What’s Up With Tithes and Offerings? (April 23, 2023)

As a Pastor, I completely understand that based off what every the topic maybe, that is gonna determine somewhat the mood of folks during the preaching. If we preach on uplifting things like Jesus being raised from the dead or something about Pentecost, the mood of the church is good. But many times when we talk about Tithes and Offerings, many in the church world are like “It is just about getting more money”, “Well the church must be in bad shape financially”, “I am guessing the Pastor wants a raise”, and so on. The mood is sometimes even agony. I don’t want anyone here to think any of those things. I want everything to be about receiving blessings from God.

So much has been said about tithes and offerings in our society and church world today. I have heard, read, and been asked about:

• The New Testament doesn’t say anything about Tithes, so why should I give?

• The church and pastor doesn’t need my money, look at everyone else at the church.

• Once I get myself in a better place financially, I will start giving.

• The Bible says freely you received, so freely give … No one needs to make money on a free gift.

Oh, there are so many more, but you get the gist. Please understand, God doesn’t need your money. If you don’t want His blessings on your life, He will gladly give your blessings to someone else.

Out of the 247 million U.S. citizens identifying as Christians, 1.5 million people tithe. 77% of tithers give more than 10%. If every Christian tithed 10%, faith organizations would have an extra $139 billion each year.

Now I am gonna tell you something that we have been told in Leadership classes and seminars never to tell our churches; we have about 44 family units here at CV on a regular basis and we are at a 77% giving rate; this means that we have 77% of our families give on a regular basis. The church on a national level is at 60%. WOW! CV is above average!! So since CV is above average, why do we need to talk about Tithe and Offerings? It is about being good stewards and the blessings of God.

Let’s look at the heart of the matter, being a good steward of what God has placed into our hands. I know that each one of us knows that the Bible teaches us to be good stewards. All of us wants the church to be a good stewards of what you place in the offering basket right? None of us, yes I said us because I give as well, wants the church to waste any of the money that is given right? The same needs to be said about what God gives to us as individuals. We need to be a good steward of what God has given to us; our time, our skills, our talents, our possessions and our money.

Tithing is an essential act of stewardship. When we talk about tithing, in its broadest sense means the giving of a tenth of one’s material goods to God in an act of divine worship to God.

The first instance of the tithes recorded in scripture is the story of Abram and Melchizedek:

Genesis 14:17-20 ~ “After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.) And he blessed him and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.”

Here the tithe was given in acknowledgement for the priest of God who acted in favor for the triumphant destiny of Abram.

Thanksgiving, not a tribute, is the motivation for Jacob in his vow to give a tenth of his goods to the Lord. When he was about ot embark on a journey Jacob made this vow:

Genesis 28:20-22 ~ “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you.””

Many other examples all through the Old Testament about tithes and offerings could be mentioned to include:

Malachi 3:10-11 ~ “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts.”

By the time of Jesus, a ridiculousness had reduced the practice of tithes and offerings to absurdity. The legalism of the Pharisees drew sharp rebuke from Jesus for their failure to divide the tithes and offerings rightly:

Luke 11:42 ~ “But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.”

The religionists took tithing very seriously. Tithing is the command of God and was meant to be a joyful experience. The religionists wanted to make sure they did exactly what God wanted, so they went beyond what God required. They tithed every little thing, even the plants of their gardens and the little potted plants they might have in their homes.

Jesus did not say that going beyond the tithe is wrong. In fact, God demands everything; Jesus was not discussing the tithe; He was simply using the tithe to illustrate His point.

The point was that religionists stressed outward duties such as tithing and ceremony, ritual and ordinances, works and form; but they neglected the inward duties such as justice and love of God.

Giving our Tithe and Offerings it not about the giving, it is about trusting in God to take care of everything and receiving the blessings of God. The law of giving is, if you are generous, generosity will in turn flow to you.

Luke 6:38 ~ “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Paul made the application of this law a part of his ministry.

2 Corinthians 9:6 ~ “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

We need to look at giving to God as an investment instead of an expense in our lives and our personal budget, like the power bill and water bill. Giving to God in our Tithes and Offerings should not be considered a loss, but an investment in the blessings of God. God is a giver of blessings.

When we are generous with our giving back to God and the ministries that God has placed into our lives, God is generous back to us with His blessings. We see a man named Jairus in the bible and he was liberal with his wealth and his daughter was healed. Mary was liberal with her time and talent to the ministry of Jesus and He commended her for pouring ointment on His feet. Samson was generous, though at times he misdirected his generosity; but he banked it. God was pleased to return to him his gift of strength even though Samson had erred. You never know on what occasion the need for previous investment may arise.

Jesus warned against being selfish, clam-like, tightfisted person. But in the parable of the talents, He showed how the investor was rewarded. The master took the talent from the pessimist who had allowed what was given to him to be idle or wasted and gave it to the one who believed in putting his resources into circulation. There’s no sense in hoarding your possessions, your talents, your skills. A time will come when you will need more than material gifts. You will need what hospital, bank and this world cannot provide. For this reason, you should bank in God and heaven toward that day.

Matthew 6:19-20 ~ “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

There is freedom in giving. I have noticed that as the world struggles to get by, God’s people still push forward. I am not saying that God’s people don’t feel the pressure of the financial struggles that is happening, but God’s people still have freedom.

Psalm 37:25 ~ “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.”

God is gonna take care of His people. We have freedom in God and freedom in giving is the catalyst of well-being. When you stop giving, you cut off the source of blessings; you become restricted, narrow, reclusive; and spiritual death sets in. I have learned over the years that giving people are then contented, health, working members of the church congregations. I have also learned that the complainers, murmurers, and those who argue are the ones in the congregation who are robbing God and who resist giving to God. It is the same attitude that twisted Judas’ thinking. He felt Jesus was unworthy of expenditure and only worth 30 pieces of silver or about $3,000 in today’s time. Are we putting a price on our relationship with Christ just as Judas did?

Keep on open heart of compassion. You are a steward, a manager, of what God has placed into your life. When you freely give of your time, your skills and your possession back to God, God will bless you. “Give and it shall be given unto you”. This is not open to debate – it will happen. When you change your lifestyle and allow the ‘law of giving’ work in your life, God is going to bless everything you do.

Last verses …

Deuteronomy 28:6-14 ~ “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your barns and in all that you undertake. And he will bless you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. The Lord will establish you as a people holy to himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in his ways. And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. And the Lord will make you abound in prosperity, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your livestock and in the fruit of your ground, within the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. And the LORD will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, and if you do not turn aside from any of the words that I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.”