6But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.7Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.8And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:
2 Corinthians 9.6-8
Last week we investigated the WHY of our giving. This week it is the HOW of our giving. Next week will focus on the WHEN of making a commitment to give.
¡§How¡¨ involves ¡§what¡¨ also. Tithes and offerings are the substance; we should be aware that God requires a tithe. We bring the tithe, because He has told us without question that it belongs to Him. It is holy. In its purest form, the tithe is a tenth.
I have been asked over and over during my ministry, Is a tithe calculated on the net income or gross? Trying to nail that down is like the young lady to whom a proposal was offered:
Darlin¡¦, I want you to marry me. I love you more than anything in this world. I¡¦m not wealthy. I don¡¦t have a yacht or a Rolls-Royce like Johnny Green ¡V I don¡¦t have a condo in Palm Beach like Johnny Green, and I¡¦m not heir to some fortune like ol¡¦ Johnny Green, but I do love you with all my heart ¡V will you marry me? The young lady thought a moment, then said, I love you too with all my heart, and of course I¡¦d like to marry you¡Kbut now tell me more about Johnny Green.
If you calculate your tithe on the gross ¡V fine! If you figure it on the net ¡V fine! Paul helped us understand that we give according to conviction. They didn¡¦t have payroll deductions in Paul¡¦s day ¡V or social security. The point about the tithe is, however you calculate it ¡V it is holy to the Lord! The more important part is being faithful with what¡¦s holy:
Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him¡K
1 Corinthians 16.2a
C.S. Lewis said, I do not believe one can settle how much we ought to give. I am afraid the only safe rule is to give more than we can spare.
The ¡§offering¡¨ or ¡§gift¡¨ is something above the tithe. The difference is made quite clear when it comes to the Chest of Joash. Our mortgage is paid each month out of our general fund. The general fund is where the tithes go. The gifts to the building fund should not be tithes; neither should the tithe go to new commitments to pay off the building.
In the letter you received about this Joash emphasis, we made the point ¡V if you are bringing your tithe, and are unable to give to the Joash chest, put in your card, promising to pray, and to give if and when God blesses you. Putting your tithe into the chest defeats the purpose of faith giving.
This thought leads us to the main idea ¡V the HOW of our giving is connected with faith. And your faith is connected to your heart! The principle then becomes¡K
Once your heart changes,
you will be able to take the giving leap of faith
Notice the STEPS in the HOW of giving¡K
Step#1. Believe giving is God¡¦s way
Giving is God¡¦s way. He gave us life, air to breathe and food to sustain us. It is also hard to ignore that heart-giving is God¡¦s way.
Once, a man said, "If I had some extra money, I¡¦d give it to God, but I have just enough to support myself and my family." And the same man said, "If I had some extra time, I¡¦d give it to God, but every minute is taken up with my job, my family, my clubs, and what have you--every single minute."
And the same man said, "If I had a talent I¡¦d give it to God, but I have no lovely voice; I have no special skill; I¡¦ve never been able to lead a group; I can¡¦t think cleverly or quickly, the way I would like to."
And God was touched, and although it was unlike him, God gave that man money, time, and a glorious talent. And then He waited, and waited, and waited.....And then after a while, He shrugged His shoulders, and He took all those things right back from the man, the money, the time and the glorious talent.
After a while, the man sighed and said, "If I only had some of that money back, I¡¦d give it to God. If I only had some of that time, I¡¦d give it to God. If I could only rediscover that glorious talent, I¡¦d give it to God."
And God said, "Oh, shut up."
And the man told some of his friends, "You know, I¡¦m not so sure that I believe in God anymore."
The bottom line about faith is that when you really do believe, you begin!
Sometimes that is the tricky part in a family, so¡K
Step#2. Achieve Family agreement to give God¡¦s way.
Paul assured us all grace would abound¡Kall sufficiency¡K.
This is an understood reality ¡V God provides, and will meet every need (Php 4.19).
The problem is, sometimes that is a scary thing. Families are made up of humans; those humans are only human! We get scared, lose faith. That¡¦s why God gave us each other.
You may want to begin tithing, giving. Your spouse worries. (Maybe she handles the bills!). My friend, without good communication, and 100% agreement, bathed in prayer, beginning to give will be a divisive issue.
It¡¦s like the young lady who married a wealthy older gentleman. The gent was beginning to wonder if she¡¦d only been interested in his portfolio. So he tested her. ¡§Tell me the truth, babe¡Kif I lost all my money in the stock market, would you still love me?¡¨
¡§Honey,¡¨ she cooed, reassuringly, ¡§Of course I would still love you. And I¡¦d miss you¡Kterribly!¡¨
Before you begin anything, get the family together, and make certain it¡¦s a together family on the giving.
Step#3. Set Godly giving priorities
There is a pattern in Leviticus 22, which God gave Moses, that stands the New Testament standard of giving from the heart with faith. There are four parts¡K
Part#1. Birth the Sacrifice
Neither from a stranger¡¦s hand shall ye offer the bread of your God of any of these¡K.they shall not be accepted for you. Leviticus 22.24-25
The sacrificial lamb, or dove was often raised in the house with the family. The idea is that the offering was not to be made without cost ¡V personal cost.
Sometimes the best offering a wealthy person can make is to go work at a soup kitchen for a while. Poor folks already know the reality of sacrifice. Sometimes the poor person¡¦s gift is next month¡¦s electric bill.
King David said of his offering that he would not give anything to the Lord which cost him nothing (2 Sam 24.24).
It makes a difference when you give out of your need. It is a sign you are depending on God for the replacement, and honoring Him with the firstfruit.
Abraham was told to sacrifice Isaac, his first fruits ¡V his only hope of an heir. Had God allowed Abraham to carry through with the sacrifice, God would have had to raise him from the dead. Or else a 120 year old man, married to a 110 year old woman would have to have another child¡Ka toddler in the house of two ¡§hundred-somethings!¡¨ God is too kind for that! ƒº The point is not strained¡Kbirth a personal sacrifice!
Part#2. Bring the Sacrifice
¡Kit shall be accepted for an offering made by fire unto the LORD. Leviticus 22.27b
The ¡§fire¡¨ was the temple altar. Paul said it to the Corinthian church ¡V Upon the first day of the week¡K1Co 16.2. This speaks of consistency in worship. Giving is part of our worship¡Ka vital part.
I once served a church where a member family attended about three times a year. There was no special handicap that prevented them from attending. They just didn¡¦t. They did, however take that verse seriously. Mike told me every week he wrote out his tithe check, put it in an envelope and stacked it with the rest on his dresser. On the rare Sunday when they attended, each member of the family would toss 3 or 4 envelopes in the offering plate.
Our offering doubled whenever they attended. Our treasurer salivated like Pavlov¡¦s dog when their car arrived on the lot. I finally told him, ¡§Mike, you do well to tithe. You would do better to tithe in the worship service every week.¡¨ They left the church soon after.
Bringing the sacrifice is not a matter of drawing attention to how big or important ¡V it is a matter of holy worship.
Part#3. Butcher the Sacrifice
And when ye will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will¡K
Leviticus 22.29a
When YOU offer! Did you know the practice of offering in the temple included having the head of the family stand with his hands on the head of the animal as it was killed? The purpose is identification. As the father stood with his hands on the head of the animal, it was a picture of the sins being transferred to the animal, by virtue of the father¡¦s willingness to confess.
He did this by bringing the sacrifice, and placing his own hands in the offering process.
That is what we do with our giving ¡V we confess our sins. We admit we are giving, because we are bought with a price. Jesus gave his perfect blood ¡V the Lamb of God who took the sin of the world¡Kbutchered for us. We lay our hands on Him every time we place our holy offering in the worship plate! It¡¦s our confession!
Part#4. Bow with the Sacrifice.
¡Koffer it at your own will. Leviticus 22.29b
Have you been to the cross? Have you bowed with Him? Do you bow with this offering? James Weldon Johnson penned these lovely words:
O Lord, we come this morning
Knee-bowed and body-bent
Before thy throne of grace.
O Lord ¡V this morning ¡V
Bow our hearts beneath our knees,
And our knees in some lonesome valley.
When you take the test at the bottom of your bulletin insert this morning, do it with knees bowed, and body bent. And then, bring your personal sacrifice, butcher and bow with it. That¡¦s HOW Christians give.
