Giving Tithes & Offerings
Psalm 13 song
Call to worship:
pastor andrew loginow
Genesis 14.18-20
song:
christ the lord is risen today
Historical reading:
pastor zachary mcguire
Nicene Creed
song:
christ or else I die
Confession & Pardon:
pastor brett eckel
song:
Doxology
song:
Something Greater
Sermon:
dr. al loginow
Giving Tithes & Offerings
Introduction
A Baptist preacher just finished his sermon and proceeded to the back of the church for his usual handshakes and greetings as the congregation left the church. After shaking a few adult hands he came upon the seven-year-old son of one of the deacons of the church. “Good morning, Jonathan,” the preacher said, as he reached out to shake Jonathan’s hand. As he was doing so, the pastor felt something in the palm of Jonathan’s hand. “What’s this?” the preacher asked. “Money!” said Jonathan, with a big smile on his face. “It’s for you!” “I don’t want to take your money, Jonathan,” the preacher answered. “I want you to have it,” said Jonathan. After a short pause Jonathan continued, “My daddy said, you’re the poorest preacher we’ve ever had so I wanted to help.”
There’s a reason jokes like this exist. There’s a reason our culture lets out a collective groan whenever a preacher starts talking about money. Whether it’s because of the collection and abuse of wealth perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church for over 1,000 years, or health and wealth prosperity preachers who prey on the poor while flying in private jets, or the pastor who is caught embezzling church finances, we all cringe when we hear preachers talk about money. That’s the elephant in the room.
At the same time Scripture has a lot to say about money, how God’s people should think about money, and God’s expectation of his people to give of their money. We cannot neglect what the Lord Jesus has to say to us in his Word simply because others have abused God’s Word. This is week seven of our eight-week summer series on a practical theology of the church. For the months of June and July we have been looking at the elements of the identity, mission, and work of the church. What are the facets that make up a faithful, biblical church? We have looked at the preaching of the Word of God, the sacraments, church membership, the offices of elders and deacons, evangelism, and this week: giving of tithes and offerings.
The Mandate to Give
The first thing we must see clearly and unequivocally from Scripture is that God requires his people to give of tithes and offerings. The first shadows of this principle in the Bible come from the book of Genesis. Pastor Andrew led us in our call to worship from Genesis 14. In that pericope we have shadows of both the Eucharist and tithing. We see a shadow of the Eucharist as Melchizedek celebrates victory and blesses Abraham with bread and wine. Father Abraham responds in gratitude by giving a tithe – 10% of all he had – to the priest-king.
Abraham’s grandson, Jacob (who is later renamed Israel) had a similar experience in Genesis 28 when he had the dream of the stairway to heaven. In response to his dream, Jacob worships yhwh and says this: of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you (Gen 28.22). Even before the Law is formally given at Mt. Sinai, the Patriarchs give a tithe (10%) of all they have in worship of yhwh. Scripture reveals to us that the principle of tithing – the principle of giving 10% of our wealth or income – in worship precedes the formal giving of the Law; worship by tithing is a supra-cultural principle and practice for God’s people.
And we also see, when the Law of God is given, that tithing is explicitly mandated for the people of God. The book of Leviticus ends with this command:
30 “Every tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is yhwh’s; it is holy to yhwh. 31 If a man wishes to redeem some of his tithe, he shall add a fifth to it. 32 And every tithe of herds and flocks, every tenth animal of all that pass under the herdsman’s staff, shall be holy to yhwh. 33 One shall not differentiate between good or bad, neither shall he make a substitute for it; and if he does substitute for it, then both it and the substitute shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed.” 34 These are the commandments that yhwh commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai (Lev 27.30-34).
God’s people are commanded to give a tithe (10%) of all they have in worship to the Lord. Deuteronomy 14.23 says that God’s people tithe so that you may learn to fear yhwh your God always. In 2 Chronicles 31 we see that God’s people did not merely give a tithe, but they also tithed their firstfruits:
5 As soon as the command was spread abroad, the people of Israel gave in abundance the firstfruits of grain, wine, oil, honey, and of all the produce of the field. And they brought in abundantly the tithe of everything. 6 And the people of Israel and Judah who lived in the cities of Judah also brought in the tithe of cattle and sheep, and the tithe of the dedicated things that had been dedicated to yhwh their God, and laid them in heaps (2 Chron 31.5-6).
God’s people were required to give a tithe (10%) of their firstfruits. That means they did not give 10% after they paid their bills or after they spent on whatever they wanted to. To give 10% of firstfruits means to give 10% of their gross income, not net income. It means before taxes, bills, and pleasure, God’s people gave of 10% of their total.
In Numbers 18 we see part of the reason God’s people were to tithe was to support the livelihood of the priests and levites:
25 And yhwh spoke to Moses, saying, 26 “Moreover, you shall speak and say to the Levites, ‘When you take from the people of Israel the tithe that I have given you from them for your inheritance, then you shall present a contribution from it to yhwh, a tithe of the tithe. 27 And your contribution shall be counted to you as though it were the grain of the threshing floor, and as the fullness of the winepress. 28 So you shall also present a contribution to yhwh from all your tithes, which you receive from the people of Israel. And from it you shall give yhwh’s contribution to Aaron the priest (Num 18.25-28).
The tithes and offerings of the congregation support the work of those who shepherd and serve God’s people in a vocational manner. St. Paul recapitulates this command in 1st Timothy 5.17-18 when he wrote this:
17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”
Elders or Pastor who preach or teach for a living deserve to be compensated for their time and effort. Just as the priests and Levites were compensated for their vocationally ministry in the old covenant, the tithes of the church support the work and ministry of the paid Elders.
After God’s people returned from Exile God strongly rebukes the congregation for not tithing in Malachi 3:
6 “For I yhwh do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says yhwh of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house (Mal 3.6-10).
Malachi reveals to us that tithing was not only commanded, but to abstain from tithing is to rob God. God’s people ask, “How have we robbed you?” And God replies, “In your tithes and contributions.”
This principle does not change with the advent of the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus solidifies and even enhances the practice of tithing for worship. In his Sermon on the Mount Christ says:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5,17-19).
Jesus says he did not come to abolish God’s Law, which is written on our hearts and revealed in the 10 Commandments and the old covenant, but he came to fulfill God’s Law. Jesus says the Law will never pass away and he rebukes those who relax God’s Law and teaches others to do the same. Jesus then praises those who do God’s Law and teach others to do the same.
Later in St. Matthew’s Gospel Jesus restates the principle of tithing when he rebukes the scribes and Pharisees with these words:
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matt 23.23-24; cf. Luke 11.42)!
Jesus, who is inaugurating his Kingdom and the new covenant, in the New Testament mind you, not the Old Testament, Jesus rebukes the scribes and Pharisees for tithing while neglecting justice and mercy and faithfulness. Jesus says, “these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.” Christ is not saying, “forget tithing; you Pharisees should just focus on justice and mercy and faithfulness.” No! Christ commands that they ought to have tithed and also sought justice and mercy and faithfulness.
Jesus spoke a lot about our heart attitude toward money. Jesus rebuked the rich young ruler for loving his money more than God (Matt 19.16-22). Jesus praised the poor widow who gave all she had while others gave out of their abundance (Mark 12.41-44). Jesus said it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt 19.24). And when Paul is giving his farewell speech to the Ephesian Elders in Acts 20 Paul quotes the Lord Jesus who said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20.35). Jesus, while assuming and even explicitly commanding tithing, ups the ante tying how we give to our heart behind our giving.
The Motive to Give
The principle of tithing is not abolished in the New Testament; it is, in fact, solidified and even enhanced. In the New Testament we not only have the explicit restatement of Jesus Christ concerning tithing but we also have the assumption that God’s people will continue to tithe. Just as Abraham and Jacob tithed before the formal giving of the Law, God’s people continue to tithe even after the Law is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But the New Testament not only recapitulates the tithing principle, it also enhances it. Jesus does this with all of the Law. Jesus tells us that we not only break the 6th command when we murder but also when we hate in our heart; not only do we break the 7th command when we commit adultery but also when we lust after someone to whom we’re not married. The New Testament does the same thing with tithing. It is not enough to tithe; we must also give with a cheerful heart.
In 2nd Corinthians 8-9 St. Paul is encouraging the church at Corinth to give to support poor Christians in other parts of the world. Starting in 2nd Corinthians 9.6 the Holy Spirit says:
6 The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work (2 Cor 9.6-8).
In 2nd Corinthians 9.6 Scripture calls us to give not reluctantly or under compulsion, but cheerfully. The Holy Spirit is teaching us here that the act of giving is tied to the posture of our hearts when we give. The New Testament does not abolish tithing here in place of giving whatever you want as long as you do so cheerfully. We have already seen that the Lord Jesus commands us to tithe.
But the New Testament also does not allow for tithing reluctantly or under compulsion. God’s expectation is his children tithe with a cheerful heart. What we see over-and-over again in Scripture is that our head, heart, and hands are intricately tied together. God cares about what we think, feel, and do. God wants us to give, to understand why we’re giving, and to do so cheerfully.
The Meaning of Giving
In 2nd Corinthians 9 we see the motive for giving (cheerfully); but earlier in the pericope, in 2nd Corinthians 8.9, we see the true and final meaning behind giving. Why, even before the formal giving of the Law, did Abraham and Jacob feel compelled to tithe? Why did God explicitly command tithing when he gave his Law to his people? Why did the Lord Jesus Christ repeat the command to tithe? The answer is that the meaning behind tithing and giving is grounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We read 2nd Corinthians 8.9 at the start of the sermon, which says this:
9 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 by his poverty might become rich (2 Cor 8.9).
It is only when you have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that you can genuinely tithe cheerfully. When I use the term faith I mean three things: 1) knowledge; 2) assent; and 3) trust. The first facet of faith is knowledge. In order to have faith in Jesus you must receive the knowledge of who Jesus is and what Jesus did.
You must know that God is our holy creator and that he made us in his image and gave us his Law. You must know that in Adam we are all born with a sin nature and as a result we all sin; you broke God’s Law. Pastor Brett led us in the confession earlier – “we have sinned in though, word, and deed; by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved God with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.”
Pastor Zack led us in the Nicene Creed, which says, “for us and for our salvation,” the eternal second person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, took on humanity in his incarnation when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. His name is Jesus of Nazareth and he lived a truly human life yet without sin (Heb 4.15; 1st Pet 2.22). Jesus obeyed God’s Law perfectly and righteously; Jesus never sinned in thought, word, or deed; Jesus never sinned by what he did or by what he left undone. Jesus loved God with his whole heart; Jesus always loved his neighbor as himself. This is what we call the active righteousness of Christ.
It is then on the cross where we see the passive righteousness of Christ where Jesus died as the substitute for the elect paying the penalty for sin given in the covenant of works. On the cross Jesus bore God’s wrath for the sins of his people. After Jesus died he was buried but on the third day he resurrected from the dead because God accepted his righteous offering and so the penalty of death could not hold him. To have faith in Jesus you must know this good news.
But knowledge of the gospel falls short of saving faith. You must also assent to the validity of these truth claims. It’s not enough to know the facts about who Jesus is and what Jesus did you must also acknowledge that that this story is true. You must believe it.
But even those who assent don’t necessarily have genuine faith. You must finally transfer your trust to Christ alone. You must place the full weight of your righteousness on who Jesus is and what Jesus did alone. The gospel beckons you to trust that on the last day when you stand before King Jesus in judgment that you will be saved not because of who you are or what you did but because of who Jesus is and what Jesus did.
If you genuinely have faith, it will be made manifest by your repentance. To repent means to confess that you are a sinner and turn from your sin. It means to turn away from living for anything other than Jesus and to live for Jesus alone. If the Holy Spirit has worked regeneration in your heart, if you genuinely have faith, it will be revealed by your repentance and your obedience to God’s Law. If you’re not a Christian, I implore you even now – repent and believe the gospel.
If you are a Christian that means in faith you want to obey Jesus. And if you want to obey Jesus you will want to cheerfully tithe. You will want to cheerfully give of 10% of your gross income. Some of you are thinking, “Well, I just can’t afford that.” Let me ask you, what cost is too high to obey Jesus?
It’s the same logic of young couples or even widowed couples that choose to live in sexual sin instead of getting married because they can’t meet their arbitrary financial goals by obeying Jesus. It’s the same logic used by people who won’t have children for the purpose of meeting arbitrary financial goals. It’s the same logic used by people who choose to work every Sunday and neglect the means of grace to meet arbitrary financial goals.
Let me ask again, what cost is too high to obey Jesus? What is your conscience worth? The Word of God commands that we tithe cheerfully. Some of you say that you can’t afford to do so. I have to ask, can you afford not to? Can you afford to live in rebellion to King Jesus?
This sermon has been an apology for tithing. Tithing has been the belief and practice for most of church history. All the way back to the Didache, tithing is taught. The Reformed tradition has always taught the principle of tithing.
But I understand that some Christians do not believe tithing is required. Some Christians believe that the New Testament only teaches cheerful grace giving. Maybe you believe that too. If so, I disagree with you and the Reformed tradition disagrees with you, but it is a legitimate biblical position. What is not a legitimate biblical position is to not give at all.
When every one of us joined Christ Community Church we submitted to the membership covenant. Every time we receive new members Pastor Brett reads this covenant before the church and then the new members and the congregation both agree to submit to the covenant together. One of the stipulations of the CCC membership covenant says this:
“That we will cheerfully contribute of our property, according as God has prospered us, for the maintenance of a faithful and evangelical ministry among us, for the support of the poor and to spread the Gospel over the earth.”
When we covenant together, we all agree to cheerfully contribute of our property, as God has prospered us, for the ministry of the church, the support of the poor, and the spread of the gospel. Are you holding up your end of the bargain?
As one of your pastors, let me encourage you from the Word of Christ, if you have not been cheerfully giving, repent and believe. Repent of your sin and trust that God will provide when you obey. Trust Jesus enough to love and obey him more than your arbitrary financial goals. Trust and obey Jesus more than your money. In Matthew 6.21 Jesus says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Is your heart submitted to your arbitrary financial goals or is your heart submitted to King Jesus?
Conclusion
Jesus gave all of himself for us. It is in the gospel that we find the proper motivation to give of our income to the Kingdom of Christ and the mission of the gospel. Christ Community Church has always been a strong giving church. May that continue to be true of us! May we be a people who tithe of our first fruits! May we be a people we give with a cheerful heart! May we be people who give because Jesus gave to us! May we mean these words we’re about to sing as we come to the Eucharist – “Jesus paid it all; all to him I owe; my sin had left a crimson stain; he washed it white as snow!”