City Life Starter

I. The Word: II Corinthians 9: 6-8; Malachi 3:8-10 

6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

 

8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!

But you say ‘In what way have we robbed You?’

In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me,

Even this whole nation.

10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse,

That there may be food in My house,

And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts,

“If I will not open for you the windows of heaven

And pour out for you such blessing

That there will not be room enough to receive it.

 

II. Reflection Questions:

1. The Bible has more to say about the dangers of greed than the dangers of lust, yet we seldom think of greed as a serious sin in our lives. Why is that?

2. What motivates you to give? Obligation? Philanthropy? Altruism? Social conscience? Or something altogether different?

I remember it like it was yesterday. Not the date, not even the day of the week. Just the feeling of having my gut punched from the inside out. The feeling of being stripped naked and displayed for the world to see. Well, maybe not the world, but definitely the other two men in the car, one of whom was my pastor, a man I deeply admired and respected. To be fair, both men already knew of what I was guilty. We all did. The conversation was mostly to bring it out in the open, let me know they knew. The feeling of shame and guilt caused my throat to tighten and my vision to blur. 
 Not a lot of places to hide in a Chevy Astro van 250 miles from home. Now confronted with the truth, I tried a few lame excuses that trailed off. These men, motivated by love, were trying to correct my behavior. My reaction was to become defensive, then quiet, sullen, and distant. I don’t recall saying more than a few sentences of meaningless conversation filler the rest of the trip. I was hurt and angry, not only at these men, but at God Himself. Not long after, I found myself making excuses to miss Sunday services and began looking at “alternative” plans for my future. Eventually, I walked away from the church and for almost fifteen years, I refused to have anything to do with God. When I pout about something, I REALLY pout!

 

Fifteen years later, God, in His infinite mercy, drew me back in to His loving arms in a lonely hotel room, and soon after, dropped me into the lobby of the Edwards Theater to check out CLC. The rest, as they say, is history. Now much older, maybe wiser, I can talk about the sin that so derailed my life. The tithe. Will a man rob God? I was weekly robbing Him, and expecting Him to bless me and my family. I had things so backwards, that I would pray, “God, please provide for us, so we can afford to give. We can barely pay rent and feed the kids, how can we pay our tithes?” Suddenly confronted by my pastor and the Church Administrator (the guy who counted the offerings and paid the bills), the truth was made obvious. It was God’s still, small voice that I heard clearest: “My son, how can you lead people to follow and obey Me, when you aren’t following and obeying Me? How can you lead others to live by faith, when you haven’t even the faith to tithe, much less give beyond the tithe?” I know now, and really knew even then, that tithing is a matter of the heart. The God Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, whose city streets are paved with gold, hardly “needs” my tithe or yours. Instead, giving is a barometer of our hearts, measuring just how much of our lives belong to Him. Do we give abundantly? Do we tithe? Gross or net? Do we tip God like some cosmic waiter at our Sunday service? 

“Try Me now in this,” says the Lord of Hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.” If 56-year-old me could go back in time and talk to 35-year-old me, I would explain the really hard word “firstfruits;” hard because it has the word FIRST in it. Meaning, before anything else (Yeah, 35-year-old me was just dense and stubborn enough to need it explained that simply!). Next I would explain that, while tithe does mean “tenth,” the amount is secondary to the attitude of the giver. And the attitude of the giver is founded in the understanding why we give. Giving “under compulsion” (because I have to) is no different than paying taxes every year. And God is just as blessed by that type of giving as the IRS. Instead, we are told, “God loves a cheerful giver,” someone so caught up in the beauty of Jesus Christ and the revelation of all that He gave (hint: EVERYTHING!) that we can’t wait for the opportunity to give—money, time, service, whatever is needed. We give, not because He commands us, but because through giving, we become partakers in His divine nature. We give not to get, but because He has already freely given Himself far more than we could ever hope to repay.

Prayer

​ Heavenly Father, You are the great Giver of all: life, grace, and provision. As such, You have provided us with the opportunity to emulate You by giving freely of those things You have first given us. Lord, let us be generous in spirit, seeing needs and pouring our resources into those needs. Bless us with more ONLY so we can give more to advance the gospel. Lord, we thank You for the opportunity to remember what You have given for us, and to respond to that remembrance by giving of ourselves to others. In Jesus’ name, Amen