Tithes
Genesis 14:18-20
As I was preparing this message I couldn’t decide on how I wanted to start this morning. Maybe with a story, or an anecdote. But I don’t really know how. The topic this morning has caused a lot of people to get angry. It has caused some people to leave the church. It has brought a lot of arguments within a home and to be honest, it has caused husbands and wives to separate and divorce. With that said, what is going through your mind right now? Some might be thinking, well the Pastor is going to talk about infidelity, being unfaithful to your spouse. Although that is a topic that can cause the things that were just mentioned, it is not what I am going to talk about…today. I want to talk about money. In the form of tithes and other things.
Read text verse.
Here we have Abram returning from a battle after Sodom and Gomorrah along with three other cities were taken over by four kings. Of course this interested Abram because of Lot his nephew. So Abram, according to scripture armed his trained servants and went to war. God gave Abram the victory over these 4 kings and Abram brought back all that pertained to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. From the spoils that were taken of the victory, our text says that Abram gave a tithe to Melchizedek (a reference to a type of Christ). I used this passage for my starting point this morning because this is the first mention of tithe in our scriptures.
What does that word tithe mean? The Hebrew word is the word ma`aser mah-as-ayr' It means a tenth. So from all the spoil that Abram got from the battle, one tenth he gave to the Lord. A lot of people will say that the tithe in the Old Testament was a form of legalism. But remember that Abraham tithed some 430 years before the Law was given.
Before I go any further, I would like to say that I took some information concerning tithes from Larry Burkett. Many of you might have heard of this name, because he has a radio show that he uses to help people, especially Christians get out of debt. He hosts a five minute program called, “How to Manage Your Money” and also a live call-in program called “Money Matters.”
As we continue, there is a lot of scripture that mentions tithes. As a matter of fact, according to Mr. Burkett the Bible contains more than 700 direct references to money and hundreds more indirect references.
So there are many places that we could start. I don’t know what you believe about tithing. I don’t know what you were taught about tithing, but this area in tithing is very important to a Christians life. In my opinion, it is a step that we can use to trust God to supply our every need.
Now the moment you got saved, you didn’t know everything about being a Christian, did you? No. We have to grow in maturity to be the Christian that God wants us to be. There is a learning process. We have to “get into that habit” of doing things. It is not my intent to make anyone mad this morning or to put anyone on a guilt trip. If you get mad at the preaching of the Word of God, then it is you with the problem. I am just a messenger. A lot of people want to shoot the messenger, why is that?
When some people hear that the Pastor is going to preach on tithing, they might start to grumble and say that the preacher is begging for money. That’s all he talks about is money. Well, I have been here for three years, and I have not preached a full sermon on this topic. It is a touchy one to be honest and I want to approach this subject as delicately as I can. But I feel the Lord leading me in that direction. And heaven help me if I don’t preach what the Lord says to preach about. Tithing is an issue that a lot of Christians struggle with. Your Pastor and his wife has had that problem. And to be honest, there are times that we still do. But we understand that it pleases God when we tithe. The first thing that I want us to see concerning this matter is:
I. God owns it
You have heard me say a lot of times that when it comes to spiritual things, we have to put our perspectives in the right place. The same is true for tithing. The church in Macedonia was a giving church. Look at 2 Corinthians 8:1-2. The church was not only in poverty, but deep poverty. I understand about our economy and the situation it is in. But listen to me, God also understands it. We have to put our trust in Him. The Macedonian’s generosity of their abundant giving continues to a model if you will for giving almost 2000 years later.
Paul, in his epistles made note repeatedly of the giving at Macedonia. More than anything, giving seemed to come naturally to them at Macedonia. It is that type of giving which is done in love, requires no audience and is followed by no reasoning or regrets. That kind of giving springs up from a deep spiritual relationship that puts God in the proper perspective: as owner of all things.
We have got to understand that fact that God owns it all. Psalms 24:1-2 A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
One thing that we must learn when it comes to the possessions we have, is that we are to be managers of it and not owners of it. In business, you have the owners and then you have the managers. The mangers manage what belongs to the owner to help them make a profit to be able to keep the business open and moving forward.
In our Christian walk, we need to understand that what we have is not ours. We are to manage what the owner (GOD) gives us to keep His work open and moving forward. Our main job as managers is the profit of winning people to the Lord. The church is a very good tool that is used to accomplish that task.
Once we get that into our heads, then we are on our way to the right attitude of tithing. Everything belongs to God. We too often find ourselves being distracted by the material things of this world, i.e. our big house, the kind of car we drive, the clothes we wear, even by investments and retirement plans. Do you understand that the very moment you stop breathing, all of those concerns will be irrelevant? They will not matter. Job understood this point. He was a rich and powerful individual in his days. But he soon realized that when he said this: Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
Listen, God doesn’t need our money. He already owns it along with everything else. But the church needs money. It needs money to operate. There is a mortgage that has to be paid, there is the electric bill that has to be paid. There are missionaries that need to be supported. You know where I am going with this. Just like at your house, the church needs money to keep things going. God uses His people to meet the needs of the church. And He uses His people to meet the needs of others. He does that so we can receive His blessings.
Yes the Lord owns everything. We need to look at ourselves as managers and not owners.
The second thing that I want us to look at is that:
II God lends it
James says it very well when he said this James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Everything that we have comes from God and He lends it to us. It is not ours. He lends it to us so that we can use it for Him. Not ourselves. We like to think about all that we can do with what God gives us, but we want to waste it on ourselves. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to spend some money on yourself. But when you do it in spite of God that’s where the problem lies. When we learn that God owns everything and that all our blessings come from Him (including our ability to work) our role as managers or as the New Testament refers to it, servants or stewards becomes very evident. We should view ourselves as God’s servants, ready always to do His will and not ours.
A. What are we doing with it?
God lent it to us so what are we doing with it? Are we wasting it on our own will and desires, or are we using it to accomplish His will?
The question might come up on how much we are to give. Again, the word tithe in the Hebrew means a tenth. That is a good start. Notice I said start. Part of being a good servant is giving back to God a portion that He has given us. Remember, God doesn’t need our money. Larry Burkett says that giving serves as an external, material testimony that God owns both the material and spiritual things of our lives. He goes along and says that it also supports the greatest, most enduring work ever conducted in this world: the Lord’s work.
How true that is the money you give in tithes goes to support a work that you will meet again in eternity. The earthly work you are doing now, the materialistic things you are investing in this life will not account for anything in the after life. What did Jesus say in Matthew and then again in the book of Luke? Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Malachi 3:10
God uses tithes to support the work of the church. In the Old Testament the tithe was brought into the “storehouse” which is a physical place where the Jews would deliver their offerings of grain or animals. It was used to feed the tribe of Levi (Numbers 18:24-29), to feed the Hebrew widows and orphans living within the Hebrew cities (Deuteronomy 14:28-29), to feed the Gentile poor living in the Hebrew city. Really if you think about it, the things that the churches are to do today. And it takes finances to be able to do those things.
B. Are tithes the only thing to give?
Malachi 3:8
One of the first things that I notice about this verse is the fact that if you are not giving to the work of the Lord, you are a robber. Actually the Hebrew word means to defraud (to cheat or swindle). We cannot withhold back that which belongs to Him.
Look what else the verse says. In tithes and offerings.
There are going to be times that your Pastor might ask to give more money for special circumstances that come up. I.E. a love offering for special guest speakers. I am thinking about taking a special offering for the bus we would like to purchase that is available. There are things that come up and we have to answer the call in providing the means for that special event. If you cant give, that is fine. Anything that you can give and can’t give is between you and God. He understands all that you are going through. But there are times we have to step out on faith. Turn in your Bibles to Luke 21:1-3.
Before I go on, I want you to know that your Pastor does not know who the tithers are. I do not think it is any of my business who tithes, and how much they tithe. I have to only worry about one person in this room (well actually two) on whether they tithe or not and that’s me (and Connie). I have heard of some churches that when you join, they want a copy of your W-2. I personally have never seen a church like that, but there could be some out there.
I often wonder what would happen if next Sunday during the morning service, if I came to the front of the church and watched the offering plates as they pass by each person sitting there. Don’t answer, but would you like that if I did it? Don’t worry I am not going to. You see, I don’t have to. What we see in the verses we just read, someone was watching. It was Jesus, and may I say that He is still watching today?
Here we have the story of a poor woman who according to Jesus, gave more than all the rich men put together and all she gave was two mites. Less than a cent in our money. If she can give sacrificially then why can’t we. It is easy to give out of our abundance, or in other words, when we have it to give, but how many here have truly given whether in tithes or offerings, when it hurt? When you didn’t think you had it to give, but God asked you to do it anyway? We need to be like that poor woman and give as the Lord leads, because we will meet it again in eternity.
Someone once said that you can’t take it with you when you go… but you can sure send it ahead.
Closing:
Again, it is not my intent to make anyone mad, or put them on a guilt trip. I want you to understand that according to that verse in Malachi 3:8, we are missing out on a lot of blessings that God has in store for us because we aren’t being faithful in our giving.
A lot of people say I can’t afford to give my tithe, but I say you can’t afford not to. It is hard. I would be lying to you if I said it was easy. Its hard to get into the habit of reading your Bible every day. Its hard to get into the habit of praying without ceasing, and it is hard to get into the habit of giving back to God what rightly belongs to Him. But we must. The work of the Gospel should never fail. I heard a saying one time that goes like this. God can do more with the 90% you have left than with the 100% you keep.
