Malachi 3:7-10
Mark 12:41-44
“What Can God Do with What You Got?”
When I was serving a church in Virginia, one of the members was a struggling addict who was now going to the local community college and working a part time job at a nearby grocery store.
Some Sunday mornings he would have to work…
…we didn’t have an evening service at Parkview United Methodist Church…
…and so, the week before a Sunday that he would have to miss due to work, he would invariably stop by my office to deliver his tithe.
And it was a tithe; no doubt about it.
And even though his income was small, his regular, weekly tithe came out to actually be more than what about
75 percent of the rest of the congregation were giving.
Pretty amazing, huh?...
…but, sadly it is not terribly unusual.
It is often noted that those who can, quote—unquote, “afford” to give the most…don’t hardly give at all.
And those who make the least often give the biggest percentages.
One day a pastor was called to the house of a church member who was having financial difficulties.
The pastor counseled him for a while and then stopped.
“Let’s have a word of prayer and while I pray, you make a commitment to give one-tenth of your income to the Lord.”
Thinking about his income, the man thought to himself, “That won’t be difficult. That’s only $1,800 a year—only $34.61 a week.”
They prayed, and the man promised to give back 10 percent to the Lord and to the Lord’s work.
Years passed and the man’s income had increased to over $200,000 a year.
He called for the pastor again.
“Pastor, I’d like to be released from that 10 percent I promised the Lord several years back.
A tenth of my income is now over $20,000 a year, and I have some plans for spending that.”
“That’s no problem,” the pastor replied.
“Let’s pray.”
As they bowed their heads, the pastor began to pray, “Lord, You know what a problem this bigger salary has been to my brother here.
I’m asking You to reduce his income, perhaps to the original $18,000 a year, so he’ll be able to afford his tithe once again…”
Tithing helps the Church and it helps the tither.
The Church has been commissioned by Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples of Jesus Christ.
It’s a great commission which also needs great support!
A Church that tithes is not only able to pay its light bills, air conditioning and heating bills, pay it’s pastor and staff…
…but most importantly, a Church that tithes is able to expand its outreach because the Church’s primary motivation is always the reaching of lost souls with the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!
And in Malachi Chapter 3 God gives a bit of caution to those who reject God’s call for proportional giving.
“Will a [person] rob God?”
The verb “rob” here literally means “to cover” and thus to defraud and steal.
“Robbing God” means keeping back from God what rightfully belongs to God.
It also means, keeping back from the world the message of Jesus Christ!
Which is more important than anything else in the whole universe!!!
But, as most folks who do tithe will tell you: “The biggest beneficiary of consistent, methodical giving is yourself, myself.
We develop a sense of inner integrity which only we and God alone can know, and that is the deepest satisfaction of all!!!”
And that is what that young man in Newport News, Virginia had found out!
And it was his lifeline to feeling good about himself, and was part of his ongoing recovery from his addictions.
He was a wise young guy!
He had learned something that many never learn about God and the faithfulness of God!!!
Giving to God was one of the most important things in this guy’s life!!!
I remember, he would sit and talk to me.
One time, he was trying to figure out how he would pay a monthly car loan.
He figured in what he made, his rent, his utility bills, the cost of food, etc…
…but first he figured in his tithe!
Some people may think of giving to the Church as an option.
And so the money for God comes out of the surplus after all other personal expenses have been met; things like entertainment, clothes, food, toys, etc.
And you know what?
Those kind of expenses are really never met, are they?
The young man in Virginia was able to buy that car.
Now, I’m not speaking about some magic formula.
We don’t give to God in order to get things in return from God.
That prosperity Gospel stuff that some t-v preachers go on about is completely unbiblical!!!
We give to God because we are disciples of Jesus Christ.
We give to God out of thanksgiving for God’s great salvation of our souls.
We give to God so that the Church can use that money to reach others with the message that has so changed our lives.
We give to God out of love for God and neighbor!!!
And we give to God in order to be able to keep our own focus on Jesus!!!
It really is about priorities is it not?
It is about our own spiritual health as well as the Church’s health.
If we don’t give to God first, our minds and our habits, and our appetites can very easily get out of control and end up causing us to get out of control.
It may cause us to get into debt problems.
It also may have a detrimental effect on our walk with God.
And no Christian is happy if they are not walking with God!!!
In Matthew, as Jesus sat down near the temple treasury where people were making their donations He watched the crowd.
He saw a whole lot of “rich people” come throw huge amounts of money into the receptacles or what we would call today—“offering plates.”
Why was Jesus sitting there?
Why was He watching these people?
Why did He have His disciples so close at hand…watching this event?
I suppose there may have been a lot of people who found it entertaining to watch what other people put in the Temple treasury.
“Wow! Look what that guy gave!”
“Ooh, she must be really rich in order to afford to give that much!”
“Aw, he must be so devoted to God. Look at his gift!”
But this doesn’t seem to impress Jesus much.
Perhaps He knows that the folks wouldn’t be giving all these gifts if there wasn’t a crowd watching.
Or maybe He just knows that if they were giving proportional to their salaries they would need to give a whole lot more!!!
So, as usual, Jesus finds true meaning where most of us miss it!
While everyone else’s attention is focused on the rich people and who brings the biggest offering…
…Jesus’ attention is focused on the same thing, but from a completely different angle.
It’s not the amount of money Jesus is noticing, it’s the commitment…
…it’s the proportion…
…it’s what is in the heart of the giver that intrigues Jesus.
Jesus is looking for the biggest offering as well, and that offering turns out to be two very small copper coins…the smallest coins in existence…worth only a fraction of a penny that the poor widow donates.
Without knowing it, the widow has given us a timeless example of selfless devotion to God.
Why do we do what we do for others and for God?
Certainly the widow was not trying to impress anyone.
If she were doing what she did for praise from people, she would have been too embarrassed by her “so-called” small gift.
If anyone had noticed what she gave, they may have, perhaps, laughed or sneered.
She was doing what she was doing for God and for God alone.
It is a beautiful thing that the person whom the New Testament and Jesus hand down to us through history as a model for giving and generosity is a person who gave a gift of so little in monetary terms!
Small gifts sure are easily overlooked, are they not?
Who stops to notice the secretary who puts mints on the desk for those who pass through the office?
Who appreciates the thoughtfulness of a coworker who sends collegues notes on their birthdays?
Does it make any difference that some teachers stay after school to work with children who are having trouble in class?
Jesus certainly recognizes the importance of the small gift—which in reality is a BIG gift!!!
After Jesus watched the poor widow put in the two “very small copper coins” He called His disciples to Him.
I can imagine that Jesus was excited!!!
His heart was racing.
He had just witnessed a miracle—a child of the Kingdom!!!
What a great teaching moment!!!
Finally someone had the right idea…
…finally someone knew what giving to God is all about.
I imagine Jesus was nearly breathless as He explained to His disciples, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.
They gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything…”
She “put in everything…”
The Greek is a little bit different and gives us a better perspective.
It says, “She gave her whole life.”
And there is nothing more beautiful in all the earth!!!
There are so many layers to this lesson.
It goes way deeper than money.
It goes all the way to the heart of the Christian Gospel.
It goes all the way to the heart of how we can truly have life and have it to the full!!!
It talks to us about priorities.
It speaks to us about what is really important in this life.
It talks to us about what so many miss out on!!!
It is only in losing one’s life that we truly find life!
It is only in giving our lives completely and totally over to God that we find a happiness and a satisfaction and a peace that so many never know.
For many of us, wealth in its many forms is intimately linked with our self-identity and self-worth.
Many have said, “what is in our wallets represent our lives. What we give out of our wallets represents how we choose to spend our lives.”
Remember the story of the Rich Young Ruler?
The man who asked Jesus what he must do to have eternal life?
What did Jesus tell him?
“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.
Then come follow me.”
And “At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
Now think about what Jesus had to say about the Rich Young Ruler and then think about what Jesus had to say about the poor widow.
Which words would Jesus say about us?
The widow’s gift of her whole livelihood was unthinkable and foolish.
She didn’t give in order to get anything, nor did she give because she had gotten anything from the religious leaders of the Temple.
She gave everything in exchange for nothing!!!
Or did she?
She gave her whole life to God.
She gave everything she had and everything she was.
She was entrusting her whole self to God.
Her two tiny coins were the final, foolish, unspeakable, humble outward manifestation of that absolute gift!
Her gift was so humble that no one knew its magnitude except for her Lord.
She is, in fact, what we are called to be: a tiny, flashing mirror that reflects the final, foolish, unspeakably humble and utterly complete self-giving of God to us in His Son Jesus Christ!
I know that we live in a culture which is so dependent on money.
And, in no way, is this Scripture passage insisting that any of us literally give all our money away.
What it is talking about is proportional giving and priorities.
I know that for many, tithing can seem a bit intimidating.
As your pastor, I admit that I tithe, or actually give about 12 percent of my income…for now.
I pray and plan to give more starting in January.
If you don’t tithe now, how about giving 1 percent of your income?
If you currently give 1 percent, try moving to two…
You get the picture.
If we all pitch in, together, as brothers and sisters in Christ, we can all fulfill God’s great commission to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of this community and the world!!!
May it be so.
Amen.
