1.
In the name of
Jesus. Amen. The Word of the Lord for the second Sunday of
our three-week stewardship program Empowered by Grace to Tithe is taken from
Genesis 28:10-22. In verses 20-22, we
read as follows: “Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch
over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to
wear so that I return safely to my father’s house, then the Lord will be my God
and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all
that You give me I will give You a tenth.”
Lord, sanctify us in truth.
Your Word is truth.
2.
A couple invited
some of their close friends to go with them to a popular restaurant. Both the food and service were great. When they had finished their meal and
conversation, the host wrote out the tip on the credit card slip. As they left, the waiter gave them a friendly
smile implying that the tip was generous.
This scene is played out in restaurants all across our country. The standard tip seems to have escalated to
20 percent or more. As the couple who
paid for the dinner was filling out their offering envelopes, it dawned on them
that they paid a waiter for an hour or two of service, four times what they
were giving God in their weekly envelope.
They gave the waiter the tithe and more, but to God they gave
leftovers. There’s an irony that we make
such a limited and poor response to God for all His goodness, mercy, grace, and
love throughout our lifetimes and beyond, into eternity. That’s why a wise person once said, “Surely there is something wrong with our
standard of values, when we compare what we spend for incidentals or amusements
and what we return unto almighty God.”
3.
A tip or a
tithe? For Jacob there was no hesitation
about what his response to God’s abiding presence would be. For us it has become a more difficult
decision. Jacob’s story is not about a
saint so holy that he awakes to find himself in the presence of God because of
his good actions. It’s the story of a
scoundrel who awakes with a sense of wonder as he realizes that God had visited
him in his dreams in spite of all the sins that he had committed.
4.
Jacob was in a
bit of a jam because the choices he had made turned out to be selfish,
calculating, and dishonest. His
conniving had caught up with him. He had
deceived his aged father, cheated his brother Esau, and was running for his
life to escape the consequences. It is
on the first night of his flight into the wilderness that he finds himself
pursued not by Esau but by the grace of God.
He has a vision of a ladder to heaven with angels ascending and
descending. The Lord stood beside him
and said, “Know that I am with you and
will keep you wherever you go…” (Genesis 28:15). In amazement Jacob murmurs, “Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did
not know it.”
5.
Jacob’s situation
is symbolic of the human condition in three ways. First, a wrong relationship with things of
this world. Second, a wrong relationship with people through deceit and
dishonest dealing. And third, a wrong
relationship with God by not acknowledging His presence and through our
disobedience. But, because of his
vision, Jacob begins to see all he is and has are gifts from God. He promises to use the stone which was the
pillow for his head as the foundation for a pillar in the building up of God’s
house. Then he says, “…and of all that You give me I will give
You a tenth” (verse 22). Here is one
of the Biblical affirmations for what is known as a tithe.
6.
We usually think
of the tithe as that form of legalism that is no longer part of our lives as
New Testament Christians. The general
assumption in many quarters of the church today is that the tithe is an
expression of ancient demand, not the grace-filled redemption of the liberating
Christ. Instead of a threatening
ultimatum upon a fearful people the tithe was a plan for salvation and security
for a precarious, fragile nation. It set
Israel apart from the barbarous and callous cultures that sought to engulf and
destroy them in the land of promise. It
was a gift from, rather than an extraction, of gifts. Douglas Johnson in his insightful work The Tithe: Challenge or Legalism?
insists: “That the tithe of the Old
Testament is a testimony to the interconnectedness of people and God. It incorporates a cycle of giving and
receiving and using. It signifies a
relationship that can’t be content with using a strict formula from the
past. The tithe, like the message of the
Old Testament is a living witness of God.”
Tithing therefore is not driven by legalistic compulsion, but rather
arises as the spiritual response of a thankful soul.
7.
I realize
that for many this topic is about as welcome as a snowstorm in June. The Biblical concept of the tithe is often understood
as an ancient, legalistic intrusion into our lives, which is restrictive,
painful to ponder and inappropriate for pastors to preach. Hearing about it hits home. We are like the farmer who was asked if he
had 200 cows would he give 20 to God? “Yes,
of course!” he said. “If you had 100 cows would you give ten to
God?” I most certainly would,” was his response. “If you
had ten cows would you give one to God?”
“Now that’s not fair,” he said, “You
know I have only ten cows!” Our
faith does not deny that economics has a place in the human condition. By the same token, it was Martin Luther who
said that, “a religion that gives
nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing is worth nothing.”
8.
Tithing
places before us a standard by which we may center our lives in gratitude to
God. Tithing doesn’t have anything to do
with a raising a budget or supporting a program. It has everything to do with making a
spiritual response to God. Jacob’s story
is timeless because it describes how this impoverished soul chose to respond. To tithe is a testimony of faith in the
goodness of God. What we do with what we
have can be a visible sign of God’s redeeming grace alive and well within
us.
9.
Do you know
that studies actually verify that the more money we make the smaller percentage
we give to the church? That’s right! The biggest percentage givers to our church
are those who have the smallest incomes.
I don’t say that to embarrass anyone.
It’s a fact. The biggest
percentage given in your church are not the big salaried people with fine jobs,
as you might guess, but the average member, and in some instances you would be
thrilled to know what some of our retired people are giving, and others who are
on limited incomes.
10.
In the parable
of the dishonest manager in Luke 16 Jesus teaches us that just as a godless man
knew how to deal with the goods of his master to guarantee his temporal future,
so should a person use the goods of the Lord His God in such a way that he
secures an eternal future. The art of
tithing our own personal income can be included in this. If God has placed you as steward over
temporal, earthly goods and gifts, the danger for you lies in that one day
having become unfaithful, you are called to give a strict account and are
rejected. We can rejoice if God has
given us a good understanding, but do not seek personal glory from the
shrewdness and wisdom that you have toward worldly wealth. Instead, you must be content on earth with
your steward’s wages, with nourishment and clothing. Turn your gift over to God’s glory and the
good of your neighbor, and in heaven you will find a rich eternal harvest from
your brief sowing. Make use of the goods
entrusted to you whenever you find opportunity to do so, and make for yourself
friends in heaven with the riches God has given to you. When you suffer want and when one day, in
death, you lose everything and leave the world as poor as you entered it, they
will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
As you were rich in temporal goods on earth, you will be rich in the
eternal treasures in heaven.
11.
But how? Doesn’t Scripture teach that a person doesn’t
gain entrance into heaven by any work, but alone by grace through faith in
Jesus as our Savior? There can be two
reasons why one day Jesus will receive us into heaven. First, because as the Lord of heaven, Jesus
has earned our entrance for us. And second,
as the Servant, Jesus will testify to our claim at the entrance. Jesus alone has earned our entrance into
heaven for us, but no person will be admitted unless Jesus has witnessed that that
person really believed in Him. These
witnesses are among us here on earth whom we have served with our goods and
gifts that God has given to us.
12.
Let us then as
poor sinners seize Jesus in faith and demonstrate that faith by responsible
stewardship over all the gifts and goods Jesus has entrusted to us. Let
us make friends for ourselves with everything God has given to us. Then one day we will not stand in shame
before the gates of eternity. All those
we have served here without selfishness will there come to us rejoicing before
all the inhabitants of heaven in all the good things we’ve done for them. Then the Lord will say to us, “Ah!
You godly and faithful servant.
You were faithful over little. I
will set you over much. Go in the joy of
our Lord.”
13.
Our giving
expresses our gratitude for Who God is and what He’s done for us especially
through His Son, Jesus. How blessed we
are to have a God Who loves us and watches over us. In spite of all our blessings, we give less
than we should, but God forgives us. He’s
patient with us, and He keeps moving us along our journeys as God’s stewards. May the Lord’s blessings be with you as you
steward the many blessings that God entrusts to your care. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment