Stewardship: God’s Money in Our Hands
Part 1 – The Scary Tithe Monster!
Malachi 3:10-12, Matthew 23:23
September 12, 2010
NOTE: THE ME/WE/GOD/YOU/WE FORMAT IS FROM ANDY STANLEY'S BOOK, "COMMUNICATING FOR A CHANGE." IF IT STILL DOESN'T COMMUNICATE TO YOU, IT'S NOT HIS FAULT...
Audio of this can be heard at www.aberdeenwesleyan.org.
Me: We’ll, we’re going to talk about money over the next 3 weeks I’ll be preaching.
Next week Pastor Isaac Smith will be preaching, and as far as I know, he’s not preaching about money.
But if he is, then that’s a God thing, because I didn’t ask him to preach about money, okay?
And by the way – I’m not talking about tithing and other money stuff because we’re getting the parking lot fixed here in the next few weeks.
I planned this series back in February. Well before we had plans made for the actual repair of the parking lot.
Just wanted to let you know.
I get nervous when I’m preaching about money and tithing, which is the idea that God wants us to give 10% of our income to Him through the Church.
Because I know that it has the potential to just make people turn off and tune out. And no pastor likes that idea.
In fact, as I was going through this message I was stuttering a bit, because I’m a bit nervous about how it’s going to come out.
So just know that I don’t live for the day when I can preach about giving, and especially about tithing like I’m going to today.
But I hope you’ll hear my heart about what I believe God’s Word says to us, more than anything else.
My goal isn’t to guilt you into giving or try to manipulate you into something.
We: My goal today is to help you see that the issue of giving, and especially the issue of tithing doesn’t have to be scary.
In fact, when we understand God’s Word about money and God’s provision as we handle it, then giving and tithing bring blessings from God, and we live in freedom, not fear.
I’ve been on both sides of the fence on that, and I’ll take freedom over fear any day of the week!
The fact is that the Bible talks from Genesis to Revelation about money and how we handle it – or in some cases, how it handles us if we’re not careful.
I think that the main reason the Bible talks so much about money is because it goes right to the heart of where we live.
So much of our lives are centered around financial decisions. We base so much of our decision-making energy around the simple question, “Can we afford this?”
All of us are either in that boat now or have been in it in the past.
And God has something to say to all of us, that if we’ll take it to heart, will not only help us to live in obedience to God, but make our lives a whole lot easier financially.
I can say that because His Word says it and He’s proved it in my family’s life as well as in the lives of other people in this church.
So I’m going to spend three Sundays talking about handling God’s money.
And today I’m going to talk about tithing. I figured I might as well get that one out of the way right away so we could move onto other aspects of stewardship, and then you don’t have to wonder when I was going to get around to it!
I think that most people think of tithing like it’s some kind of monster. Kinda like these up here on the screens…
(Various classic movie monsters)
Are these the kinds of things you think of whenever you think of the subject of tithing?
That spider is the baddest one for me. For me hell would be an open can of slimy lunchroom spinach on one shoulder and a spider on the other…
God: Many of you have heard many sermons on tithing, and so I wanted to do something that would be a little different, and so I just want to give you the bottom line and then talk about it some, okay?
Here’s the bottom line of what I want to communicate today:
Tithe or go to hell!!!
Just kidding!
Just having some fun with you, folks, okay?
The classic passage that churches use when addressing the idea of the tithe is Malachi 3:10-12 (676-677) –
“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. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.
I just want to share a few thoughts from this passage:
> The tithe should come to the church.
The storehouse was located at the temple.
We don’t have temples and storehouses nowadays, but the principle is still the same: bring the tithe to the place where you worship.
If that’s this church, that’s cool. If this is your home church, this is where you should bring your tithe.
If this isn’t your home church, then your tithe should go there – even if you’re visiting here today.
This also means you should tithe to the church, and not spread it around to the various ministries you like to support.
“Well, I like to spread my tithe around to the church and some missionaries and a campus ministry. What’s wrong with supporting those things?”
The Bible says that your tithe should come to the church, because that’s where you are hooked for worship and ministry.
Supporting these other things should come out of extra money we give – that’s the difference between “tithes” and “offerings.”
The tithe comes to the church, other offerings can be used for other ministries and causes. You can also make special offerings to the church over and above your tithe, and I know that some of you do.
> God will take care of the people who tithe.
He will provide for them over and abundantly more than they give.
I’m specifically going to address this in the third message. If you want a preview of what we’ll be covering, go to Matthew 6:25-34 between now and then.
But for now, just take my word for it. He’ll do it.
And better than that, take God’s word for it. He says it and He’ll do it. He’s not a liar and the Bible says that He doesn’t even change His mind.
He’ll take care of you.
It says here that He’ll provide for you, and that He’ll keep the devourer from you.
A third principle from this passage is that
> God will bless the church that tithes.
This was mainly directed at Israel, but I think the principle remains the same: if we’ll put God first in our finances, He’ll bless us – and not just us as individuals, but as a church.
I think one of the reasons we’re moving forward and seeing people come to Jesus is because some of you give.
And you give regularly and you give sacrificially and you give with the attitude that God owns it anyway.
What I’m really trying to communicate here is that tithing opens the door of God’s blessings on your finances as you trust Him.
So why don’t more Christians tithe?
The bottom line is trust: they don’t trust God to take care of them if they sacrifice 10% of their money to God.
And I understand that because I’ve been there.
But let me tell you, folks, He will take care of you. He promises to and He is no liar.
But I think that there are some other reasons as well, and so I want to quickly cover 3 misconceptions about tithing:
Misperceptions about tithing:
1. The church just wants to take my money from me.
Let’s just be frank here: your tithes and offerings do go to pay the bills here at the church.
They keep the lights on, they buy the toilet paper and the Styrofoam plates and the plastic silverware we use at church lunches and stuff.
Your tithes and offerings go to pay my salary.
I don’t deny any of that, and there’s no use in pretending that’s not the case.
But let me tell you something else your money goes to pay for:
Your Sunday School and Wednesday night curriculum which is chosen very specifically for the purpose of influencing children and youth and adults to believe in and live for Jesus.
That curriculum is here so God can use His Word to change our lives.
It goes to pay for Vacation Bible School materials, it goes to help pay for things like the all-church picnic we had last week, where we could introduce not just our church family but new people to the ministries of this church.
You tithe is used to help this church fulfill its mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ by reaching out to them with the news of salvation through Jesus and helping them live for Him.
Your tithe is used to help us make a difference for eternity in the lives of people, both here and around the world, whether it’s to help us maintain the building and keep the lights on or to help us buy materials for our education ministries..
If you don’t think that’s a worthwhile investment then keep you money.
You’ll be disobeying God’s command to tithe, but you just hang onto that because I don’t ever want anyone to think that this church is only interested in your money so we can just have it sitting around.
2. Tithing is Old Testament – we are New Testament and therefore it doesn’t apply to us.
Contrary to popular belief, tithing is mentioned in the New Testament, and by Jesus Himself.
Matthew 23:23 –
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.”
Here we find Jesus say we should do the “latter” – taking care of things like justice, mercy, and faithfulness, and not neglect the “former” – tithing.
In this case, the Pharisees were so minute in following the letter of the law that they were neglecting the spirit of the law.
And Jesus is saying we should do both – obey the letter – tithe – and the spirit of the law, treating other people like they matter.
You may be interested in studying the New Testament concept of giving, because it’s based on a much more generous giving than just the tithe.
If you want to be a New Testament giver, then the tithe is the minimum you’ll give, and it’ll usually be more than that.
So you let me know if you want to throw out the Old Testament and just go with the New Testament.
I’ll be right there to cheer you on!
3. I can tithe my time and talents instead of my money.
Uhh, no. You can certainly tithe your time and your talents. You just can’t do it instead of tithing your money.
Some of you do put in a large amount of hours at the church – in some cases you do put in 10% of your week because of something like VBS coming up or the Ladies Retreat, or something.
And that’s awesome.
But how do you measure 10% of your talent? Isn't that like saying you'll play the piano - but with only one finger?
The fact of the matter is that nothing in Scripture supports the idea that a tithe is anything but money.
Sorry, but that’s God’s Word, not mine.
You: Let me suggest three ways to help you get started in the blessings of tithing.
* Adopt the mindset that God owns your money in the first place.
This is so crucial to get a hold of.
You are not the owner of your money. God is.
I don’t care if you worked 90 hours a week to earn it. It still belongs to God. All of it.
Think with me for a minute:
Your very breath is a gift from God. If God didn’t want you to keep breathing, He would simply keep you from breathing. And you’d be dead.
Your talents and ability to make money are from God.
Your job exists because God allows it to. The fact that they hired you is a gift from God.
You didn’t deserve that, but He gave it to you anyway.
And you think on that, and then tell God He doesn’t deserve 10% back. Good luck with that, because you’re wrong.
And He’s God, and He wins. Because it’s His to begin with.
We are managers of God’s money. That’s what a steward is, and that’s why the term stewardship is so prevalent in church circles. Stewardship is the concept of our handling of God’s money.
Before I move on to the second thing you can do here, I want to show you something that I’ve used before but that I believe best illustrates how we should really look at the tithe.
I believe that if you could really get a grasp on what this is trying to illustrate, it will free you to tithe.
[Cash/candy illustration. Take a bag of M & M's and open it, pouring the candy on a table or pulpit. "When we're sharing candy, we're usually like this: one for me, one for you; two for me, one for you; three for me, one for you..." while I'm separating the candy on the table or pulpit. Everyone relates to that. Then take a stack of 30 $1-bills, and say, but here's how God works: "One for Me, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 for you. One for Me, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 for you. One for Me, 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 for you." God takes one for our nine. How cool is that?" (I stole this from Pastor Keith Loy at Celebrate Church in Sioux Falls, SD. I don't know if he stole it from anybody or if he made it up...)]
* Start tithing today.
I don’t know what you give. I know what I give, and I expect your leaders to give – at least a tithe on their income.
I’m simply challenging you to put God first with your money by giving back to Him – even before you pay other bills.
What if I can’t afford to tithe?
Do it anyway.
I used to say, “Start with 1%, 3%, 5%, or whatever and just let God build your faith until you can get to 10%.”
But I think that’s wrong. Nothing in Scripture supports that.
So I’m saying, start at 10%. Start today.
When I said that, I’m guessing that some of your mouths just went dry. But let me tell you what happened when I started tithing when I couldn’t afford it.
Personal story – debt, debt-collectors, then began tithing, things started getting back on track.
If you need some help to get you started, maybe you need some help putting together a budget so you can see how you can tithe and still pay your bills, I’d be glad to help you.
We’ll probably be offering Financial Peace University again here in the beginning of the year, and that will help you, too.
If you need help sitting down to show you that it is possible, I’d be glad to do that with you.
Just be prepared for me to say stuff like, “You don’t really need cable, do you?” “Does your third grader really need a cell phone?” “The Vikings and the Twins win on a regular TV just like they do on a plasma screen. How about selling that thing so you can get some cash in your pocket?”
But can I just tell you something?
Tithing isn’t an issue of your finances. It’s an issue of faith.
When you tithe you’re saying, “I’m trusting You, God, to take care of me like You promised You would.”
The third message in this series is going to address that whole thing about money being more of a faith thing than a financial thing.
You need to be here for that because I think you’ll be blessed by that, especially if you are sitting here today thinking that there is no way you can tithe because you’re not sure God’s going to come through.
But you’ll never know the joy and the provision of God until you take a step of faith and start tithing.
I try to make it the first check I write each week. I take it off the top of my salary package. I tithe on the gross of my entire salary package, not just the net pay.
I don’t say that to brag. I’m simply telling you that I believe in this so much I tithe on everything.
And I’ve seen God come through in some pretty awesome ways over the years since I started doing that.
I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I wasn’t doing it myself.
* Start learning more about handling God’s money in ways that honor Him and bring blessing to you.
This is a more general application, but it goes hand in hand with the issue of tithing.
The next two messages will help you along that way, but there are lots of resources, many of them absolutely free, that will help you be better managers of God’s money.
Take Financial Peace University, either here or at another church.
Buy or borrow books about Christian principles for handling God’s money.
All sorts of things you can do. But don’t let another week go without doing something to give you a better grasp on handling God’s money better.
We: Folks, “our” money and how we handle it is a key indicator of our relationship with Jesus.
And it’s a key indicator to those around us as well, especially our families, and that’s where I want to focus my closing time here.
Folks, and especially you men – your family needs to see you living in trusting obedience to God and His Word.
They need to see that you trust God all the way, including your bank balance, and even when it’s tough to make ends meet.
When you don’t, you’re telling your family that God isn’t big enough to handle it.
But I’m telling you that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe who gives you your very breath to breathe can take care of you when you put Him first in your finances.
I know it’s hard to trust – but when you do, He works.
It will amaze you, and it will show your family that God is big enough.
He will reward your faith, and He will be glorified in it.
And on top of that, you’ll realize that the scary tithe monster looks more like this:
Or this:
Let’s pray.
