Ten Reasons Why We Give

Last week I began with a big "thank you" to everybody who's financially committed to Aylesbury Vineyard -- for your faith, your sacrifices and your generosity. And today, once again, I want to say "thank you" for your financial gifts, to support our children and youth facilities project, and also on behalf of the children, for their Christmas Shoe Boxes, and the Storehouse clients, whose Christmases will be that bit more special this year. So, a huge "thank you." Hopefully you were here last week, and if not, perhaps you've watched on YouTube, because today I want to continue where we left off and say a bit more about the subject of giving. I confessed, last week, that there are lots of reasons I don't like talking about giving. And the main reason is because I don't want people who're struggling financially to be worried or to feel like failures. I would hate to do that. But I also know it would be wrong for us to avoid the subject and not talk about it at all. We'd be letting everybody down if we did. Because Lyn and I have a responsibility, as Senior Pastors, to share with you what we personally believe is God's heart on the subject and, just as importantly, what we practice ourselves. And that's because, one of the roles of a Pastor is to be an example: Jesus said in John 13:15: "I have set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you." In Philippians 3:17, Paul said: "Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do." But no-one would have the chance to follow our example if we don't talk about it. So, we don't want to preach about giving this morning. We just want to share with you what we personally believe, and what we personally do, and invite you, as the Church family to consider it. Let me start with some disclaimers. A couple of 'health warnings': There are probably many people in the Church who are more generous givers than us. We're not putting ourselves on a pedestal, and saying "Look at us, aren't we wonderful?" Because we're not. That's not what we're saying at all. There's no hidden agenda this morning. Some may be thinking "Steve's only talking about giving because he wants the Church's income to go up". And that's true -- it IS one of the reasons. That's because otherwise, there are things we believe are on God's heart, that we won't be able to do. We want more people to come into the Kingdom. We want to do more in compassion ministry to the poor, and the disadvantaged. Government cutbacks are creating more need, so we want to increase what we're providing. We want to offer more in teaching, and pastoral care, and mission, and children and youth, and so on. But we can only do what the giving of the community allows us to do. So no apology for that, but it's secondary. The main thing is to share what we feel is God's heart on the subject. And ... Most of the Church already know this, but for those who may not, Lyn and I don't have a personal interest in the outcome of the sermon this morning. None of the money you give to the Church goes to me or Lyn. Lyn is full time at Vineyard, as a volunteer, and I'm what's called 'bi-vocational' (which is a posh word for doing two jobs badly). I work at Vineyard two days a week, as a volunteer, and in a secular job three days a week, and we live on the salary from that. At some point that may change, but we'll let you know, well in advance, if and when it does. Let's pray together. So this morning we would like to share with you: 10 reasons why Lyn and I give. Reason number one is ... 1. As an Act of Worship. I don't know if you're aware of this, but in the Old Testament, sacrifices and offerings were part of worship. Worship involved sacrifice, not just singing. And how everyone understood a sacrifice -- what a sacrifice was -- was that it was a gift to God. So when Paul writes to the Church in Rome, he says our appropriate response to God, for what Jesus has done for us, is to be 'living sacrifices.' To live sacrificially. Romans 12:1: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your true and proper worship." Living sacrificially, as a gift to God, Paul says, is our 'true and proper worship'. Not to die for him sacrificially, but to live for him sacrificially. So reason number one, we give as an act of worship. 2. As an Act of Faith Giving is an act of faith because we're making a statement -- to God, to ourselves and to everyone else -- that we're trusting God to meet all our needs. We're showing by our actions that we're trusting him to do that, not just trusting our bank balance. If you read Hebrews 11, about the "heroes of faith" in the Old Testament, you'll see that every one of them was praised for what they did. How they lived. 'Faith' wasn't mental certainty, or the absence of any doubts. Their acts of faith were risks they took, by committing themselves to a course of action that depended on what God said being true. Faith is not just what I think in my brain. Faith is what I decide to do (in response to what I believe). Like whether God will look after us, if we give. In Philippians 4:19, Paul says: 'My God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.' It's a statement of faith. That's why Hebrews 11:1 says that faith is 'assurance about what we can't see.' The reason it's assurance about what we can't see is because ... what we can't see is the future. We can only trust God for the future. So 'walking by faith' is acting today in ways that are consistent with trusting God to take care of our future. That's why it's an act of faith to give at the beginning of the month, rather than waiting 'til the end of the month, to see what we've got left over. And It's making a statement of faith that with 90% plus God we will be better off than 100% without God. So reason number two, we give as an act of faith. 3. Because Jesus said it's more blessed to give than to receive. Did you know that Jesus said that? It's not actually in the gospels -- it's in Acts 20:35. Paul is talking to the leaders of the Church in Ephesus, the Ephesians, and he tells them to remember "the words the Lord Jesus himself said: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."' What did Jesus mean by that? I think he meant that we get a greater blessing from God when we give to God than when we only receive from God. Receiving from God is great. But there's a greater blessing from giving than getting. And here's one of the first problems with preaching about giving: We have a mixed audience here today. We have some who are able to enjoy the blessing of giving, and some who have very little chance, because they have so little. Remember last week's message: we give from what we have. Jesus often had a mixed audience -- the rich and the poor, and he addressed himself differently to each. The heart of God is for the poor. Jesus never put burdens on them, and neither will we. There's a story in Mark 12 and Luke 21 about a poor widow giving a Temple offering of the smallest coin in circulation. And Jesus said that pleased God more than all the money the rich people gave, because they had lots but she had very little. You see, Jesus almost always focused on the heart. He wanted to ease the burden of those whose hearts wanted to give, but had nothing, but he condemned those who had the means to give but were selfish or stingy, or hid behind their Bible interpretation to keep more of their money for themselves. 4. Because when we give, we're reflecting the nature and character of God. In the creation account in Genesis, it says we were originally made in the image and likeness of God. Genesis 1:26-27. That doesn't mean God looks like us physically, it means we were made to be like him in nature and character. To love as he loves. To give as he gives. To accept people as he accepts them, and so on. Colossians 1:15 says that Jesus, the Son, is the image of the invisible God. Jesus showed us what God is like, what God has always been like, and what it means, to be made in the image of God. Being like Jesus is what, as Christians, we aspire to be. It's what God wants to do in our lives -- to transform us to be more and more like him, in how we live. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that "We, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Do you know the reason that, throughout the Bible, God says not to make idols or images? It's because WE are intended to be the image of God. The NT Greek word eikon means image. We are being transformed into his eikon, with ever-increasing glory. If people want to see what God looks like, they're supposed to look at us. Not paintings or models. And one of those characteristics is being a sacrificial and generous giver. Human nature is to acquire. God's nature is to give. Did you know that the first sacrifice in the Bible was made by God? It was when he made garments of fur to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness, Genesis 3:21. That was also when death first entered the creation. The first-ever sacrifice was God's gift to us, rather than our gift to him. So reason number four, we give because we want to reflect God's nature and to increasingly be like Jesus. 5. By tithing. When you do a talk about giving, tithing is the Elephant in the Room. Let me explain how we see it. I mentioned a mixed audience a few moments ago. Here is our view on tithing for those of us who God would see as 'rich'. For many years, I thought tithing was 'old covenant' -- something that was just one of the 613 commandments in the law of Moses. That Jesus had died to set us free from the law. I saw it as legalistic for people to say you had to give 10% of your income. So now I say to people, I want you to be free from that pressure -- if you have the financial blessing to be able to do so, please feel free to give more than 10%. Don't feel you have to give 10%. Because I realised that 'focusing on 10%' was the wrong way of looking at it. It isn't that 10% is God's and the rest is mine, to do what I like with. All of it is God's. The question is not how much I give, it's how much I keep. God's interested in the 100%. But 10% is symbolic as an acknowledgment that everything we have comes from him. Tithing is not legalistic because it was well-established in the Bible long before the law of Moses. The first mention is in Genesis 14. It's a very ancient story, in which Abraham gave a tithe to someone called Melchizedek, who had two roles: he was the King of Jerusalem (Salem, as it was then called) and also, the High Priest (he's the only person in the Bible described as being both). Have a look at Hebrews 7. Tithing goes right back to the very first book of the Bible. In fact, giving an offering of the first-fruits of what God has given us, goes back even further. Genesis 4, in fact -- to Adam and Eve's two sons, Cain and Abel. Both of them brought offerings to the Lord from their work. In the Old Testament, tithes and offerings are always first-fruits. Proverbs 3:9-10 says this: Honour the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. We give God the choice bits, not the leftovers. And finally, Jesus himself took tithing for granted. He mentioned it three times, but never critically. In Luke 11:42 (and Matthew 23:23), Jesus says this: "Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practised the latter without leaving the former undone." Jesus' criticism was not that they tithed: It was the fact they tithed meticulously, making it an art form to get the '10% of everything' just right. And that they were stingy with justice and love. NOW -- here's a problem with preaching on tithing. Even just sharing it from the point of view of what we personally do. Lyn and I have counselled two people in the last few months not to tithe. And the reason in both cases was because if they did, they wouldn't be able to eat. Their disposable income was so little they'd have nothing for food. Personally, I can't preach on tithing to someone in that situation. I can't, and won't, ask them to do it. I know some will tell me, that all the things I'm saying today, all the verses I'm quoting, apply to everybody just the same. But I will go out on a limb here: I think what Lyn and I are saying to people who find themselves in that situation is what Jesus would say. I'm sorry if we disappoint anyone by saying that. And if anyone who's fortunate enough to be able to tithe wants to use what I'm saying to avoid tithing, then ... so be it. You might like to do a New Testament word-search Bible study one evening in Home Group, on 'rich' and 'poor' and you'll see how often Jesus had a different message for the rich and the poor. His message was always good news to the poor, but not always for the rich. So, reason number five, Lyn and I give by tithing. 6. We give because we want to position ourselves for God's blessing. It's a strange thing, but because I was so put off by prosperity teaching in the so-called 'word-faith' movement, and celebrity preachers getting rich from the gospel, I used to believe there was no connection between our giving to God and God's giving to us. Even today, I believe our attitude should be to give without expecting anything in return. But I do now see -- in both Old and New Testaments -- that in God's way of doing things, there's a link between giving and receiving. Malachi 3:10, for example: '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.' This is the only subject in the Bible in which we're invited to 'test the Lord'. Deuteronomy 6:16 specifically says "Do not put the Lord your God to the test" and Jesus quotes that verse back to Satan when he's tempted in the Wilderness (Matthew 4 and Luke 4). But here, on this one subject, we're encouraged to do exactly that. '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.' And similarly, in the New Testament, in Luke 6:38, where Jesus himself says this: "For if you give, says Jesus, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give—large or small—will be used to measure what is given back to you." The measure we choose to use for our giving will be the measure that's used to give back to us. Whether it's a shovel or a teaspoon. We think that's very interesting. So, reason number six is, we give because we want to position ourselves for God's blessing in our lives. 7. Because we want to be obedient. We give because we believe God wants us to be generous givers, and because we've said we would. Because we've committed to giving. And we give by monthly standing order, because that way we're not tempted to spend it on something else. There are so many aspects of life in which all of us fall short of how God wants us to live. But thanks to the banking system, a standing order is a really easy way to be obedient in the area of money. There are lots of areas in life which are a battleground for our obedience. The reason Jesus said: "No-one can serve two masters -- God, and Money" is because money is one of the areas in which there's a battle going on. There are two masters, two Lordships, battling for our devotion -- Jesus, and money. I know some people are reluctant to commit to a standing order, because they don't want to be trapped, if their financial circumstances change or whatever, and we completely understand that. But it really helps the Church if you do, because we can only plan with what we are certain will be coming in. So, reason number seven is, we give because we want to be obedient. 8. Because we want to be people God can trust. Jesus said: 'Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?' (Luke 16:10-12) What we do with what we've got now, shows God what we would do if we were given much more. It's interesting that Jesus says how we handle worldly wealth is an indicator of how we would handle what he calls "true riches". True riches are obviously not riches in a money sense. I wonder what those might be: Gifting? Ministry? Calling? Are we faithful stewards of what God has given us? Did you know the biblical word for faith is the same as faithful, or faithfulness? We are to be people who live faithfully. If you were God, to what sort of people would you want to entrust his mission? To what sort of people would you entrust: Spiritual gifts? Teaching? Calling? Financial prosperity? We believe God trusts faithful, generous people. They're the kind of people he calls on when he wants something done, someone to represent him. 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.' (Matthew 25:21) So, reason number eight is, we give because we want to be people God can trust. 9. Because what we do here and now affects eternity. Our future experience is somehow affected by how we live today. We don't know how, or why, exactly. But what we do know is that Jesus has some investment advice for us. Earthly investment reaps heavenly reward. Jesus says that if we want to get a spectacular return on our investment in the Kingdom, then this is how to go about it. 'Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.' (Matthew 6:19-20) Jesus says that how we use our money here on earth is like investing in a pension -- it's making provision for the future. Investing our money in things that have value in heaven is the wise thing to do. So, reason number nine is, we give because what we do here and now affects eternity. And finally .... 10. Because we're passionate about the Church. Some people say "I'll decide for myself what I give to, rather than giving it through the Church". But fulfilling the great commission, Jesus gave us, requires organisation of people and resources. There's an old chorus we used to sing years ago: "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine". Which is a bit like giving as individuals. Individual giving does good here, and there. But only together can we be the 'light of the world' like a 'city set on a hill' (Matthew 5:14). Only when all our little lights come together. Individual giving supports Christian causes, but if everyone did that there would be no Church. Directing our core giving through the Church is an act of surrender to the Lordship of Christ over our money. Because while I'm making all the decisions as to where my tithe goes, I'm staying in control. I'm giving it where I, personally, choose. So I'm really giving for the Lord, on his behalf -- rather than giving to the Lord. I'm retaining the right to be in control. One of the things about being rich is the power that goes with it, especially the power of choice, that the poor don't have. Giving my tithe through the Church 'dethrones me' as the ultimate decision maker in my life. It shows that we trust the integrity, the wisdom and the vision of the Church. It demonstrates that you feel we're worthy of having your giving entrusted to us. So that's what Lyn and I do -- we prioritise our giving through the Church, because we're passionate about the Church and we're passionate about fulfilling the mission of the Church. So let me recap the 10 reasons why Lyn and I personally give: 1. As an act of worship. 2. As an act of faith. 3. Because we're blessed to be able to give. 4. Because it reflects the nature and character of God. 5. By practicing tithing. 6. To position ourselves for God's blessing. 7. Because we want to be obedient. 8. Because we want to be people God can trust. 9. Because what we do here and now affects eternity. 10. Because we're passionate about the Church. These are not Steve and Lyn's 10 Commandments on giving. It's just what we do, and why we do it. Each of us has to make up our own mind on what faithful and generous giving looks like. If you didn't hear last week's talk, then please do watch it. Because last week's is the context for this week's. So let me close with a New Testament passage that sums up so much of what we want to say today, and how we want to say it. 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 Remember this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written (Psalm 112:9): 'They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures for ever.' Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. That feels like a nice verse to end on, for this Thanksgiving Service.