Read Malachi 3:10
Bring the whole tithe into the
storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord
Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour
out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.
At the next service, we will have what
I have called “The Money Message.”
I will touch on the tithe, but it will
be one among many pieces of biblical counsel. For now, let’s talk tithe.
What is the tithe? This is a no-brainer, but we have complicated
the simple. Tithe means tenth.
But I faithfully give five percent of
my income. OK, that’s s faithful five,
not a tithe. I’m not trying to milk anyone for more money. Tithe means
tenth. There is no interpretation there.
But will the Lord not bless me if I
give cheerfully of my income? He
will. More accurately, he does. We are
witness to that.
But shouldn’t there be a sliding
scale? Shouldn’t the poor pay a smaller percentage than the rich?
If that is your thinking, I challenge
you to examine your thinking. Do you
regard the tithe as a tax? Has God ever said, pay your taxes to me?
We have counsel to pay our taxes to
the worldly authorities. We are to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s.
But if we regard the tithe as a tax,
we’ve missed the boat. I counseled people on their finances before I was called
to ordained ministry. Realize that’s sort of like saying, “On occasion, I like
to go grab an electric fence.”
Why would anyone do that? It’s no fun,
especially in this modern century. OK, let’s get to the point.
I drafted and used a budget worksheet
much of which I sourced from some of you and others. It categorized income and expenses.
So, where did I put the tithe on this worksheet?
Not as an expense. I had a stand-alone
line between income and expense. The tithe is not an expense.
But, I’m writing a check or handing out
some cash or cash apping money out of my account. Correct, you are taking money out of your
account. it’s just not an expense.
It is the tithe.
This is a quasi-rabbit trail that I
hope ties back to the message. I enjoy writing and will probably write for the
rest of my life. I have made it known that if I can get to my computer and my
bathroom unassisted, you are not sticking me in a nursing home.
Probably, if I can just get to my
computer, that would be enough. I can Amazon one-click diapers. Don’t get
fixated on that visual. I like to write.
But my editorial skills have
atrophied. Once upon a time, I could write
a few hundred words, set the piece aside for ten minutes, come back to it, and
give it a thorough edit. Not anymore.
There is this online program called Grammarly.
I had used the free version for about a year. It was just a spell checker on
steroids. Then, I tried their premium version on a week-long free trial. I did it because I didn’t have to give them my
credit card number until the trial was over.
Many businesses give you a trial and
take your card number and charge you at the end of the trial if you forget to
cancel. Guess who might just forget. So, this was truly a no risk deal.
This upgraded version uses AI. It’s
not one of those that says, "Give me a topic, and I’ll do all the thinking
and write your article, research paper, or love letter to your wife."
That’s the AI I’m not too sure
about. I’ve seen those Terminator
movies. I have been pleased with my subscription so far, but I got an eye
opener preparing this message.
I had used the word tithe several
times, but my syntax changed a little for one sentence and the AI suggested that
I use the word levy instead. Levy means to impose a tax.
Is it any wonder that we seem to be
swimming upstream in this world?
Tithe or tax? That seems like saying small
dog instead of puppy. Let’s dig deeper.
Let’s start with the blessing. God
says you can outgive me. If you give what I have prescribed, I will give you
an incredible investment return. It’s not always money. Sometimes, it’s
bitcoin. Not!
Blessings come in all manner of forms,
but many here are witnesses to the blessings they experienced once they began
to tithe.
So, there is a blessing that
accompanies the tithe. That’s cool. I
like that.
Let’s keep digging. The tithe fills
God’s storehouse. What? Does God need our money?
The tithe fills the storehouse here on
this earth so the church may minister to the needs of many while we live in
this world. We give and store up eternal blessings in heaven. We tithe and fill
up God’s storehouse where we minister to many, including what Jesus would call
the least of these, here on this earth.
I’m not sure that’s all a cash deal,
either. I am sure God has an Ikea
section in the storehouse because sometimes I had to do some assembly when he
blessed me. I was still blessed.
The tithe equips the church to do its
work on this earth. Dave Ramsey said that only 20% of Christians tithe. I use
him because I don’t know any other trustworthy source, and Ramsey consistently
gives good counsel.
Twenty percent! I have often said if
every Christian and Jew tithed, government social programs would be irrelevant.
It would be wise to give our government a little money for defense and
interstate highways, but the basic human needs of the people would be met.
Twenty percent, that’s some stuff.
So, the tithe is a tenth. It is not a
tax. God blessed us to make the tithe—to bring the full tithe into the
storehouse.
As you consider the tithe, read the
whole book of Malachi. The people were just going through the motions. Instead
of picking out an unblemished animal to present as a sacrificial offering, they
would get the one with the limp and a bad eye. Good ‘nuff.
Malachi asks, do you think you could
get away with this with what you pay the secular government in taxes?
That’s like asking, do you think the
IRS will accept Monopoly money?
We should always give God our best! I
hope that I don’t need to be persuasive here. I think that we know that. God gets our best.
Some people have asked if that was me
in my office at three in the morning. I usually reply with was my car in front
of the building. They say yes. Then, it was likely me. I am something of a wimp
in my old age and only walk to my office during daylight hours.
Then they say, is your wife mad at
you?
I usually say, yes, most of the time,
but that has nothing to do with why I’m in the office.
I have found that my best hours are
usually early or late, mainly early. I also know that when I drive somewhere
these days, I am tired when I get back.
I can still do productive things after
returning, but my best is before. We had to get to a medical appointment in the
city at 10:30 a.m., and I knew that the things that I needed to accomplish
needed my best.
We made it back by 1:00 p.m., and that
was with a lunch stop. I can sort or give out food, fill out a spreadsheet or
copy papers for a meeting, check thermostats, reply to an email, or wash off a
stain on the kitchen counter that was not there an hour ago. Nobody has been in
the building except me. I can work on unsolved mysteries.
But to hone my focus on what God has
led me to prepare for Sunday or Wednesday or the Hour of Power or the online
posts and articles that might be a might prickly for some, I must deliberately use
my best time.
Looks like I am not doing a video on the
Parable of the Talents next week.
So in my, what did I do with what God gave me self-application, I know the
where, what, and when of my best hours.
I thought we were talking about the
tithe. We are. God wants your first, your best, your tithe
to be something other than a tax or a duty or a gotta do.
Let’s get to trusting God. God did not say to trust him, but that is precisely
what we are discussing. Will we trust
God with ten percent of our money?
Come on, Tom, could you sugar coat
that one a little?
God says put me to the test. In 2024, God dares us to see if he won’t
follow through on his promise. In Oklahoma that means that God double dog dares
us to test him.
Put him to the test! I challenge you
to find another scripture that says to put God to the test.
OK, it’s testimony time. Why? The
preacher preaches it but does he live it? It’s too easy for the preacher. He
has to tithe.
For years, I struggled with the tithe.
I was a commissioned officer in the Marine Corps, and though my pay scale
didn’t match those of the corporate for-profit world, I was still paid at a
professional level.
I struggled to pay the tithe. I knew
that I should, but I would become anxious and do a couple hundred here and
there, mostly responding to my guilt for wimping out on the tithe. I wasn’t
tithing and my giving wasn’t all that cheerful.
Come on, cut me some slack here. I was
raising two kids, sending one of them to private (faith-based) schools for a
few years, needing a haircut every few days, and always on the go. I didn’t
seem to have enough at the end to give to God.
Yes, after all my money was spent, I
was trying to work in my tithe—which I never got to—or my offering after all of
my worldly expenses had been addressed. I had read my Bible and knew better,
but I still struggled.
I left the Marine Corps and came to
Burns Flat, America, where my income became less than half of what I had been
making. I was still struggling to give financially.
I decided to tithe beginning in Y2K.
Even if we ended up homeless and starving, I was still going to tithe. I did. It
was the first check that I wrote each pay period.
There were some months where my
expenses exceeded my income, but I paid all my bills and had something left
over.
That doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t exist
in human math, but God makes 90% go further than 100%. My finances improved
over time, but I never backed off the tithe and am blessed to this day because
of my decision and commitment.
I worked a couple of years at the
prison before it closed about 20 years ago. As far as pay went, I considered it
something of a ministry. I was making a difference in the lives of some, I hope
many, inmate clients.
But it was more of a ministry than a
money-maker sort of like the janitorial job here, because I was paid about the
same as Oklahoma teachers. I don’t know anyone who is getting rich teaching in Oklahoma.
That job—calling—is part ministry.
It didn’t matter to me. I continued to
tithe. Paid a lot or a little.
Then I went to work for the Oklahoman.
My starting pay was a little more than the prison's. Then I got a raise and a
promotion to where I had a fourth of the state. I was no longer considered a
manager but an executive.
How did I know I was an executive?
They don’t put the words The Oklahoman on the side of executive
vehicles. Why? So nobody throws rocks at your car.
It sounded good. I still did a lot of
basic grunt work, but the pay was better, and I got not just a vehicle but a company
car that was considered part of my compensation package. They handed me a fuel card and told me to use
the car and the card anywhere in the state.
I could take the vehicle anywhere in
the United States; they just asked that I pay for my fuel out of state. In five
years, I had five vehicles, three of them new cars. The last one was a Dodge
Charger. It was fun to have a sporty vehicle that the company gave me. Considering
not having a car payment for a new car, insurance costs, and almost no fuel
cost, this was like having an extra ten thousand dollars a year.
I tithed based on my total
compensation package.
Teachers should get a company vehicle
if we do not pay them what they deserve. That said, I was being pulled to
something else: a call to ordained ministry.
I started at less than half of what
the newspaper was paying me. Nobody made me agree to the amount. But here was
the problem.
I continued to tithe at my previous
pay level. God continued to bless me, but I had some anxiety because that was
tough to budget. I am not an anxious person, buI have driven through minefields
with less stress than I had over the tithe.
I was still blessed and knew it, but something
wasn’t right.
I did that for two years and then took
a pay cut. I was wrestling with this, and I was the one who had just finished
my schooling and been ordained. I should have known better.
I knew the be anxious for nothing
scripture, but as I tried to turn this over to God, I got this message. It was
not audible, but it seemed to be a message personalized for me. It seemed to go
like this.
Hey, Dummy! I
have seen your IQ score and you are not stupid. You did go into the Marines so
you can be that smart. I said put
me to the test, not you. You trust me with that ten percent, and I will take
care of that anxiety.
I did and felt liberated from something
that should have never indentured me. Here’s the thing. I still gave about the
same amount each year, but those were offerings beyond the tithe prompted by
the Spirit of God, without any hint of anxiety. I was a cheerful giver.
Typically, tithe messages challenge,
encourage, shame, or manipulate someone to give the full tithe, as Malachi's
syntax directs. I hope none of mine ever ventured into the latter two.
My testimony is here to say that most
of us—including your pastor--have struggled at some point. Some still do.
But what if ten percent is ten percent,
and that’s just the deal? It’s not six percent, sixteen percent, or twenty-six
percent. It’s ten percent.
God says put me to the
test and see what happens. It’s going to be good.
He did not say he would put us to the
test in this. We put burdens on ourselves that we were never meant to bear.
I don’t know how much each person
gives or tithes, but I can do some math contrary to popular belief. I see the
number of people we have and our monthly giving totals and know we are above
the twenty-percent average.
But there are blessings and liberty
and peace in making the tithe. Do you have to tithe? No.
But considering the blessings, liberty,
and peace that come from ten percent, why wouldn’t we?
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment