GENEROUS
THANKSGIVING
DR. JIM DIXON
LUKE 6:37-38
OCTOBER 30, 2011
The third pillar of Islam is called zakat, and it has to do with giving. The first pillar of Islam is shahada, which is the pillar of confession. Many times through the life of a Muslim, many times in the world of Islam, confession is made regarding faith in Allah and Muhammed. The second pillar is salat. Salat is the pillar of prayer. Prayer is offered five times a day at the sound of the crier from the minaret as a Muslim faces Mecca and prostrates himself or herself. The fourth pillar is the pillar of Ramadan; this is the pillar of fasting. This is the daylight, daytime fast in the month of Ramadan. The fifth pillar is the pillar of hajj; this is the pillar of pilgrimage. Once in your life, if you are physically able, you are to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. You are to circle the Kaaba. Some time ago, you were also were required to kiss the black stone that allegedly fell from heaven. But, now, there has been so much wear and tear on that stone that people are no longer allowed to kiss it. Those are the five pillars of Islam. The third pillar, again, is zakat. Zakat means purification.
Through your giving you purify your wealth. It is required under zakat that the Muslim gives two and a half percent every year. I am sure that Jews and Christians think, “What a deal because we are supposed to give ten percent and they only have to give two and a half percent.” Not so. The truth is they give more. They give more because we give ten percent of our income, our annual income in accordance with the tithe. They give two and a half percent of their net worth every year, which is a far greater amount. A person in the world of Islam hopes and prays their net worth and their assets are increasing in value by more than two and a half percent every year or they are moving backwards. In addition to giving two and a half percent of their net worth every year to the cause of Islam, they are also required to give saddka. Saddka is part of zakat. It means sincere offering. This is the supplemental giving.
If your mosque is building a new building, your zakat, your two and half percent is not enough, you need saddka, you need to give supplemental gifts, sincere offerings beyond what you would normally give in order to create the facilities that are needed. Islam is growing; I don’t need to tell you that. Islam is growing throughout the world. By many accounts today, there are 1,650,000,000 Muslims in the world. Islam is growing in Africa, Islam is growing in Asia, Islam is growing in South America and Islam is growing in the West. It is growing in Western Europe, it is growing in Germany, it is growing in France, it is growing in Spain, and it is growing in England. Yes, Islam is growing in the United States.
It is fueled by the gifts of its people. As they give, they empower their religion and their faith. Even radical Islam is growing in this world. With all of its dangers and with all of its deception, it is growing. It is fueled by the gifts of radicals. Christianity is struggling in the western world. Christianity is struggling in Europe. Christianity is struggling in the Americas. Part of the reason is that we don’t give. We are not committed enough; we don’t believe enough. We are not in love enough. So, we do not empower the gospel by our giving. Countless Christians over many generations have ignored the tithes. The church of Jesus Christ is often impotent. Today we complete our Generous series. I have two teachings.
The first teaching is this: give and it shall begiven to you. I don’t say this on my own authority; I have no authority. I say this on the basis of his authority, the authority of God. Give and it will be given to you. I want to take a minute and look at the tithe. The tithe, as you saw in that little video, is the giving of one-tenth, the giving of ten percent of your annual income to the cause of Christ. The tithe was instituted long ago amongst the people of God. You see the tithe mentioned in Genesis and the book of Exodus. The law regarding the tithe is laid forth in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. When you look at the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament, the five books called the Torah, when you look at those five books it is Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy that give full explanation as to the law of the tithe. Here is the deal, and a lot of people are really surprised when they hear this, there are three tithes. There is not just one tithe. There are, most scholars believe, three tithes. The Jewish rabbinical schools, under rabbinical law, teach three tithes.
The first tithe as described in Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy is called the theological tithe. This is the tithe unto the Lord. This is the first ten percent. This is the tithe of your gross. This is the tithe of all of your grain, all of your fruit, all of your cattle, all of your money even all of your wine. You are, every year, to take a look at your profitability and you are to give ten percent or the financial equivalent of ten percent to the Lord. The tithe is the Lord’s. That ten percent given to the Lord was given to the Lord. The Levites, who served God and the people of God, then tithed the tithe. The Levites would take one tenth of the one tenth and they would give it to the priests so that the first tithe, the theological tithe, went to the Levites, the priests, and the house of God. This was foundational in every generation for the Jews. The tithe is the Lord’s.
There is a second tithe. Many people today are unaware of that. The second tithe is described in Deuteronomy chapter 14. Go home today and read Deuteronomy chapter 14 and you will be stunned. You probably didn’t know anything about this tithe. This tithe was called the Jerusalem tithe; in rabbinic literature it is sometimes called the celebratory tithe or the tithe of celebration. It was given to Jerusalem for a giant celebration. It was the party tithe, a tithe given for the national party. There was pilgrimage to Jerusalem and everybody brought a tithe of the remaining nine-tenths of their productivity. The second tenth of your grain, your cattle, your cash, and your wine was brought to Jerusalem. If you could not go, then you get a cash equivalent to Jerusalem whether you were there for the party or not. It was a great celebration of God’s provision and God’s bounty and of the joy of the Lord. This was the second tithe it was bound for Jerusalem, you had to give it. You could join in all of the celebration; you could eat of your own tithe, and you needed to share it, particularly with the Levites. But, if you couldn’t go, you still had to send it; it was obligatory.
The third tithe mentioned in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy is the tithe of the poor. It was given every third year. This was a tithe given only in the third year. It was for the poor, for widows, and for orphans. In the third year, you might give as much as thirty percent of your profitability to God. Thirty percent. There is a great deal of controversy and you can see Bible scholars debating the issue of the tithe as they read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. There are some who question whether the second and third tithes were binding in every generation, but always the first tithe was. There is nobody who doubts that that first tithe, that theological tithe, the tithe that went to the Levites, the priests and to the house of God, that tithe was binding on every generation. Here is the question: Is it still binding today? Do we have to give that theological tithe? Do we have to give to the house of God? Again, in the Christian community there is difference of opinion and much scholarly debate.
Personally, I believe the tithe is still binding. Personally, I tithe. Barb and I have been taught to tithe by our parents and by our parent’s parents. We practice the tithe and we seek to go beyond the tithe in the giving of offerings that we might serve the cause of Christ on this earth. I will tell you this. Nowhere in the New Testament is the tithe repealed. I can take you to places in the New Testament where Levitical dietary laws are repealed, but I can’t take you to a place where the tithe is repealed. I can to take you to places in the New Testament where the laws governing sacrifice are fulfilled and therefore repealed, but I can’t take you to a place where the tithe is repealed. I can take you to places in the New Testament where parts of the ceremonial law are repealed, but no place in the New Testament where the tithe is repealed.
I believe the tithe is a part of the moral law. Jesus said not one jot or tittle of the moral law will ever go away. I believe in the tithe. It is true that there is relative value. It is true that in Matthew chapter 23 and in Luke chapter 11, Jesus talks to the scribes and the Pharisees and he criticizes them because they are tithing minutia. They were so legalistic that they were tithing minutia. They were taking mint, dill and cumin, their spices and they were tithing them. They were taking one-tenth of their mint, one tenth of their dill, one-tenth of their cumin and they were tithing or at least giving a cash equivalent. Jesus marveled that they were even tithing their spices. So, legalistic.
Here is the deal. Jesus said they were ignoring the weightier matters of the law. They were ignoring justice, mercy, love, and faith. That is what Jesus said, “You have ignored justice, mercy love and faith.” Here is the astounding statement that Christ makes, he says, “These you should have done, justice, mercy, love and faith without neglecting the other.” Clearly, by any rational analysis, Jesus is affirming the tithe. He is affirming the tithe, he is giving the word of caution about tithing minutia while ignoring love, justice, mercy, and faith, but he is affirming the tithe. He is saying, “You should do this and that.” I don’t see any place in the New Testament where the tithe is repealed. I think there is evidence in the New Testament that the tithe is indeed affirmed.
This much is clear: the Bible makes it very clear, that if we do tithe, we will be blessed. The Bible makes it very clear that if we are generous in our giving, we will be blessed. You come to a passage like Malachi chapter three. What does God say? God says, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, 0 sons of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned away from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ Will man rob God? Well, you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In your tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse the whole nation of you, for you are robbing me. Therefore, bring the full tithes into my house, that there may be food in my house; and put me to the test, says the Lord God of hosts, Jehovah Sabaoth, and see if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you an overflowing blessing.”
You see, this message is clear in the Bible. If we give, he will bless. I think the problem today is that not everyone believes that. I wonder how many of you really believe that. If you did believe that, wouldn’t you give? Wouldn’t you tithe? Wouldn’t you be as generous as possible if you really believed? I think God wants us to give because we love him. I think God wants us to give because we are so grateful, so thankful, but he tries to motivate us in every way. He promises he will bless those who give. The question is: do you believe the promises of God? Jesus says these things to us. In Luke, chapter six, in our Scripture for today, Jesus says, “Give and it shall be given to you in good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, it shall be set in your lap.” There is imagery there I am going to take a look at in just a moment.
I am going to tell you story, first, about Barb’s parents, my mother- and father-in-law. They are in heaven now. Barb’s mom and dad are with Jesus, they are with Christ. Barb’s dad was a carpenter and a missionary. He was really kind of a missionary carpenter. During the week he was a very skilled craftsman, a very skilled carpenter. On weekends he became a very skilled pastor.
He would travel out the region of Bakersfield and he would work with the migrant workers out in the fields. These were impoverished people. Barb’s dad would take the whole family out there every weekend. He had built a church out there and built other living accommodations out there. He tried to help the migrants. Then he led the worship services every Sunday in the church there. Here is a picture of Barb’s dad, right there, with a member with the congregation. Here is another picture of Barb’s dad with one of the kids. Here is another picture of Barb’s dad in the back row, and right next to Barb’s dad you see Barb’s mom. Then in the front row, with her hand up on her forehead, that is Barb, front row. Isn’t she cute? You can see all of those buildings. That is where many of the migrants lived. Barb’s dad built those buildings with tar paper on the side.
Then the next picture shows a tent and you see Barb’s dad and mom off to the far right and Barb is the little girl sitting up on the fence in the middle. Those tents were used in their ministry and they did all kinds of ministry for the migrants in those tents. Here is a picture of Barb’s mom and dad and some of the people. Here is a picture of the church that Barb’s dad built. That is called the Bible Mission, Christ Died for Sinners. You see Barb’s dad there. This is the ministry that Barb’s dad had. Barb’s mom and dad, through the years, were always faithful to tithe and for part of their life go beyond tithing because they literally had a passion for the cause of Christ and the gospel and to see it go forth all over the world.
Barb’s dad had gone through the Great Depression. Like many people who have gone through the Great Depression, there was a kind of conservative use; it was hard to spend much money and it was hard to eat too much food, the whole rest of his life was impacted by having gone through the Great Depression. When I would go with Barb to eat at her parents’ house it was always the same. I came to expect it. Barb’s dad, as we sat down for the meal, before he said the prayer, he would go to the refrigerator and take a bottle of milk out, it might have been a quart, it might have been a half-gallon. He would take it out of the refrigerator and he would go around the table and pour just a little bit of milk in your glass. Every seat had a glass, and he would pour a little bit of milk in there, exactly one inch. One inch of milk. This was not good measure, it was not pressed down, not shaken together, not running over, this was one inch. Then he would take the milk and he would put it back in the refrigerator and close the door and you knew you didn’t open that refrigerator door. The milk was done. Everyone had their one inch. I can remember meals there and I would just try to make the one inch last. I would milk the milk just trying to get the most out of that one inch of milk. I think for people who had gone through the Great Depression, it was like that. Understand God is so generous with us.
The imagery that he uses in Luke six is an agricultural image. It is a farming image. It really had to do, in the time of Christ, when you went to the store and you purchased grain, they would pour the grain into a pot that was measured. They would pour the grain into this measuring pot and to make sure you were getting full value they would shake it so it would settle, so there was no air in there. They would shake it so it settled and then they would press it down, to make sure you were getting your money’s worth. Then they would fill it to the brim, they would heap it over if they were really giving you good measure. If they were really generous they would fill it so high that it would run over the rim and overflow. This is the image that Jesus is using. If you are generous, God is going to return to you and it is going to overflow. This is the image Christ is using from the world of agriculture and the world of grain. Then he says, “…and God will set in your lap.” In the Jewish world, in the time of Christ, with every garment worn there was a pocket in front.
This was a huge pocket that took the whole front of the garment. It was used to carry tons of stuff. Jesus was saying, “This is going to be given to you and it is going to be securely given to you. It is going to be put right in that pocket and it is going to fill the whole pocket.” The generosity of God. We have this promise that if we are generous and if we are tithers that God will bless us. I hope you understand that this is not prosperity teaching. Tom shared his testimony and it was a wonderful testimony of how God had blessed him, has blessed his business, and God has blessed him financially as he has learned to tithe. God, indeed, does those kinds of things, but God blesses in a variety of ways. We don’t know the form the blessing is going to take.
In prosperity teaching, which is a false gospel, there is this teaching that if you give your money to God, God will make you financially rich. We are not saying that. I hope you are hearing we are not promising that. We are just saying that if you are generous, God will bless you. That is the promise that is given. The blessing might take the form of financial wealth. It might take the form of health. It might take the form of blessings in your relationships. It might take the form of blessing in longevity. It might take the form of blessing in your ministry. It can take so many forms, but the promise is he will bless you. He will not just bless you in this life, he will bless you in the life to come and forever, if indeed we are faithful to his cause and we are generous. He who sows sparingly will reap sparingly. He who sows bountifully will reap bountifully, 1 Corinthians chapter nine. The Bible says this again and again and again.
Who is the greatest evangelist the Christian world has ever seen? What name would you give? Who is the greatest evangelist the Christian world has ever seen? Maybe you would say the Apostle Paul. Certainly, this first century apostle of Christ was a great evangelist and took the gospel to the nations. Maybe you would say Billy Graham, world evangelist, this beloved man, who is in his nineties now and soon to join Ruth and go home and be with the Lord. Billy Graham has been a great and faithful man of God. Certainly, in the second half of the twentieth century was the world’s greatest evangelist. Many church historians would say if you look at the whole of history, maybe the greatest evangelist was Billy Sunday.
Would that surprise you? Have you heard of Billy Sunday, who was one of the greatest baseball players in our country? He was an amazing evangelist in a time in the second half of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century when there was no television, in a time when there was no radio, no microphones and amplification. He spoke to a hundred million people. He said, “God is not against wealth.” He said that when you convert the gold and silver the Bible attributes to Abraham to David and to Solomon to values current in Billy Sunday’s time these men were incredibly wealthy. Abraham was worth one and a half billion dollars, he said. David was worth three billion dollars, he said, and Solomon five billion dollars. These men of God were so wealthy and so rich. He said that Carnegie and Rockefeller and J.P. Morgan would have mowed their lawns and shined their boots. That is what he was saying. The truth is that Billy Sunday was right.
From the patriarchs to the kings of Israel, they were incomprehensibly wealthy by the mercy of God and by the grace of God and by the power of God. God is not against wealth. Don’t let anyone tell you that God is against wealth. He is not against you making money. The only question is: what are you going to do with it? What are you living for? What is your world view? What do you seek first? Are you committed to the cause of heaven? Are you committed to the cause of Christ? Are we faithful with our blessings? Are we faithful with the money that God has given to us? The promise is given: give and it shall be given to you.
There is a second, brief, teaching. Give because it has been given to you. The Bible doesn’t just say give and it will be given to you. The Bible does say that, but the Bible also says give because it has been given to you. I really think that if you were aware, if we were aware of everything God has done in our lives, if you knew the secret ways that he has provided for you and protected you and blessed you. I know there has been pain and hard times, but if you knew the secret ways that in his love he has protected you and provided for you, you would be oh so grateful.
Last Sunday, was by all accounts, a wonderful Sunday. Blake gave a wonderful message and the music was so worshipful and it was a time of communion. At our church, Cherry Hills Community Church, we just call communion communion. Sometimes we call it the Lord’s Supper. Throughout the Christian world, communion has many names. In the Anglican tradition and in the Episcopal churches and sometimes in the Lutheran and Catholic traditions, communion is called the Eucharist. Why is communion called the Eucharist? It comes from the New Testament, the Greek word, eucharistia, which means thanksgiving. Why is communion called thanksgiving? Partly because Jesus broke the bread and gave thanks, communion was instituted that Maundy Thursday with thanksgiving. It is also called thanksgiving because when we come to the table and we remember his sacrifice, we come in gratitude. We come in so much gratitude. It is at the communion table we remember that he died for our sins. He died in our place in substitutionary atonement. He offers by his mercy and grace forgiveness, salvation, eternal life, heaven, a new body resurrected, a New Jerusalem, a heavenly city, the new heavens and the new earth. It is all offered, it is all given by his grace and his mercy.
He wants us to come in gratitude. If you really have gratitude, surely, you are going to want to give. You are going to want to give generously. You are going to want other people to enter the family of God, and you are going to want the gospel to blanket the earth. You are going to give so that happens. You are going to want this church and all churches to reach their surrounding communities and to minister in power and you are going to give for that purpose as well. I know that most of you have heard of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is described in Genesis, chapter 14 in the Old Testament and also Hebrews, chapter 7 in the New Testament. In fact, in Hebrews chapter seven in the New Testament, I think it is one of the most amazing passages in the whole of the Bible. Hebrews 7:1 begins this way:
“For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him; and to him Abraham apportioned a tenth part of everything. For he is first, by translation of his name, king of righteousness, and then he is also king of Salem, that is to say king of shalom, king of peace. He is without father or mother or genealogy, nor beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues forever. See how great he is! Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe of the spoils. And those descendants of Levi who receive the priestly office have a commandment in the law to take tithes from the people, that is, from their brethren, though these also are descended from Abraham. But this man, Melchizedek who has not their genealogy received tithes from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. It is beyond dispute that the inferior are blessed by the superior. Here tithes are received by mortal men; there, by one of whom it is said that he lives, one that is immortal. One might even say that Levi himself, who receives tithes, paid tithes through Abraham, since he was still in the loins of his ancestor when Melchizedek met him.”
What an amazing passage. Who is Melchizedek? Have you ever wondered who is this guy? My guess is that if you have read the Bible and as you have read in the book of Hebrews or in Genesis, the 14th chapter, you have wanted to know, who is Melchizedek? Some of you have been curious enough to get a reference out or a commentary out and do some research on who Melchizedek is.
In Genesis 14, you have the battle of four kings versus five kings and you have the four Asian kings coming from the north and from the east led by Ched-or-lao’mer. This alliance of four Asian kings came down into the southern Jordan valley, into the vale of Siddim. Because these five cities in the vale of Siddim had not paid their taxes to these Asian kings, who were kings of great power, these kings brought their armies and they devastated the five cities of the vale of Siddim in the southern Jordan valley. The five kings of those five cities, including the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah. They took much plunder. They took many of the citizens including Abraham’s nephew Lot. They began to take it all north and east.
Abraham found out. Remember, as Billy Sunday said, Abraham was really wealthy, by equivalency, a billionaire. He had vast herds of cattle and countless servants and employees and he was a patriarch, one of the most powerful men on earth. The Bible says he gathered his people and went after his nephew Lot. He travelled to the headwaters of the Jordan where he found these Asian forces. In a secret raid under the stealth of night, by the power of God and the hand of God, Abraham prevailed. He brought his nephew Lot home and all the plunder. It was then that Melchizedek came out to meet him. Melchizedek said, “Abraham, you didn’t win that battle, God won that battle. This plunder isn’t yours; it belongs to God.” Abraham tithes to Melchizedek. Who was he? Who was Melchizedek?
Understand there are two scholarly opinions that you see in the world of scholarship today. One is the belief that Melchiz’ edek was Christ, a Christophany, a corporeal manifestation of the Son of God in a time that was pre-incarnate. Jesus Christ is eternal; he can appear whenever and wherever he wants. The idea of this segment of the scholarly community is that Melchizedek was actually Christ, appearing to the patriarch Abraham. It is Christ who is king of righteousness. It is Christ who is Sar Shalom, the king of peace. It is Christ who is the high priest forever. It is Christ who has neither beginning of days nor end of life. It is Christ who continues forever. Melchizedek is Christ, a Christophany, a manifestation of the Son of God.
Others say “No, Melchizedek is the king of Salem, which is an early name for Jerusalem.” He was the king of Jerusalem but he is made to appear as a prototype of Christ because his date of birth and his death are not mentioned, his mother and father and his genealogy are not mentioned. He is made mysterious so he can be a type of Christ. You have these two views in the scholarly community.
Here is the deal: there is no denying that this is possible that Abraham the patriarch gave tithes to Christ. Within the scholarly community, this is acknowledged. Abraham gave tithes to Christ. I don’t know how you feel about tithing, but if it is good enough for Abraham, it is good enough for me. I am happy to give tithes to Christ. Is it not true that whatever victories have been won in my life, they were won by God? Is it not true that whatever plunder I have from this world belongs to God? Is that not truth? Would you consider tithing to Christ and the cause of Christ? “As for the rich of the world,” the Bible says, “Charge them not to be haughty nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with all things to enjoy. Let the rich do good and be rich in good deeds. Let them be liberal and generous.” This is not a political statement. Let them be liberal in the sense of generosity. “Thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future that they may take hold of the life that is life indeed.”
You have two motivations God is giving you there. The first motivation is, don’t trust in money, trust in God who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. You should be grateful and you should be motivated by all the good things that God has given you to enjoy. That should be part of your motive, but then there is an added motivation. If you are generous, you will take hold of the life that is life indeed, zoe life, eternal life and you will lay up a good foundation for the future. We saw a couple of weeks ago that the word lay-up, thesaurizo, from which we get the word treasure. You will lay up treasure for the future. We saw a few weeks ago where the Greek word for future literally means the coming. You will lay up treasure for the coming, the coming age, the coming of Christ, the age to come. These are the promises of God. The only question is: do you believe?
Here is what I would like to do. I hope you will receive this with good hearts. I feel led of God, and the leadership, we feel led of God to offer a challenge, an opportunity to you the congregation, for us together. Here is the experiment we would like to conduct. We want to do this all together, so please consider this. For the month of November, and November starts on Tuesday, that is November one, as a congregation we would commit and agree to tithe to the church.
I know, as I have already said, there is much theological debate about tithing, but I also know and believe, and I think you would agree, every scholar does, that the New Covenant should outperform the Old Covenant. The standard of giving in the New Testament, based on love and grace, should outperform anything that was required under the law. We should tithe as a minimal standard. So, we would agree that for one month, we would tithe to this church. I know there are many valid causes in the kingdom of heaven from YoungLife to Campus Crusade to lnterVarsity to World Vision and Project Cure. I am just saying for this one month could you tithe to this church? Could you do the theological tithe, the first tithe, the tithe to the house of God? Could you do that for one month and put God to the test? See what God might do in this ministry? See how that would impact this ministry? See what God might do in your life and the blessings he might bring your way? Give him a chance.
For some of you that is just going to be business as usual because you already tithe. Unfortunately, tragically, that is a very small percentage of you. For many of you this is going to be radical. I understand that. For one month, we feel led to ask you for one month would you tithe to this church and just see what God will do in your life and see what he might do in this ministry. Let’s see the power of God in our church and in our lives. Let’s see the power of God. Let’s close with a word of prayer.