Presenting Our Tithes & Offerings

March 3, 2024 in Bible - OT - Malachi, Giving, Meditations, Worship

Malachi 3:8–10 (NKJV) 

8“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 

Martin Luther once remarked that every Christian undergoes three conversions: the first of his mind, the second of his heart, and the third of his wallet. Of these three, it may well be that we find the conversion of our wallet to be the most difficult. Charles Spurgeon writes, “With some (Christians) the last part of their nature that ever gets sanctified is their pockets.”

Last week we began exploring various traditions that our elders have established to guide our corporate worship. As we continue in this vein, let us address our practice of presenting our tithes and offerings before the Lord. You may be unaware, but we have a box in the foyer where you can deposit your tithes and offerings. Each Sunday during worship we sing a song about giving. And, as we sing, the man who will be offering our prayer of thanksgiving brings that tithe and offering box to the front of the sanctuary. So why do we do this?

Consider just a few of the many reasons: first, presenting our tithes and offerings to the Lord in worship reminds us that God lays claim to our wallets. God is the owner of all we possess and appoints us as His stewards to manage all our wealth in a way that honors Him. And Malachi insists that one of the ways we honor Him is by giving Him a tithe, or ten percent, of our increase. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse. Alongside such tithes are offerings, free-will gifts above and beyond the tithe which can be the fruit of vows we have made, an expression of gratitude for the Lord’s generosity, or an effort to help others who are in need. Presenting our tithes and offerings reminds us of God’s claim on our wallets. 

Second, presenting our tithes and offerings reminds us that worship is not confined to Sundays. What are our tithes and offerings but tokens of the work that we have done throughout the week? They represent the fruit of our work – all of which is done to the glory of God. They remind us that there is no division between “secular” work and “sacred” work – all our work is sacred, performed in the presence of God to the glory of God. Presenting our tithes and offerings reminds us of this.

Finally, presenting our tithes and offerings to the Lord reminds us that we are only able to prosper by God’s hand. David prayed after collecting supplies for the construction of the Temple, “But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You” (1 Chr 29:14). Did you catch that last phrase? “Of Your own we have given You” – it is God who gifts us with intelligence, with opportunity, with ingenuity, and with skill to get wealth. So we are to give Him thanks – and one way we do so is by giving Him a portion of the wealth He gives us. 

Presenting our tithes and offerings weekly reminds us, therefore, that God lays claim to our wallets, that all our work is to be done to the glory of the Lord, and that we are only able to prosper by His gracious gift. So as we bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord, how ought we to do so? The Apostle Paul reminds us to give “not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor 9:7). We are to give thankfully, freely, and cheerfully. We are to give, not because compelled to do so, but because we recognize God’s generosity to us. God has freely given to us, so let us give freely to Him and others. He has saved us from our sin; He has provided for our daily needs; hallelujah, what a Savior! 

Reminded that we are to present our tithes and offerings to the Lord generously and thankfully, let us confess that we often fail to give, that we close our fists to those in need and rob God of that which is His due. As you are able, let us kneel as we confess our sins to the Lord.

Tithes and Offerings

December 5, 2021 in Bible - OT - Malachi, Giving, Meditations

Malachi 3:8, 10 

8“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings… 10Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 

Recently, several people have asked how we collect tithes and offerings at Trinity Church. Apparently we aren’t doing a very good job of advertising! So for those who aren’t aware, we have a box labeled “Tithes and Offerings” that sits out in the foyer and in which you can put your giving – though you can also give online. Some of you may also be unaware that during our Lord’s Day worship, we bring these tithes and offerings forward as part of our worship. Each Sunday we sing a song of praise and thanksgiving for the Lord’s blessings while the man offering our prayer of thanksgiving brings the tithes and offerings forward and places them on the floor in front of the communion table. 

The reason we do this is that the Scriptures have much to say about wealth because true faith reveals itself in the way we handle our wealth. Consider three things the Scriptures teach us about wealth. First, they insist that wealth is a blessing and a gift from God. So in our text today, the Lord promises to pour out His blessing on those who honor Him with their wealth. And Solomon reminds us,“The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it” (Pr 10:22). While others may strive to add sorrow to your wealth, God doesn’t. Abraham, Jacob, Job, David, Joseph of Arimethea, Philemon – all these were righteous men who were also wealthy. So Paul instructs Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Tim 6:18). Wealth is a blessing and a gift from God.

Second, while wealth itself is not a problem, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. So, in our text, the Israelites’ love of money made them guilty of robbing God. And in our Lord’s parable of the sower, the seed that is sown among thorns and choked out describes those who “hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mk 4:19). Hence, Jesus warned that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mk 10:25). And Paul warned Timothy that “those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim 6:9-10). The love of money is a dangerous snare.

Third, the Scriptures teach that a central way we affirm that wealth is a gift from God and that the love of it is a dangerous snare is by being open-handed with our wealth. Such generosity reveals itself in tithes and offerings. First, tithes. Our tithe is ten percent of our increase in wealth that we return to the Lord as tribute. The tithe affirms that God has given us our wealth and that all we have belongs to Him. “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,” God commands through Malachi. Bring your tithe into the very house of God, the church of God. Why? To testify that God is your Lord and that He has given you your vocational work as your divine calling. The tithe testifies that your daily labor is not a distraction from God’s service but one of the principal ways that you serve Him. The tithe is part of your worship of God and reveals that you live for love of Him not for love of money.

Above and beyond these tithes are offerings – gifts of generosity that we offer to those in need, to worthy institutions, to family and friends. The righteous man is known for His generosity. As Psalm 112 attests:

1Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments. 2His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed. 3Wealth and riches will be in his house, And his righteousness endures forever. 4Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. 5A good man deals graciously and lends; He will guide his affairs with discretion. (Ps 112:1–5)

A good man deals graciously and lends; he is gracious and full of compassion. So what of you? Have you given thanks for the wealth you have received? Have you been careful to shun the love of money? And have you been open-handed with your wealth – faithfully giving your tithes to the Lord and regularly looking for opportunities to bless others with your wealth? Reminded that God has given us richly all things to enjoy and to share, let us confess that we often fail to pay tribute to God with our tithes, that we are often close-fisted rather than open-handed with our wealth, and that our hearts are often tempted by the deceitfulness of riches. And, as you are able, let us kneel together as we confess our sins to the Lord. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.

Honesty in our Business Dealings

February 24, 2019 in Bible - OT - Proverbs, Covenantal Living, Giving, Justice, King Jesus, Meditations, Principles and Methods, Responsibility, Wealth

Proverbs 11:1 (NKJV)

1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the LORD, But a just weight is His delight.

The Proverbs regularly remind us that the Lord is passionately concerned about the marketplace. Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord – He hates them – but a just weight is His delight – an honest transaction causes God to rejoice. Our text reveals that the Living God takes an interest in the food we buy, the gasoline we put into our cars, and the drinks we consume. Unfortunately, however, we often get His interest in such things wrong.

On the one hand, we can get it wrong by imagining that the products we buy or the foods we consume will get us closer to God. If I avoid pig, God will be pleased; if I consume more fruits and nuts, I’ll get closer to God. Nothing, however, is further from the truth. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 8:8, “But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse.” Want to avoid gluten or sugars or transfats or squid? Go for it! Want to eat all of those at once? Enjoy. Do you want to put regular unleaded in your car? Go ahead. Premium unleaded? Knock yourself out. In the new covenant, what you use does not matter. None of that will get you closer to God nor distance you from Him.

Second, we can get it wrong because we imagine that these things exist in a little secular part of our life. Since it doesn’t matter what we use, we reason that the way we make use of them must be totally irrelevant to our spiritual life. So we divide the sacred and the secular. Our sacred life is our church life or our prayer life or our Bible reading time; our secular life is our trip to Fred Meyer or our visit to the Exxon station. But there is no such secular/sacred dichotomy. All of life is to be devoted to the service of God. “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). All of life is sacred.

So what do the Proverbs teach us about the marketplace? They teach us that, with some notable exceptions, God’s concern is usually the nature of the transaction not the material transacted. God is concerned with the way you are treating your neighbor. He wants honesty in the transaction. He wants sellers who sell what they advertise and buyers who pay with honest money. His interest is in the nature of the transaction – because it is in that transaction that you either love your neighbor or hate him.

So what does our text require? On the one hand, it requires business owners to be honest in their dealings with customers. Don’t claim to sell that which you are not selling. When you have sold a pound of licorice, give a pound. When your pump disperses a gallon of gas, make sure it disperses a gallon. When you bill a certain number of hours on a project, make sure you spent that many hours on it. Be an honest seller.

On the other hand, it requires customers to be honest in their dealings with sellers. Don’t use counterfeit money; don’t buy something so that you can simply use it for 30 days and then return it; don’t rack up debt on a credit card that you cannot repay. When you’ve obtained goods from a supplier or services from a medical professional, don’t perpetually delay payment when you have the ability to pay. Be an honest buyer.

Reminded of our obligation to love others in the way we transact business, let us acknowledge that our culture is awash with injustice and that we ourselves often treat others unjustly – we do those things which the Lord hates. And as we confess, let us kneel together as we are able. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.

The Need for Converted Wallets

February 19, 2017 in Bible - NT - 2 Corinthians, Bible - OT - 1 Chronicles, Bible - OT - Ecclesiastes, Bible - OT - Malachi, Giving, Meditations, Quotations
Malachi 3:8–10 (NKJV)
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
Martin Luther once remarked that every Christian undergoes three conversions: the first of his mind, the second of his heart, and the third of his wallet. Of these three, it may well be that we find the conversion of the wallet to be the most difficult. Charles Spurgeon writes, “With some (Christians) the last part of their nature that ever gets sanctified is their pockets.”
In the last few weeks we have explored various traditions that our elders have established to guide our corporate worship. As we continue in this vein, let us address our practice of presenting our tithes and offerings before the Lord. Each week we sing a song about giving as we bring our tithes and offerings to the front of the sanctuary. Why do we do this?
Consider just a few of the many reasons: first, presenting our tithes and offerings to the Lord in worship reminds us that God lays claim to our wallets. God is the owner of all we possess and appoints us as His stewards to manage all our wealth in a way that honors Him. And Malachi insists that one of the ways we honor Him is by giving Him a tithe, or ten percent, of our increase. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse. Alongside such tithes are offerings, free-will gifts above and beyond the tithe which can be the fruit of vows we have made, an expression of gratitude for the Lord’s generosity, or an effort to help others who are in need. Presenting our tithes and offerings reminds us of God’s claim on our wallets.
Second, presenting our tithes and offerings reminds us that worship is not confined to Sundays. What are our tithes and offerings but a token of the work that we have done throughout the week? The tithes represent the fruit of our work – all of which is done to the glory of God. There is no division between “secular” work and “sacred” work – all our work is sacred, performed in the presence of God to the glory of God. Presenting our tithes and offerings reminds us of this.
Finally, presenting our tithes and offerings to the Lord reminds us that all we are able to achieve in our employments is a gift from God. As David prayed after collecting supplies for the construction of the Temple, “But who am I, and who are my people, That we should be able to offer so willingly as this? For all things come from You, And of Your own we have given You” (1 Chr 29:14). Of Your own we have given You – it is God who gifts us with intelligence, with opportunity, with ingenuity, and with skill to get wealth. So we are to give Him thanks – and one way we do so is by giving Him a portion of the wealth He gives us.
Presenting our tithes and offerings weekly reminds us, therefore, that God lays claim to our wallets, that all our work is to be done to the glory of the Lord, and that all we are able to achieve is a gift from Him. But it is not enough to know whywe do this; it is also important to consider how we are to do it.
So how are we to bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord? The other Scriptures we sing as we present our tithes give us sound counsel. First, Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 urges us to give generously. “Cast your bread upon the waters,” it says, “…give a portion to seven and also to eight.” These words counsel us to spread our wealth abroad. In Jesus’ words, we are to make friends by means of unrighteous mammon that we may be received into the heavenly dwellings. The tithes and offerings presented here are to reflect a pattern of generosity that characterizes the entirety of our lives. Like the Good Samaritan, we are to help those who are in need. We are to give generously.
Second, Paul urges us in 2 Corinthians 9:7 to give “not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Even as God has freely given to us, He wants us to freely give to others. We are to give, not because compelled to do so, but because we recognize God’s generosity to us. He has saved us from our sin; He has provided for our daily needs; hallelujah, what a Savior!

So reminded of why we present our tithes and offerings to the Lord and howwe are to do it, let us confess that Luther was right – our wallets do stand in need of conversion. Let us confess that we are often stingy, and often give only grudgingly. And, as we confess, let us kneel as we are able and seek the Lord’s forgiveness. We will have a time of silent confession followed by the corporate confession found in your bulletin.