Tithing

Malachi 3v8b-12

20^th August 2021

Last week, we read:

Malachi 3v6-8a
"I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the Lord Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
"Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'"

Now God answers that question. He says:

Malachi 3v8b-12
"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. 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 you will not have room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the Lord Almighty. "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the Lord Almighty.

I have to write about tithing some time, and we've reached that point in the book of Malachi.

In the Old Covenant, God's people were required to tithe – to give to God one tenth of all the crops they grew. If a Jew didn't tithe his crops, he had turned away from God's decree. He was a lawbreaker. God takes all lawbreaking, including this, very seriously. Verse 9 says: "You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me."

Even today, if any of God's people wilfully and continually break God's law, then they're under His curse. We don't lose our salvation, but nor do we enjoy the quality life on earth that we would otherwise experience. We cannot know the fulness of God's love, joy and peace while we're in rebellion against Him. And we'll have less treasure in heaven.

God says: "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 you will not have room enough to store it."

And this principle applies in all things. In whatever area of your life you're disobeying God's holy word, you're cursed until you repent, but you'll be abundantly blessed when you've finally repented.

But does God's law require us to tithe? Good Christians disagree about this. Many Christians believe that tithing is mandatory, that it's a legal requirement for Christians.

Those who believe tithing is mandatory for Christians will say that it's a law in the Old Covenant, and it's not repealed in the New Testament. They may say that, while the sacrificial laws are fulfilled in Christ, tithing is not a sacrificial law, so it still applies. They may also point out that the Old Covenant food laws are explicitly cancelled in the New Testament, for example in Mark 7:18 where Jesus says "nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him unclean." And the next verse says, "In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean". Or in Acts 10, when Peter was told to eat food that had previously been forbidden, and God said "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean". But there is no equivalent New Testament passage cancelling tithing.

Those who believe tithing is not mandatory for Christians will say that, had it still been a legal requirement, the New Testament would have said so. They might also say that the 10% figure seems "legalistic". They could point out that the Old Covenant tithe was more complicated than just giving a straight tenth, and that since it was a tithe of agricultural produce, a strict legalistic adherence to it would require only farmers to tithe.

I'm not convinced by either argument. Either way, people are arguing from silence. Either they're saying we should tithe because the New Testament doesn't repeal it, or they're saying we needn't tithe because the New Testament doesn't endorse it. But arguments from silence are always uncertain.

Anyway, I think this debate about whether tithing is mandatory misses the point. The New Covenant in which we stand is not a Covenant of law but of grace. We should do what God wants, but our salvation doesn't depend on keeping the rules. It depends on the blood of Jesus.

It's a bit like baptism. Must a Christian be baptised? No. Should a Christian be baptised? Yes. And he'll be blessed if he is. Must a Christian read his Bible every day? No. Should he? Yes. And he'll be blessed if he does. And so on. It's not that we must tithe, it's that we should tithe, and we'll be blessed if we do.

We can be certain that the New Testament teaches that all Christians should give generously and sacrificially.

Luke 12:15-21
Then he [Jesus] said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in an abundance of possessions." And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' "Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?' "This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

The idea that a good Christian can just give God a few pounds now and again is ridiculous, and it's foolish. One day, all our wealth will be useless to us, but our relationship with God will go on for ever. Jesus said:

Matthew 6:19-21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Where's your treasure? That's where your heart is. Jesus also said:

Matthew 6:24
"No-one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

In the parable of the sower, Jesus taught that "the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth" can choke the word of God in us, making it unfruitful (Matthew 13:22). We must not allow concerns about money to damage our relationship with God. Giving money to God is part of Christian life, just as worship, prayer and Bible study are.

The most extensive teaching in the New Testament about Christian giving is In 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. In Chapter 8:3, Paul commends the churches in Macedonia, saying, "they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability". C.S. Lewis once wrote that he couldn't tell us how much to give, except to say that it should be more than we can afford.

In verse 7, Paul says, "just as you excel in everything – in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us see that you also excel in this grace of giving." If our faith, speech, knowledge, earnestness and love amount to anything at all, they will be expressed in generous financial giving.

However, in verse 9 Paul says, "I am not commanding you but I want to test the sincerity of your faith". I think there are two important lessons here. Firstly, giving is not commanded. Secondly, how much we give is a test of our faith. If you really believe in God, you'll be a generous giver.

In chapter 9 verse 6, Paul says, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously". This principle applies in all things, but Paul says it in the context of financial giving.

The next thing he says is, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." We're not under compulsion to give, but we should give. And we should give cheerfully. How can we claim to love Jesus, how can we claim to be grateful for the Gospel that saves us, and not give generously and willingly to the work of the Gospel?

Paul next says: "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." So having been urged to give generously and cheerfully, having been told that there really is a correlation between what you sow and what you reap, Paul reminds us that God is able to provide abundantly more than we need. Fear shouldn't prevent us giving generously to God's work.

You will never give to God more than He gives to you. God is no man's debtor. As Romans 11:35 asks, "Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?" God will never owe us anything, but we owe God an unpayable debt of gratitude. And we should express that gratitude as much as we can, by giving our time, our energy, our emotions and, yes, our money for His service.

I can't say that Christians must tithe, but I do say that Christians should tithe. Tithing wasn't mandatory for Abraham either. He lived before the law was given, but we read in Genesis 14 how he tithed to Melchizedek, the priest of God most high. And Hebrews 5:6 tells us that Jesus is a high priest of the order of Melchizedek. If Abraham tithed to Melchizedek, shouldn't we tithe to Jesus? Abraham's tithe wasn't legally required, and nor is ours. But it was the right thing to do then, and it still is.

Jesus has done infinitely more for us than Melchizedek did for Abraham. God has done much more for us than He did for the ancient Israelites. God has forgiven all our sins, washed us clean, adopted us as His children, put His law in our hearts, given us His Holy Spirit, included us in His holy church, and guaranteed us a future with Him in glory. If they gave a tenth, then surely we should give more than a tenth.

The question of whether tithing in mandatory misses the point. If we love Jesus, we will give Him everything. He gave everything for us. And that must surely mean donating more than a tenth of our income to the work of the Gospel.

And since what you sow will be what you reap, God promises, "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 you will not have room enough to store it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the Lord Almighty.

Some Christians believe, or seem to believe, that they can't afford to tithe. I would say that I can't afford not to tithe. I'm convinced in my own mind that I have more material wellbeing today than I would have had if I'd neglected to give at least a tenth of my income to God. We reap what we sow.

If your faith is so weak that you don't feel like God will look after your finances if you tithe, let me make a suggestion. Give 1% every week or every month for, say, 3 or 4 months. You'll find that your finances are still OK. You'll find you have faith enough to give 2%. A few months later, you'll find you have faith enough to give 3%, and so on. And you'll probably experience more joy and peace. You'll be making an contribution to God's work, and obeying the Bible more completely. And increasingly so. And soon, you'll be giving 5%, 6%, 7%. God is patient with us, but He does want us to serve Him with our wallets as well as with our tongues.

1 Timothy 6:6-11
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.