Over the last month, you have all patiently tolerated my thoughts and ramblings about giving, tithing, and stewardship. In addition to that, you have been so kind as to read a letter of preparation about how we were going to approach this stewardship season. Finally, you have listened to fellow members of your church family talk about what stewardship means to them. My hope is that as a result of all of this, that you have all challenged yourself to grow in your understanding of biblical stewardship and what makes a faithful Christian steward. As I said at the beginning of this series, both from this pulpit and that previously mentioned letter, I don’t want you to interpret this short series as a fundraising effort, but as a spiritual growth effort. The things that we have talked about over the last several weeks are much more important matters than the need for the church to have more money or the pastor to feed his family. Y’all can take one look at little Thomas and tell that nobody at my house is going hungry. This look at stewardship hasn’t been done as if it was a pledge drive or fundraiser. This look at biblical stewardship has been done for the purpose of helping all of us to think about what we are (a) commanded to give to God and (b) called to give to God. I hope that you have, and will continue to for the rest of this week, to sit down with your family and to determine the answer to both of these questions.
We’ve spent enough time looking at and talking about what we should give, and I want to end this look at biblical stewardship by looking at something a little different: how we should give. We’ve said that we hesitate to give to God because of worries about there being enough left over for ourselves and our family. We are hesitant and reluctant to give, and I’m not just talking about money. If you dedicate more time to God, will you have enough left over for your loved ones and your responsibilities? I know what it’s like to have an overcommitted schedule and feel like you are neglecting those at home. I will openly admit that while being enrolled in seminary full-time, working as a youth director, and doing some other odd jobs, that I made it as if Amy were a single parent for the first year of Ashby’s life. My desire to provide something and work towards a goal drove me to miss out on the very thing that I was working for. I had to learn that everything else would be fine. I had to learn that what mattered to my family was time with my family, and they needed me much more than the wages and fruits of my labor. I was so worried that if I gave up providing certain things, that they would be unhappy with me. I was letting a lack of faith keep me from giving of myself freely and generously to my family. I was not trusting that God would provide all that we needed in order for us to survive as a family. Paul tells us the same thing when it comes to giving to God. “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all time, you may abound in every good work.” The Lord has promised that He will provide for our needs.
Did you notice those few words there in the middle that seem somewhat counterintuitive: a cheerful giver? These words have caused many Christians a good deal of confusion for quite some time. What in the world is a cheerful giver? What does that even look like? I know many people who give and give generously, but how do you give cheerfully? Unfortunately, far too few people enjoy giving when it is done freely. Sure, we all enjoy giving presents to our family, friends, and our kids, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I love the look on my wife or my kids’ faces when I give them a present that they like, but I’m not really talking about giving someone a gift or present. I’m not even really talking about giving to a local or national charity or mission organization. I’m talking about specifically giving to God being something that is done out of joy instead of obligation. I’m talking about a tithe offering being the Christian returning lovingly to God what He commands us to give Him because of all that He has given to us. I’m not talking about begrudgingly giving our tithe to God because we feel guilty if we don’t. Hear me when I say this, if the only reason why a Christian gives to God is because of the command to do so, then I think that there is something missing there. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very important and proper for the Christian to respond to God’s commands with obedience, but there’s a little bit more to it. If the Christian views tithing as simply an unregulated and voluntary tax paid to the Church, then a great tragedy has taken place.
Our attitude when we give is more important than the amount that we give. Some of you may question this and wonder what many have thought before us and say, “Isn’t it better to give a larger gift or make a greater commitment to God? Isn’t the purpose to commit as much as we can to God? I thought the entire goal was fully committing all that we have to the Lord, or at the very least our firstfruits and our ten percent.” Or maybe you even look at it from the other side of the coin. Maybe there is a sense in which you are embarrassed with your ability to give only a small gift. I have talked with more people than I care to about them feeling less than someone else. Sometimes, we think that the value, the true worth, of a gift is measured in the amount, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. God is far more concerned with how we give from the resources that we have than what we give. Personally, I don’t care if you give 2%, 5%, 10%, 20%, or any other percentage to God. What I do care about, however, is how you give it to Him. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not dismissing the principle of tithing. I’m simply saying that as I see things, the attitude is even greater than the amount. If you don’t want to take my word for it, you need only look at Mark 12:41-44 and the story of the poor widow’s offering. In this account we are told of all the people coming to pay their offering. We’re told how so many brought it in the most visually stunning way imaginable; similar to how we would pay for a $100 item in all quarters instead of simply a few paper bills. To give their offering, the people would come forward and drop these multitudes of coins into these large metal boxes, making as loud of a noise as possible so that everyone in attendance not only knew they were giving, but that they were giving greatly. All those in attendance were basing a persons’ wealth and generosity and piety on the amount of noise generated by their offering. Then this widow comes forward, and she places two small copper coins in the bins. Now, with this small offering, she shows everyone in attendance what true faith is all about.
You see, these two small copper coins, or two lepta, are worth nearly nothing. As a matter of fact, in this day and age, where the value of a coin was based off of its thickness and weight, a lepta was referred to as a “thin-one.” It was by all accounts as worthless a currency as there was at this time. Each of these coins was valued at less than the modern day equivalent of a penny. Think about today’s society where many toss pennies aside as if they have no value at all, and here is this woman, who places such a seemingly insignificant amount in the offering bins. In the midst of all of these people giving such massive amounts of coins, Jesus praises this widow for her seemingly miniscule offering. “Jesus called his disciples and said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” The value of a gift is not determined on the amount, but by the spirit in which it is given.
We’ve all heard stories of anonymous donors and mystery providers, so there’s really no need to go into such tales. However, I fully believe that if you were to ever sit down with one of these men or women who have ever made such donations, none of them would say that they did so in order to feel better about themselves or that they would have felt guilty had they not done so. I’ve sat with folks who have made such contributions to others, and I can tell you this, that every single one of them gave a donation because of how blessed they felt they had been. They didn’t feel like the owed it, but they wanted to show gratitude for what they had been given.
During our look at biblical stewardship, we have seen that we are to give a tithe (10%) out of our first and best fruits, but not only that, we are to give it cheerfully. I know that each of these truths come with their own set of challenges. I understand the difficulties that lie in making these things reality, but I want all of us to hear the closing words of our text from Paul on what happens when we give cheerfully. “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God.” I’m not going to stand up here and tell you that you will be given everything that you want when you give to God what is rightfully His. For me to do so would be a flat out lie and has no biblical standing whatsoever. What I can tell you with complete certainty is this: When we treat our Christian responsibility of giving to God what He commands, there will never be a time in which we do not have what we need. You may not see a difference in those two things, but there is a world between them. I don’t need many things to survive. Sure, there are a lot of things that I have gotten accustomed to and it would take a great deal of adjustment to do without them, but I don’t need them.
I don’t know if you’re like me, but I have felt before like I’m doing without because one of my families two cars won’t work right, or I have to eat at home every night because restaurants are too expensive, or I can’t take a vacation because my kids’ school costs too much. Here I am complaining and focusing on the negative side of everything. Instead of being thankful that my family has transportation, food, and education, I focus on what I want instead of need. I’m not asking, nor does God command, you to give up everything in your life. I don’t think that there is a Scriptural command to give every last thing that we have, but I do think that we should commit everything to the Lord. I don’t hesitate for one second in saying that the blessings that God gives to us, which He has already given to us, could ever be mistaken for what He commands of us. Quite simply, there is absolutely no way that we could ever come close to giving to God what He has already given to us. Shouldn’t we rejoice and want to cheerfully give back to Him but a portion of what is rightfully His? Glory be to God; in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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