Tithes and Offerings

Written by Pastor Law, posted by Peter Yong
18th January 2009

Deuteronomy 12:5-6

Main Idea: To teach the congregation to tithe and give offerings.

1. Introduction.

- A little girl was given two dollars by her father. He told her that she could do anything she wanted with one and that the other was to be given to God on Sunday at church. The girl nodded in agreement and asked if she could go to the candy store. With visions of all that she could buy with her dollar, she happily skipped toward the store, holding tightly to the 2 dollars in her hand. As she was skipping along, she tripped and fell and the wind blew one of the dollars into a storm drain. Picking herself up, the little girl looked at the dollar still in her hand and then at the storm drain and said, “Well, Lord, there goes your dollar.”

- Sadly, many of us Christians have the same attitude toward giving. First me, then God.”

- Many years ago a certain woman was preparing a box to be sent to some missionaries in India. A child gave her a penny, which she used to purchase a tract for the box. Eventually this tract reached a Burmese chief and was used to lead him to a saving knowledge of Christ. The chief told the story of his conversion to his friends, many of whom believed. Eventually a church was established there and over 1,500 natives were converted to Christianity.

- The lesson is plain: no gift for God is too small for him to use.

- A missionary returned to his home city, where he announced a collection for foreign missions. A good friend said to him, “Very well, Andrew, seeing it is you, I’ll give 500 dollars.”

- “No,” said the missionary, “I cannot take the money since you give it, seeing it is me.” His friend saw the point a said, “You are right, Andrew. Here is a thousand dollars, seeing it is for the Lord Jesus.”

- We Christians ought to give more liberally. Liberal givers are like trees, which, after their lower branches have been cut, grow all the better and bring a larger amount of fruit.

- There are so many verses and parables in the bible about giving in the bible.

- Do you know that there are 16 out of 38 recorded parables of Jesus have to do directly with money and possessions?

- On the whole bible, there are over 500 verses on the subject of prayer: about 500 verses on the subject of faith; but there are over 2000 verses on the subject of money and possessions.

- The message is clear. Money is a significant part of who we are, of how we live out our journey of Christian discipleship.

- It is important whether we are a small child with our first allowance, or a young man or woman with our first real job, or an adult.

- Money and possessions are a central issue in Christian discipleship. They are the most important part of our responsibility before God.

- Let us turn to Deuteronomy to uncover the critical importance of the text today on money and possession.

- For the people of Israel, it was not a matter of tithes or offerings, but tithes and offerings.

- Furthermore, the offerings themselves can be separated into votive offerings and free will offerings.

2. Bring Your Tithes

- Let us examine the passage today on tithing.

- Deuteronomy 12:5-6 “But you are to seek the place the Lord your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go, there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifice, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.”

- You can see, we are to bring our tithes, one tenth of our salary before the deductions of EPF and etc, to our place of worship. For the Israelites, that place was the temple, for us today, that place is the church, the place of worship and the gathering of the community of faith.

- I believe in tithing, and I have always believed in tithing to the church.

- But tithing is not a divine commandment passed down by a rigid Old Testament God to the people of the twentieth century. Our eternal destiny does not hang in the balance of our willingness to be a faithful tither to the church.

- Paul chooses another term as a guideline for giving when he writes to the young churches of the first century. He calls for proportionate giving. We are to give in proportion to what we have earned, in proportion to what we have accumulated, in proportion to what we possess. We are to give in proportion to how we have prospered under the grace of God.

- Give according to your income, lest God make your income according to your giving.

- Tithing is really a symbol of planned giving. It is a symbol of a faith promise plan in our lives. A tithe is reasonably costly. When we tithe, we know that we have given significantly.

- Tithing helps us give significantly in a systematic way. It is a planned share in the purposes of God. Tithing reminds us that we are all stewards and not owners.

- A tithe is a guide toward responsible, healthy, significant faith promise giving.

- A tithe represents what you plan to give to the ministry and mission of the church.

- It is your plan, freely decided upon.

- It is not arm twisting of any kind. It is promised out of your financial means, and cheerfully given. A tithe is the amount we bring weekly or monthly as an act of worship. To the church, each week or each month, you should bring your tithe.

3. Bring your Votive Offerings

- Next, we are committed to bring our offerings. The bible knows at least 2 kinds of offerings which have connection with our lives today.

- First, there are the votive offerings. Votive offerings are part of a vow or promise, or they represent a specific act of thanksgiving to God, or a personal act of devotion.

- In the Old Testament times, the people regularly brought their tithes to the house of worship. Then, perhaps once or twice a year, they would also present a votive offering. It might be an offering of thanks for a good crop, for a financial windfall, or for an inheritance.

- A votive offering might be an act of thanksgiving for deliverance from serious illness or other loss.

- Sometimes, the psalmist would cry out with a prayer of thanks to the God who had “lifted him out of the pit” (e.g., Psalm 40:2)

- A votive offering might be a promise to God made in the midst of a crisis or at a time of impending crisis.

4. Bring your Free-Will Offerings.

- The biblical witness also speaks of free-will offerings. Such an offering is just what it seems to be.

- It is unplanned, unstructured, unexpected, out-of-pocket offering on the spur of the moment. There are few Old Testament rules about the free will offering.

- The free will offering is given out of a sudden impulse of love, out of felt needs, out of pocket.

- It is the envelope in your worship bulletin when you arrive on a Sunday morning that invites a response for a specific cause. It is the call for a special disaster relief offering due to flood, hurricane, etc.

- Free-Will offering, it is the offering that says, “Whatever you are able to do, whatever you feel led to do right now, whatever you feel called to do, whatever you have to give here is a very specific human need on our doorstep.”

- The test today is an amazing ancient writing with a high level of contemporary relevance.

5. Conclusion.

- It all adds up to a single central truth: As we give of any monetary amount, we are primarily receivers and transmitters of the love of God in the world. Ultimately, that’s what any giving is all about.

- A rich man once asked his friend, “Why am I criticized for being miserly? Everyone knows I will leave everything to charity when I die.”

- “Well,” said the friend, “Let me tell you about the pig who was lamenting to the cow one day about how unpopular he was. “People are always talking about your gentleness and your kind eyes,” said the pig. “Sure, you give milk and cream, but I give more. I give bacon, ham, bristles. They even prickle my feet! Still, nobody likes me. Why is this?” The cow thought a minute and replied, “Well, maybe it’s because I give while I’m still living.”