Draft transcript follows:

When we begin to move toward financial health, we discover that we have more available money. Freedom from debt, and the income-based prioritization growing out of our Firstfruits orientation means that we have both greater financial discipline and a greater ability to be generous.

So how does Firstfruits interact with the Biblical discipline of Tithing? How do Firstfruits and Tithing interact with faithful generosity?

Let’s look at three passages that deal with generosity and Tithing. But first, let’s remind ourselves of our growth questions:

1. How do my current financial practices reflect Biblical values?
2. How does the message of the Scriptures give hope to those in financial uncertainty or difficulty?
3. Whom can I tell about this financial message of hope who could join us for worship?
4. How can this financial message of hope impact our community through my own words and actions?
5. What challenges does this passage offer to my current financial practices and attitudes?

2 Chronicles 31:1-10

Malachi 3:6-12

Acts 4:32-37

You may say, “One of these passages is not like the others.” It is true, in tone; Malachi 3 is different from the other two. In the spectrum of discomfort, this passage makes me quite uncomfortable. My tendency, with that discomfort, is to soften or explain away its message. I will do my best not to do that today, however, as we start from the point of generosity.

Tithing: Opportunity or Obligation?

A lot of sermons have been preached from Malachi 3 in condemnatory tone – “you all are robbing God unless you tithe!” Or, people have bemoaned budgets: “We would be on track if only people would just TITHE!” Still others, twisting Abraham’s tithing example from Genesis 14:20, see tithing as essentially paying God off for receiving good things. They then believe the 90% left is for them to use as they want, with no further thought to God’s purpose.

Little wonder conversations about Tithing are avoided.

We have a term for obligatory contributions: Taxation. No one really likes taxes, despite what Warren Buffett and a few other multi-millionaires might say.

Despite Malachi’s description of withheld tithes being theft, this does not make giving them taxation. “Tithe” in and of itself, is merely an old-fashioned English way of saying “Tenth.” If we were to put it in more modern English, we would be giving our “Tenths” rather than our “Tithes.”

There appears to be some connection, although that distinction is unclear, between Firstfruits and Tithes in the Old Testament. Each year, a tenth of the grain and the firstlings of the herd and flock were to be eaten in the presence of God. (Deuteronomy 14:23) Every third year, the tenth stayed in the towns and provided for the Levites, orphans, widows, resident foreigners (green card people), and others in need so that they could eat. (Deuteronomy 14:28 – 29) The most sensible summary is that, more or less, that a tenth was the proportion of grain or other produce that was considered First Fruits, while the firstborn was considered the First Fruits of flocks, herds, and even human children.

Therefore, when Malachi speaks of robbing God, he’s saying several things: first, the people are depriving God of a place at the table – the place of honor. He is no longer honored or prioritized in their lives. But more importantly, he says that it deprives the Priests and Levites of basic sustenance: they cannot maintain the work of sacrifices, offerings, teaching the young, maintaining the Temple, and the other work they did, such as some basic medical checkups (screening for leprosy, etc.); nor can they eat. Not only that, but they deprive the poor and needy of their basic food, too.

Therefore, structured properly, Tithing – as it is connected to First Fruits – is an opportunity to celebrate God’s role in the lives of his people, provide for those who do the work of ministry and other basic societal functions that keep people from working their own land or shepherding their own flocks, and to provide relief for the poor and those who cannot otherwise provide for themselves (widows and orphans).

Generosity: An act of Worship – that transforms a community and nation

Psalm 112:9 reminds us about the characteristics of righteous people: “They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.” Generosity is one of the hallmarks of righteousness.

It is here that we begin to see all the pieces of these passages come together: it is generosity that is the characteristic God desires to cultivate and maintain in his people from generation to generation. The process he uses is that of Firstfruits and Tithes, along with freewill offerings.

In all three main passages we heard from this morning, spiritual renewal was either going on or was needed. Firstfruits and Tithes were the tangible way of expressing that renewed sense of love for God and desire to serve him. In the New Testament, they even sold off property to make sure that no one was without their basic needs. While they held everything in common, it also appears that this applied to the personal possessions, and that land or houses were sold by the individual households, as assets to provide for the poor in the community, so that there was no needy person among them.

Generosity provided for the priests in 2 Chronicles: they had finally gotten enough to eat. Imagine the emotion behind that statement by the priest there – now that the people have tithed, we have finally gotten enough to eat, for the first time in a long time. Generosity provided for sharing a lot of things in the Early Church. This generosity was empowered by reducing the redundancy of some of the ownership of personal possessions. And generosity is both developed and maintained through First Fruits giving of tithes and other offerings.

As we see the people in both Old and New Testaments celebrating with their Firstfruits and Tithes in the presence of God, we realize that giving the Firstfruits tenth of our income is really an act of worship. It is not so much about salaries or budgets or utility bills or how many mouths we can feed. It is first, and foremost, and act of worship: a tangible expression of our devotion to God. It takes something that can, for us, become very disembodied and cerebral – spiritual, if you like – and brings it back to our fully embodied selves.

Tithing gives us grace, really – knowing that we may like to give God every cent – but knowing that we also have to live off of some of it. Tithing encourages us to live within our means – knowing that having given in worship alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ, that if we fall on hard times, the Body has the resources to provide assistance to us.

So when we look at Firstfuits Tithing as a way to tangibly, perceptibly, physically express our gratitude and generosity to God, then obligation and taxation and legalism should be far from our minds. Instead of giving God his ten percent, like taxes, so we can spend the rest as we want, we try to give God as much as we can afford, rather than as little as we can get by with.

Let us consider ways in which we can express giving as an act of worship, an act of generosity, an act of love toward God. Ten percent may seem like a far, long-shot goal to some of us; others of us are already there. Listen to what God says about how you may best honor him with your material possessions and income – and see what he says. He may ask you to step out on faith. You may be surprised what happens. It could be that you will receive overflowing blessing beyond your wildest imagination. In any case, it will show you even more of what God has done for you.

1. How do my current financial practices reflect Biblical values?
2. How does the message of the Scriptures give hope to those in financial uncertainty or difficulty?
3. Whom can I tell about this financial message of hope who could join us for worship?
4. How can this financial message of hope impact our community through my own words and actions?
5. What challenges does this passage offer to my current financial practices and attitudes?