Leviticus 27:30

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.

Psalm 24:1

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
    the world and those who dwell therein

Malachi 3:8-10

8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.

Matthew 6:19-33

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Sermon Recap

In any given church group there will likely be two types of people. People who tithe and people who don’t. We’re not here to judge or condemn. We’re here to invite people into the blessing God promises them. But nonetheless, this could be an awkward conversation. Lean into the awkwardness. It’s ok. No one has to reveal whether or not they tithe or how much they give or anything like that. But everyone should enter into this conversation with an open mind, ready to hear God’s invitation to them.

This week we’re talking about money. Specifically, why does God ask for it? Early on in the Bible, God’s people are commanded to give the first 10% of their income back to God (Leviticus 27:30 and other places). That’s why “tithe” means, one tenth. Why did God ask for this? Well one hint might be in the fact that the Bible never uses the word “give” when talking about tithing. It uses the word “bring.” Why? Because you can’t give to God what is not yours. It’s already his. Psalm 24 reminds us that everything belongs to God. If we have anything good in this world it’s because God gave it to us. So he calls us to give the first 10% of it back to God. In fact, those who don’t were said to be robbing God (Malachi 3:8).

So the people of God brought their tithe to the “storehouse” in the Temple. The New Testament equivalent to this, and what we are called to practice today, is bringing our tithes to God through the local church.

God’s people are expected to bring their tithe (10% of their income) back to God through His local church.

But this is the minimum standard set for Christians. There’s a greater invitation. The New Testament doesn’t actually talk much about tithing. The authors (and Jesus) assume you’ll tithe, but the greater invitation is to radical generosity! All New Testament passages about giving in the context of the local church are about giving above and beyond according to what God has given you (see 2 Corinthians 8-9 for example).

God actually wants more than your tithe. But why? Why does God want our money? The passage from Matthew 6 will help answer this question. Jesus says there are two kinds of people (different two than the two we started with). One kind of person will be tempted to “store up treasures on earth” rather than heaven. They like big numbers in their bank account because it makes them feel safe, secure, or successful. But Jesus says that’s not security. That’s slavery. The other kind of person gets really anxious about money. They worry about the risk they’d be taking trusting God with that much money. Jesus says, “doesn’t God provide it all anyway?”

But did you catch the middle of that passage. Jesus says it’s about your heart. God wants your money because he wants your heart. God doesn’t just want your money. He wants every part of you. And he gave everything to get it.

Application Questions