Why we Give

Why We Give

One sunny Sunday morning, a shrewd minister who desperately needed funds for his struggling church stood in his pulpit and announced: "Brothers and sisters, I have before me this morning THREE sermons: a one thousand pound sermon that lasts five minutes, a five hundred pound sermon that lasts one hour, and a two hundred pound sermon that lasts two hours. We shall now take up the offering, and the amount received will determine which sermon I will preach!" Needless to say, the church is no longer struggling! I think that’s a brilliant idea, which I might need to copy because, according to the results of our NCD survey, our giving as a congregation is below average when compared with that of other churches which have participated in similar surveys.

And so, this morning I want to talk about why we give. Let me state, however, that it is not my intention to heap guilt on anyone who may not be giving as he or she should. That’s something between you and the Lord. We are approach the beginning of another financial year, and I think it’s an opportune time for us to stop and ask ourselves the question: “How can I participate in the future ministry of my church through my personal giving?” bearing in mind that it is our giving that determines the extent to which this, or any other church, can do and be all God calls us to.

Giving is at the heart of our Christian faith. The Bible tells us that "God so loved the world that He gave..." (Jn 3:16). We are called to do likewise. So let us look for a moment at our text from Deuteronomy and consider the reasons which ought to motivate our giving.

The book of Deuteronomy is basically Moses’ farewell address to the Hebrew people. It is a book of law, given by God, to guide the people as they seek to build a nation in the Promised Land – which they are yet to occupy. The chapter before us presents a beautiful ceremony in connection with the offering of first fruits. First fruits were the first bundles of the harvest that were offered to God as an act of thanksgiving. The first fruits not only came before the main harvest, but also served as an assurance that the rest of the harvest was on its way. And so, as an acknowledgment that all the produce of the land came from God, and as an expression of thankfulness for his goodness, the Israelites brought as an offering a portion of the fruit that ripened first.^[i]

Moses now instructs the people that when they come into the Promised Land and settle it and farm it, they are to take a portion of the first harvest and bring it to the priest. This was the ritual for the first tithe offering which marked the end of the annual harvest festival known as the “Feast of Weeks,” so called because of the 7-week period (i.e., a week of weeks) over which grain was normally harvested. Among the Greeks, this feast later came to be known by its more popular name – Pentecost – the second of the three great Jewish festivals, the other two being Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles.

If you or I could have been among those Hebrews who, at the time Moses gave these instructions, were still marching through the wilderness, we would have understood just what an amazing statement of faith these instructions were! You see, at that particular time in Israel’s history, the people had nothing; for forty years they wandered through the heat and rough terrain of the desert, having nowhere to call home, and having no means of sustaining themselves; severe hunger and thirst often threatened personal disaster; the people were hard pressed and near destitute!

But a day was coming when they would live in a land “flowing with milk and honey” – an expression denoting extreme fertility. When that day came, they were to bring a tithe of their harvest and dedicate it to God. And so, this instruction to tithe was both a promise as well as a prescription.

So you see, there’s nothing new about the idea of tithing; it’s certainly not a modern development. As you can see from our text, it became a legal obligation for the Israelites after they entered the Promised Land…that’s over 3,000 years ago, but even so, it was widely practiced among many nations of the ancient world long before then!

The word “tithe” comes from the Old English word for “tenth”; a tithe is therefore the practice of giving a tenth of one’s income or property as an offering to God, by supporting his work in the world. This income could be corn, wine, oil, or livestock, as in the agricultural society of the Old Testament; or money, as in our modern urban society.

Having said all of that, the question remains; “Why do we give?” In the first place, we give as a response to all that the Lord has done for us. We observe that on the occasion of this harvest thanksgiving ceremony, the people gather before the Lord at the Tabernacle to offer personal sacrifices from their harvest of grain. Here, each male family representative hands to the priest a basket of some of the first produce from his harvest, which was a token of the land’s fruitfulness. The priest then takes the basket of produce and places it upon the altar of God, thereby acknowledging that the produce belongs to God. The whole ceremony was an object lesson in how we should respond to God’s goodness in our lives.

For what do we thank God this morning? Are you in reasonably good health? Do you have people who love you? Do you have food to eat and a warm place to sleep on a cold winter night? Do you know that Jesus Christ died for your sins? We have much to be thankful for. But as wonderful as it is to make an offering of thanksgiving and praise with our lips, we ought to back it up with our purse. Praise and purse go together in God’s Word.^[ii] We give, first of all, in response to all that God has done for us.

In the second place, giving is a reminder of who is number one in our lives. According to Deuteronomy 14:23b, the whole purpose of tithing is to teach us always to put God first in our lives. We see this at work in our text.

Each person who takes his offering to the Tabernacle is to perform a kind of ritual before the Lord. He is to say something to this effect: "A wandering Aramean was my father; and he went down into Egypt where he became a great nation. But there he fell under evil taskmasters. The Lord heard the cry of his people, however, and brought them out of Egypt and gave them this land flowing with milk and honey. Now I bring the first fruits of the ground which You, Oh Lord, have given me."

Notice how these words place God at the very centre of the community’s history and ongoing life? The occasion was a joyful celebration of God’s gracious dealings with them: it was God who took a powerless, impoverished and enslaved people, and delivered them “with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.”

And so, the offering wasn’t just a practical confession that they were indebted to God for the gift of the land with its rich, green and luxuriant pastures – the concrete symbol of God’s blessing, which offered Israel an abundant life of joy and contentment, but the offering was also intended as Israel’s recognition that her existence was based strictly on the grace of God. God was number one!

Chances are, the person who knows that he/she must tithe but does not, very likely does not put God first in the other areas of his or her life as well. It is a matter of priorities. It is a matter of “seeking first the Kingdom of God” and trusting that he will provide you with all you need.

This is the secret of great living. This is the secret of deep, long-lasting happiness and contentment. One writer who learned this secret says, “You can give your talent, you can give your possessions, or you can give yourself. (But) for God’s sake, give something” (Cleveland Amory). He has learned that giving leads to contentment. Are you experiencing this contentment in your life today; right now?

Finally, we give as a remedy to the enslaving power of wealth. After the worshippers had completed their ceremonial offerings, the Feast of Weeks came to an end with a communal meal to which the poor, the stranger, the orphan, the widow, and the Levite – the most economically vulnerable groups – were all invited to share in the produce of the land that were first offered to God.

And so we see that when we give, the needs of others are met; this honours God, for it is consistent with the way he works, that the more we are blessed, is the more we ought to bless others. Sadly that’s not the way it works in reality. Some time ago USA Today published the results of a survey that indicated that the more people earn, the less they give proportionally to help others. It should be the other way around, shouldn’t it? The more you earn, the more discretionary income you have; therefore, the more you should be able to give, all things being equal. But the survey showed that people with income levels below $10,000 proportionally, give three times more to charities than people with incomes between $50,000 - $100,000; and people with incomes below $50,000 give almost twice as much proportionally as people in the $100,000 - $200,000 category. Why is this so? Simple. People have become enslaved by the power of wealth.

“I want to tithe,” a man told his pastor. “I want to give 10% of my income to my church. When my income was £50 a week, I gave £5 to the church every Sunday. When I was successful in business and my weekly income rose to £500 a week, I gave £50 to my church every Sunday. But now my income has gone to £5,000 a week, and I just can’t bring myself to give £500 to the church every week.”

The pastor said, “Why don’t we pray over this?” The pastor began to pray, “Dear Lord, please make this man’s weekly income £500 a week so that he can tithe…”

How can I begin to experience greater levels of joy and fullness in my life? Give. Why? We give in response to all God has done for us; to remind ourselves of who ought to be number one in our lives, and; to remedy the enslaving power of wealth.

“You can give your talent, you can give your possessions, or you can give yourself. For God’s sake, give something” (Cleveland Amory).