A better example – Tithes & Blessings
Heb 7:2 to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all ….4 Now consider how great this man was, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave a tenth of the spoils. 5 And indeed those who are of the sons of Levi, who receive the priesthood, have a commandment to receive tithes from the people according to the law, that is, from their brethren, though they have come from the loins of Abraham; 6 but he whose genealogy is not derived from them received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. 7 Now beyond all contradiction the lesser is blessed by the better.
The passage recounts how Abraham gave Melchizedek a tenth, or tithe of the spoil. In return Mel blessed Abraham. The purpose of this is to show that Mel was dramatically superior to Abraham, the greatest of the patriarchs. In turn this shows that Jesus is infinitely superior to Abraham. However, I don’t propose to dwell on this today, but to think about Christian giving.
Although this is not really the focus of the chapter it is a very important and often overlooked issue. Often, as people become richer, they also become less and less generous. Is that the case with us?
What are the Scriptural Principles about Giving?
Firstly, we are to give cheerfully
Of primary importance is our attitude in giving. We are to give cheerfully, in gratitude for all that God has given us, not because it is our duty or to impress others. Our tithes are an acknowledgement of His right to all that we are and have. After all our great high priest gave up everything to save us and deserves the willing sacrifice of all that we are and have in his service.
2Co 9:7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
Translating that literally, God loves a hilarious giver. I know there are those who go laughing all the way to the bank, but how many of us laugh in delight as we give to the Lord’s work? Some of us are like a wealthy deacon who was opposed to the renovation of the church building. One day, at a deacons’ meeting, he spoke out firmly against it. No sooner had he spoken, than a piece of plaster fell from the ceiling and hit him on the shoulder. “I take that back!” he said. “I’ll give a hundred dollars!” As he sat back in a contemplative pose, another piece of plaster fell and hit him on the HEAD. “I’ll raise that to a THOUSAND dollars,” he said. At that, a fellow deacon was seen to cast his eyes heavenwards and mutter, “Hit him, again, Lord! Hit him again!” Does God need to hit us to make us give?
There are three kinds of givers - the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint you must hammer it, and then you only get chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you must squeeze it, and the more you squeeze it the more you get. In contrast the honeycomb just overflows with its own sweetness. Some people are stingy and as hard as flint; they give nothing away if they can help it. Others are good natured; they yield to pressure, and the more they are pressed the more they will give. Thank God, however, that there are still others who delight in giving without being asked, and it is givers of this kind - cheerful givers - that the Lord loves. (From ‘Flashes of Truth’ by James Duff)
Secondly, we are to give secretively
Mt 6 1 “Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 3 “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 “that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.
Can you picture the scene that Jesus had in mind? A rich man goes off to the synagogue, loudly jingling a heavy bag of coins. In case anyone might miss him, he employs another man to blow a trumpet to make sure everyone knows what he is doing. When he gets there he takes a handful of coins and noisily drops them into the metal collection plate from a good height. It seems to take ages to drop all of the coins in.
Jesus made it quite clear that we are not to be like that. If someone gives ostentatiously then they already have their reward – the praise and recognition of the people. In contrast, when we give, we should do so secretively, because we do not want to draw attention to ourselves and how much we give. We give to please God, not for the praise of men.
Thirdly, we are to give systematically
1Co 16:2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper.
In Bible days people got paid weekly, or even daily and so they were instructed to give every Sunday. Nowadays many of us are paid monthly and so, perhaps, it is more appropriate for us to give monthly. The mechanics don’t really matter. What matters is that we decide, before God, how much we will give and then get on and give it systematically. If we give from what is left when we have paid our bills and had our fun we will give little and erratically, so we are to give systematically, from our income. Giving is a habit that all Christians should develop. That isn’t to say, of course, that we shouldn’t give extra gifts to meet particular needs or as a particular act of thanksgiving.
Fourthly, we are to give proportionately
Next comes the question of how much we should give. Scripture makes the principles quite clear.
Deut 16:17 “Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.
Ac 11:29 Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.
2Co 8:12 For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
1Co 16:2 …as he may prosper.
Abraham gave Mel 10%. Jacob promised God 10% (Gen 28:22) and it later became the OT standard under the Mosaic Law. It remains a good starting place for Christians. Can we reasonably give less under grace than Israel did under law? Ultimately, however, it is a matter of conscience for each of us. Strangely, however, it is often harder for the Millionaire to give £100,000 keeping £900,000 than for a widow to give her last penny! Which brings me to the next point …
Fifthly, we are to give sacrificially
Speaking of the gifts of some rich men and a poor widow, Jesus said: Lu 21:4 “for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”
David wanted to offer a sacrifice to stop a plague. The owner Araunah offered to give David the site and everything he needed for the sacrifice, but David would have nothing of it. “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.” 2 Sam 24:24 The principle set out in this verse applies much wider than financial giving. How much of our giving and service for God costs us anything significant – time, money, effort.
Leftovers are such humble things,
We would not serve to a guest,
And yet we serve them to our Lord
Who deserves the very best.
We give to Him leftover time,
Stray minutes here and there.
Leftover cash we give to Him,
Such few coins as we can spare.
We give our youth unto the world,
To hatred, lust and strife;
Then in declining years we give
To Him, the remnant of our life.
In contrast the recent response to a request for support from listeners to Christian radio in Romania and Moldova – two poor nations – shows true giving. They raised about £10,000 in three evenings. People donated money they had planned to use to heat their homes. In one orphanage the director offered a small amount, but the children wanted to give more. The children decided that they were going to do without meat for a couple of months and send the money saved to the mission.
Sixthly, we are to give responsibly
The Church has a responsibility to give to support God’s work – particularly full time Christian workers. As Jesus said: the worker deserves his wages Lk 10:7 NIV. Paul took this idea up in 1Co 9:14 the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
Gal 6:6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
1 Timothy 5:17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in the word and doctrine. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The labourer is worthy of his wages.”
I wonder if we forget this teaching today, or if our emphasis is on our rights, rather than our responsibilities. Do we think like the old treasurer “Lord you keep our pastor humble and we will keep him poor!” That isn’t exactly in line with the teaching of these passages is it? I wonder how many of us would be willing to work for what many full time workers are paid.
And, of course, giving isn’t restricted to the support of full time workers. We must show love, in a very practical way, to the most vulnerable – especially Christians.
Gal 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Jas 127 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. … 215 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
John Wesley once heard that a man was both ill and destitute He wrote him a comforting letter which read in part “Dear Tom, I pray that you will soon be restored to health. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Ps. 37:3. With the letter, Wesley enclosed a £5 note, a rather sizeable sum in those days. Not long afterward he received this gracious reply from the man who had been blessed by his letter and his liberality: “Dear Brother Wesley, I have often been struck with the beauty of the Scripture passage you quoted, but I’ve never seen such a useful ‘expository note’ on it!”
Finally, we are to give expectantly
Abraham gave Melchizedek 10% of the plunder. In return Melchizedek blessed Abraham. The same principle is true today. When we are faithful to the Lord with our abilities, energy, time, possessions and money we can expect to find God’s blessing poured out on us.
Jesus said: “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Lu 6:38 It is not that God will necessarily give us back more money than we give to his service, but that He will make us more joyful with the remainder!
Lu 12:33 “Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys.
Jesus also said 29 there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 “who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time––houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions––and in the age to come, eternal life Mt 10.
A pastor was once asked, “How many church members do you have?” He answered, “One hundred fifty.” The pastor was further asked, “How many of them are tithers?” The pastor replied, “One hundred fifty.” In astonishment the inquirer exclaimed, “What? All one hundred fifty members, the entire church are tithers?” The pastor replied, “Yes, indeed!” About fifty of them bring the tithe to the storehouse on Sunday, and God collects it from the rest during the week!”
Malachi 3: 7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’ 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
The more you give the more you get
The more you laugh the less you fret
The more you do unselfishly
The more you live abundantly
The more of everything you share
The more you’ll always have to share
The more you help the more you’re kind
The more you love the more you’ll find
For only what we give away
Enriches us from day to day
Nattacha Delhomme
If one danger is keeping our money to ourselves another danger comes from those who take on a leadership position with the intention of fleecing their flock! In this, as in general, we should follow Jesus’ advice to be as wise as serpents, and harmless as doves Mt 10:16.
Acts 20: 32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 “Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. 35 “I have shown you in every way, by labouring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
