You Might Be a Healthy Christian If... You See Tithes and Offerings as an Opportunity to Glorify God

A few weeks ago, I shared with you some cartoons from some books that I have

that are titled, You Might Be a Preacher If.

They are written by Stan Toler, who's a Nazarene pastor, and I want to share

a few more of those with you this morning.

You might be a preacher if the last change you saw in the church was in the offering plate.

You might be a preacher if you've ever been tempted to take an offering at a family reunion.

There's three things a pastor is supposed to do at all times,

be ready to preach, pray, or die, or take an offering. That's four.

You might be a preacher if you've ever asked for a clergy discount at a garage sale.

Been there, done that. You might be a preacher if you've ever asked for the

clergy discount at a wholesale club.

Not done that. You may be a small-time preacher if you get a live chicken in the offering.

Actually, when we were growing up in the pastor's home, we did from time to

time get chickens and things like that, preferably plucked and ready for the oven.

You might be a green preacher if you were shocked to find out that everyone

doesn't give at least 10%.

You might be a preacher if you have a bumper sticker that says,

if you love Jesus, don't honk, tithe.

You might be a preacher if you've ever heard the head deacon praying,

Lord, you keep him humble, we'll keep him poor.

You might be a preacher if you've ever wanted to try multi-level tithing.

That would be interesting, wouldn't it? You might be a preacher if you've thought

of selling skyboxes in a fundraising campaign, but...

You might be a preacher if God loves you and the church board has a wonderful plan for your life.

Anyway, so there's many more where those come from, but we won't go on with them now.

But let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we begin this message, which oftentimes

is a message that steps on our

toes, Father, we ask that you would lead us and teach us in all of this.

Amen. Martin Luther said this, A religion that gives nothing,

costs nothing, and suffers nothing is worth nothing.

He also said, There are three conversions necessary, the conversion of the heart,

the conversion of the mind, and the conversion of the purse.

Of these three, it may well be that we moderns find the conversion of the purse the most difficult.

And a leading Christian teacher today has said, let me see someone's checkbook,

an appointment book for 10 minutes, and I can tell you who or what they worship.

And Jesus said, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

A recent Gallup poll found that on average, in the average church in America,

17% of the attendees say that they tithe, which is giving 10% of their income, but only 3% actually do.

Greater than 40% of attendees give nothing to the church in a year.

91% say they make more money now than they ever have in their life,

yet giving dollars and percentages and numbers of givers are lower now than ever before.

71% of the pastors surveyed believe that church members have changed from stewards

into consumers asking what they can get from church.

I will tell you one thing, positive, however.

I believe that in the Free Methodist Church and in this church,

in proportion to this survey, we probably are above an average church.

Yet I believe that every church can improve in this.

If all church members participated in giving to the level of the biblical tithe,

at least a minimum of 10% of income,

there would be no shortage of funds for ministries and community service within the kingdom of God.

In fact, by now you've probably figured out what the last part of our series

is about. You do remember the first four titles of our sermons.

The first one of our series was, You Might Be a Healthy Christian If You Pray

Continually Even When Things Are Good.

The second one was, You Might Be a Healthy Christian If Worship Is More Than a Sunday Feeling.

The third one was, you might be a healthy Christian if your love is worth giving away.

And last week, our message was, you might be a healthy Christian if you are

active and persistent in soul-winning and discipling.

And while the statistics I gave you earlier seem pretty grim,

there is an exciting story in the New Testament about a church that loved to give,

looked forward to give, and even asked for the opportunity to give.

What would it do to our church if we had people coming and saying,

Pastor, how can I give more?

In what ways? So by now, you'll understand that this morning's message is,

you might be a healthy Christian if you see tithes and offerings as an opportunity to glorify God.

Not a duty, but a privilege.

The word tithe means a tenth, and the concept of tithing refers to the practice

of giving a tenth or 10% of our total gross income to the Lord.

Numbers chapter 18 verses 20 through 24 tells us that the central purpose of

Numbers 18:20–24

the tithe is to provide for the Lord's work in the tabernacle.

In addition to the giving of the 10% of the income, the Old Testament also prescribes

that once a year the Israelite worshipers were to bring a 10% tithe of all of

their possessions as well. We don't ask for that.

We just ask that you be faithful in the tithe of your income.

And giving and tithing is not just an Old Testament subject.

The subject of money and possessions is dealt with in the New Testament more than any other topic.

Apparently, it must be pretty important to God. So let's read from 2 Corinthians 8, verses 1 through 15.

2 Corinthians 8:1–15

And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God

has given the Macedonian churches.

In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme

poverty welled up in rich generosity. Now, let me read that again.

In the midst of their severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme

poverty welled up in rich generosity.

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their

ability, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege

of sharing in the service of the Lord's people.

And they exceeded our expectations. They gave themselves first of all to the

Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

So we urge Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to

completion this act of grace on your part.

But since you excel in everything, in faith, in speech, in knowledge,

in complete earnestness, and in the love we have kindled in you,

see that you also excel in the grace of giving.

I'm not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing

it with the earnestness of others.

Now he's comparing this, the giving of the Macedonians, to the Corinthians.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,

yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter.

Last year you were the first not only to give, but also to have the desire to do so.

Now finish the work so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched in

your completion of it according to your means.

For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one

has, not according to what one does not have.

Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard-pressed,

but that there might be equality.

At the present time, your plenty will supply what they need,

so that in turn, their plenty will supply what you need.

The goal is equality, as it is written.

The one who gathered much did not

have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.

Most people think that pastors are just out to get their money and that we love to take offerings.

In all actuality, most of us don't.

We'd rather not have to ask for money at all.

We'd rather that it be laid aside on the first day of the week,

as was prescribed in the New Testament in proportion to the income,

as Paul said, and be brought into the storehouse without the fanfare of an offering.

In fact, many churches like ours today

have done away with the offering time in their worship services and have set

up boxes at the entries to the sanctuary and provided avenues for electronic

giving to the church so that the members of the church can give faithfully but

also privately in worship.

I'm not so sure that that's a bad idea. I think it's been working pretty well.

And yet I also understand that there are times that we can make tithing,

even in the form of the worship, as a part of our worship as well.

But too often it becomes almost a commercial break in our service.

It must have excited Paul, too. You can hear the enthusiasm and encouragement bubbling out of him.

He said, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.

This was not just a grace of forgiveness, that God's grace was for living instead,

and subsequently it was a grace for giving.

Then Paul says this, out of the most severe trial,

which is his personal and spiritual trial referred to in chapter 7,

verse 5, the Macedonians, overflowing joy and their extreme poverty,

welled up in generosity.

It almost seems oxymoronic, doesn't it?

Overflowing joy and extreme poverty wells up in generosity, and yet that often happens.

For I testify that they gave as much as they were able and even beyond their ability.

It sounds like Paul was touched emotionally. Their joy in Christ Jesus began

to increase, and as joy bubbles up, so does love.

And when joy and love overflow, an overabundance of generosity ensues,

Paul said, entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege

of sharing in this service to the saints.

Macedonians urgently pleaded with Paul for the opportunity to give to the work

of the kingdom out of their poverty.

That reminds me of the story that I shared earlier from the Old Testament,

and you can find it in your one-year Bible found in Exodus chapter 35 and 36.

Exodus 35 · chapter mention

Moses told the Hebrew people that the Lord had commanded them to bring gold,

silver, and bronze, and other materials for the building of the tabernacle.

The story in the Bible goes on to say that people responded immediately and

brought huge offerings every day until it recorded in Exodus chapter 36, verse 6.

Exodus 36:6

Moses had to order them to stop bringing offerings, and the people were restrained

from bringing more because they'd already had more than enough for the work,

and they couldn't possibly use any more gold, silver, bronze, and other materials.

That's what happens, and that's what can happen when all God's people are faithful in tithing.

It's also interesting to note that most, if not all, of these materials had

been given to the Israelites by the Egyptian people when they left Egypt and

began their trek in the wilderness.

It says in Scripture that they were favorably bestowed upon the Israelites possessions,

clothing, gold, silver.

What's interesting to note is that the Israelites did not count these possessions

as their own, but as gifts from God that were to be stewards of.

In fact, I shared this with our board of administration conference,

board of administration on Saturday morning.

We had a board of stewardship and finance meeting on Thursday night,

and then I shared with them on Saturday morning how our conference,

the Lord is really blessing us.

As the churches pay their tithes of income from the church into the conference

to also support the denominational work.

We are in a good position financially is a word, but yet our Lord is the author of all those resources.

And I said, I remember hearing as a child that God owns the cattle on a thousand

hills, and if we are hungry, he might even slaughter a few.

But God is providing for us in so many ways, and the Israelites understood this

as well as the Macedonians.

So going back to our story in Corinthians, it is in fact that Paul told the

Corinthians that he had not even expected the Macedonians to do this.

It was a total surprise for him that the Macedonians urged him and asked him

for the opportunity to give.

And I can tell you for a fact that every pastor today would be dumbfounded too

if they had to tell the people to quit giving because they already had too much on hand.

But in the immortal words of that great theologian, Clint Eastwood, go ahead, make my day.

I don't look like him. Why did the Macedonians give like this?

Well, because they understood that tithing was not so much an obligation to

pay for the work as it was an opportunity to glorify God and watch what God can do.

It's more than a precept that they counted it as a privilege to give.

It was not a requirement, It was an opportunity.

So the first thing we see in all of this, for the Macedonians and the Hebrew

people in Exodus, tithing was an act of worship.

Where the law said that tithing was a command, grace told them that even if

they gave everything, it wouldn't be enough to show how much they loved God

for the grace provided through Jesus Christ.

I was taught to tithe as a young child, even to the point that we were to tithe

any birthday gifts we were given or Christmas gifts. And we did so out of pleasure.

We had banks that we saved that tithe aside so we could put it in in the Sunday morning offering.

And it became a point of privilege that we had, a point of opportunity that we could give that.

They wanted, these people wanted to give to someone else for the sake of the gospel.

Their giving was motivated by thankfulness and gratitude for what God had done,

was doing, and would still do in their lives. Sometimes giving seems to be a chore and a hassle.

Sometimes giving seems to be just another type of tradition and duty.

My wife and I, after every Sunday

morning, we, well, I usually write out a check for the following week.

This is an anticipation of how God's going to bless us during that week.

We thank God and we give that blessing.

Sometimes we view giving as a way of doing something without actually having to go and serve.

Sometimes giving is a way to ease our conscience.

Sometimes giving seems to be just like paying the bills, like paying for the

service we receive on Sunday morning.

Okay, I'm going to church, going to have a great worship service.

Let's pay for our attendance.

Kind of like paying our bills or utility bills for having lights and heat.

Sometimes we write out our check as a matter of habit, not really thinking about

what we are doing or why, But when we look forward to giving our tithes and

long for the opportunity to go beyond the tithe in sacrificial giving,

in our thankfulness for what God has done, is doing, and will do,

then tithing is an opportunity for us to glorify God and give him praise out of cheerful worship.

And in that, God is pleased. When Abram gave a tenth of all he had to Melchizedek,

the priest of God, it was an act of reverence and worship in thankfulness for

all that God was giving him and doing for him.

When Jacob gave a tithe of all he had, it was an act of worship for the promise

of God's present and future provision and protection. When Abel gave the more

pleasing offering, it was an act of worship, and God was pleased.

Leadership magazine years ago carried a story of four young men,

Bible college students, who were renting a house together.

One Saturday morning, someone knocked on their door.

When they answered the door, there stood a bedraggled-looking old man.

His eyes were glassy and looked like marbles, and he had a silvery stub of whiskers

on his face. His clothes were ragged and torn.

His shoes didn't match. In fact, they were both for the same foot.

And he carried a wicker basket full of unappealing vegetables that he was trying to sell.

The boys felt sorry for him, and so they bought some of the vegetables just

to help him out, and then he went on his way.

From then on, every Saturday, this man appeared at their door with a basket

of vegetables, and every Saturday

morning, the boys brought some of these vegetables just to help him out.

As the boys got to know this man a little better, they began inviting him in

to visit for a while, giving him something to drink and eat before he continued on his rounds.

They soon discovered that his eyes looked like marbles, not because of drugs

or alcohol, but because of cataracts.

They learned that he lived just down the street in an old shack.

They also found out that he could play the harmonica, and he loved to play Christian

hymns, and that he really loved the Lord.

So every Saturday they would invite this old man in, and he would play his harmonica

and they would sing Christian hymns together.

They became really good friends and the boys began trying to figure out ways

to help him out. They decided to help him out in an anonymous way.

So one Saturday morning, the story says, right in the middle of their singing

and praising, the old man suddenly said to them, God is so good.

And they all agreed, yes, God is good.

He went on to say, you know why God is so good? They asked why.

He said, because yesterday when I got up and opened my door,

There were boxes full of clothes and shoes and coats and gloves.

Yes, the Lord is so good. And knowing that they were the ones that had given

those clothes, they smiled at each other and chimed in, yes, God is good.

And the old man went on and said, you know why he is so good?

And they answered, you already told us why God provided clothing for you. What more is there?

And he said, because I know a family down the street who needed those clothes.

And so I gave them all away.

Out of his extreme poverty, he welled up in generosity.

Paul said in the 2 Corinthians of the Macedonians, out of their extreme poverty

and overflowing joy, they urgently

pleaded for the privilege of sharing in the service to the saints.

And in addition to being an act of worship, the Macedonians also knew that tithing

is an act of holiness. Yes.

Leviticus 27.30 says, a tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from

the soil or fruit from the trees, belong to the Lord.

It is a tithe holy to the Lord.

Macedonians understood that bringing their tithes and offerings was a sacred act of consecration.

Paul said, first they brought themselves to the Lord, then they gave their gifts to us as well.

When we give ourselves to God in love and devotion, then our tithe becomes an

act of devotion and consecration of ourselves as well.

Many people have asked how much they should tithe, whether they should tithe

on their gross income or on their net income from their paychecks.

And my response is always the same. that depends.

Do you want to be blessed on the gross or the net?

While the Bible may not specifically address our confusing paychecks and pay

stubs with all of the taxes and

payroll deductions, it does teach us some principles that are applicable.

In the 23rd chapter of Exodus, it says, if our giving is to be a holy act,

we are instructed to give our first fruits.

That means that before we feed ourselves or our family, before we pay our taxes,

before money is in savings, before we spend money on entertainment,

before we pay our bills, we are to give our tithes and sacrifices to God.

Abel gave a tenth of the first fruit of his crop.

But you know, while the rule of the law is the tithe, which says give a tenth,

the grace of the matter causes us to do what the Macedonians did.

They didn't ask what they could get by with giving. They asked how much they

could give in complete generosity.

They consecrated themselves and all their possessions to the Lord and the Lord's service,

In the book of Acts, it says that they had everything in common,

and they shared with each other as they had need.

Macedonians also knew that tithing is an act of obedience.

In the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus states, If you love me,

you will obey what I command. Whoever has my commands and obeys them,

he is the one who loves me.

If we have any area of our life that we aren't obedient to God,

it's not because we have an obedience problem, it's because we have a heart and faith problem.

The giving of our tithes is one of the hardest areas for us to be obedient because

it affects all the other areas of life,

and oftentimes because we have allowed all of the other areas of life to crowd

out that area of our love for God.

The fact is that the average church-going Christian gives less than 3% of their income.

In fact, I think the statistics say that in the American church,

the American Christian church, the average is about 2.4% of income is given to the local church.

And Jesus just asked for 10%. And just as tithing is an act of obedience, so it is an act of love.

A certain ruler asked Jesus, good teacher, what must I do to inherit life?

Why do you call me good? Jesus answered.

You know the commandments, do those. And he said, I have kept all of those since

I was a boy, the ruler said.

And when Jesus heard this, he said, you still lack one thing,

sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasures in heaven.

And then he said, come follow me.

And then the next verse is very telling. When he heard this,

the man became very sad because he was a man of great wealth.

What is it that you love more than God? What is it that you are unwilling to

sell or part with and give to the poor?

Whatever you are unwilling to give up or let go of is your God.

I remember years ago when dad was superintendent, and he had a vehicle that

he used for driving 60,000 miles a year in the work of the superintendency.

And it was getting old and having problems.

And I remember one night when we were in Woodstock, Illinois,

I remember the phone rang about 3 o'clock in the morning.

And a gentleman from Janesville, Wisconsin was calling my dad.

And he said, you know that car of yours?

Dad said, yeah. He said, the Lord's been speaking to me all night,

and I have been wrestling with this thought.

He said, is that car, what's up with that? And Dad said, well,

it's got like 250,000 miles.

And that's when 250,000 was unbelievably much.

The gentleman said, the Lord's been telling me I need to give you a car.

He said, if you'll wait up an hour, I'm bringing you a car.

So the man drove from Janesville with his son to drive back,

and they dropped off a car for dad in the middle of the night.

Thank you, Father, for giving us generous people.

Whatever it is, God can't use all of you until he has all of you.

The question is, Is God calling us to a new level of work in his kingdom?

Have we extended ourselves beyond our abilities?

Have we given more than what we can possibly give?

Boy, I love it when we have the opportunity to give with our missions,

with our works in this community.

I love it when we have the opportunity to give more than we possibly can afford

to give because we can afford to give. And as I said, God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.

And if we go hungry, he's going to slaughter a few.

So God is needing us to understand, like the Macedonians and Corinthians,

that tithing is also an act of evangelism and outreach.

Their giving was to go to Jerusalem to be distributed and used in the ministry there.

And yet Paul continued to write that their generosity would be a witness to

their thanksgiving and love of God forever.

Oftentimes, we look at our giving as providing for missions or Christian education

or the electric bills or the church building or the pastor's income,

and those things are important.

Don't take me wrong, because I do like to receive that paycheck.

But faithfulness, enthusiasm, and giving, our trust and reliance on God and

his faithfulness to provide is a definite act of evangelism as well.

We have a footprint out in this community. We'll see you next time.

With our Facebook, with our live stream, and with our radio slots.

We have an outreach in the community, but the greatest outreach is in the way

we give to other facilities and the way we reach out into those communities

in our act of worship and act of kindness and generosity to our neighbors.

Giving is another way of confessing your faith in Christ, and it is a witness

of all that faith in others. How much do you trust God?

You know, I got to back up here. You know, when we look at this as a way of

evangelism and outreach, can you imagine the community when they see what we are giving?

How can you possibly give 10% to your church when you have so many bills?

We can't possibly make ends on our own. How can you give 10%?

Well, I'm telling you, God doesn't work on our spreadsheet.

God blesses us beyond what we can understand and believe.

I mean, it's a matter of practice. Just try it sometime. You'll see.

One time Mother Teresa visited Australia. A new recruit to the Franciscan Order

of Monks in Australia was assigned to her to be her guide and errand boy during her stay there.

Thrilled and excited at the prospect of being so close to this godly woman,

the young man's dreamed of how much he would learn from her and what they would

talk about, but during her visit, he became frustrated.

Although he was constantly near her, the friar never had the opportunity to

say one word to Mother Teresa or to have even a moment of conversation with her.

There were always other people for her to meet and serve.

Finally, his tour was over, or her tour is over, and she was due to fly to New Guinea.

In desperation, the friar spoke to Mother Teresa, if I pay my own airfare to

New Guinea, can I sit next to you on the plane so I can talk to you and learn from you?

Mother Teresa looked at him. You have enough money to pay airfare to New Guinea,

she asked. Oh yes, he replied earnestly.

Then give that money to the poor, she said.

You'll learn more from that act than anything I can possibly ever tell you.

Morning, as we close the service, I want you to go home with the remembrance in your mind.

You might be a healthy Christian if you view tithes and offerings as an opportunity

to glorify God as an act of worship, as an act of holiness,

as an act of obedience, and as an act of love, as an act of evangelism.

And if you are looking at those four letters, you will see that those four letters spell the word whole.

Malachi 3.10, God said, bring the whole tithe into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.

God goes on to say, test me in this and see if I will throw open the floodgates

of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for

for it, and it's as if God was saying,

go ahead, make my day.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we worship you and as we have worshiped you,

you know, Father, I thank you for an opportunity to give in many different ways.

You said bring the whole tithe, the whole tithe into the storehouse.

And so, Father, I thank you that you give us that privilege,

not as duty, but as an opportunity to glorify you.

Father, we ask that you would use us in many different ways to glorify you.