Why?
There are a lot of things in the world that just don’t make sense. They are mysteries to me. Here are a few of the things I wonder about:
As we get older in school why do the desks get smaller? This is the desk I had in elementary school. Here is the desk I had in Junior HI. Here is the one I had in HS. And in college… That just doesn’t make sense.
And talking about school. Why do grades go A, B, C, D, and F. Where happened to E? Was E bad? Did E get kicked out of school?
Speaking of the letters, why do we say “lmnop” really fast when we say the alphabet?
And why when we are sick do we go into the bathroom to throw-up and then when we’re done, look in the mirror? That’s just wrong.
Why do we press harder on the remote buttons when the battery is dead? You know you do it!
Why is it called Fun size candy when it’s smaller? Fun size should be bigger. This is petite… not fun.
Why does the dentist ask you questions when your mouth is full of cotton and metal instruments?
Now here is the real question… Why do people tip the server in the restaurant 15, 18, or even 20% and then freak out when the preacher says God expects a tithe of 10%?
Satisfied
You can live on less when you have more to live for
We’re talking about what it takes to live a satisfied life.
Two weeks ago I taught that the core principle of satisfaction was rooted in giving. Not spending, not getting, not working, not saving, not investing, not begging, and not gambling. The only way to achieve a satisfied life is by giving. It is what leaves us in the present and at the end of our days on earth with a deep sense of satisfaction.
Last week I taught you that one of the biggest enemies of giving is debt. Many have attempted, futilely to buy satisfaction at any price and finance their attempts with borrowed money only to discover that, not only does it not work, but now they have to pay it back and now can’t afford to be a giving person. They are in debt.
Today I’m going to teach you about the values, the benefits, and the purposes of returning the tithe to God. It’s completely counter-intuitive and very difficult for many to grasp. It’s also very important and it shouldn’t freak you out!
Before I do that let me take a few minutes to cover the basics of what tithing is because there are a lot of misunderstandings and misconceptions.
Tithing is Not a Good Idea… Tithing is God’s Idea
Tithing is not a just a good idea for the church… Tithing is God’s idea for you.
Tithing is a Bible principle that will change your life. I am convinced that practicing the tithe is a key part of a satisfied life. But what is it exactly? To put it simply
Tithing is the returning of a tenth of your increase to God as an act of submission, worship, and honor.
A tithe is the return of 10% of your increase or your income to God as an act of submission, worship, and honor. We see it practiced by Abraham in the OT and upheld by Jesus in the NT. To the Apostle Paul it’s a good starting point.
But what is the value of tithing? What is the purpose of giving God 10% of one’s income? Seriously, why would the Creator and Almighty God who made the universe with his word, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the oil in a thousand wells, and the gold in a thousand mines, want a tenth of my meager possessions?
In my studies I have made three observations of how a tithing is able to experience a satisfied life. The first some observations are from a preacher named Haggai and a preacher named Malachi. Let’s look at Haggai says first.
Tithing Puts God First
2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3 Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet,
Haggai 1:2-6
Haggai was a preacher after the return of the exiled people of Israel. Let me cover a little OT History very quickly.
Israel had been a great kingdom under David and Solomon. But after Solomon the kingdom had divided and eventually both the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah were destroyed and the people were taken into captivity. Jerusalem was razed and the temple destroyed.
Now, it was 70 years later and the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem which was still in ruins.
So what did they do? They rebuilt their homes while God’s house was totally neglected. Haggai had something to say about this.
Consider Your Ways
4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.
Haggai 1:2-6
They built their own houses and neglected God’s house. But they didn’t just build walls out of stone. They found wood and paneled their homes. In a land with lots of rocks and few trees a home that had paneled walls was an expensive house! And they did this while God’s house was still in ruins.
Their priority was not God it was their own lives. It was the pursuit of their own personal happiness. No matter what the time in history or the differences in cultures from one part of the world to another – people don’t really change. These people of God, the children of Israel were seeking what we are searching for today – a satisfied life through the accumulation of things while we neglect the things of God.
But God’s preacher Haggai said, “How’s that working for you?” Actually, he said, “Consider your ways.” Take a good look at how your life is working out!
Life that Leaves Out God Is an Unsatisfying Life
6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
Haggai 1:2-6
It wasn’t working for them. They weren’t satisfied.
They sowed much… and harvested little. They ate much… but never have enough. They drank… but never had their fill. They wear clothes… but were never warm. They earned wages… but couldn’t seem to hang on to them. There were never satisfied and never would be.
One of basic principles of God is that if you honor me and worship me… if you put me first I will take care of all your needs and you will be satisfied.
Jesus spoke of this.
Put God First
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:31-33
Tithing puts God first but that’s not all it does.
Tithing Changes Your Priorities
7 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.
Haggai 1:7-8
When we tithe we begin to care about the things of God. The church becomes so much more than an activity. It becomes the focus of life.
Money is a measurement of life. It’s simply a commodity that for which we trade our time, our skills, and our knowledge. This is life. Whatever you invest your life in – your treasure – that’s what you honor and worship and that soon becomes the focus of everything.
If you were to give me your bank statement and your credit card I could look them and tell you what you worship and honor in your life in a matter of a few minutes. All I have to do is look at where you invest your treasure.
Tithing is an investment. It is you seeing God and acknowledging him with your life. When we tithe 1/10 of it we honor God and begin to see what God sees.
Katie Bollman left for Venezeula last week. So far we’ve had about 10 of people give offerings totaling $2,130. Let me tell you something about those ten people. Every one of them has invested in God’s work through Team Expansion and Katie Bollman. They have invested life (that’s what money is – life that has been traded for a transferrable commodity) in this young woman and as a result every one of those people will be remembering her in prayer, reading her posts, and be excited to hear what happens in the kingdom of God.
With their money they have also sent their hearts. The reason for this is what Jesus said…
Tithing Invests in God
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21
Where your treasure is… the heart follows. When you invest your life in God’s work it changes your priorities… and that changes your life. One last observation
Tithing Harvests Blessings
10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
Malachi 3:10
This is the only place in scripture that we are ever told that it is ok to test God. Not just ok… we are challenged to test God in this.
That’s because the tithe belongs to God. You don’t give it. You return it. And the preacher Malachi makes it absolutely clear that when you return the tenth part of your income to God the windows of heavens are opened and his blessings pour down on you until there is no more need. This is not a sprinkle or a drizzle of blessings. We’re talking monsoon!
But let’s be clear. Malachi is not saying that God’s blessings mean gold, jewels, stocks, bonds, and real estate. This is not a promise of riches and wealth. There is nothing here that says you will become rich. What it says is that you will be blessed… blessed until there is no more need. You will be satisfied!
So what then is Malachi talking about? What is the blessing or blessings that he speaks of here in this teaching?
When you bless another person speak well of them. You speak truth into their life in such a way that it builds them up and encourages them.
As a father of three girls I did a few things right and a lot of things wrong. For example, there was the time when they were being weepy teenage girls and I asked if it was that time of the month. Big mistake! Huge!
I did do thing I did right and I highly recommend it as a practice to every father here – whether they have daughters or sons. Every Saturday morning I would take one of my girls to breakfast and I would speak blessings into their lives.
Our conversations were nothing profound. Mostly we just talked but I’d make sure they knew that I saw in them glimpses of what God was doing in their lives. How he had given them gifts, talents and skills and how much they were loved by God and by both their mother and me.
Listen to me… The foundation of a satisfied life is that God speaks well of you. And when God speaks well of you… well that’s deeply, incredibly, indescribably satisfying. And when you are satisfied you don’t need anything else – and that has nothing to do with being rich or having lots of stuff!
So what are these blessings that are promised? Malachi specifically mentions three.
First Blessing: No More Need
I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear…
Malachi 3:11
This is not a promise of wealth, but of adequate provision. Another word for this is prosperity. I’ll be teaching on this more in two weeks.
This is not the unbiblical “health and wealth” teaching that is built up the principles of greed. Those who teach this say, “Give and you’ll get rich,” or, more accurately, “Give to my ministry and you’ll get rich!”
I heard a guy on the radio say once that if you sent him $100 that it would return 10 fold and they would get a $1000 from God. I wanted to say to the guy on the radio, “You send me the $100 and I’ll let God send you the $1000!”
The reason that this is unbiblical teaching is because the motive is all wrong. God never blesses greed.
God’s promise is rather, “If you will open the bottom of the funnel by giving generously, I’ll pour it in the top of the funnel so that you will not suffer lack. But if you greedily close up the bottom of the funnel, I’ll quit pouring it in the top.” The focus is always giving – never getting.
Brian Kluth tells about a man in Africa who raised his 6 children on $10 a month. The challenge he faced was that the children in his village were going blind because of a disease that could be stopped with medicine that only cost 50 cents. That doesn’t sound like much to us but it was 5% of his monthly income.
He began to pray and ask God to send a rich person to help, but no one ever came. As he kept praying, the Lord told him he should give the money to buy the medicine.
But with 6 children and only a $10 a month salary, he couldn’t see how he could do this. But his family prayed and decided that every month they would sacrifice and systematically set aside money to buy medicine for one of the children in their village. When I spoke with him, they had been doing this for 7 years and had saved 84 children from going blind.
He also shared how God provided for his family in amazing ways. As he and his family looked out for others, God looked out for them.
Adapted from Brian Kluth, Open Handed Living, P 54 (source www.givewithjoy.org)
If God can do that in Africa with $10 a month think what he can do with our wealth if we use a tenth for his work? It’s not about how much you have it’s about who you trust with what you have?
We talked about this last week when we looked at the fine print of what happens when you trust God. “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”
Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, at all the times you can, as long as you can. - John Wesley
This leads to the second blessing…
Second Blessing: You Are a Blessing
“All the nations will call you blessed, …”
Malachi 3:12a
One of the promises to Abraham is that he would be the father of a great nation and that this great nation would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth. That blessing came in the form of a man who was the son of God. Through Jesus came life – rich, full, satisfying, and eternal. That’s a blessing for every age and every generation.
God wants to bless others in our community through us. He does that by extending the good news of Jesus through us.
This why you see it on our literature and on the sign out front: our mission is “Helping People Find The Way Home.”
Meridian Christian Church is not just a non-profit agency that helps people. We’re the kingdom of God with a message of life and hope from the King of Glory. We bring a message of hope and a rich satisfying eternal life to the people in our community.
We are to be a blessing to our community.
Third Blessing: A Delightful Land
…for you will be a land of delight
Malachi 3:12b
In a delightful land, people live delightful lives. This may ultimately refer to heaven and the end of this age, but to whatever degree God’s people obey Him by giving generously to His work, the land is delightful.
The sins stemming from greed are diminished. Needs are met. People find Christ. Love is demonstrated and obedience in giving opens the floodgates of God’s blessing in other areas.
This is the church – a delightful land!
I’m getting excited about our coming Generosity offering. This year, on March 30, for the fourth time in our existence as a church we are going to give away our entire offering. I’m praying for two things to happen this year.
First, that we are a delightful church that brings a blessing to our community.
Second, that our church family would grow as more and more people would discover that they can enjoy a satisfied life – living for God.
Steps to a Satisfied Life
o Give God your life
o Get out of the bondage of debt
o Accept the importance of the tithe
o Start tithing or working toward the tithe this week
Pray about it
Start somewhere
Just do it!
If you do what others don’t,
You will get what others won’t.
