Where I Go First Reveals Your Ultimate Affection
Denn Guptill · Tidal Church Moncton · May 19, 2024 · If Money Talked series
Denn Guptill looks at King Hezekiah in 2 Chronicles 31 to answer how much we should give. Giving to support worship was expected, shared by all and blessed by God, and it is about our need to give, not God's need to receive.
More from Denn Guptill · The If Money Talked series
Topics: Faith, Money & Generosity, Worship
Transcript
[0:01] It is almost over. I can sense the anticipation and there's almost an electricity as people are like, May's almost gone. You don't know what the preaching team's gonna be preaching on in June, but you do know that it won't be money. We do this every spring and at Cornerstone, we called it Stewardship Emphasis Month for about 20 minutes until somebody dubbed it Money Month. And that's where it's been going ever since. And it's part of our church calendar, like Christmas and Easter and Mother's Day. It's Money Month. And one of the questions that I'm asked through that is, how much should I give? And that is a valid question. People ask it for different reasons. Sometimes they're afraid they're not giving enough. Other times they're afraid they're giving too much.
[0:46] And there are people in every church who love to give, they can't give enough. They love the fact that they're supporting the kingdom. There are other people who give out of obligation. They know it's required and they give, maybe not grudgingly, but at least it's not what that anticipation the other people give with. And then there are people who would rather die than give. They're not gonna give a nickel. When it comes to giving, they stop at nothing. And that's a reality across all kinds of churches. My father-in-law told me that one time when he was in the Navy, he was visiting a church down south. And the preacher got up and when he was receiving the offering, he said, folks, let's give out of our means and not out of our meanness. It's kind of a reality for a lot of us, and some of you're sitting there thinking, I hate when they preach on money.
[1:33] And if you think you hate when the preacher has to talk on money, think of how the preacher feels when he has to talk about money. I got the ideal opportunity, right? I get to come and preach on money on a long weekend. How much better does it get than that? Right? But it's a reality. It's something that we have to talk about, that we have to address. How would you feel if you arrived some Sunday morning, big sign in the door that said, because of financial issues, Moncton West Lane had to close. Feel free to worship at one of the other churches in the city. I hope he'd feel bad, but more than the practical aspect is his spiritual aspect. The Bible talks about money all the way through. Moses spoke about money. David spoke about money. Solomon spoke about money. In the New Testament, Paul and Peter spoke about money. And Jesus, we're told, spoke more about money than He spoke about prayer, than He spoke about heaven, than He spoke about hell.
[2:25] And so it's a priority sometimes. In 42 years of preaching, 29 of them at Cornerstone, I've never once suggested to a person a dollar amount that they should give, and I never will. And I'd like to think that I've never treated anyone differently because of what they give or what they don't give at the church. And sometimes when people are struggling with what they should give, they ask me, they say, well, what do other people give? And I say, it really doesn't matter. And they say, but just kind of as an estimate that I can kind of get a range. And at Cornerstone, we have people who give in excess of $500 a week, and we have people who give less than $5 a week. And that's the range. But it's irrelevant because it's not about what others give.
[3:13] It's about what God is asking us to give. In 2002, I decided to go in a different direction. At Cornerstone, I decided that instead of just preaching on money when there was a crisis, when there was a crunch, when we're behind in the budget, which comes across as scolding or begging, that instead we would just take a month in the spring and talk about money, talk about the stewardship of giving. So if you were going to Cornerstone and you've been coming since 2002, then potentially you might have heard 90 messages on giving. And for some of you, you kind of feel like you've heard that many messages in the last two weeks on giving, right? And so the question remains, how much should I give? In Matthew 19, Jesus was asked by a man how he should inherit or what he had to do to inherit eternal life.
[4:05] We pick up the story in Matthew 19:21. Jesus told him, if you wanna be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you'll have treasure in heaven. Then come and follow Me. Sell all that you have. That sounds like a lot. Mark tells the story of a poor widow who came to worship at the temple, and it said that Jesus was watching as people put their gifts in the offering box. I don't know if Pastor Jim does that or not. But Jesus is watching as people are putting their offerings in the offering box. And He points out this elderly lady who put in two coins, remember from the older translations that said she put in two mites. A friend of mine, he said, when he was a little kid in church and they were talking about that, he wondered how they got the two mice in the offering box, right?
[5:00] And so Jesus is watching as this happens. And then He tells His disciples. We pick it up in Mark 12:43-44. Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I tell you the truth. This poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions, for they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has to live on. She gave everything. That sounds like a lot too. Now, before you panic, that's not where we're going this morning. We're gonna go back to the Old Testament for the answer to the question. In the book of 2 Kings, there's a statement that defines a king by the name of Hezekiah. In 2 Kings 18:5, we read, Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel.
[5:46] And there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before or after his death. Now, many of you here today had never even knew that there was a king by the name of Hezekiah in Israel, let alone that he was one of their greatest kings. So, a bit of a history lesson. King David was the greatest king of Israel. After he died, his son Solomon took over. After Solomon died, the wheels kind of came off the wagon. The kingdom divides. There's kings in the north, which was called Israel, and kings in the south, which was called Judah. Each kingdom had their own king. Some were good kings, some were bad kings. It goes back to the old adage by Lord Acton, a British historian who said, power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And for most part, these kings led their people far from God.
[6:32] They either led them into the blasphemy and the idolatry of the neighboring countries, or they just led them into immorality. And that seemed to be the story through the Old Testament. King. Hezekiah's father was a man by the name of Ahaz. And in 2 Kings 16, we pick up this. Ahaz was 20 years old when he became king. And he reigned in Jerusalem 16 years. And he did not do what was pleasing in the sight of the Lord his God. As his ancestor David had done. Instead, he followed the example of the kings of Israel, even sacrificing his own son in the fire. In this way, he followed the detestable practices of the pagan nations the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. So that was Hezekiah's father Ahaz. And then Hezekiah comes and he's determined to lead the people back into worshiping God.
[7:21] It's 700 years after the people of Israel had entered the promised land. It's another 700 years before Jesus will be born. And Hezekiah has committed to turning the country back to God. And he knows that if he's gonna do that, it's gonna begin with temple worship, with the people coming together and worshiping corporately. And that was the intro to the message. He knew that it would have to begin with the temple worship because he knew that worship is very seldom solitary. That God historically had called His people together to worship. That we come together to worship as a collective. There's a synergy and energy and accountability that we get when we worship together. And you know that because there was a while, you know, just three, four years ago that we didn't worship together and we missed that energy.
[8:14] That's why we worship together as a church. Can people worship God by themselves? They can, but it's really tough. It's really hard. And God knew that. And that's why the plan was to come together and worship. And so in 2 Chronicles, we see the initial plans that Hezekiah puts into place to reinstitute the temple worship. In 2 Chronicles chapter 31, verses 2-4, we read, Hezekiah then organized the priests and Levites into divisions to offer the burnt offerings and peace offerings and to worship and give thanks and praise to the Lord at the gates of the temple. The king also made a personal contribution of animals for the daily morning and evening burnt offerings, the weekly Sabbath festivals, monthly new moon festivals and the annual festivals as prescribed in the law of the Lord.
[9:03] In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves fully to the law of the Lord. In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites so they could devote themselves fully to the law of the Lord. And so the very first thing was that he knew that if he was gonna reinstitute temple worship, that he would have to equip and empower the priests in order to lead the people in temple worship. The priests were the ones who would do what had to be done to bring the people together corporately, and that everything would have to be in place. And Hezekiah knew that the giving wouldn't just be a spiritual exercise. That if all these things that were gonna happen, that it would be a practical exercise, that giving would have to take place.
[9:49] And it starts in verse 3 by saying the king made a personal contribution. So the giving started from the top. It was one of those little points of trivia that some of you might know, some of you probably don't know, but it's very doubtful if any of you are asked on a yearly basis by your employer whether or not you give to your church. But every one of your pastors at Moncton Wesleyan, when they fill out their annual service report, the denomination, that is a question that is asked, do you faithfully tithe? So it has to begin at the top, but that's not where it ended. And so while verse 3 says, the king made a personal contribution, he knew that he couldn't do it by himself. And that if everything was gonna be in place, that it would require the collective giving of the people.
[10:35] And so the first thing that we noticed is that their giving was required. The king was under no illusion. The temple worship would neither be free nor cheap. There were sacrifices, there was incense, there were garments that the priest wore. There was a tabernacle itself. And he knew that at that point that if that was gonna happen, that on a practical aspect that somebody was gonna have to provide for it. And he knew what would happen if he just assumed the people would give. 'Cause y'all know what happens when you assume, right? That sometimes you're wrong, right? And so he knew what would happen if he assumed. He knew that people would either underestimate how much temple worship would cost or they would overestimate how much others were giving.
[11:21] It wasn't neglectful, it was just ignorance. People haven't changed in 3,000 years. When we come to church, people either underestimate how much all of this costs or they overestimate how much other people are giving. I mean, I didn't realize that before I started pastoring. I never stopped to think about what church cost to operate. The practical aspect of it. I mean, I just showed up. The building was warm, the lights were on, the pastor was there. He preached. Never once did I think, I wonder who's paying for this. And if I even thought about the fact that it would cost something, I certainly wouldn't have realized how much that was.
[12:06] You can imagine my shock as a young lead pastor, the first board meeting I had when they broke out the financials and talked about those things, but Hezekiah knew that if worship was gonna resume that people were gonna have to give. Now in saying that it was required, I'm not sure there were consequences for it, not for people not giving. I don't know if they checked people at the door, if they turned people away who didn't give. I don't know if people showed up at people's homes asking for their money, but it was required in the sense that if they didn't give, then temple worship wouldn't have happened. Do we require people to give at Cornerstone? We most certainly do. Does that mean that if you don't give, you're not allowed to worship at Cornerstone? No. Doesn't mean if you don't give that someone's gonna show up at your door looking for your offering envelope.
[12:55] No, but it is a reality that if the people of Cornerstone don't contribute to Cornerstone, that Cornerstone will cease to exist. That without the giving of God's people at that local level, we would have to lay off the staff and sell the building. That is the reality of our giving. There's no magical pot of money that we dip into. I don't know if Moncton Wesleyan has a magical pot of money or not. I'll have to check if you do. I want some dibs on that as well, right? But if this is your church home, then it's required of you to give in order for this to continue. to be your church home. I say, well, Denn, I don't know if it's my church home or not. I'll give you a clue. If this is the church you go to when you go to church, it's your church home.
[13:44] But here's something else. If this is the church you don't go to, when you don't go to church, it's still your church home, right? And so understand that it's required. I think that every person that goes to a church should adopt the adage: If it's gonna be, it's up to me. It's not up to the other person, it's up to you. You wouldn't go to Montana's and eat thinking the guy at the table next to you would pay for it. I mean, you might, but it's not gonna work out well, right? But understand that even long before there were church buildings and staff people, that giving was part of worship. The very first story of worship in the Bible is found in the Book of Genesis. In Genesis 4:3-4. It says, when it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. And Abel also brought a gift, the best portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock.
[14:34] And we need to get beyond thinking that we need to give for God's sake. We don't give because God needs our giving. God is God. We give for our sake. In Psalm 50:7-11, we read, "Oh, my people, listen as I speak, here are my charges against you. Oh, Israel, I'm God, your God. I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens, for all the animals of the forest are mine. And I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird in the mountains and all the animals of the field are mine." Your giving is not about God's need to receive, it's about your need to give. Because anything that doesn't cost anything is worth exactly what you pay for it.
[15:23] And if your worship doesn't cost anything, then that's what it's worth. We make a sacrifice to God for our benefit, not for His. If we keep reading in 2 Chronicles chapter 31, verse 4, it says, "In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priest and Levites so they could devote themselves fully to the law of the Lord." So he wasn't saying, bring your money so that we can build better highways for Israel. He wasn't saying, bring your finances so I can have a nicer palace or we can provide for your retirement. He was saying, bring your finances, bring your offerings, bring this portion so the Levites and the priests can devote themselves to the law of the Lord. It was so that they could lead their people in worship.
[16:12] Then the priest could commit themselves to the ministry. The practical aspect of temple worship. If the temple was gonna operate, someone had to operate the temple and that someone had to be provided for and their tools had to be there and their sacrifice in the incense. And then we continue, it says, "In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and the Levites." And so not only was their giving required, their giving was equal. The king said to bring a portion and then he defined it. We hear the word portion. They heard 10%. 'Cause it goes back to the law that was laid down 700 years before. In Leviticus chapter 27, verse 30, it says, "One-tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain from the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart to Him as holy."
[17:07] And then in case they missed it, in Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 22, it says, "One must set aside a tithe of your crops, one-tenth of all the crops you harvest each year." And you say, Denn, you're just assuming that the people would know it was 10%. No. 'Cause if we move into 2 Chronicles 31:5, it says, "The people of Israel responded immediately and generously by bringing the first of their crops and grain, new wine, olive oil, honey and all the produce of their fields. And they brought a large quantity, a tithe." The tithe means the 10%. And then in 2 Chronicles 31:6, it says, "The people who'd moved to Judah from Israel and the people of Judah themselves brought in the tithes of their cattle and sheep and goats and the tithe of the things that had been dedicated to the Lord their God.
[17:53] And they piled them up in great heaps." When I speak about tithe, people often say, but then that's an Old Testament concept. It is, along with thou shalt not kill and thou shalt not steal and thou shalt not commit adultery. If we look in the New Testament, when Paul was writing about money to the Corinthian church, he wrote, "On the first day of each week, you should put aside a portion of the money you have earned. Don't wait until I get there and then try to collect it all at once." We're told the Corinthian believers came from a Jewish background, so I wonder what came to mind when they heard a portion of their income. If you're familiar with the Gospels, you know that Jesus had very little good to say about the Pharisees. He called them graves and licker and dirty dishes and serpents.
[18:40] In Matthew 23:23, He says, "What sorrow awaits you, teachers of religious law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law: justice, mercy, and faith." These guys were tithing their credit card points. They were tithing their winnings from Roll Up the Rim. They were tithing their grocery store coupons. But you know what they were missing? The bigger picture, the thought of justice, mercy, and faith. But Jesus didn't tell them to quit tithing and to practice those things. Instead He says, "You should tithe, but do not neglect the more important things."
[19:27] Another objection, people say, "Well, tithing in the Old Testament wasn't about money. It was about produce and grain in animals." Yeah, because that was their, that was their monetary way that they traded. Then when I travel in Ghana, in Sierra Leone, we'd often go to the villages and the villagers would bring their tithes out. The churches bring their tithes out, and it would be like yams and live chickens, which really made the trip back to the city. Quite awkward in the van with the chickens. But we'd get back to the city. The national superintendent would sell the yams and the chickens and then send the money back to the villages because that was the currency they dealt in in some of those rural villages. And so in a worldly sense, the tithe is a flat tax, right? 10%. Everybody returns 10% and they get to keep 10%.
[20:14] And the temptation that comes in is that the poor person sees how much the rich person gets to keep and the rich person sees how little the poor person has to give. But the reality is, for each one of us, we each return 10% and we get to keep 90%. I love the story about the two men that are lost on a deserted island. Don't know what happened to their ship, but it's a cliché desert or a deserted island. There's a palm tree, there's a beach. One guy's fretting. He's walking back and forth. He's all in a lather. He's like, "We're gonna die. We're far away from everything. Eventually they'll find nothing but bones." The other guy's snoozing next to the palm tree. The first guy says, "Don't you understand the situation?"
[21:01] The second guy goes, "Yeah, we're on a desert island in the middle of nowhere." He said, "Aren't you worried?" He said, "No." He said, "Why not?" He said, "I make $10,000 a week." First guy said, "That's ridiculous. You have no access to it and we have no place to spend it. What does that matter?" The second guy said, "You don't understand. I make $10,000 a week and I tithe. My pastor will find this." When Hezekiah shows up for the offering, he's floored. It is stacked in heaps. The word literally says piled in heaps. And he says, "Where did this come from?" In 2 Chronicles 31:10, it says, Azariah, the high priest from the family of Zadok, sounds like a science fiction movie, replied, "Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord's temple, we've had enough to eat and plenty to spare.
[21:55] The Lord has blessed His people, and all this is left over." And so finally we realized the giving was blessed. You can't what it said. "The Lord has blessed His people and all of this is left over." They lived well on their 90%. They had what they needed because of their faithful. God's work was provided for, and they were provided for. The king didn't ask them to take food away from their kids or to sell their homes or not pay their bills. That's what the 90% was for. 300 years after this, the prophet Malachi would write, "Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there'll be enough food in My temple. If you do," says the Lord of Heaven's Armies, "I will open the windows of heaven for you.
[22:41] I will pour a blessing, so great you won't have enough room to take it in. Try Me. Put Me to the test." Do you understand how blessed you are at Cornerstone? I tell our people, I said, you have won a lottery you didn't even know you entered. We are a blessed people. And if everyone at Moncton Wesleyan simply gave out their blessing, there would never be a financial issue at this church. But again, it's not about the church's need to receive, it's about your need to give. God has done so much for us. How can we possibly hold back from Him? Let me pray for you this morning. Father God, as we come before You, thank You for who You are and what You do for us.
[23:31] We thank You for the blessings. Father, we thank You that You've given us so much and require so little. And Lord, today that each person will have heard Your word, not Denn. Just speak the hearts, and we leave it in Your hands and Your care. In Jesus' name, amen.