Stewardship Series #3
“Giving God Your Treasure”
Malachi 3:6-12
One day a certain old, rich man of a miserable disposition visited a rabbi, who took the rich man by the hand and led him to a window. "Look out there," he said. The rich man looked into the street. "What do you see?" asked the rabbi. "I see men, women, and children," answered the rich man. Again the rabbi took him by the hand and this time led him to a mirror. "Now what do you see?" "Now I see myself," the rich man replied.
Then the rabbi said, "Behold, in the window there is glass, and in the mirror there is glass. But the glass of the mirror is covered with a little silver, and no sooner is the silver added than you cease to see others, but you see only yourself."
I want to start out my message this morning by making something very clear. We are going to be talking about money, especially as it comes to worshipping God by giving Him our tithes. Money can be, and probably has been, a contentious issue with some people. No matter what is said this morning, I want you to know this one thing: I DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU PUT IN THE PLATE EACH WEEK.
On my way home for lunch on Sunday afternoons, I have seen the tellers counting the money, but I have never stopped at their table and asked “How did we do today?” I have never asked about who has given what. For the most part, I avoid them all together, except to share some light banter. The only ones who know what goes from your pocket into the Lord’s hands are God, yourself, the tellers and church treasurer. All I know is what I give each week, and I can tell you if you want.
This morning, we have sung some beautiful church songs. We have lifted our hearts to heaven with our words and our prayers. But what happens to a church that does not worship God fully? I know that money is a very sensitive issue. We, like a dog on a bone, are very protective of our resources and defensive when questioned about them.
There are many different factors that impact a person’s reason for giving what he or she gives to a church. They range from personal church involvement (the more time you invest, the more you give & vice-versa), personal faith, age, and attitudes about the pastor have an impact on how much, or how little a person gives.
I want you to notice something special in verse 10: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse...” God’s word to His people is that He wanted them to bring the WHOLE tithe into the storehouse. Of course, this passage is talking about grains and such, but I want you to notice something special here. Although God accuses them of stealing from Him (vs. 8), the people are oblivious to it. In fact we see that, also in verse 8, the people question God in the matter: “How de we rob you?”
They were either not aware of their wrong doings, or they feigned ignorance because in their eyes they were still GIVING! God does not accuse them of not giving anything, but His charge is they were not giving it ALL! Many of you this morning have been giving. From the depths of my heart, I want to thank you for that giving. However, you are fooling yourselves if you think that just dropping something in the plate is an act of worship. We MUST bring in the WHOLE tithe!
The CHURCH as a whole in North America has become ANAEMIC when it comes to giving. In fact, the average church attendee gives a total of 1.9% of their monies to God. When you split the difference between Mainline Churches (Catholics, Anglican, United etc.) and Evangelicals, the percentages are the average Mainline church attendee gives 2.5% of the annual income, while Evangelicals, on average, give 3.5%. According to the Christian Stewardship Association, the average Nazarene gives 4.92%.
Tithing is a voluntary, systematic plan of financing God’s church. The literal translation for the word “tithe” in both the Hebrew and the Greek language means a “tenth.” There are those that would suggest that since Jesus never addressed the issue of tithing, then what should it matter to me? At the end of his gospel, John closes off this way; “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25) Who’s to say He never addressed the issue? He did say, however, that people cannot serve God, and be ruled by money at the same time: “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6:24) Just in case you were wonder, mammon is another word for “wealth.”
I may get myself in trouble by saying this, but I’m going to say it anyway. If you are not a Christian, don’t worry about giving to God. All I want you to realize and accept what God wants to give to you -- complete forgiveness, eternal life, and a brand new start. If you feel you should give, then do so.
If you are a Christ, then be willing to give God the best. Proverbs 3:9 encourages all believers to give God the first portion of all we receive: “Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.”
In our passage today, God uses Malachi to reset the bar when the people of his time were giving dishonourable gifts. We rob God when we do not give God. Imagine if you started a business. After a few years, your business became so successful that you invite your family to be a part of that business. Then imagine that you loose everything because your family bled your company dry. I want you to think about how hurt you would be, and then consider if God feels the same way when we do not bring the whole tithe in.
1. We Must Do a Heart Check
Despite all that God had done for His people in the past, they were not truly thankful for it. Despite all that He has done, will do etc., all God is asking for is a tenth. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, and one way that we can say “Thank You,” is do what He asks of us. In view of His grace and mercy, 10% doesn’t seem that big of an issue, at least to me.
I know there are people on fixed incomes. Trust me, I know what the pinch is like. But I also know about the promise in Psalms 37:25 “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.” It was just this past fall this came true for me. God asks us to test Him when it comes to bringing the tithe. He says that He will bless us. I am not a “Name it and Claim it! Blab it and grab it!” type of preacher. But I believe that His promises are trustworthy, even in this aspect.
Bill Hybels, pastor of Saddleback Church, is involved in the process of interviewing potential elders to sit on his church board. He once interviewed an elder candidate who refused to tithe. He wanted nothing to do with it. His money was his money, and that was that. Needless to say, the man never became a member of the church board.
The story did not end there. Mr. Hybels saw that man during a church service. He saw him singing the song “I Surrender All” during the worship service. In my eyes, the man sang nothing but a lie.
Jesus, to the Samarian woman He found by the well, said “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) We must allow the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. It does not matter if you liked the music of this morning’s service. If you are keeping back the whole tithe, then you did not worship God in truth!
2. We must do a gut check.
Proverbs 3:9 says, “Honour the Lord with the first fruits of your harvest.” Do a gut check by putting a system into place that makes tithing automatic. It takes a brave person, in the light of bills and payments to sit down and truly say, “The first 10% of this paycheque are going to God.” What you need to remember is that giving your tithe is not about the church. It relates to how you view your relationship with the Master.
Wealthy people sometimes have a hard time tithing because the amount that 10 percent of their earnings represents is overwhelming. The more a person has can be rather imposing.
Look at it this way. Let’s say that you had a dollar. You, being the brave soul that you are, give a tenth of that dollar to God. A tenth of a dollar is...??? A dime will not be easily missed, besides you still have ninety cents. You really haven’t lost that much.
Now let’s multiply that buck by a million. You now have a million dollars. When it comes to the 10% giving, that means God is asking for $100,000. You cannot do much with a dime, so it’s easy to surrender that, but $100,000?
After the rich young ruler left Jesus’ side, the Lord looked at the people and said, “Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24) The young man just could not part with his money. It’s hard, but sometimes the hard things need brave people to step up.
3. We must do a faith check.
Lastly, do a faith check by having faith that God will honour your obedience by blessing you. Again in verse 10, God is asking, maybe even pleading with the people to bring the whole tithe in. “Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.” In a nutshell, God is testing our faith by asking us to trust in Him.
Although many “prosperity-preaching” people have used this verse to feed their “ministry concerns” by preying on unsuspecting folks, that’s not what the verse is for. God is not saying, “Give me the tithe and I’ll give you the ‘67 Mustang you’ve been asking for.” It means that if we give to Him the portion, and give it from the heart, we will be blessed in ways that we cannot understand.
Consider the lady who had only one coin left to her name. Jesus said that her offering was better than the more affluent givers because she gave all she had. She gave to God believing that He was looking after her. The others gave because they could, but she gave when it hurt.
The whole thing about the tithe is not the amount you give. He asks for the whole tithe, but the gift is in vain if it is does not come from the heart. Each Sunday, as I write out the tithe cheque, I pray the Lord will accept this gift, not because of the size, but because it comes from the heart.
-Illustration: Hybels tells about a woman crying after a service who said she had been unfaithful with her tithes for four years. She then gave an offering check that balanced the scales.
Conclusion
Romans 12:1 states “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” I would reiterate that also in view of His mercy to you, that you allow Him to speak to your heart, and give Him the whole tithe, not because I told you too, but because you love Him.
Tithing is just the bear minimum. 10% is just the tip of the iceberg. God wants all of you. He wants your time and talent. He wants you to place your lives, you WHOLE life, in His hand. He wants to supply all of our needs. He wants to be the one that we depend upon. In all manner of life, He wants to be Lord of all.
Stewardship has got to be more than just giving your money – although that is certainly a part of it. Stewardship has got to involve your life – what you have – what God has given you – whether it be money – time – talents – or whatever God has blessed you with. Actually, our stewardship of what God has given us is our response to God – we see what God has blessed with – whether it be money – time – talents – or whatever – and we want to return a potion of it to God for His work in the world.
Ask yourself – am I robbing God?
