Sermon
(October 20) – Give Till It Feels Good
Deuteronomy
14:22-29
The Book of Deuteronomy is one of the first five books of the Bible,
known as the "Pentateuch." It emphasizes teaching and learning for
all generations. In our scripture reading today, it teaches about tithing, the
spiritual discipline of giving 10% of one's income to the work of the Lord.
Why do we tithe our money to the work of the Lord? See verse 29. We
support the work of God’s people, the leaders, as well as those who are most
vulnerable like widows and orphans.
Notice in v. 29 that the Lord blesses those who offer their tithe in
this way.
Luke
21:1-4
In our reading from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus offers a lesson about
extravagant financial giving by pointing out a poor widow who offered all that
she had which was two small coins.
In Jesus’ day, people would place their gifts in the Temple treasury
which was located just outside the Temple. It would have been a very busy place
with people coming and going. Jesus notices this poor widow’s offering even though
most everyone else would have been focusing on the big givers.
Notice the irony of the poor widow who is offering all that she
compared to the hardness of heart of the religious leaders who were not
noticing this widow which the tithe was meant to help support (see our
Deuteronomy passage above.)
Tithing Thoughts
1. Tithing is the biblical standard for giving money to the church. It
reminds us that what we have does not belong to us but to God. We are simply
returning a portion of what God already owns.
2. Tithing is a proportional approach to giving to the church. We won’t
necessarily offer the same gift but we can offer the same sacrifice (10% of our
income.)
3. In the highest giving denomination (The Wesleyan denomination?)
people give an average of 6% of their income to the work of the church. In our
denomination the average % giving is 2% or less. There is joy when we offer to
God our “first fruits” to the work of Christ and the church.
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