How do you feel when a preacher starts talking about money? There are millions of people who don’t go to church anymore because they felt like it was all just about the money, like it was one big infomercial calculated with just the right amount of emotion and shame to get people to give. We have a God of infinite beauty and yet people leave our churches thinking it was about the money. It’s not about the money! This is the theme for the next three sermons. We are going to talk about the money in order to see what it is really about.
Money is a big deal in the Bible. It is mentioned over 2300 times, more often than the name of “Jesus” is mentioned, and once in every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke. It makes sense that we could think it’s about the money. The Bible talks about money so much because it so often competes with the things that are more important. It’s not about the money. So, what it is about?
This is part 1 of 3 in a series called It’s Not About the Money. We will see that the best things about money and the worst things about money are not about the money. Today we will reflect on the practice of giving tithe. Guess what… it’s not about the money!
Here are 8 things giving tithes is really about! The first 5 are seen in Malachi 3:6-12.
#1 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD!
Malachi 3:7 says, “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’”
You have probably figured out that money can mess with relationships real fast. Well, it can mess with our relationship with God too! In Malachi 3, the whole conversation about tithe and offerings begins with the people turning away from God and God calling them to return. It’s not about the money. It’s about a God who desires a love relationship with us.
The first words spoken in the book of Malachi are the words of God. Here is what he said, “I have loved you”, and the people of Israel questioned that love (Malachi 1:2). Something went wrong with that relationship. God pinpoints where things went wrong. The people asked, “how shall we return?” (Malachi 3:7) as if they were innocent and couldn’t think of anything they could do to fix the relationship. So God pointed out one example of how they could return to him, they could stop robbing him (v. 8). But the people still didn’t see how they had broken relationship with God and they asked, “How have we robbed you?” (v. 8). So, God pointed them to the source of the relationship breakdown, money. This is incredible. When God put his finger on the source of the relationship issues, he pointed to money. God was not refusing to have a relationship because of money. But money was keeping them from that relationship. Giving tithe is it not about the money it is about the relationship.
#2 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT RESPONDING TO GOD’S OWNERSHIP AND GENEROSITY!
Malachi 3:8 says, “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions.”
God said that they were robbing him. That means the money belonged to him. Tithing is a Biblical command to give 10% of our increase to God (Genesis 14:18-20; 28:20-22; Leviticus 27:30-33). Notice, the text doesn’t just say tithe but “tithe and contributions” (v. 8). He doesn’t just own the 10%, he owns it all.
Psalm 50:10-12 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.”
Deuteronomy 8:18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
We don’t just give to God; we give back to God what is already his. Not because he needs the money but because we need to remember that the money is his.
All of this is a response. Don’t let the text confuse you when it says, “Return to me and I will return to you.” That does not mean that we initiate relationship with God in giving. If it is all his then he gave first! Otherwise, we wouldn’t have anything to respond with. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19).
Giving tithe is not about the money! It’s about responding to God’s ownership and generosity!
#3 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT SUPPORTING GOD’S WORK!
Verse 10 says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.”
The tithe was used for food. What is point of the food? The food in God’s house was used as provision for the daily sacrifices and for feeding the priests and Levites. The tithe was used to maintain the temple service. Today in our church, part of the tithe is used to keep the services going. Pastors and teachers are paid out of tithe. When you give tithe, it is not just about the money it is about the ministry that the money supports.
Matthew 23:23 says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.
Tithe is not only used to maintain the system but to go beyond the system to the “weightier matters” of ministry. When you give tithe you are giving to ministries around the world that bring justice and mercy.
Giving tithe is not about the money, it’s about supporting God’s work!
#4 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT TESTING (AND PROVING) GOD’S FAITHFULNESS!
Verse 10 continues, “thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you.”
We are familiar with the command to not put God to the test (Deuteronomy 6:16). But in this verse God is inviting us to test him. I should not come up with a test for God but when he comes up with a test he is inviting us to prove his faithfulness. God specifically promises to not fail to pour out blessing when we are faithful to give tithes and offerings. As God proves himself it is a witness to all nations (v.12). There is a series of books published by the North American Division of Seventh-Day Adventists called Over and Over Again. They tell the stories of hundreds of Adventists who have tested God in the area of financial stewardship and found him faithful. Over and over again God has proved himself a faithful provider when we make him the Lord of our finances.
Giving tithe is not about the money, it’s about testing (and proving) God’s faithfulness!
#5 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT RECEIVING GOD’S BLESSINGS!
Verse 10 continues, “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.”
This is an extravagant promise! Is it for real? God has made promises like this one.
Luke 6:38 says, “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.”
Proverbs 3:9-10 says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits of all your produce;then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”
How should we understand these promises to bless?
It is not a simple cause and effect relationship in which we can control God.
Nor is it a reward system for good works.
It is not like a business contract (If we pay the bills God continues the services. If we stop he becomes a collections agent).
This is in the context of covenant faithfulness. God is speaking of the curses (v. 9) and blessings (v. 10) of the covenant (Deuteronomy 28). He is not speaking of blessing and cursing to manipulate us into doing what he wants. He is reminding the people of a covenant, a relational agreement, they had with God. He already told them the things that result in blessings and curses.
Notice how he will bless in verse 11, “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.” Everyone who has anything is blessed by God. When we live in covenant relationship with him, in addition to the blessings he gives he rebukes the devourer of the blessings. Satan is the one bringing the destruction. We don’t have to worry about having enough after giving. The promise is not that he pays us back with interest but that he will meet our needs.
Giving tithing is not about us giving money to God, it is about us receiving blessing from God!
These final three points are not from Malachi 3. Notice that tithe has to do with love, joy and peace!
#6 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT LOVING GOD MORE THAN MONEY!
Giving tithe is not about the money, it’s about loving God more than money!
Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Giving tithe is a choice to make God our master and not money. God knows that money has a powerful pull on our hearts. For our own good he has commanded us to regularly give money away to keep us from making it our master.
1 Timothy 6:9-10 says, “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
We fall into a lot of bad stuff when we make money our master. It’s not the money that is evil, it’s the love of it. God has called us to love him with all our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). When money holds the highest place in our hearts, God doesn’t. Giving tithe is not about the money, it’s about loving God more than money!
#7 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT THE JOY OF GIVING!
Giving tithe is not about the money, it’s about the joy of giving!
2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
In verses 1-6 Paul wrote to the Corinthians about their readiness to give to the ministry of the Church. He knew that they were so willing that he didn’t really need to remind them. He told them not to give out of pressure but because of their joy in giving. God never forces us. Love can’t be forced. Pressuring people to give in church is out of line with the character of God. God is a giver. He so loved the world that he gave… (John 3:16). As we grow to love more like he loves we find more and more joy in giving. It is better not to give than to give resentfully. Because it is not about the money, it’s about the joy of giving.
#8 GIVING TITHE IS ABOUT THE PEACE OF TRUSTING GOD WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE!
Giving tithe is not about the money, it’s about the peace of trusting God with everything we have!
Mark 12:41-44 says, “And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.”
Jesus said that she gave more. It can’t be about the money because she didn’t give more money. What did she give more of? She gave more of her trust to God because she gave everything she had. She had no resources left to give her peace outside of God. The small percentage that we give back to God reminds us that we can trust God with everything we have. The 10% of our money that we give back to God reminds us that 100% of our peace comes from him. It’s not about the money, it’s about the peace of trusting God with everything we have!
GIVE GOD EVERYTHING
There was an old man who owned multiple businesses worth multiple millions of dollars. He loved to tell about God’s faithfulness. His journey to wealth included the faithful giving of tithes and offerings and the faithful blessing of God. In a small country church, he told his story. He had told it before. The congregation had it memorized. He told of how he had not always been wealthy. Then one day he decided to give it all to God, he only had $20. But he put that full $20 in the offering pot. And God blessed him from that moment on. It was the same story they heard many times. Except this time when he emphasized to the congregation that he gave all the money he had a young boy call out, “I dare you to do it again”! It takes faith to give $20 when it is all you have. It takes even more faith to give all you have when you have a lot.
As we have seen, tithing is not about the money. How will you respond to the invitation to give your full self (including your finances) to God!