5th March 2017 - Andy Jackson - Generosity: giving to the church

Andy Jackson

5th March 2017

Generosity – Giving to the Church

Introduction

“Generosity – to give and share unsparingly”. Where have we got to so far in our series on generosity?  In previous weeks we’ve heard:

·         Simon Benham speaking on “Everything I have belongs to God”, and

·         Ben Pocock – “Living joyfully within your means."

Talking about money, as we have been doing, may seem as dull as a spreadsheet – but we’re looking forward to a far more exciting goal – an outrageously generous life.   That’s anything but dull!

We love to come across examples of generosity, from small things – like the people who offered to help me fix my bike chain earlier this week – to large things, such as the tributes to George Michael which have been emerging after his death; paying for IVF treatment here, for nurses to look after a cancer sufferer there, and in the round donating millions of pounds to charity.

We’d like to be generous, too – but the giving bit is always a challenge!

In giving to the church, our starting point should be “I honour God by giving the first part of what I earn to his purposes”.  (That can feel expensive – there’s the story of one church member and football fan who, when the pastor asked him “How much is does a season ticket cost?”, responded – “its much cheaper than coming here!”)

Where in the Bible does this starting point come from?

In the Old Testament, God gave Israel laws on tithing (giving a tenth to God):

A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.  Whoever would redeem any of their tithe must add a fifth of the value to it.  Every tithe of the herd and flock—every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod—will be holy to the Lord.  No one may pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If anyone does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed. (Leviticus 27^30-33)

The first part of something earned (the first fruits) should also be given:

Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Proverbs 3^9-10)

These tithes were used to support the priests, to stage festivals, and through a special tithe held once every three years, to help the poor.

The rules on tithing stand in contrast to the prevailing attitude today of “It’s my money, I can do what I like with it” because they reflect an underlying understanding that “everything belongs to God”:

 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”  But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today. (Deuteronomy 8^17-18)

As recipients of God’s generosity, we do need to remind ourselves of our responsibility to be good stewards; the Bible goes so far as to equate ‘not tithing’ with robbery:

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings.  You are under a curse—your whole nation—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 there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3^8-10)

One Israelite king lead the nation through a period of national repentance and returning to God, and reinstated tithing and first-fruits as an integral part of that:

As soon as the order went out, the Israelites generously gave the first fruits of their grain, new wine, olive oil and honey and all that the fields produced. They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything. (2 Chronicles 31⁵)

Teachings of Jesus

Turning to the New Testament, we know that Jesus was a practicing Jew, who met the requirements of the law; He never taught that it was wrong or irrelevant – instead, he goes further.  Jesus calls his followers to a life expressing deep love for God and for people, and what we give says a lot about that love in our relationships

·         How sincere our love is for others

·         How much we trust God to provide

In the times in which Jesus lived, wealth was seen as a sign of God’s favour, and so people were impressed by large gifts – but there is one story which shows that Jesus was impressed more by the sacrifice than the size:

As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”  (Luke 21^1-5)

In absolute terms, the widow’s gift was far smaller than others – but it was all she had, and Jesus valued the sacrificial spirit with which she gave.

What should my level of giving to Church be?

Kerith already has a reputation for generosity – as someone who helped distribute funds from the recent gift days to charity, Andy can testify first hand that people were amazed at how much had been given!  Again, the money need for the vision fund was collected quickly and, it felt, easily.

But God is calling us to shift into another gear, testing God and his promises.  This will mean very different things for different people.  For some, tithing is a real sacrifice; for others, its straightforward - and there is ‘headroom’ for sacrificial giving on top of the tithe.

Andy’s own experience is that he was bought up to tithe through the teaching of his church and the example of his parents, and he has done so.  Looking back, and asking “what could I have done with the money?”, there were times when he and his family missed out on things – but God has quite genuinely given then all that they need.

A recent quote from Archbishop Sentamu sums this up: “We give so that God’s will and work might happen.”

In closing, one last issue what happens about giving while you are in debt?  On a practical level, a part of the answer is to make use of the resources around you, especially CAP!  But there is also a challenge to be prayed through – how much faith do we have in God to provide both for debt payments and for giving?