The problem with some of our spiritual health issues are the same as are physical health issues. Just because we breath and have pulse doesn’t mean we are getting the oxygen into our system to be strong and vital. What does that mean to our spiritual lives? What needs to saturate our lives spiritually to be fit?
One day six blind men were walking down a road together in India. As they were walking, they came upon an elephant. Each of them touched it and a direct experience with the elephant. One blind man touched the tusk, a second the trunk, a third an ear, a fourth a leg, a fifth the tail, and the sixth the side of the elephant. The blind men continued on their journey. They began to discuss their experiences with the elephant, and a great argument broke out.
The first man stated that the elephant was like a spear. No, said the second, it was like a large snake – thick with powerful muscles. The third claimed it was like a warm leaf – thin, flat, and flexible. The fourth argued that the elephant was like the trunk of a tree. The fifth said he could hold the elephant in his hand and it felt like a rope. The sixth insisted that the elephant was most like a wall. Try as they might, the men could not agree on what an elephant was like. Each was convinced he was right. Each was convinced the other five were wrong. Who was right? Who was wrong?
We all bring our experiences with God to the table and only when we bring all of our experiences together can we ever begin to truly know God. This morning I want to talk about the elephant in the room and I want to acknowledge that we each bring our own experience to this elephant – generosity, tithing, or stewardship.
Jesus often spoke in parables. In fact the gospels record 39 parables. Over half of these stories dealt with money, greed, or generosity. In fact the bible speaks to these topics over 2000 times. If I were to ask any group of people in a church this morning if they thought it was important (even biblical) to give or tithe to the church, or to give generously – I would suspect that it would be near unanimous agreement by all in attendance. The sad reality is that the numbers belie our gusto to agree.
33% Christians say they can’t get ahead because of rising financial debt
In the past 20 years personal giving has decreased over 8%
Percentage of Income giving in churches was higher during the Great Depression 3.3% vs 2.4% in 2010.
Average giving by a member of a US Church was less than $700 per year or $13/week
Families earning less than $10,000 give 5.5 per cent of their income to charity (not necessarily church). Families earning between $50,000 and $60,000 give only 1.7% of their earnings.
Whether they believe in the principle of tithing or not, few Americans give away that much money. In 2007, research revealed that only 5% of adults gave 10% of their income to charity.
Worldwide, Christian income exceeds $6.8 trillion. It is estimated that if the US church alone would tithe (give 10%) that giving to the church alone would exceed all double total charitable giving in the US.
What might happen here if Christians were committed to the individual concept of tithing?
But could we tithe?
The act of tithing is an act of trust and faith. Financial planners know that. In a recent article in Forbes, entrepreneurial risk taking was discussed around the concept of giving and the 80-10-10 rule.
Save 10% of your income for retirement and rainy days.
Give away 10% of your income to charity.
Spend 80% of your income how you want.
The interesting side effect to this concept for business owners was that their aversion to risk was decreased as they learned that they could indeed save 10% and give away 10%. In addition they discovered they had more than enough to meet their wants and needs and were able to spend the remaining 80% without guilt.
Now hold on a minute, for you that our biblical scholars – the New Testament doesn’t mention tithing?
Tithing is an OT Law, but before you even go there (they actually gave 23% 10 tithe 10 priests 3 as an offering). I would agree that tithing is an OT law. The New Testament ended the reign of the law and in its place brought a new covenant. In the New Testament, I believe Jesus taught the concept of sacrificial giving. Remember Zachaeus, Widow’s mite, Rich Young Ruler? They all gave nearly everything!
Giving should be sacrificial – not so that others will notice your giving, but rather that you will notice. What sacrifices is it to give your leftovers?
Remember the beautiful story of sacrificial giving told by O. Henry in The Gift of the Magi?
God’s the same way. God doesn’t just want your gift: God wants your sacrifice. God wants you to feel so much love in your heart for Him that you wouldn’t think twice about not giving or sacrificing in order to give.
Now, I can give you many reasons to support the concept of giving, but instead allow me to give you just a few reasons that you should not give:
Don’t give if you are giving for show (Mark 12:38-40)
Don’t give if God’s work is not being done (2 Chronicles 31:1-10)
Don’t give if you can’t give freely (Mark 12:41-44)
Don’t give if it is not being done humbly (Luke 18:9-14)
Don’t give if you can’t trust that God will use it (Malachi 3:6-12)
The early church understood all the reasons to give and all the reasons not to give. The book of Acts records there actions:
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. Acts 4:32-35 NIV
This passage from Acts is a powerful example of the faith and trust the early church had among its members. The church took care of every need. Within 15 years of this being written there would be famine and drought and yet this church was able to care for other churches through their collections.
Malachi understood this when God told him: Bring the whole tithe to the storage house so there might be food in my house. Please test me in this, says the LORD of heavenly forces. See whether I do not open all the windows of the heavens for you and empty out a blessing until there is enough. Malachi 3:10-12 CEB
Malachi wanted the people to understand that everything they had came from God and that as they “robbed” God of the offering – they had “robbed” themselves of the blessings that God had in store for them.
I believe Jesus spoke of the same concept when He spoke of the mustard plant beginning as the tiniest of seeds and growing to be one of the hardiest plants around. Jesus said if you only had the faith of a mustard seed you could move mountains.
God has been consistent with His message and His challenge: “Test me on this – You will have enough!”
I want you to hear the call to generosity in our daily living and our financial giving. I also understand that making a leap to tithing is not necessarily a prudent one (and believe that God does as well).
I am not asking for great acts of faith. What we need are small steps of faith. We need cups of cool water given in Christ’s name. We need bags of groceries for the local food pantry given as an offering. We need volunteers who come and clean the church and do the work of keeping up the building. We need people to be willing to trust God enough to give generously - to give sacrificially.
God said through Malachi “Bring into the store house the tithes and offerings and watch what I will do through you!” (my paraphrase)
What if this one time you took God up on the challenge . . .
“Test me on this – You will have enough!”
What might happen to your faith? What blessing might you discover?
Let this be the day, let this coming year be the time they talk of for years to come as the day we began to fully trust God and we became the church that God fully intended us to be.
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