count to ten and every tenth sheep was set aside for God.
Our giving to God should not be a mindless impulsive response to him. The lesson here teaches that our giving should be systematic, deliberate, intentional, and carefully though through. Not only that, but it should be proportionate to the income we receive.
* Concerns – giving sporadic, ill-prepared…
The most crippling time for the church is summer time and vacations. People are traveling and spend their tithe, or drop it in a church they are visiting. Too many come home and having been away for weeks over the summer, have no sense of obligation to “make up” the shortfall in their giving. The tithe is still the Lord’s. The rules don’t change because we’re on vacation.
c. Numbers 18:26 – “tithe of the tithe”
Tithing is so important that it reaches into the thinking and disciplines of formal church structure.
E.g. our church tithes on the tithe, to Divisional Headquarters. DHQ tithes to Territorial HQ and THQ to International HQ. IHQ tithes back to the ministries around the world.
Another Biblical example of tithing on the tithe is found in Deut 14:28 and Deut 26:12 – God had instructed that every third year, the people were to tithe on the tithe to give to those without, for the good of the community. (Read Deut 26:12…)
* Tithe on tithe – what we send to Divisional office and they distribute funds to community ministries. I feel confident it is a Biblical process of financial accountability.
d. Deuteronomy 14:22; 23b – 25
The tithe, being livestock, crops, etc. was sometimes difficult to transport to the temple from great distances. This instruction was a means of getting the tithe to God as currency.
Verse 25 – “take the silver with you” more accurately translated really means, “Bind the money in your hand” is an instruction to not compromise God’s tithe money for that yearned for item, travel expense, vacation focus or anything else between the time it is put aside for God and actually makes it to the temple.
E.g. – Have you ever put that tithe on the dresser, to get it ready for Sunday but somehow when Sunday comes you used the money for a need that popped up? “I’ll make it up next pay day,” you reason. But for some reason, that doesn’t happen either.
“Bind the money in your hand” – it is a tough discipline but it has to happen.
E.g. – The reasoning with a couple that they couldn’t afford to tithe. I tried to work through their philosophy after meeting them at Montana’s for Sunday dinner with their two kids, knowing it was an easy $80 meal.
“Bind the money in your hand” is a statement about what’s important to us and where our priorities lie.
2. THE REASON FOR GOD’S TITHING HOUSE RULE
Why do parents have house rules? Without rules, one parent likely work alone to maintain the needs of the home. Children would not learn skills they’ll need when they leave home. Without budgets, bills go unpaid and needs go unmet. Deciding to not lease or buy a vehicle more than every few years protects people from overstretched payments and high interest rates. You know the drill.
God designed the tithing house rule for our protection and his House’s livelihood.
a. Nehemiah 13:10 – 12
Babylon had taken Jerusalem prisoner, destroyed the city and took the people in exile. God moved Nehemiah to conviction so that he rebuilt Jerusalem and its walls and restored Israel’s identity. In the process of rebuilding we come to these verses. Restoring the tithe became an experience of it being so plentiful that it was stored up. It was not a situation of running on empty but always more than sufficient resources to attend to the work of the temple.
b. Malachi 3:10a
Tithe is not associated with missions or investments in programs. It is for the purpose of running the temple (food in my house – v. 10b). God’s promise to such faithfulness – verses 10c – 12…
He promises to bless the faithful giver so lavishly that we won’t know how to contain all that he has to give!
This demands that we deal with the politics we play in giving – “I don’t like the way ‘they’ spend the money; there’s not enough going out to missions. There’s not enough put into program.”
The ‘extras’ like mission are a personal expense that should not impact our obligation to the temple (our church) and our obligation to simply make sure the tithe is given to pay the bills, compensate the “hired hands” (officers and support staff) and look after the costs to running the temple. The bills and ‘hired’ staff represents % ($) of our budget (you’ll be getting a detailed report very soon). While some think this is a waste of money, Scripture does teach the responsibility of giving the tithe for the sole purpose of running the affairs of the temple. The wonderful news is we still spent $ in ministry!
(Examples of how this relates to local church realities and expenses)
Consistency to tithe always means we can focus on ministry and program investment because there is so much tithe stored up! KCC should be giving out of abundance and a $ deficit should make us feel ashamed.
3. LOVE FOR GOD AND THE CHURCH WILL LEAD US TO RESPOND TO HIS HOUSE RULES
Like most of you, I could do without picking up my socks, mowing the lawn or setting the table for dinner. But you know why I do it (and for the most part) don’t have to be told to do it? I love my wife! I love being able to help her and that’s what gives me joy in doing the things I’d rather not be bothered with. It’s a LOVE THING!
a. Numbers 31:48-54
In addition to the required taxation and tithe established by God, the leaders of the Army decided to give Grace gifts to God, over and above what they were required to give. Came out of battle so blessed, so protected, so rich, so thankful that…
E.g. – when we receive income that is not the result of our regular work, we may choose to give some of that gift to God as appreciation for the extra that he sent our way.
“We’re in the New Testament dispensation.” Some will argue, “That’s Old Testament. We’re not under law but under grace.” That is correct. However, with that statement we must also consider the place for Jesus’ words when he said in Matthew 5:17, “"Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” We still have an obligation to the O.T. It is still the inspired Word of God and we cannot simply dismiss our responsibility to its teaching and behave as if we have obligation to what it says.
God originally instituted tithing as a lawful instruction. However, while we are expected and instructed to tithe, it is not to be a meaningless, legalistic response. God intends the giving of tithes even in the New Testament, the new Covenant of the modern church. Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe…and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”
b. Malachi 3
This chapter focuses on God’s warning that he will purify his people. Verse 7…
The answer leads to teaching on tithing. (Read 8-15)
I have heard many stories and seen many situations where people who do not tithe are also facing significant financial pressure. Such realities relate to the curse that God says is the reward for those who rob him of his tithes and offerings.
There is reward for those who fear God and pay attention (10b, 16-18)
Our response to God’s instructions, OBEDIENCE, even in the matter of financial responsibility, is a measuring tool that speaks to our position in Christ as righteous or wicked. There is a book of remembrance in heaven that God will use to remember those who listen and obey and those who don’t.
The bottom line: if we are going to have God’s blessing. If God is to lavishly pour out his goodness in our personal and corporate lives, it includes our response to our financial resources and our willingness to purify our behaviour in this regard. People that do not take God’s instruction seriously cripple the church and her ability to be what God needs her to be, and to do what she should be doing.
E.g. KCC should not have a printed deficit of $10,000. KCC should have thousands left over and we should be talking about where we should invest the extra resources at the end of our fiscal year.
WRAP
* Should we tithe? Absolutely.
* Should we do it because God says so? Without a doubt.
* Only because God says so? Not entirely.
* Then why else? Because we love God so much it is what we want to do for him.
