Berthold von Schenk's Kingdom Plan - A Sermon Series on "Giving"
Sermon 4: "A Wonderful Law Which is a Way of Life"

Malachi 3:7-12 “Since the days of your ancestors you have evaded my statutes and not observed them. Return to me and I will return to you, says Yahweh Sabaoth. You ask, ‘how are we to return? Can a man cheat God?’ Yet you are cheating me. You ask, ‘How are we cheating you?’ In the manner of tithes and dues. The curse lies on you because you, yes, you the whole nation, are cheating me. Bring the full thithes and dues to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house, and then see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you and pour out blessing for you in abundance. For your sake I will lay a strict injunction on the locust not to destroy the fruits of your soil nor to make the vine in your fields barren, says Yahweh Sabaoth.” (Jerusalem Bible)

Why is it that so many preacher s hesitate to preach and teach about GIVING? Are they afraid? One of the myths in the churches is the statement of thoughtless people in or out of the institutionalized church: “The trouble with the church is that they always preach about money.’ The real trouble is that they do not preach enough about giving and if they do the preacher resembles a sacred rabbit instead of a prophet. Also the way we preachers do it is faulty. We either run scared or we scold. When it comes to giving we must be tough, but gentle. Preaching about giving must be evangelism. Above all we should be honest with our people. We must share with them our problems and concerns. The object of our giving is not merely as important as what giving does for the giver. There is the need of the giver to give. There is a joy in giving, but it must be giving. Some people say, ‘Give until it hurts.’ That is nonsense. We should give until it stops hurting and we experience the joy of giving. Some preachers and members are like the well formed and lovely young woman, who has joined her boyfriend for a swim, say at Jones Beach. Her boyfriend drove right into the great wave rolling toward him. She put her tootsies fearfully in the water and when the wave came she ran back. She was having no fun. When it comes to giving we should see it as a great sport. We should dive into the great waves of God’s grace. Only in that way will we find out what fun it is to be a Christian member of the Church.

A great teacher at a university in England would address his class at the beginning of the course in the New Testament. He said, “There are three G’s which make a great pastor. The one G stands for God and the Gospel. The second G stands for guts. The third G stands for Greek (the original language of our New Testament). There is one thing for which we especially admire and love Jesus. He had guts; he was willing to die for what he believed in. There was nothing namby pamby about his teaching. To me he is not the sweet Jesus who is pictured by artists, being of doubtful sex. He was all man. Do you know that most of his parables speak of giving. Just to think of the guts of this man who told the rich prince who desired to be one of his disciples, “Sell all you have and give it to the poor. He that is not with me is against me. If you want to be my disciple – deny yourself; take up your cross and follow me.”

Jesus knew that the sway which money holds over a person’s heart cannot be broken by a process of moral growth.

As the story of the rich ruler shows, a person is not able to free himself from the power money has over him unless at some moment of his life he will radically disassociate himself from his money by giving away so much of his possessions that it really hurts. (Matthew 19:16-22 and parallels)

Money can be a great blessing, it can also be a curse. As long as we share with others only that portion of our possessions that is left after we have satisfied all our own wishes, our giving is not yet an expression of our love of God. (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4; Theology Today, Otto Piper, July 1954)

I think the heart of Jesus’ teaching about giving is that through his dedicated giving, man frees himself and becomes independent of the dominating power of money. Those who have learned to be independent of money will get more out of life. This does not only apply to the individual person but also to a congregation. The great things in the congregational life are not purchased with money. Congregations as well as individuals must free themselves of thingliness. Becoming independent of the power of money is not the sinecure. WE must not treat money as being of secondary importance. It is the idolatrous  character of money which is a devil one faces day by day. Remember also that money is you. God in his omniscience established the cure and gave his people the right concept of money.

God instituted the tithe ever since many was able to worship. There are Christian people who bear witness that their lives took shape and form after they tithed. Tithing is not a moral law but it can change a person. I and many other pastors and laymen bear witness to this.

What then is Christian tithing? “Christian tithing is the self-discipline of setting aside regularly for Christ’s work of a tithe of one’s income as an acknowledgment of God’s ownership of all things, including many himself, and as a response to God’s love as revealed in Jesus Christ.’ (Money and the Church  by Luther P. Powell, p. 218)

Tithing and proportionate giving are not synonymous. One may give 1%. Tithing starts with ten percent. We must be honest in our terminology. Therefore we cannot compare Christian tithing with that of the Old Testament Church. Israel was a theocracy and the tithe covered many things. It amounted to about 28 percent, but it included taxes.

We give 10% of income. What is income? We differentiate between a gross and a net income. Gross is the entire income. Our income tax regulations give us a good definition of “net” income, namely gross income  less business and professional expenses.

The question is often raised as to whether one’s income tax is to be deducted before figuring one’s tithe. The answer is yes. The present income tax system actually creates a lien against a man’s income. It is also valid with the government which rewards as high as 30%, as a deductible if it is given to the church and other valid charities.

What is the tithe to be used for? We can say, “The work of Christ.” One is on the safe side if we give our tithe directly to our church. The prophet said: “Bring ye all the tithes into the store house,” the temple. (Malachi 3:10) Is the tithe to be the minimum or the maximum? The tithe marks the beginning. It is only after one has become a tither that he can really give. The tithe is the kindergarten. After that follows giving. Tithing is not a moral law. It is a way of life. That’s what it was intended to be. This is important. It Is a principle one lives by. The Jew had the law of the tithe to obey. The Christian, considers the tithe a principle of religious devotion, and expression of gratitude, and an acknowledgment of God as the Creator-Father and man as his creature and his loving child.

Tithing is a way of life. A young man left his little town in the mid-west to prosper in New York City. After a number of years he got in touch again with the folks back home who did not know what had happened to him. He entertained a couple which had never been in new York. He asked them, “What do you want to see fist?” The two of them said, “The Bowery.” Today the Bowery is not as interesting as it was sixty years ago. A derelict beggar stepped up to the host and asked for a handout to buy a meal. The host said to the beggar, “I will make a deal with you. How much will a meal cost?’ They figured it out and thought a complete meal would cost 90 cents. “I will give you $1,” said the host, “if you will give ten cents to the first man you see in need of food.” The derelict promised and walked off. The woman of the party said to her host, “You are certainly an easy pushover. Do you think he will do it?” The host said, ‘I do not know, but one thing I do know, if he keeps his promise and gives ten percent to someone also in need he will be a changed man. I know, for after I had first become successful, I became a bum. I asked a man for something to eat and he made the same deal with me. Something struck me and I did not use the dollar for drink and gave ten cents to a fellow bum. This changed my life.”

A number of years ago Time magazine ran an article on tithing. It tells of a miracle which happened near Arlington, Georgia. The boll weavel was destroying the entire cotton crop. The local pastor suggested to the cotton growers that they dedicate one tenth of their cotton fields to the work of the church. Seven of the farmers agreed to do this. They did not even spray their fields. However, the insects left these dedicated acres. To the amazement of the community they had one of the best crops they ever had.

A couple informed the Time reporter that after they tithed, they were amazed how much money they had for works of charity. They experienced a deepening of their spiritual lives. They experienced a sense of security. Others reported that they were amazed that they had been so blind and did not tithe as a way of their life when they established their home and family.

One man said, “I tithed in order to get out of debt.” He had declared bankruptcy when he had lost his business, his wife and children left him and he had no credit to start again. He took a position as a day-laborer in a mill and lived in a tent. From a clergyman he heard about the tithe. He became the owner of the mill after some years.

Two friends had a business partnership, building contracting, one of the contractors learned about tithing. His partner thought it was a myth that God would bless their business through the tithe. To the one it was a principle, they broke up their partnership. The tithing contractor who was less gifted than his friend built up an enormous business – much better than his erstwhile partner. Now we know that success comes to him who works hear, is faithful and honest. There are no substitutes for work. There are many successful people who have made a success in their family life and in their businesses, often those who are not even members of a Christian congregation. We do not belittle this in our analysis of tithing. In the end, however, does not everything depend on God’s blessing?

A pastor tells of an agnostic who attended the services every Sunday. The whole family of four were present. He made the statement, “I disagree with you on many points of your theology, but I like the way you say it. You have disturbed me.” Then he told the pastor that he was tither and his father before him was a tither. He was also more of an agnostic than the son. He said that the tithe was a way of life in his family which lived for generations in New England. The children had to begin tithing as soon as they got their allowances. He insisted that his children should attend church services to that they had a chance to hear the other side and that is why he accompanied them. But in one thing he was adamant in his and his family’s life. It was tithing. He believed that it was a wonderful part in the training of children.

There is no myth about the blessings of tithing. The thousands and thousands who have been faithful tithers can re-echo the poem by a tither who was very thankful.

My debts were large, my earning small

But I said, I will prove thee Lord of all;

I will give my tenth, not doubt or fear,

This I did for the space of a year.

My earnings were doubled, my debts are paid;

The silent partner has come to my aid.

And life that once seemed hard and dull,

Through giving has become beautiful.

We may not admire the poem as good poetry, but many who have tithed faithfully know that it rings true.

Tithing frees a man from the idolatry of money. It gives freedom. Tithing is also fun.

I am convinced that God will not only bless the individual tither but a congregation which tithes as well.

The institutionalized church is under heavy criticism today. I believe there will come a great revival in the church and the blessings will be greater than just overcoming deficits. I know of a parish in which the pastor was an enthusiastic tither. His successor was not only indifferent about it but did not witness to his congregation. It is no longer a tithing congregation. There has been a loss of attendance. The current contributions showed a monthly balance never less than $1500. The old members who tithed either moved away or died. The new members and the youth know little about the blessing of tithing in this parish. I believe what that the prophet Malachi said many centuries ago. I will quote the Jerusalem Bible:

Now Yahweh, do not change; and you, sons of Jacob, you are not ruined yet; Since the days of our ancestors you have evaded my statutes and not observed them. Return to me and I will return to you, says Yahweh Sabaoth.

You ask, ‘how are we to return? Can a man cheat God?’ Yet you are cheating me. You ask, ‘How are we cheating you?’ In the manner of tithes and dues. The curse lies on you because you, yes, you the whole nation, are cheating me. Bring the full thithes and dues to the storehouse so that there may be food in my house, and then see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you and pour out blessing for you in abundance.” (Malachi 3:10)

The Authorized version: “Prove me now, sayeth the Lord if I will not open to you the windows of heaven and pour you out blessings that you will not be able to receive them all.”

Anyone who has tithed faithfully as a way of life will say, “By the living God, I know this is true.”