Do We Rob
God? (2)
Malachi 3:6-12
We started in the Armenian
sermon talking about the principle of tithing. Where did it all start?
Abraham commended tithing
(Genesis 14:18-20); Jacob continued in practicing it(Genesis
28:22); Moses commanded it (Lev.27:30); then Jesus encouraged Israelites to be
faithful in tithing while practicing justice and faithfulness (Mathew 23:23). Before I move to Paul,
let me tell a story about tithing.
I heard the story about two men who are shipwrecked
and get to an uninhabited island. There is no food, no shelter. One of the men
is calm and the other is anxious and boiling with fear and anger.
The anxious one says, “What
are we going to do?
The other says, “Do not
worry; I make $10,000 a week. Do not worry.”
The other person gets more
confused and says, “How relevant is how much money you make on an island like
this?”
The calm person says, “Do not
worry, I make $10,000 a week.”
The anxious man bursts out,
“What does your income have anything to do with our situation, we are lost and
no one can find us.”
The man says, “I am an Armenian Evangelical, and I make
$10,000 a week, and I tithe; my pastor will find me, do not worry.”
After humor let us go to
serious part of this sermon.
We moved from Abraham, to Jacob, to Moses, to Jesus. How about Paul?
We read in I
Corinthians 16:1-2, “Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told
the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of
every week, each one of you should set
aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when
I come no collections will have to be made.”
Paul moved beyond the ten percent. “Each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his
income” (vs 2). He means, “Give proportionally.”
It will be nice to practice
this, my wife and I believe in this principle.
Some people get confused
about this matter. Some believe that when they give to God, they can use the rest without asking God’s will. Let God direct you in everyday decisions. When you buy a car, a house, a TV,
anything, ask yourself
“Do I really need this?
Am I pleasing God by buying this
or that?
Is this expense a good thing to do right now?”
Try to tithe, then try to add on it and make it 12%. Therefore, if some of
you think tithing is in the Old Testament, well, the New
Testament goes further in asking us to give it proportionally. If God blesses you financially, it is not just so that you elevate your standard of LIVING, but your standard
of GIVING.
I know that it is different
from one person to another what is essential and what is extra or secondary;
but if we learn to walk daily with the Lord asking His wisdom in everything,
including how we spend money, God will lead us in taking the right action in giving to Him. We will have new lifestyle.
Pastor Rick Warren wrote a book called “Purpose Driven life.” I read it. It has biblical principles about how
to lead your life according to the Bible. He sold millions, and he made
millions. He decided to give his 90% to
the church and live with 10%. I
know some of you can say that his 10% is a lot of money. It an
be. Yet when Newsweek magazine did a
study about his income and lifestyle, they were amazed how he lived a simple and modest, not poor,
but reasonable life.
There was man
who was very faithful in tithing. Then one day his business became very prosperous. The pastor of the
church was surprised that this man stopped giving to the church.
One day he asked him why. The
man said, “Well, the income is too big to tithe.” The pastor said, you know
what, “I will pray to God to reduce your income to the level that you start
tithing again!”
We have to understand that
giving is a discipline. It does not come
naturally in our behavior. It is decision and commitment.
2. “Test me in this” NIV (10)
NKJV translates: “and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts.”
Tithing is a way to test God. God is saying, “Go ahead and tithe and see where I stand
as God.”
When we tithe, we demonstrate
that we believe and trust in God. Tithing
is a testimony of trust.
This does not mean everything in our life will be smooth, no pain, no
sickness, no poverty… not at all. What God is says is that when you tithe God
is faithful to demonstrate His faithfulness, and He will prove it to us.
I have not heard from anyone who complains that he tithed
to the Lord and his her year was blessed (in Biblical sense). God is faithful
in keeping Hid promises.
3. When we invest in God there are personal
and spiritual blessings.
“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 you
will not have room enough for it” (10-12).
This is a personal promise. We need to understand that each person has to have a
personal relationship. When we go to heaven, God is not going to ask which
church you came from. CACC is not trial; each member of CACC is accountable to
God. Listen to His promise: “…pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.”
We need to learn and be trained. I teach this principle to my children. My mother
taught me to tithe when I received my personal allowance. Now I teach my children that they need to tithe from their
personal allowance.
On the other hand, we read in
verse 12 about spiritual blessings:
“"Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful
land," says the LORD Almighty.” (12)
I love this verse. I blessing
is not for private use. Our blessings are means so that all nations can be blessed. Therefore, it
is a witness to others.
This Christmas I
received a Christmas card from a friend, who instead of sending me a gift, or
check, sent a check to a needy family in
We are called to be light and
salt to the nations. I thing
globally, I dream globally. We are not
alone. Our tithing is not just for CACC. It starts from here but it moves
and spreads all over. It is beyond dollars, it is SPIRITUAL blessing, which has an everlasting effect.
Do you see your role? Do you
see how much responsibility we have in our tithing?
Now think if someone who makes
$50,000 a year in his 25-65 years of age. Do not count interest, or
investments, or any inheritance, this person makes more two million dollars in
these years. One day God will ask us, “What did you do with that money?”
So what do you do about this?
Either you tithe or you give your leftover.
Some say, “Badveli, let me
think about this and pray.”
MY prayer that you take these words seriously. Remember
you are investing in His Kingdom. It is forever.
Amen
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