Sermon On The Amount

(God’s call on our time and tithe)

Introduction – The Heart Before the Numbers

You’ve heard of the Sermon on the Mount.

This morning, I want to talk about the Sermon on the Amount.

Now, don’t confuse that with a sermon based on the size of the offering.

A pastor once faced a stifling summer morning with no air-conditioning and a mountain of unpaid bills.

He stood up and said, “Friends, I have three sermons today. A $1,000 sermon that lasts five minutes, a $500 sermon that lasts one hour, and a $200 sermon that lasts two hours.

We’re going to take the offering now and see which sermon you folks want preached!”

Needless to say, the church enjoyed the short one and paid the bills.

We can laugh at that story because we’ve all felt the tension between time and money.

We say, time is money, and money is time.

If you’ve got time, you probably have some money to make it possible.

If you have money, you can usually carve out time to enjoy it.

Time and money are the two currencies of our lives—and God speaks to both.

From the very beginning, God set rhythms of remembrance:

He asks for one day out of seven to be holy, set apart for Him.

He asks for one-tenth of our increase to be holy, set apart for Him.

Not because He needs our hours or our dollars, but because He longs for our hearts.

These simple fractions—one seventh of time, one tenth of treasure—remind us that we are stewards, not owners.

Everything we have is a gift on loan from a generous Father.

This is where the gospel comes rushing in.

Long before we ever gave God a minute or a dime, He gave us everything.

He gave us life and breath.

He gave His Son.

“God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”

The cross is God’s loudest sermon: I give first.

Our giving—of time or tithe—isn’t an attempt to earn His favor.

It’s the natural response of a heart captured by His grace.

That’s why today’s message isn’t a fundraiser.

It’s an invitation to worship.

We’ll look at three very practical questions—

How much? Where? Why?—but we’ll keep coming back to this deeper truth:

Everything God asks of us is because of what He’s already doing in us.

He works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

Giving is grace expressing itself.

So with our hearts fixed on Christ and His generosity, let’s open His Word and hear what He says about the amount.

---

I. How Much?

> Leviticus 27:30 — “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord.”

The question everyone thinks but few ask out loud is How much?

God gives a clear, simple answer: the tithe.

But before we rush to calculators and percentages, notice that He begins not with arithmetic but with ownership and holiness.

1. “The” — a Definite Claim

The verse doesn’t say “a tithe” as if we pick something random.

It says the tithe.

That little three-letter word is big.

It’s definite, precise, unmistakable.

Think of your paycheck.

You may spend two-tenths on groceries, four-tenths on housing, another portion on transportation.

But there is the one-tenth that already bears God’s name.

It isn’t first ours and then we decide to donate; it’s His from the start.

This is more than a bookkeeping category.

It’s a relationship marker.

When we set apart “the” tithe, we’re declaring: Lord, everything I have belongs to You, and this portion stands as the visible witness of that invisible truth.

2. “Tithe” — a Recognized Portion

Webster’s Dictionary defines tithe simply: one-tenth.

Across centuries and cultures, God has chosen this fraction as a gentle, doable reminder.

It’s not a tax; it’s a testimony.

The number isn’t about squeezing us.

It’s about shaping us.

Ten percent is small enough that anyone, rich or poor, can begin; and significant enough to recalibrate priorities.

It quietly tells every heart and budget: you are a steward, not the owner.

And here the gospel speaks again.

In Christ, God gives one hundred percent—life, forgiveness, eternal hope.

Our ten percent is never payment; it’s joyful participation in His generosity.

3. “Is” — a Present Reality

Leviticus doesn’t say “the tithe will be holy.”

It says, “the tithe is holy unto the Lord.”

Before we touch it, before we pledge it, it’s already His.

Malachi 3:8 makes the logic blunt:

“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.”

To withhold the tithe isn’t merely to delay generosity; it’s to treat something holy as common, to keep what is not ours.