Episode Transcript
[00:00:04] Speaker A: Good morning.
Are y' all ready to worship together?
Let's stand and worship together.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Come on.
Father, let your kingdom come, Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven right here in my heart Father, let your kingdom come, Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven right here in my heart.
Give us this day our daily bread Forgive us, forgive us as we forgive the ones who sinned against us Forgiven and lead us not into temptation but deliver Deliver us from the evil one.
Let your kingdom come, Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart yes, give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us, Forgive us as we forgive the ones who sinned against us.
Forgive them. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one.
Let your kingdom come it's yours, it's yours, all yours, yours, all yours the kingdom, the power, the glory are yours it's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours forever and ever the kingdom is yours, it's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours the kingdom, the power, the glory all yours it's yours, it's yours, all yours, all yours forever and ever the kingdom is yours Father, let your kingdom come, Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven right here in my heart oh, Father, let your kingdom come Father, let your will be done on earth as in heaven, right here in my heart on earth as in heaven Right here in my heart.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Well, have a seat everyone. Welcome to Westgate Chapel.
And that song is just a great worship song and it's also hard to sing at the same time to actually have God. I want your will to be done in my life, right?
My name is Adam. Just if we haven't had a chance to meet, get to serve here. Executive pastor.
And so welcome to Westgate. Here at Westgate, we have three things in our mission statement. One is to grow with Jesus and hopefully that's what we do, is to give our lives to Jesus and to love him with all that we have. We also want to engage together in community as a body of Christ. And then third, we want to be reaching the neighbors and nations. So that's what we strive for and we welcome you into that as well, to be a part of that together.
If you are worshiping with us on our live stream, welcome as well. Glad that you are joining us and if you are newer here to Westgate in front of you is that connect card. That Connect card gives you an opportunity just to fill it out. And when you're filling that out, you realize, hey, I'm saying, yeah, I want to learn more about West Gate Chapel. I want to get connected. I want to get plugged in.
Those connect cards can be used as well anytime to hey, I want more information about this or that or share prayer request and and want to somehow learn about something else or get further connected. Here at West Gate Chapel, we have a couple events happening soon. Next week if you are newer, we do have our new People party. Our New People party happens about every two or three months and gives you opportunity to meet some staff, meet some other newer folks. And those cards are available on all of our welcome tables and get to meet some some staff. And lastly, it is Father's Day and so happy Father's Day for all of you to go along with Father's Day.
Just because we, we worship a great heavenly Father, we all get Rupert floats.
So if you didn't get one, how many already had a Rupert Float?
Many. The, the middle schoolers are over here. Look at that right there.
After the service, head to the atrium.
Root beer floats all around, right? So.
So you're welcome to that. But coming up in a couple Saturdays, we have our Dads and Kids outdoor adventure.
You can sign up on our website or in our Westgate app and the Dads and Kids event will be a great time. It will be at the Mun's place. There's a pond, a zip line, all fishing, all sorts of fun activities and games. But we'd love to make sure you sign up so we know how to plan for that accordingly. And all the middle schoolers are here this morning because they have a busy week ahead of them with middle school serve. Come on up, middle schoolers and Pastor Luke.
[00:06:49] Speaker D: Thanks, Adam. If you don't know me, my name is Pastor Luke. I'm the middle school pastor here at Westgate and I got a few students coming up here.
We have about 65 total students coming up to on this week. We're doing middle school serve, which is a partnership that was started between Pastor Dan and his home church in Warren, Ohio where they're serving, they're serving the community around them. And this is actually our second time serving here in Toledo and doing serve. And so we're really excited about it. We're going to be doing anything from pulling weeds to playing games and doing activities with local retirement community and then setting the groundwork for a playground at Anchor Church in Sylvania. And so we're really excited for it. And so we're going to take a moment, we're going to pray over these students. But I'm also going to ask you guys if you could be praying for our students this week as well, that they can encounter God and have the courage and boldness to.
So I'm going to pass off to Dan. He's going to pray for us this week.
[00:07:46] Speaker A: Let's pray. CHURCH Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning and this opportunity to be up here.
Lord God, I pray for these students, these middle school students as they go out into the community of Toledo. May they not only be a blessing and a light for the places that we're going and the people we're going to be helping, but those that they come in contact with while we're there. Lord Jesus, I pray that every single, every weed they pull, every conversation they have, every scoop of manure they. They scoop that it'll be an opportunity, Lord, that you give them to share Jesus with somebody, whether it's just through the act of them doing that or you actually give them an opportunity to speak about you, Lord, to somebody. And so that's, that's my ask, Lord and I pray for the high school students as well as we help these middle schoolers. May we serve well, may we make it easy on Luke and the middle schoolers to go out and serve the community by getting the food on time. May we be encouraging, uplifting as well to all these students. As Lord God, I just ultimately pray that you are honored and glorified this week and that we should have some awesome stories coming out of how you worked and moved in these students lives. We love you Lord. We thank you for this opportunity. We pray this in your holy and powerful name.
[00:09:01] Speaker D: Amen.
Now if you would stand and take some time to greet one another, say good morning and maybe share about your favorite service project you've ever done.
[00:09:15] Speaker A: Good morning again Church.
We are going to do a new song.
That sound good?
All right. I like the, like the enthusiasm there. But before we do that, we're going to read from scrim, read from scripture here.
Ties right into the song Matthew 6:25 34.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?
Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or store away in barns yet and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not Much more valuable than they.
Can any one of you, by worrying, add a single hour to your life.
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith?
So do not worry saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all these things. And your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
And all these things will be given to you as well.
Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
It's really easy to worry, isn't it, Church?
But that's what God tells us.
Don't worry, I've got you.
Are we strong enough in our faith to put that in Jesus?
That's the question. It's a question that falls on us today and every day.
It's something we have to do each and every day. So as we sing this song, give it to God, realize that he has never let us down. He's never let you down.
He's never failed any one of us. Right?
Amen.
[00:11:44] Speaker B: Look at the flowers and all of their beauty.
I don't have to wonder, you know what you're doing.
So why would I worry at all?
You're faithful to supply Everything I need.
Everything I need.
My Father has it. My Father has it Every single time the Lord will provide My Father has it. My Father has it.
Yes he does.
My Father has it.
Look at the sparrow lacking for nothing.
No fear of tomorrow and what it will bring.
If I have you, I have enough cause your love will satisfy Everything I need.
Everything I need My father has it.
My Father has it Every single time the Lord will provide My Father has it. My Father has it.
My father has it.
Seek first the kingdom and its treasures and everything will be added.
All that I'm needing I know the Lord will provide.
I know my God's not empty handed he gives us blessings upon blessings.
I know the Lord will provide.
Seek first the kingdom and its treasures.
[00:14:43] Speaker E: Everything else it will be added.
All that I needed I know the Lord will provide.
I know my God's not empty handed
[00:15:04] Speaker B: he gives us blessings upon blessings.
[00:15:09] Speaker E: I'm still believing I know the Lord will provide.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Everything I need Everything need My father has it. My father has it. Every single time the Lord will provide.
My father has it. My father has it. Everything I need, Everything I need. I know my father has it. My father has it. And every single time the Lord will probably My father has it.
[00:16:00] Speaker E: Seek first, seek first the kingdom and its treasure.
Everything else it will be added all that I'm needed.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: I know the Lord will provide.
[00:16:23] Speaker E: I know my God's not empty handed.
He gives us blessings upon blessings. I'm still believing.
I know the Lord will provide.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: I know the Lord will provide.
[00:16:48] Speaker E: I know the Lord will provide.
All my life you have been faithful.
All my life you have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God.
I love you Lord.
Oh your mercy never fails me.
All my days I've been held in your hand.
From the moment that I wake, wake up until I lay my head I will sing of the goodness of God.
All my life you have been faithful.
All my life you have faith been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God.
I love your voice.
You have led me through the fire in darkest night.
You are like no other.
[00:18:52] Speaker B: I know you as a father, I've
[00:18:56] Speaker E: known you as a friend.
And I have lived in the goodness of God.
All my life you have been faithful.
All my life.
All my life you have been so, oh so good.
With every breath that I am able.
Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God.
Your goodness is running after.
It's running after me.
Your goodness is running after.
It's running after.
To me with my life laid down. I'm surrender now. I give you everything.
Your goodness is running after.
It's running after me.
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Your goodness is running after.
[00:20:13] Speaker E: It's running after me.
Your goodness is running after.
It's running after me.
With my life laid down. I surrender now. I give you everything your goodness is running after.
It's running after me.
All my life you have been faithful.
All my life
[00:20:54] Speaker B: all I have is so, so good.
[00:21:01] Speaker E: With every breath that I am made
[00:21:05] Speaker D: for,
[00:21:07] Speaker E: I will sing of the goodness of God.
I'm gonna sing.
I'm gonna sing.
Cause all my life you have been been faithful.
All my life you have been so, so good.
With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God.
I will sing of the goodness.
[00:22:04] Speaker D: He is so good. Amen. He is. He is. You may be seated.
Let's go to the Lord together in prayer this morning.
Father, we thank you that you've given Us again, this place where we can gather together as a family and worship you. Father, we thank you for all of your provisions, for the provision of salvation for your son, Jesus Christ. We worship you, Father.
Thank you for the forgiveness of sin.
Thank you for, Lord, how in spite of our sin, you continue to pursue us.
Thank you, Father, for how you continually display your grace to us that you don't give up on us.
Thank you, Father, for how when we walk through this life in the good times and especially in the difficult God, you walk with us and you provide for us all that we need when we learn to trust in you, Father, thank you.
As we sing of your goodness, we're reminded, Father, not just of how you are good in theory, but specifically in our own lives, the way that you have proven yourself over and over and over again. And Father, I pray that as we reflect on those things and in worship that God, it would be the thing that draws us to put you first in every single area of our life because you are dependable, you are trustworthy, and you have proven it to us over and over again.
And so, Father, we worship you together this morning. We continue to worship you in our tithes and our offerings, Father, again, as we give, it is an expression of our dependence upon you and, and our belief that you are good and our desire to want to be a part of what you're doing to bring the good news of your son to other people. And so as we give, Lord, continue to shape and to transform our hearts, multiply our gifts. And Lord, we pray that you would make your name great in this community and throughout the world. In Jesus name we pray.
[00:24:04] Speaker C: Amen.
[00:24:06] Speaker D: So come to our time of offering again. Our offering buckets are here on the center aisle. If you'll grab those if you are there and we'll just pass them out across the room.
They're in the corners in the balcony. And we'll pass those in. Know that many of you on a regular basis give online and so we're thankful for that. We'll just continue here in this moment worshiping the Lord in our giving together.
Well, it is good to be together this morning if we haven't had the opportunity to meet. My name is Rob Zimmerman, lead pastor here at at Westgate and I'm thankful that we've got the opportunity to dive together again into God's word this morning. If you've got your sermon notes that hopefully you grabbed on the way in or your Bibles, I encourage you to pull those out. We'll be using them quite A bit together this morning.
If you have been with us over the last many weeks, we've been in a series together entitled First Things First, Making Jesus the Lord of Our Lives. And as we've been going through this series, we've been talking about Lord, Lordship of Christ being the Lord of our lives. And we've defined it from scripture this way is that to make Jesus Lord means first to acknowledge that he is first before all things by his very nature as God's Son, but also in our lives. And thus that means that if Jesus is going to be first in our lives, it requires a shift in authority where we actively choose to. To follow him and allow him to rule and to lead our lives. And as we've gone through this series, what we've done is we've wanted to take a look at areas of our own lives where we have maybe at times struggled with putting him first. We talked about putting him first in our hearts. We've talked about putting him first in our work or in our schooling. We've talked about putting him first in our marriage, talked about putting him first in our time or in our family.
And, you know, as I was preparing for the message this week, I thought back to a book that I read a number of years ago as a child, a very, very small book, actually almost a pamphlet, if you will, that I thought was so helpful in understanding this idea of Lordship of God having control of every area of our lives. And maybe some of you have read it. Tell me if you've seen this before. It's called My Heart, Christ's Home. Has anybody here ever, ever read that? Okay, a handful of you that are like 15 above, like me. Okay, great.
Well, I'll tell you, it is such a fantastic book. It was written by a Presbyterian pastor who is a pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood. His name was Robert Boyd Munger, written back in 1954. And this book, I thought was so helpful because what he does is he describes the idea of lordship this way. He says, you know, we ask Christ to come and reside in our hearts or in our lives, to take up residence within us. And he began to write this book to help us to understand how it is that we give God control of every area of our hearts in our lives. And so he pictured the heart as the place where we live or reside. And as he writes this book, he talks about how after inviting Christ to come in and to reside and to dwell with him, that he wanted him to have control over every aspect of his life. And so he would Take him to the various rooms, if you will, of his heart. In his book, he references going to the library. The library was the place of the mind. And as he walks into this room with Jesus in the illustration, there are all these different books and magazines and things to read that line the shelves of the library. And he began to recognize, as Jesus perused through those, there were some things that necessarily he didn't want Jesus to see. It was a picture of the things that he would think and the things that were in his thought life and that he was putting into his mind, if you will. And as he began to feel this selfishness, not just selfishness, but this embarrassment over some of the things that resided in his mind, he said, jesus, I want you to have control of this room, of my life. I want you to take and clean it out and put things here that are good and pleasing to you.
And then he would take him over to the dining room, which all of us love, the place where our appetites reside. And as he went into this room, he took and he started to serve Jesus the things that he was filling his life with. But he noticed that Jesus didn't touch many of those things because there were things that he began also to be embarrassed about, the types of things that he was filling his life with.
And again, he looks and he says, would you take this area of my life and would you cleanse him, and would you help me to fill my heart and my life with things that are pleasing to you? Each and every step along the way in this book, he kind of goes into a different room, kind of examining areas of his life. At the very end, he comes to a closet. It's a place where it says that there was a wretched stench that was coming from the closet. And he was embarrassed. He didn't want to open the door. And Jesus was saying, what's in here? Let me see what's in here. No, Jesus, you can't possibly see that.
You know, all of us have areas in our lives that are hard to surrender to God.
Things that we're embarrassed of, things that we don't want to let him in.
And ultimately, as he goes through this book, he talks about these different areas of our lives. And what it came down to was this. Was this declaration to God. I just don't want suggestions, God, on how I can clean up my heart and my life.
I want you to have ownership and control and to transform me from the inside out.
I loved this book. It was so instructive to help me to understand this Picture of lordship. I'll just tell you if you look at the second picture on the screen, it is made into a children's book. And I think it is so helpful to help kids to understand Lordship. What it means to put put Jesus first in every area of our lives.
You know, as he went through those different places, though, he talked about the places that we don't want to give up. And when I think about all the things that we have talked about in this series, one of the places that we often struggle with giving Christ lordship of is our finances, of allowing him to have control of that area of our life.
Now I want to share with you what most studies will say about the church. There was a new study that was released this year related to the church and to finances and to giving. And I want you to listen to a few key truths that were here. One of the things that stood out to me was this. It says most evangelical Christians, about 70% believe that tithing is a biblical thing.
And it says of those of those 70%, though 50% don't actually know what that means.
In other words, it's kind of defined all over the board in many different ways. And this comes out in how people give within the church. 50 to 20% of churchgoers actually give a tithe. 25%, according to statistics, say that people, 25% give nothing at all. And then there's this big 55% that land somewhere in the middle, often on a percentage wise, very, very low.
And I want to ask this question, this question that I wrestled with. Why is it that giving to the Lord seems to be all over the map? And I think there's a few key reasons that each of us at different places in our lives could probably relate to.
For one, cultural formation. We live in a culture today that is a me first culture.
We have it ingrained in into us that our pursuit in this life is to find a way to get as much stuff for ourselves so that we can feel fulfilled as well. I would say that for many people, they wrestle with this because of financial pressure, a struggle of saying, how am I gonna get the bills paid? How could I possibly give a tithe to the Lord? For others, there's a fear and a lack of trust. Will I be able to do the things that I need to do? For many people, there's a lack of trust in the church and for good reason.
Many people have found themselves at some point in their life in churches where there is not transparency, but also where there has been great moral failure and Misuse of funds, and it causes a lack of trust at all that the church will steward. Well, what has been given.
I look at all of these different things, and what I begin to realize is that even in my own life, I have experienced many of these.
I have definitely experienced times in my life when it comes to giving, that I have a me first mentality. No, but wait, I want these things.
I know that I have experienced times of fear and lack of trust. Like when my kids started going to college and I began to look at the sticker price and think, how in the world are we going to make this work?
And the thought was, I give all this money to a tithe. How.
How could I possibly not pull some of that back? That pressure was there.
I remember when I was young in college and I had grown up in the church being taught this that I remember standing at the kitchen counter in my apartment. I was out on my own, Parents weren't helping anymore, doing my thing, and I had to pay the bills. And I had the habit of paying my tithe first. And I remember looking at my bank account balance and the bills I had due and going, it ain't gonna work.
And I made an active choice that day to not pay my tithe. And it began a very long period of time in my life where I did not prioritize that. And I prioritized myself and my fears and my wants, and I wrestled with it. You see, there's lots of reasons that we wrestle with the idea and that giving is all over the map. But I believe that statistics show there is one primary thing, and that primary thing is this. It's a lack of discipleship in the church, bar none. I believe that is the biggest issue, and for good reason. Many churches don't want to talk about it because they know that it is the quietest Sunday every year when we preach first service. You could have heard a pin drop, people.
I'm telling you, I'm up here, here sweating bullets, going, man, I've ruined Father's Day today.
When I'm sitting with my preaching team and this comes up and I'm like, who wants to preach it? There isn't another hand in the room that goes up.
And yet it is one of the most important topics in the Bible and especially in the New Testament, guys. And I just say this from my heart. So many churches won't talk about it because they're afraid to offend or that people are going to get mad. But can I just share with you 15% of all of the Words that are written in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are about money.
40% of the parables that Jesus taught speak about our relationship with money.
One in ten verses in the Gospels talk about this. Next to talking about the kingdom of God, it is the second biggest thing that Jesus talked about in his earthly ministry.
And I believe that this morning, as we dive into this topic of lordship in every area of our lives, including our finances, that what it's going to reveal is that it's not really about money.
It's about lordship.
It's about God having our hearts. And I want you to see this as we dive in together this morning. So if you have your sermon notes, you can pull them out and follow along with me. But we're going to dive together this morning into a conversation on allowing Christ to be lord over the area of our finances.
I want us to look at and to understand one from just a biblical point of view, what the tithe was, where it came from, and its purpose.
But I also want us to look at how God addressed blind spots in Israel's faith formation, because I believe it will help us to understand maybe some of the blind spots we have theologically, but also in our practice. And I want us to seek to understand as well from the New Testament what Jesus taught so that we can understand how to give God lordship over this area of our lives. So you guys ready to jump in with me? Let's go. Please don't let it be the quietest Sunday. Okay, here we go.
What was a tithe, and where did it come from? Let's dive into this. Just a little bit of theology. First letter A. The word tithe literally means a tenth or ten percent. Anywhere we see it in Scripture, that is what it means. The word tithe comes from the Hebrew word maaser. It means a tenth part. It wasn't a vague idea of generosity. It was defined, and it was a measurable amount. And this matters because it shows that in Scripture.
In Scripture, giving was not just emotional or spontaneous.
It was actually intentional. And it was structured. A tithe wasn't whatever I feel like giving. It was a starting point for honoring God. And you're going to see that theme throughout the Scriptures and throughout this morning. From the very beginning, God did not leave generosity undefined. He gave his people a very clear way to put him first in this area of their lives.
Secondly, it was the practice of giving the first portion to God. The tithe was not just about percentage. It was also about priority. It was given from the first and the best never from the leftovers. In Exodus, chapter 13, verse 2, firstborn animals belonged to God. In Proverbs 3, 9, it says first fruits of corruption, crops were offered to God. When we look in Genesis 4, in the very beginning, the children of Adam and Eve, we see this come to play with Cain and Abel, where it says that Cain brought some of the fruits of his labor to the Lord as an offering. Abel brought the firstborn or the best of his flocks. And we know from that story that God loved and honored the gift that was given to him by Abel because. Because it was a first fruits giving over Cain, giving just some of the portions. You see, it wasn't just about percentage. It was about priority. It was about giving your first and your best.
Never from the leftovers. In our culture today, this is something that I think we struggle with in American culture because we live in a culture today that typically puts us first. We are in a pursuit of the American dream. We are in the pursuit of filling our lives with stuff that we believe will make us happy. And often what that does is it puts other people and other things second, even in our relationship with God. Here's where I noticed this, just as an example of how our culture functions this way. When I went to Central Asia just a few weeks ago, one of the opportunities we had, as I've mentioned, was to go out to a well project where we sat on this really, really hard wooden platform for like five hours. But one of the great things is we sat and we met with the elder of the community. Now, this guy is the most important person in the village, and yet when we came as his guests, we were the most important people, the most honored people there. And what did he do? He made for us a feast. And it wasn't like he just called up Taco Bell to deliver some burritos, right? He took the best of everything he had and made us a meal that was to die for. Here's a picture of it. Osh is the national dish of this country. And let me tell you something, that is gloriousness. Every time I look at it, it is this blend of rice and vegetables with more oil than you could ever imagine poured on top of it. I thought I was going to lose weight on that trip. Not happening. But then across the top is this wonderful seasoned beef. And I mean, it was so good. And the plate in the picture doesn't do it justice. I mean, this was a massive plate. We're all sitting together, we're sharing from the same dish. You all kind of get your little triangle that you eat from. But here's one of the things. Not only did he make the best of everything that he had. This man living in a poor village, he gave the best. But then, as we were eating, as was customary, the elder of the village would take and knock his meat off of his side and onto my side to give me honor. And I did not reject it.
I took every last piece.
I wouldn't want to offend the guy, right?
Five hours we're sitting there and we're feasting together. He's giving his best. When we were done, he says, let's go visit my brother. And I'm like, okay. Five minutes away, we drive to his house, and what do we find out? He has created a whole nother meal of the best food that he has. He cooked up all of this incredible seasoned beef again. And I'm looking at going, I am so full, I'm going to be sick if I eat another bite. But I found a way to make it work, because he gave his first and his best.
That's how that culture functions.
In our culture, convenience is what we often aim for.
And it's a convenience where I come first. We may do nice things and good things for people, but rarely is it our first and our best.
You see, the practice of giving the first portion to God was giving your first and best. And it required faith because you were trusting God with what remained.
The tithe wasn't about how much. It was truly about who is first in your life. Because when God gets what's first, you're going to see this. It's then that he has your heart, not just your money.
Letter C. You should also know that the tithe began before the law was ever given to Moses. And this is an essential point, because many people will claim that the tithe was just a part of Old Testament Testament law. But we actually see it before the law ever came about. Cain and Abel, as we talked about in Genesis chapter four, were coming and bringing the best and their first to God. Abraham gave a tenth to Melchizedek in Genesis chapter 14. Jacob promised a tenth to God in Genesis chapter 28. From the very beginning, tithing was not a legal obligation. It became beyond before the law. It was a response of what Worship and recognition of God's provision. And this is important.
It's important because it means that the principle of putting God first in our finances is much bigger than a law or a rule.
It's rooted in worship.
And so it helps us to understand. Letter D. The Tithe served three purposes, the first being this.
To honor God as first.
You're gonna hear it over and over again. To honor God as first. Proverbs 3, 9 says, Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the first fruits. See, the tithe was never about God needing money. It was about having our hearts.
And then secondly, as a byproduct of our honoring of God, it was to provide for the Levite and for ministry. You remember that when Israel came into the land and took the promised land, the Levites had no land, inheritance. Their responsibility was to take care of the tabernacle, to take care of the temple. And so they needed to be provided for. And the tithe ensured that they were taken care of as they also took care of worship and teaching of God's word, made sure that it would continue and that the spiritual of the community would be sustained in the same way. Today, our tithing, our giving, supports the ongoing ministry and mission of the church.
Thirdly, the tithe served to care for the poor and the vulnerable, foreigners, orphans and widows. When God's people gave faithfully, there was no one that was left behind.
Now, some of us hear this, this kind of teaching around the tithe, and we think to ourselves immediately because it's been ingrained, it goes in Christian culture. That's Old Testament law. But I want you to hold that thought with me this morning, because we're going to come back to it. Before we dismiss it as Old Testament law, we need to understand what was God really after.
Once we understand that, we can actually remove some of the theological blind spots that we have with this topic. And this is nothing new. Blind spots in our faith development are absolutely nothing new. And we're going to see that with God's people in our passage this morning. Again, if you have your Bibles, look with me at Malachi, chapter three. We're going to be diving in here with God and his people. And what we're going to see, letter A, is this, is that in this set of passages, God is going to take Judah to task with their lack of faithfulness toward him.
He's going to come after them. And he declares that they have not been faithful to him.
And I want you to see what he says. Malachi 3, 7.
He says to Judah, the people of Israel, 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?
Well, as we look at this passage together, I want you to look at the very beginning, it says, from the days of your fathers, you have turned. Aside from my statutes, when we hear your fathers, automatically we think, what? Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But here this is not a compliment, as it typically is about the three first fathers. What is it? The language is actually used negatively in this passage to point back to a pattern. And that pattern was a long history that God's people had of resisting God instead of trusting him. It went all the way back to the Book of Numbers, where they refused to enter into the promised land because they did not believe that God would provide what he had said he would, would do. In other words, God is saying in this moment, this isn't new.
What's been going on here with your lack of faithfulness has been going on for generations, literally for nearly 1,000 years.
For 1,000 years, you have ignored God's commands, you've worshiped other gods, you've blended in with the surrounding culture.
And eventually, what did that do in their history? It led to judgment. They were removed from the promised land, Assyria and a Babylon came in and took them and drugged them out of their country, out of the promised land, scattered them about.
And yet, as we read our passage this morning, the people have come back into the land. The Persians released them. The walls of Jerusalem have been built. And yet still in this moment, God is saying to his people, you still have not returned to me. And this is what makes the moment so remarkable.
The question of, well, God, how shall we return?
Is not a humble question.
Looking for information, it's defensive.
When you read the Hebrew, you begin to understand that it's not God. Show us where we've gone wrong.
The question is, why are you saying that we have gone wrong at all? It's indignant.
[00:48:27] Speaker C: Why?
[00:48:28] Speaker D: Because they couldn't see it. There was a blind spot that they had.
And so to illustrate his point, letter B, God accuses Judah of robbing him. And this is some harsh language that God uses. You are robbing me. What does it say in Malachi, chapter three, verse eight? Will man rob God?
Yet you are robbing me, but you say, how have we robbed you?
You know, this is so interesting to me because I feel like God could have been picked so many different things to illustrate his point to his people. He could have pointed to the injustice that they showed toward each other. He could have pointed out the compromise with intermarriage and idolatry in the land. He could have pointed out their practice of sultry of sorcery, their engagement with adultery, their Exploitation of the defenseless, like the poor and the widows. But instead he says, you are robbing me. And that strong lady language. It's not just, hey, you've neglected a couple of things, guys. It's not just, hey, you're being inconsistent. No, you are robbing God.
And again, what do they do? They push back.
Not asking real questions, but they push back in defiance. Not broken over sin, but arguing with God, how have we robbed you?
And what that reveals letters see, is that Judah's response revealed it wasn't even on their radar.
The heart of the issue for God's people is that their hearts were so far from the Lord, they had no awareness of it.
Just like before the exile, they claimed to follow God while simultaneously living in contradiction to him.
And now the drift from God had become so normal, so culturally acceptable, that they couldn't even see it anymore. You know what I mean by drift?
One of the things that often gets talked about is drift that happens in marriages.
Drift is a real issue in many marriages. Most people say that the most dangerous place in a marriage isn't conflict, that it's complacency, where we stop making each other a priority, where there's less communication, less intentionality, less connection.
And you wake up one day realizing, how did we get so far apart? Because we stopped being intentional.
And that's the danger, my friends, of spiritual drift.
Spiritual drift rarely feels dramatic.
Rarely. It's so gradual that we get to a point where we go, how did I ever get here? And so what does God do with his people? He makes it clear.
And he says, here's how you're robbing me. Malachi, chapter three, verse eight. At the end, he says, in your tithes and your contributions.
Now, this is shocking to me in some sense. Why was the lack of giving and tithing such a big deal? Why was this the example that God chose to use? Why was this so essential to address? Doesn't it seem like there were bigger fish to fry? Doesn't it seem like adultery, worship of other gods, practicing sorcery and justice against the poor and widows maybe rose a little higher to the top than giving?
Why was tithing the big deal?
Why was it so essential in the moment? Here's why. Letter A.
God gave the people the land that provided their wealth, but he never gave up ownership of it.
Their role that he gave them was to steward what God owned.
What does it mean to be a steward? Think about it. A steward is someone who actively and carefully manages resources that belong to someone else. According to the Owner's goals and purposes, making sure that those resources thrive.
God gave Israel the land as their inheritance, but in the process, he made clear that it was for the purposes of stewardship. Leviticus, chapter 25, verse 23. The land is mine, he says to his people, and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.
Why is this so? Because the reason for this was the sinful human tendency to disconnect the gift from the giver. You understand what I mean?
The danger was that God's people would look at everything that he had given to them and say, this is ours. We did this for ourselves. This wasn't a gift.
Look at what Moses says to the people before they ever enter the promised land. He actually God warns the people through Moses of this very thing in Deuteronomy, chapter 8, verses 11 through 14. I'm just going to read it to you. And in verse 17 says these words to the people. He says, take care lest you forget the Lord your God, by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today.
Lest when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart will be lifted up by the way. That's not joy, that's pride.
Your heart will be lifted up and you forget the Lord your God.
Beware, lest you say in your heart, my power and my might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.
[00:54:13] Speaker E: Wow.
[00:54:15] Speaker D: God warned the people that this would be the case.
Wealth.
What is acknowledged by Moses, by God, has a seductive power over us. Would you agree?
A seductive power. And here's why. It feeds the very lie that eats at the core of our souls. From the time of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, all of humanity since the time of the Fall have been in a pursuit of making our lives for ourselves outside of God's plan.
Our pursuit of wealth is how we do that. We believe that the more we have, the better life will be. And therefore it eats at our souls. It has a seductive power. It's the reason. First Timothy 6:10 says, the love of money is the root of all evil, because it gets at the core of our hearts that looks for a way to provide for ourselves outside of God's provision. It's a picture of a lack of trust. And it's that seductive power that would invite Israel to do life apart from God. The only weapon that Moses says Israel has against it was their memory if they were tempted to believe that everything they had was their they were the owners and that their hands created it, then they were called to remember that it's God who provides and gives the ability to produce wealth. Thus it was essential for them to remember not only that God was the owner, but their purpose, like ours, is to be stewards of what God entrusts to them.
And so letter B. Israel's attitude toward the tithe would actually reveal whether they would acknowledge three essential things. And this goes for us today as well.
Number one, God's lordship over them with the tithe. Would they acknowledge God's lordship over them, that he is the owner, that they are the steward, and that their greatest joy is to steward his resources for his purposes, putting him first in this area of their life.
Secondly, it would reveal whether they acknowledged their dependence upon God. Would they fall into the trap of not trusting him, of trying to do things on their own outside of his plan and provision, believing that they had to look out for themselves.
And thirdly, it would reveal whether they acknowledged their gratitude towards Him.
Giving him lordship over everything was a response of love for who God was and all that he had done for them.
Thus, what we need to understand letter C is that their lack of giving wasn't a financial issue.
It revealed a spiritual crisis with wide ranging implications.
And I want you to see this.
This is so important for us to learn in our own lives.
Lack of giving wasn't a financial issue.
It revealed a deeper spiritual Crisis. Malachi, chapter 3, verse 9.
He says to the people, you are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.
Deuteronomy, chapter 8. All the way back before the people entered in the land, what did God say to his people? Walk in obedience and you will experience blessing.
Walk in disobedience and you will experience consequences or curses.
Because they refused to put God first in their life. In all ways, not just in the area of tithing. In all ways, they were experiencing the consequences of self reliance.
Life was not going their way. The real issue then, isn't it about tithing and about money?
It's actually a major symptom of a greater heart issue and that's the reason that God uses it. Think about it. How many of you have ever had the check engine light come on on your car and completely ignored it? Be honest, come on. Or at least ignored it for a time, right? I've done that. The thing comes on and what do you do? You go like, you know, that causes some concern, but things are still driving. Okay.
Not hearing any weird clinks or clunks. And so I'm just going to keep hauling. Had some of my kids do this too. Right. And you hope that things are going to be good until they're not.
The light is meant to be an indicator that even when it's not apparent there is something wrong under the surface, their lack of tithing and bringing a tithe to the Lord revealed a much deeper spiritual crisis.
It's like the check engine light coming on and ignoring it because everything feels fine. The real issue under the surface is that God was not first.
They were.
And so rather than pass judgment, and this is a beautiful part of this passage, rather than pass judgment, God extended an invitation in the form of a challenge to his people. I want you to see this so clearly this morning. What does Jesus. What does God say to them? What does Jesus say to us?
Test me. Those are the words. That's what he says. Test me. Test me. Try me. Malachi, chapter three, the beginning of verse 10, he says, bring the full tithe into the storm storehouse. Bring it that there may be food in my house, and thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts. Here's what's astonishing about those words coming from God. All throughout the Bible, testing God is warned of. Don't put God to the test. We're told that's a dangerous thing to do. I think about Job when he challenged God and whether or not he was just in the things that is he did got one of the biggest smackdowns and lectures in all of scripture. Seems like a scary thing to do. But here God is saying, test me. He invites it. The Hebrew word here, though, carries the idea of testing the dependability of something.
Think about it. When I bought my first car, I went out and it was a 1988 white Toyota Camry. It was a beautiful thing, but looking at it, I wasn't sure how to. It had a fair amount of miles on it. I knew had to buy used. I wasn't sure if I should buy it. I was getting ready to walk away and the person that was there trying to sell it to me and my dad said, hey, hey, hey. Take this thing for a test drive. Take it out. You'll see that it's dependable. Get behind the wheel, give it a run, kick the tires. And so we did. And as I drove it around, I grew to love it even more because I took time to test the dependability of it. We ended up buying in the same way just a few years Ago, we changed Internet providers at home. And one of the most beautiful parts of changing Internet providers, because we had a really bad Internet provider. I won't say because we're live streaming and somebody will be mad at me, but I hated it. But we got an offer from Verizon for their home Internet, wireless home Internet. And they said, you got 30 day free trial to kick the tires. And I said, well, let's do this.
And I found out that it was way faster, way more reliable. So we ended up making the switch. Why? Because we kicked the tires, we tested it. God is literally saying to his people, just test me. Just come and see and taste and see that I am dependable, that you can trust me, that I will come through for you.
The command of God's people was to let him prove his faithfulness in response to their faith.
And this was a beautiful grace that he gave to them. They were not being faithful, not just in the area of tithe, but in so many areas, worshiping other gods, not taking care of the poor and the neglected, like they were really a hot mess. And yet in his grace, he says, if you would just trust me and put me first, you will know and see that I am good.
And so, letter B, he says, see how I respond when you put me first. First see how I will respond when you trust me.
Malachi, chapter 3, verse 10, second half into verse 12, he says, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need, 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. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of Hosts. Now I want to make something really clear. The Lord here promises blessing, but please do not mistake this passage. Too many people in our culture today misinterpret it. This is not prosperity gospel. It is not, give money, get more money. That is not what he says.
Read closely the words that God says to his people.
If I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until what? There is no more need.
It's not riches and wealth.
It is a promise that God makes to meet our every single need.
God's provision, his faithfulness. He will give us freedom from fear as we align our hearts to his purposes. And what does he say? As I meet your needs, you will become a land of delight.
There will be no greater joy than being in the center of the plans that I have for you. That he says to his people, would you just test me, trust me, put me first and see that I am good.
So how does the Old Testament practice of tithing inform our life under the lordship of Jesus? Today I said we would return to this because too many people want to say, that's Old Testament.
How does it inform our practice of tithing today? Letter A. You have to ask yourself the question, well, what does the purpose of tithing in the Old Testament reveal?
It was pre law.
It was not just about a rule for that time period.
What has it always been about, though?
It has always been about God being first in our lives and surrendering all that we are to him, especially in a place where money has such a seductive power over our lives.
And the byproduct of the that surrender would be the joy of participating in the work of God and experiencing his blessing as we trust in Him.
The purpose has always been your heart.
God does not need your money.
He wants your heart in every single way.
What does it say in the New Testament? Letter B. What does Jesus say?
And I want you to see this. Jesus all throughout the New Testament affirms the giving of tithes. You can write down this passage. Matthew 20, Matthew. I'm sorry, Matthew 23, verse 23.
Jesus is speaking about and to the Pharisees. His disciples are there. There are some crowds that are there listening. And this is a passage that we know of as like the woes that he speaks out against the Pharisees. And what does Jesus say in Matthew 23:23? He says, Woe to you scribes and Pharisees. You what hypocrites. For you tithe, you tithe mint and dill and cumin, but you have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness.
These you ought to have done without neglecting the others.
What's so interesting is that Jesus never looks and says the tithe isn't something you should do. He actually acknowledges that the Pharisees were really good at bringing their tithe and they loved to parade it for the people to see what they were doing.
What does he intimate and what does he say? He says, you may be doing that, but you're neglecting so many other weightier matters like justice and mercy and faithfulness. The injustice that they wrought against people was horrible. What did it show that they were not putting God first in their lives.
How do we know that?
Because when they did give their 10% when they gave as was prescribed by scripture, who was it for themselves so that they could parade it around and show everybody how good they were and receive all the credit.
They were first.
And it was only a check engine light to reveal all the other ways in the rest of their life about how they were not putting God first in the way that they would not love other people and care for others.
You see, what Jesus does here in this passage in Matthew 23:23 is he actually affirms the giving of tithes. He never says, do away with the tithe. What he actually does in the New Testament is this. He raises the bar In Luke chapter 21, verses 1 through 4. You can read this later this week. Luke 21:1 4 is the passage about the widow's offering. Again, as Jesus looks at these religious leaders who go and they like parade themselves around as those who are great because they tithe and they're dropping their tithes into the box. Jesus points out this widow who comes and brings two small copper coins and drops them in. And he says, how blessed is she because she has given out of her poverty everything that she had.
You see, everything that Jesus talks about in the New Testament as it relates to giving isn't about doing away with the idea of a tithe. It's about generosity. It's about going to God and saying, God, what would you have me do?
Maybe that means far more than what's been prescribed, but the purpose is that my heart is attuned to you, that you are first, and I will do whatever it is because I believe and I trust that you will take care of me.
This widow is such a perfect example of that.
And finally, number three. Jesus focuses on the mission of God and our hearts.
He focuses on the mission of God and our hearts in the New Testament. Matthew, chapter 6, verses 19 through 21. What does he say?
Do not store up for yourselves treasures where on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and but store up for yourself treasure in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. He says, the resources that we are stewarding in this life, if we are going to focus on just pouring it into this world in life, one day it's going to burn up and it is going to be meaningless.
But he says, if you will align your heart of stewardship to my purposes with what I have given you, you can make an impact that will never cease, but that will live for eternity.
And then what does he finish that statement with?
For where your treasure is, is where your heart will be. Also, do you notice that everywhere in the New Testament that Jesus talks about giving?
Everywhere in the Old Testament where it talks about giving, what does it always come back to?
The money?
No, your heart.
God is looking for us in all areas of our lives to put him first.
And when we won't honor him in this way, it reveals something else that is taking place in our hearts, in our lives.
And so I would ask you this morning, is this an area in your own life where you're willing to submit and to surrender and say, God, how do you you want me to honor you with my finances? Let's pray.
Father, thank you for the chance to just dive into your word, talk about hard topics, things that really hit at times, Lord, to the core of our lives that make us uncomfortable. Sometimes we confess that they even make us angry.
And we acknowledge that some of that comes from bad experiences that we have had in our life.
And sometimes, Father, that comes because we haven't put you first.
I just ask that this morning your spirit would speak to us where we're at as we read and we study your word, we ask God that you would align our hearts to yours and so teach us to put you first in all ways that you would be glorified in us. In Jesus name, Amen.
[01:12:04] Speaker E: Sa.
Down every burden, every crown this is my surrender this is my surrender Here is where I lay it down every lion every doubt this is my surrender And I will make room for you to do whatever you want to.
To do whatever you want to and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to.
To do whatever you want to.
[01:13:28] Speaker B: Here is where I lay it down every burden, every crown this is my
[01:13:37] Speaker E: surrender this is my surrender Here is where I stand laying down every lion every doubt this is my surrender And I will make room for you to do whatever you want to.
To do whatever you want to and I will make room for you to do whatever you want to.
To do whatever you want to And I will make room for you to do whatever you want want to so do whatever you want to And I will make room for you to do whatever you want to.
To do whatever you want to.
Jes.
Oh, have your way Here.
Come and have your way have your way.
Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion your way is better your way is better.
Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my rest religion your way is better oh, your way is better.
Shake up the ground of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion Your way is better
[01:16:13] Speaker B: Only
[01:16:14] Speaker E: your way is better.
Shake all the of all my tradition Break down the walls of all my religion your way is better, your ways better.
And I will make room for you to do whatever you want to to do whatever you want you want to And I will make room for you to do whatever you want to.
To do whatever you want to.
Here is where I lay it down you are you're all I'm chasing now this is my surrender this is my surrender Here is where I lay it down you are all I'm chasing now this is my surrender.
This is my surrender.
[01:17:40] Speaker D: Amen. Let's give God glory. He's good.
He's good.
As we close our service this morning, you'll see at the end of your notes that they're just reflection questions there. We do this a lot to give you an opportunity just to wrestle with the truth that we have encountered in God's word. And I would encourage you as you go through. Can I just you give you a verse to write down when you get to letter C here talks about just asking like letter A is, you know, reveal. What does your giving reveal about who's first in this area of your life? Is there anything that needs to change? And then the way that you view what God has given to you? But letter C I think is so important.
What is a growth step that you can take to begin or continue putting God first in this area of your life? And I want you to write down second Corinthians 9, verse 7.
I'm going to read that to you quickly.
It says, each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion. For God loves a cheerful giver. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart. You know what that says to me? That I have taken the time to go to God and to say, lord, you are the owner.
You have given me so much to steward.
What do you desire first? And I will respond to you, church, family. This is how we need to grow in every area of our lives when it comes to putting Jesus first. And so my prayer for you is just that is that you won't ever have a space or a room, if you will, in your heart where you say, God, you're not allowed here, but that truly putting him first means I'll let you into every single space, acknowledging that my deepest desire is that you have lordship and that you are guiding and leading every aspect of who I am and What I do.
As we close our service this morning, our prayer team's here at the front and they would love the opportunity. I know that in a room this size, there are many needs, things that people are struggling with, needs for healing.
And we've got a team of people that every week just love to care and to minister to you. And so they would love to pray with you today if you have needs. I invite you to come forward and pray with them as we close our service today.
But as you go, I want to pray a prayer of blessing over you. As we go out into this world and we seek to make Jesus name great. So would you join me in prayer?
Father, I thank you for your people.
I thank you, Father, for a church that is pursuing you, that wants to know you, but even more that wants to align our hearts to you. And I pray that that would be true.
Lord, as we reflect on your words to us this morning, I'm challenged, Father, by the words of faithfulness. Your people were not faithful, and it was in many ways. And tithes and offerings was simply one really strong indicator that they were struggling to put you first.
And so, Father, I just pray that you. You would open up our eyes and our hearts to you.
Holy Spirit, come and help us to see the areas of our lives where we refuse to relinquish control and teach us to trust you.
Lord, I thank you for those words that are spoken in this passage this morning. Test me, Trust me, and I will pour out more blessing than you could ever possibly imagine.
Would you teach us to live our lives every single day in this way so that the world will see that there is something different about who we are and that they would long to know you.
So, God, as we turn and we walk out of this room, Holy Spirit, continue to speak to us, but also open up our eyes to see the opportunities you are giving us every day this week to be a light to other people of your son, Jesus Christ.
And may we bring glory and honor to you as we take those opportunities and trust in your provision for the right words and the moments to share of your goodness with them. Be glorified. We love you, Jesus, and we follow you in Jesus name.
[01:21:42] Speaker C: Amen.
[01:21:44] Speaker D: Church thanks for worshiping with us today, Fathers, and everybody here. Because what God is good. Root beer floats. Make sure you get them. Have a happy Father's Day.
