Rev. David Holwick S
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 27, 2018
2 Corinthians 8:1-7 & 9:8-15
DOES GOD CONTROL YOUR WALLET?
I. The dreaded tithing sermon.
A. They always have been, starting in the Old Testament.
1) The prophets accused the people of swindling God.
a) They shortchanged their tithe.
b) They offered substandard animals.
c) They were tight-fisted with their needy neighbors.
2) In the New Testament, Jesus and Paul turn up the heat.
a) Jesus castigates people who tithe to the "T" but have
nasty attitudes and actions.
b) Paul twists the arms of Christians who promise to be
generous but then don't deliver.
B. I preach on tithing about once every 29 months.
1) I try not to over-do it.
2) Those who had a heads-up on the topic of this sermon have
been overwhelmingly positive.
3) In other words, these people want YOU to pay attention
and dig deeper.
C. Money is precious to us.
1) It represents the level of our material lifestyle.
a) Celeste and I met with our retirement advisor this week.
b) Big question: how much will we have in retirement?
c) If necessary, which expenses can we cut?
2) Money also represents our faithfulness to God.
a) We are not to idolize it, but we are stewards of it.
b) What we give in offerings to our church defines the
extent of its ministry in our town, nation and world.
c) How faithful are you being with your possessions?
II. Tithing has been around a while.
A. It is affirmed throughout Bible.
1) Predates Moses in the Old Testament.
a) Abraham gave tithe, 10%, to Melchizedek. Gen 14:17-20
b) Jacob promised to tithe at Bethel. Gen 28:22
2) Through Moses, God commanded Israel to do it. Deut 14:22
3) Jesus assumes it should still be practiced. Matt 23:23
B. The purpose of the tithe.
1) It supported the temple service and the work of the Levites.
2) It provided help for the poor. Deut 14:29
3) The average Jew was expected to help family and others in
need around them, and this was in addition to the tithe.
C. The tithe was not to be neglected.
1) Tithing is seen as a privilege more than a debt.
a) We give God credit for the blessings he bestows.
b) Yet Malachi says a short tithe rips off God. Mal 3:8
2) Results of stiffing God.
a) God withholds material blessing. Mal 3:10 (implied)
b) God withholds spiritual blessing. Mal 3:12 (implied)
III. Does the tithe apply to Christians?
A. It is a valid principle for us, but not a law.
1) We give out of gratitude to God, not out of obligation.
2) Because of this, if you give less than 10% to the church,
I cannot kick you out.
a) You are free to give what you want, as God leads you.
B. The New Testament principle is called grace-giving.
1) Paul gives these principles (and doesn't mention tithing):
a) It should be systematic.
1> They stored up money each week. 1 Cor 16:2
b) It should be proportional.
1> Those with more should give more. 2 Cor 8:14-15
c) It should be generous.
1> Sow generously and reap generously. 2 Cor 9:6
2) Grace-giving stresses the joy of giving.
a) It is our way of saying "thank you" to God.
b) We acknowledge that he will always out-give us.
c) Even the tithe focuses on celebration.
1> A joyous meal accompanied tithing. Deut 12:5-7
2> Apostle Paul in 2 Cor 9:7 - give cheerfully.
C. Grace-giving is not limited to 10%.
1) It can be much more - the Widow's mite was equal to 100%.
2) A few Christians have taken this to heart.
Have you ever heard of Colgate toothpaste?
There is an interesting story behind it.
William Colgate was born in England but moved to New York
City in the early 1800s.
After coming to the city, he attended a large Presbyterian
Church because it had a dynamic preacher.
Colgate wrote a letter to his father, who was a Baptist,
saying he wanted to make a public profession of his
faith in connection with the Presbyterian Church.
He put down the chief points of his religious belief,
adding "thus saith the Lord" for each one.
His father wrote back a very kind letter saying it was a
wonderful idea.
But his dad wanted his son to show him a "thus saith the
Lord" in proof of sprinkling and baby baptism.
Colgate read his father's letter to some of his Presbyterian
friends and told them he had to go home and answer his
father's questions.
One of the ladies commented, "Poor young man, he has no idea
what he is getting into."
Colgate went home and ended up being baptized in the Baptist
church in 1808 and soon was made a deacon.
Throughout his long and successful career, William Colgate
was a tither.
He gave not just one-tenth of the earnings of what he earned
from soap products; but he gave 2-tenths, then 3-tenths,
and finally 5-tenths (half) of all his income to God.
The seed was planted when he was 16 years old.
He told the captain of a canal boat he was on that he was
going to New York City to make soap.
The man gave him this advice:
"Someone will soon be the leading soap maker in New York.
You can be that person.
But you must never lose sight of the fact that the soap
you make has been given to you by God.
Honor Him by sharing what you earn.
Begin by tithing all you receive."
#13582
IV. First things first.
A. Your relationship with God is most important.
1) Paul talks glowingly of the generosity of the church
in Philippi, but he is most happy that they gave
themselves to God first. 2 Cor 8:5
2) If you haven't given yourself fully to Jesus as your Lord
and Savior, don't even consider tithing.
B. Once you commit yourself to him, your giving reveals
how much you mean it.
V. The church has a duty as well.
A. Christians must give well, and churches must manage well.
1) Much of the decline in giving by Christians can be traced
to disillusionment over scandals in the church.
2) People will only give sacrificially to something they trust
and believe in.
3) Often, the church loses that trust. It has a long heritage.
B. Rotten examples of stewardship in the Bible.
1) Eli's sons, who served God for their own enrichment.
a) They grabbed the best of the sacrifices. 1 Sam 2:12-17
b) (They also had a Harvey Weinstein problem.) 1 Sam 2:22
c) God killed them through the Philistines, who
also defeated Israel and took the ark. 1 Sam 4:11
2) The Joash chest, showing religious ineptitude. 2 Kg 12:4-15
a) The temple in Jerusalem was in bad repair.
b) King Joash had the priests designate offerings toward
the repairs, but the priests sat on it - for years.
c) Joash put a chest in the temple and all the offerings
were poured into it.
1> Local workmen took the money and repaired the
temple.
2> They did such an honest job, they didn't have to
give account as to how they spent it. 2 Kg 12:15
C. Our church's safeguards.
1) The preacher is separated from the church finances.
a) The congregation, and trustees, make the financial
decisions.
b) No Grand Poobah or outside organization dictates how
we spend our money, we do.
2) All of us have a hand in doing repairs and running programs.
a) This is the beauty of a congregational system like ours.
b) If you don't like how money is being used, you can
challenge it.
3) The church must be honest with money.
a) Accounting must be above-board.
1> (A gathering of our financial experts yesterday.)
b) Budgeting must be realistic.
1> Like its members, church must live within its means.
VI. Our material resources are building a spiritual kingdom.
A. God doesn't need churches and ministries and TV programs.
1) The early Christians met in houses, and we can too.
2) But having churches and ministries and TV programs is
convenient for reaching people and discipling them.
3) Even when the church had nothing, they still gave.
a) And these were people who didn't know where their next
meal was coming from.
B. God can give more.
1) Talk to people in this church who practice tithing, and
you will hear stories of how God has provided for them.
2) Sometimes it is downright supernatural.
C. God will honor your commitment and take care of you.
1) Even into eternity.
2) Do you have confidence in your God?
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#13582 “William Colgate, The Tithing Soap Man,” by Rev. David Holwick,
adapted from Wikipedia’s “William Colgate” article at <link>.
That article draws upon the webpage “Soap and Toothpaste: A
Testimony About Giving,” by Sam, Next Generation Stewardship,
August 18, 2008; <link>.
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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