20 The Church - Giving

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1 20 The Church - Giving Text 1 Chronicles 29:10-22 Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. [11] Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. [12] Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. [13] And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. [14] But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. [15] For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. [16] O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. [17] I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. [18] O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. [19] Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision. [20] Then David said to all the assembly, Bless the Lord your God. And all the assembly blessed the Lord, the God of their fathers, and bowed their heads and paid homage to the Lord and to the king. [21] And they offered sacrifices to the Lord, and on the next day offered burnt offerings to the Lord, 1,000 bulls, 1,000 rams, and 1,000 lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel. [22] And they ate and drank before the Lord on that day with great gladness. Introduction Giving is a difficult topic to address. The reason it is difficult is, in part, because of abuses in the past. That is what makes many biblical subjects difficult to address is abuses in the past. Unbelievers love to point at the Inquisition and the Crusades as examples of why Christianity is bad. But what they fail to recognize is the difference between the logical outworking of a system, and the illogical outworking of a system. I don't think that you will find much support for events like the crusades in the teachings of Christ and his apostles. Yes the Crusades happened. They are a black stain on the church. But they are not the logical out-workings of the teachings of Jesus - they are an abuse. Some TV preachers have been well known hucksters. They have have scammed tens of

2 thousands of people out of a lot of money. But these black marks on the doctrine of tithing are not the logical out-workings of biblical teaching - they are abuse. Many of the more mainstream ministries make it a daily part of their program to ask for money. I am not necessarily suggesting that is wrong, but when the requests are so frequent it is easy to see how some people will view them as only interested in money. Be that as it may, we must have a doctrine of giving because scripture teaches on it. As I address the topic of giving today my thesis is this: The giving of the Christian reflects the value of Christ, and since Christ is infinitely valuable, we should give more. God is Worth Our Offerings Our text this morning is David's prayer after the people gave to make possible the temple of the Lord. It was a massive outpouring of silver and gold and and bronze and iron. The people gave sacrificially and our text is David's prayer after the collection was complete. David begins the prayer saying: Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. [11] Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Notice what David does not do. David does not say, "I'd like to take a moment to honer our largest doner." No. His focus is on God. God is worthy. All the victory and the glory are his. All the greatness and power and majesty is his. He is worthy! The outpouring of the people reflected the greatness of God. Christ said it more explicitly in Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. We see this principle exhibited in the world everyday. A gold nugget will cost more than a dirt clod because it is more valuable. You will pay less money for a tricycle than you will for a Ferrari because the Ferrari is worth more. These are objective examples. But it also holds true in subjective matters. Sometimes we may pay more for something that isn't objectively worth that much. For instance, we may pay far more for a little boy's t-shirt than we would normally pay if there is sentimental attachment to it. It is worth more to us because of our memories. Conversely we may refuse to pay for some genuinely valuable piece of jewelry because it just doesn't interest us that much. It has no value for us. John Piper puts it this way. "If we want to make people glad in God, our lives must look as if God, not possessions, is our joy." Are we living in such a way that people can look at our lives and say, "That person values Christ."? You can walk into people's homes often times and see what it is that they value. One person is collecting old record albums. Another person's house is full of those miniature villages. Another person's house is cluttered with video games. Another person's house is empty but their garage is filled with boats and bikes. If people look at our lives can they tell that we treasure Jesus?

3 It all Belongs to God... So We Can Give Joyfully And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. [14] But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? We just saw above how "all that is in the heavens and the earth" are God's. The fact that God owns everything anyway should free us to give joyfully. Notice that David and Israel gave willingly, not grudgingly, and they thanked God and praised his name. We should give because of the great worth of God, but we should also give joyfully. Paul captures this in 2 Cor 9:7 when he says, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." Our giving should not be out of compulsion, but should be willing like that of David and the Israelites. It should be cheerful and joyful. Which Implies Good Stewardship [14] For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you... [16] O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. Imagine you give a large sum of money to someone to run an orphanage. It would be assumed that he could use some of that money to feed himself as well as the orphans. It is assumed that he would house himself as well as the orphans. But suppose that only 10% of the money that you entrusted to him was actually going to the orphanage? Would you not replace that person? Consider the various relief agencies in this world. Many of them list the percentage of the gift that actually goes to those in need. They say things like "84 cents of every dollar goes to help the victims." The other 16 cents of every dollar goes to staff wages, transportation costs, marketing for global awareness etc. We praise the efficient organizations and we give a tongue lashing to those bureaucratic, tanks that spend 90% on staff and only 1 in 10 dollars actually goes to help the earthquake victims. None of what we have is ours. Paul asks in 1 Cor 4:7, "What do you have that you did not receive?" We are stewards of God's possessions. He has entrusted them to us to further the kingdom. And we are only seeing 10% of that go to actual ministry. And that is assuming that everyone in the church is tithing a full tenth of their annual wage. Luke 16:10-13 One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters, for 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 God and money. Are we being faithful with the little God has given us? Are we hoarding the lion's share for ourselves and only allowing some small fraction to be used for ministry? Are we faithful stewards?

4 Sacrificial, Not Simple Everything belongs to God. It is his. Some people may live this truth by living simple lives. They may have a small home with modest furnishings. There is nothing fancy. It is just a very simple life. And they don't work much because they don't need much. They live a very simple life. But simple is not what we are after. When we consider what the Israelites gave for this project, it was anything but simple. They had to all work hard to ear what they did. And they had to actually own a good amount of these goods in order to give them. Allow me to translate the amount into a quantity that we would be familiar with. They gave 110 tons of gold, 260 tones of silver, 3700 tons of iron, and that is only a portion of what is listed! This was a massive giving project! 110 tons of gold is over $4 billion! And that is only the gold and not even all of the gold! That is simply unbelievable. Piper talks about the difference between a wartime lifestyle and a simple life: Simplicity may have a romantic ring and certain aesthetic appeal that is foreign to the dirty business of mercy in the dangerous places of the world. Simplicity may also overlook the fact that, in wartime, major expenses for complex weapons and troop training are needed. These may not look simple and may be very expensive, but the whole country sacrifices to make them happen. Simplicity may be inwardly directed and benefit no one else. A wartime lifestyle implies that there is a great and worthy cause for which to spend and be spent This world is so focused on making money and accumulating things that we can be tempted to think that all we have to do is be content with less. But working only minimally and spending minimally is not faithfulness. Eph 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. The term "tithe" means "tenth." It is derived from the OT in places like Leviticus 27: It has been tradition to give a tenth of one's annual income to the Lord. We often act as if that is the goal. 10% is if you are really spiritual and dedicated. When we speak about giving in the church, it is more than just a tithe. Beyond the normal tithe there was the concerns for the poor, the orphans, the widows. D.A. Carson exhorts us to remember why we are giving in the first place: A strictly legal perspective on giving soon runs into a plethora of complicated debates. Is this 10 percent of gross income or of net? How does this play out in a country where a progressive income-tax system rises to 90 percent of income? If we choose to tithe from our net income, are we talking "take-home pay" only, or does it include what is withheld for medical insurance and retirement benefits? It would be easy to list such questions for a page or two without ever asking, "How can I manage my affairs so that I can give more?" (IBID) Mark 14 contains the story of the poor widow who gave her last two copper coins. Commenting on verses 41-44, James Edwards states, "For Jesus, the value of the gift is not the amount given, but the cost to the giver" (Edwards, 381). We need to give joyfully, that is true; but it can also be abused. We love our money. In our love of money, we content ourselves with small amounts of giving as long as we are doing it with the right heart. We give a small amount and justify ourselves by saying that we did so joyfully. But "The value of the gift is not the amount given, but the cost to the giver."

5 In Matthew 6:21, Jesus says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Our actions betray our heart. In Matthew 15:8 Jesus says, "This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." We say that we love him and value him because we give with a joyful heart. But in so doing we honer him with our lips when our hearts are far from him. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Do not be guilty of mere lip service. Love God, not just with your lips, but with all your hear, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. You may say, "Preacher, you don't understand; our budget is tight. We have bills to pay." I believe it and yet I say you have extra money and time. Living in a lesser home does not even occur to us. Turning off the air conditioning does not even occur to us. Riding a bike to work (for us small towners) does not even occur to us. Don't go out to eat as often, wear less fancy clothing. We have lots of money tied up in lots of thing that are nice but that we do not need.the point is not to get rid of them just to have less. The point is to sacrifice that that we will have more to give. The Practical Benefits One last thing I want to mention to help us put things in perspective. This comes from the pen of A.W. Pink: No church could possibly be embarrassed financially where its members tithed. And I believe that that is the solution of rural church work in thinly populated districts. Wherever you have ten male Christians you have sufficient to support a permanent worker in their midst...that is God s solution to the missionary problem. Wherever you have ten average male Chinese you have a situation where they ought to be independent and no longer leaning upon the help of God s people at home. Tithing/tithing_02.htm We have this mindset that we can't do very much if we don't have a lot of people. That's not true. A church of only 50 people who give 10% will have more money than a church of 200 people that give an average of 2.5%. Lord willing, I'd like to see us support missions more. And as we support a missionary I'd like to see that church become independent quickly so that we can support another church. Maybe we can do a church plant a year. (I know it is more complicated that that, but in theory we have the resources to do that kind of thing. All we need are ten working Haitians to give a tenth and they can support a full time minister. We can do a lot more than we realize if we would just give liberally. Because God is great, let us give faithfully, joyfully and sacrificially.