1 The Sermon on the Amount (Malachi 3:10-12) by Rev. Dan McDowell March 10, 2019 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. 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 there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the LORD Almighty. 12 Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the LORD Almighty. There s an old saying; "Money talks. Mostly it says, Goodbye. " And I am sure there is some truth in that statement, especially when it s time to pay the bills. The Barna Group did a study recently to determine the attitudes of those who claim to follow Jesus vs. those who are not believers. When asked to identify their ultimate financial goal for life, half of Christians first think of others according to The Generosity Gap, a new Barna report produced in partnership with Thrivent Financial. On the other hand, about one-third of Christians are self-focused in their priorities. In studying the drivers of Christian generosity, Barna categorized and analyzed these two groups as Givers and Keepers. Givers are motivated by others-focused goals: to provide for their family (43%), to give charitably (23%) to serve God with their money (20%) or to leave a legacy for others (14%). Fifty percent of Christians are Givers.
2 Keepers are motivated by self-focused goals: to support the lifestyle they want (42% of Keepers), to be content (37%), to be debt-free (16%) or to earn enough to show how hard they work (5%). 35% of Christians are Keepers. The study indicated that the biggest predictor of giving depended on how frequently the givers attended worship. Those who were in church virtually every Sunday were much more likely to give significantly than those who don t. Yet tithers on average only make up 10-25% of any given congregation. And 8 out of 10 tithers have no credit card debt. Another huge concern regards religious giving overall, which is down by 50% since 1990. This is partly because the number of unchurched people in the U.S. has jumped from 16% to 23% during those years. On average, Christians give 2.5% of our income to churches. Yet during the depression we gave 3.3%! It s hard to believe that depression-era giving was higher than it is now. The reason was community. People relied on one another to make ends meet and the shared struggle brought them together, motivating them to sacrifice for one another to make sure that mutual needs were met. This is reinforced by the fact that of families that make more than $75,000 per year, only 1% donate 10% or more of their income whereas those making less than $20,000 are eight times more likely to give and someone making $75,000 I saw a bumper sticker many years ago that said Tithe if you love Jesus; anyone can honk! I have titled this message The Sermon on the Amount (kind of a play on words with The Sermon on the Mount Jesus most famous sermon! I want to begin by telling you that in the Old Testament, tithing was more or less an legal requirement for the Israelites. They lived in a Theocracy, meaning that even when they were ruled by kings and judges, their laws were laid down by God and their salvation depended upon following those laws and offering sacrifices when they screwed up.
3 Jesus set us free from that system. In fact it is clear in the teachings of Jesus and His Apostle Paul that we are no longer obligated under Old Testament Law. So the question we need to ask ourselves is this: Did God lower His standards after He gave His Son on the cross? Or did He RAISE them?! I would argue today that we should consider the tithe the MINIMUM bar for our giving! Here are: Part 1: The Reasons & the Requirement for Tithing. As we examine the Reasons for Tithing we need to look back to the Old Testament, not just to see what is written there, but why it was written. The first reason that we should tithe is that it is commanded. Deuteronomy 14:22 declares, 22 Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year. Malachi 3:9 lays it out even more starkly: In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse your whole nation because you are robbing me. So the first reason we tithe is because it was commanded by God, but let s get down to WHY He commanded it. We get a clue for this in Leviticus 27:30: 30 A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. It is sacred to God! He considers it holy! I can think of three reasons that this is the case. The first is that tithing quite simply curbs our greed. O.S.Hawkins said, The principle hindrance to the advancement of the kingdom of God is greed. It is the chief obstacle to heaven-sent revival. It seems that when the back of greed is broken, the human spirit soars into regions of unselfishness. So tithing breaks the bondage of self-centeredness and leads us into Godly generosity.
4 And in so doing, it promotes the Gospel. When Paul was talking to the Corinthians about giving he told them 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 Don t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. In a similar vein, Paul told the Galatians: 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor. 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Last but not least, tithing cultivates our giving. Let s face it; we tend to be selfish people and (much like Barna s Givers and Keepers categories, we will gravitate toward the flesh without biblical, Christ-centered guidance on what we should and shouldn t do. Not that we should be Pharisees, micromanaging one another s lives but the tithe gives us a benchmark to maintain at least minimal obedience. As we get into the habit of tithing, we get used to giving a portion of our
5 income away. This cultivates a giving heart in those that tithe primarily because they love Christ! If a person is a faithful tither, when the Holy Ghost moves on his or her heart to give something extra for a special offering or need, he/she is more ready and willing to give money because he/she is in practice! So now that we have seen why tithing is so important, let s take a brief look at the Requirements of Tithing. I titled this sermon The Sermon on the Amount. But that doesn t mean that we are to give equal amounts to God - an equal PERCENTAGE perhaps! Remember the story of the Widow s Mite in the Gospel of Mark 12:41-44? 41 Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42 But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43 Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything all she had to live on. The widow didn t give an equal AMOUNT to the rich people who went in front of her to give their offerings but Jesus counted her gift as greater because of the level of sacrifice involved! So let s begin by being clear about what we mean by the correct amount of a tithe. I have heard many, many people speak of their tithe when what they are really talking about it their offering. An offering is a gift that we give aside from our tithe. The word tithe literally means 10%. So when we talk about giving a tithe, we are literally talking about giving 10%. And we shouldn t misrepresent our giving. If you know the story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5, you know that doesn t end well.
6 But more important than the correct amount in the eyes of God is the correct attitude. Paul laid this out clearly in 2 Cor. 9:7: 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. I have jokingly said in the past, God LOVES a cheerful giver, but he is pretty fond of a grouchy giver too! Well that may be true, but I don t believe god desires tithes and offerings given to Him out of reluctant obligation. Look at it this way, God GAVE His only Son so that we would not perish. He didn t do that out of obligation. He didn t have to. He did it out of selfless love. Jesus could have chosen to avoid the sacrifice He made. He went willingly to the cross. That is what we celebrated and remembered last Sunday when we took communion. So as we reflect on this, let s remember the correct amount (10%), the correct attitude (cheerfulness and joy at the privilege) and also the correct objective. In the passage we explored earlier in Malachi, God invites us to: 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. In other words, we are bringing our tithe to God s house for His glory, not our advancement. From time to time I run into someone who has ulterior motives for their gift. This becomes clear when they threaten to withhold their offering because of a conflict or disagreement with something that is going on in the church. Perhaps they don t like the Pastor or they don t like a new direction in worship leading or the color of the new carpet. Whatever it is, that kind of power play is far more sinister than it appears. You aren t just making a statement to the church when you do that. You are robbing God! The context of that passage where God (through Malachi) said You are robbing me! was after the exile when Jerusalem was being reestablished. Things were far
7 from perfect and God s people had been through a lot. They were feeling pretty helpless and discouraged. Malachi laid down the law and said, (in essence) put God s Kingdom first in your priorities and trust Him to provide. Make sure there is food in MY house and the rest will come. Perhaps the church is not living up to all of your expectations. Perhaps it is not living up to all of God s expectations! (I m sure it isn t). God tells us to trust Him and give Him time to work things out. He requires our faithfulness in the meantime. That is risky. It means giving up control of something you could easily control. I have known people who withheld their tithe at times. Sometimes they did it to support me as pastor. Other times it was meant to discourage me. All I can say is, both approaches are equally misplaced. When we come back we will take a look at the risks and rewards of tithing. Part 2: The Risks and the Rewards of Tithing. Now that we have examined the importance and reasons behind setting aside the correct portion, having the correct attitude and aiming at the right target when you give I want to spend a few minutes discussing the risks of tithing: Jesus warned about the risk of showmanship in Mark 12:38-40: 38 As he taught, Jesus said, Watch out for the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, 39 and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 40 They devour widows houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely. The gist of this teaching is that we should not make a show of our good works, whether we are talking about our giving or anything else.
8 Another risk we take in tithing is that of legalism. In one of his most harsh and biting criticisms Jesus said, 23 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. (Matthew 23:23) The heart of the matter for Jesus was that the law was meant to convey love, not judgment or obligation. The Pharisees were experts in the law but amateurs in the way of grace and unconditional love. Jesus finds that offensive! Another example of this is found in the gospel of Luke when Jesus warns against the risk of Pride: 9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: God, I thank you that I am not like other people robbers, evildoers, adulterers or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. 13 But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. 14 I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. (Luke 18:9-14) Having said all of that, those are pitfalls that can easily be avoided when we approach the Lord with humility and His Kingdom at heart. In fact our text today
9 points out the Rewards of Tithing (which for simplicity s sake we will list as words that start with the letter P : God challenges us, see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven The operative word there is see. Tithing is similar to prayer in that it doesn t change God s mind as much as it changes our Perception. Quite often the Lord is active in very easily perceptible ways and we are simply too distracted to notice! When we pray expectantly and when we tithe obediently, stretching our faith in anticipation of His provision we take note when the Lord comes through for us! And that leads to the conclusion of that 10 th verse: see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. The promise is not only one of perception, it is one of Provision! But I want to be clear about this. We should not give because we want the Lord to multiply our assets as though this were some sort of Ponzi scheme! That is known as the prosperity gospel and I am here to tell you that it doesn t work that way. That is false teaching! Jesus was clear about providing for our needs but it is HIS kingdom that is paramount. He is not some Genie in a bottle awaiting our command. In fact the opposite is the case. Verse 11 takes His promise to us even further however, 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe, says the LORD Almighty. God s provision for our needs also includes His Protection. This is part and parcel of the Doctrine of First-Fruits that I discussed with you last week. The Lord wants the first 10 th of our harvest because He wants us to trust Him for the rest. The first check that we write
10 when we pay the bills and the first thing we consider when we budget for the coming year should be what portion belongs to the Lord? Verse 12 indicates that another reward for tithing is that of Prestige: Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the LORD Almighty. This prestige is a two-edged sword. We will be called blessed because what we have comes from God and therefore while we enjoy the spoils of His blessings, the glory is HIS! We are merely the reflections of that glory! And there is one more reward for tithing listed for us in 1 Corinthians 3:7-8, only God makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God s service; you are God s field, God s building. We have the privilege of Partnership in God s work! There is no greater honor than to be called into the Kingdom work of the Almighty! Many in our day seem to be afflicted with that terrible disease known as Cirrhosis of the Giver. This terrible malady renders the afflicted person s hand incapable of moving from the wallet to the offering plate. The only known cure is to remove the sufferer from the Lord s house, where the condition seems able to cure itself. This is seen in the fact that the sufferer is more than willing and able to spend money at restaurants and in activities which he/she enjoys. If you have this disease, there is a permanent cure. It is called repentance and obedience to the Lord. If you are afflicted by Cirrhosis of the Giver then allow me to point you to Dr Jesus. He has the cure you need.