Scripture I Peter 2:1-5
ILLUS: Measure a tall and short person in the congregation. Ask, how long have you been this tall? Why did you stop growing? Baby Christians often grow quickly – read and pray – go to many church functions – share what they have found with others. Why do they stop growing? How long have you been this same height as a Christian?
3 WEEK THEME: Encouraging the tithe: GROWING and giving in grace!
Today – the Growing part. To check our growth, we all need to start at the same place. Let me share some fundamentals about tithing that we can use as our starting measurement.
1) To Tithe means to give 10% of your earned income to your local church. This is not a lesson on stewardship, though tithing is a part of good stewardship. Therefore, a tithe does not mean my time or talents used for God. If that were the case, that is how I spend most of my time, therefore, I don’t need to give a portion of my income. Biblical tithe: 10% of one’s earned income. Not gifts – income. (lottery is earned income – Inheritance is not earned income – but tithe anyway) The scripture talks about bringing a 10th of your lambs or the grain – YES – what were those things 2500 years ago? INCOME in a system of barter. Now we trade our time, product, skills, or knowledge for money – our income! 10 % given to the work of the church is a tithe.
2) Determine your current giving %. Take the average dollar amount you give a week and divide it by your weekly income – 200/1000 = .20% 20/500 = .04%
Lev 27:30-34
“A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy (set apart) to the Lord. 31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. (If he buys it back, he must add 5 cents for every dollar of worth.) 32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock — every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod — will be holy to the Lord. 33 He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. (Can you imagine someone bringing a sheep -
Ooops, not that one – have this runt!” God is not pleased with substitutions: parents or pastor can’t substitute for your faith – don’t try and fool God – be honest about your giving – remember Ananias and Sapphira…….) If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed." This is serious stuff to God. Where did Moses receive the 10 Commandments? Mt Sinai! Was tithing one of the 10…? NO, but it was commanded on Mt. Sinai – and equal to the big 10! 34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
Ooops, not that one – have this runt!” God is not pleased with substitutions: parents or pastor can’t substitute for your faith – don’t try and fool God – be honest about your giving – remember Ananias and Sapphira…….) If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed." This is serious stuff to God. Where did Moses receive the 10 Commandments? Mt Sinai! Was tithing one of the 10…? NO, but it was commanded on Mt. Sinai – and equal to the big 10! 34 These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on Mount Sinai for the Israelites.
In the OT, tithing is a COMMANDMENT!
We need to grow beyond the commandment! You have heard it said….., but I say to you…..
We are not living under OT law – we are set free in Jesus! Yes, but to point that out sounds like what is written in the OT is no longer valid. I have had people who would say they are “bible believing Christians” (which is redundant by the way) that tithing is only in the OT. 1st – wrong! 2nd – does that make it invalid? 3rd – If giving a tithe in the OT is commanded, should we do any less in Christ, under grace? Let’s stay in the OT for today and we’ll look at the NT next week.
Numbers 18:25-32
The Lord said to Moses, 26 "Speak to the Levites and say to them: 'When you receive from the Israelites the tithe I give you as your inheritance, you must present a tenth of that tithe as the Lord's offering. 27 Your offering will be reckoned to you as grain from the threshing floor or juice from the winepress. 28 In this way you also will present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites. From these tithes you must give the Lord's portion to Aaron the priest. 29 You must present as the Lord's portion the best and holiest part of everything given to you.'
30 "Say to the Levites: 'When you present the best part, it will be reckoned to you as the product of the threshing floor or the winepress. 31 You and your households may eat the rest of it anywhere, for it is your wages for your work at the Tent of Meeting. 32 By presenting the best part of it you will not be guilty in this matter; then you will not defile the holy offerings of the Israelites, and you will not die.'"
Notice that the Leadership receives his wages from the tithe of the people, then the leaders (Moses & Aaron) are also expected to tithe.
We are to tithe the best part – How often have I heard that I don’t have enough money left over to tithe once I pay all my bills. The tithe is to be the 1st – the best - portion. More about that next week.
Since I am expected by God to tithe, let me share my testimony. Like many of you, my spiritual growth has gone through spurts and slow times. But my desire to tithe and how I am in tithing has changed.
At first I tithed because I was taught by my pastor. It was the only guideline I had. It felt good to contribute even though it didn’t seem like much dollar-wise. In seminary we were told (“If you can’t…you’ll never…) My tithing felt a little detached because I was serving as a very temporary youth pastor and it never felt like “my” church – but we still tithed.
In my first pastorate we couldn’t afford shoes, taxes, or any luxuries – we still tithed (with an exception or two) There was pain and sacrifice in continuing the tithe and greater pain in that time or two of not tithing.
My next pastorate, tithing just felt right. Starting a new church, tithing was essential. The following pastorate (SWLCBC), I voluntarily cut my salary in half not once, but twice because the church was about to close its doors. But I made money in educational software and teaching drama in a HS while still pastoring. Sometimes the tithe felt wrong, because I was only receiving a ¼ the salary I had previously received. Still, we tithed.
My last church, like Ashland has more ministry and life than most churches this size. We love giving our tithe to the Lord through a ministry that honors God, that seeks to do his will, that is imperfect, but where Jesus is glorified and the Holy Spirit is active in the lives of the people!
Our dollar amount given has changed determined by our salary, but the tithe – 10% of our earned income has remained constant in great churches and dying churches, in our youth and as we age, when we had plenty and when we had less than nothing. Our growth has come in how we are when we give, and we have grown to a place of great joy in Jesus, in giving the tithe!
1 Peter 2:1-5
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
This Spring…will you be growing in Christ!?
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