Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

Have you ever been lied to? It’s no fun, is it? Have you ever been lied to about money? Man, that’s really no fun.

I was dating a girl one time and she was always saying that she would pay for a date. She never did. She was always saying, “Yeah, I’ll pay next time.” The next time we went out, guess who paid. Me. It was always me. The more I thought about this, the more I thought, “This girl is just jerking my chain. She has no intention of ever paying for a date.”

So one night we went to a movie, and I decided that her little ride on the gravy train was going to stop here and now. We both walked up to the ticket window. I told the cashier that we wanted two tickets for the movie, and then I immediately walked away. Actually, it was a lot less of a walk and a lot more of a sprint. I left my date standing there as the cashier asked her to pay for the tickets.

Guys, in case you’re wondering, this didn’t score me any points with this girl. But I was just so tired of being lied to. I was so tired of being lied to about money.

You’d be hard pressed to find anything that people lie about more than money. Michael Jackson wrote a song called Money. In that song, he sings, “Money, lie for it, spy for it, kill for it, die for it.” It’s true, isn’t it? People will do all of those things for money. They’ll especially lie about money.

That’s why we’re kicking off a new series here at Amelia called LIE$. We’re going to cut through some of the lies about money and get at the heart of what God’s Word says about our finances. Specifically, we’re going to talk about some of the lies that people buy into about faith and finances.

And the first lie that we’re going to cut through is this one: The church only wants my money.

How many times have you heard that one? “I’m not going to church. The only thing they care about is taking up an offering. The preacher just wants a raise. They just want to pad their bank account. They don’t care about anything except money, so I’m not going.”

In that same song, Michael Jackson went on to sing, “So you go to church, read the Holy Word, In the scheme of life, it’s all absurd, They don’t care, They’d kill for the money.”

Have you heard this in your life before? Man, I have. And unfortunately, there are times when this lie wasn’t a lie. There have been instances where this has become truth.

Some churches have abused the subject of money. Some preachers have twisted the Bible, using it as a tool in their hands to pad their pockets.

Some preachers have taken the guilt angle. “Give or else.” They’ll use any form of guilt they can to get people to give their money.

Some preachers have used the greed angle. I especially hate this one. “God wants to bless ya, and for every dollar you give to my ministry, he’ll give you $100 back!” Those preachers who do this have made it really tough for the rest of us who want to preach God’s truth about finances.

And then some preachers will resort to one more angle: groveling. “Please give! Please give! Please, please, please give! We’re going to pass the offering plate for the seventh time today because we need more money. Please give!”

I want to tell you as we begin this series that you won’t hear any of these angles from me. I’m not going to guilt you into giving. If you’re convicted, then credit the Holy Spirit with that. But I’m not going to manipulate you or guilt you into giving.

I’m not going to preach out of greed. That health-and-wealth gospel that you hear a lot on TV makes me sick. You won’t hear it here. My salary is a fixed amount. I don’t get paid more just because you give more. I’m not preaching out of greed.

And I’m not going to grovel in front of you to get your money. I’m not going to beg.

No guilt. No greed. No groveling.

But I am going to talk to you about giving.

And someone is thinking, “I knew it! You’re a liar. You do just care about my money.”

If that was true, then I’d talk about money all the time. Those of you who have been here for a while, how often do I talk about money? Not very often, right? In fact, I probably don’t hit on this enough. Jesus talked about money in 25% of his teachings. There’s no way I teach on it 25% of the time.

And if you’re still thinking that I just want your money…you know what? We’re doing well here at Amelia. Brian and I have never missed a payday. Our bills are paid. We’re doing well. God is blessing us, so I have no need and no desire to solicit money from you.

A lot of preachers are impressed by people who make big bucks. They feel the need to kowtow to big money. Not me. I’m not impressed by money. I’ve talked to multi-millionaires and I’ve talked to people who use food stamps. I’m just not impressed with money. I’m impressed by godliness, and faithfulness, and generosity. Those are the things that turn my head. And those are the things we’re going to talk about in this series.

I realize that a lot of preachers and a lot of churches have abused the subject of money. They’ve sold people a pack of lies in order to bring the cash into their coffers. But that can’t stop us from pursuing a godly view of money and generosity. There have been preachers who have preached on money and then embezzled church funds. There have also been preachers who preached against adultery and then had an affair. We’re not going to stop teaching on sexual purity, are we? Nope. And we’re going to teach on the freedom of following God in your finances, too. So let’s get after it.

I want to look at a story from the life of Jesus. The story is in Mark 14. We’re going to start in verse 3. Check out this beautiful, incredible story.

“While [Jesus] was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.

Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another,

"Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.

"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help

them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Mark 14:3-9, NIV)

I want to unpack a few principles in this story that, if we hear them and if we heed them, will have a radical impact on our lives and on our money.

First of all, the gift was extravagant.

We know from John’s gospel that the woman in this story was Mary, the sister of Martha. Mary brought an alabaster jar of perfume made from pure nard. This would have come out of the mountains of modern-day India, and the cost for this perfume was outrageous. A pint of it would cost roughly a year’s wages. This wasn’t some Wal-Mart knockoff perfume. This was Chanel #5 on steroids. As gifts go, this was as extravagant as it gets.

And she gave this extravagant gift without holding anything back. Mary came to Jesus, “with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.” (Mark 14:3b, NIV)

Mary didn’t just pop the top on a perfume bottle and dab a little bit on Jesus. She didn’t give out a couple of sprays. Mary went all in. She took this expensive alabaster jar and broke off the long neck of the jar, and then she poured it out, every last drop of it, on Jesus’ head. It was a lavish, unbelievably extravagant gift.

And what did that earn her? Criticism.

Mark tells us that, “Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, "Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold for more than a year's wages and the money given to the poor." And they rebuked her harshly.” (Mark 14:4-5, NIV)

Generosity will bring critics and detractors. Some of you have experienced that. You’re giving to the church regularly and generously, and somebody has made fun of you for that. They’ve criticized you for that. “That’s stupid. Why are you giving all that money to the church? You sure could drive a better car if you didn’t give that money away. You could definitely have a better house, better clothes, etc.”

People will always criticize giving. People will always question motives. I’ll get criticized for this sermon series. “It’s too strong. You can’t talk about money like that. You’ll offend people. You’ll drive people away.” And they’ll be mad at me for teaching on giving.

The whole idea of giving generously, giving extravagantly is a magnet for criticism. Look at Mary. She gave this amazingly extravagant gift to the Lord and the people there criticized her for it.

We know from John’s account of this story in John 12 that the ringleader of this criticism was a guy that you may have heard of: his name was Judas.

Judas said, “You shouldn’t have wasted that perfume. You should have sold it and given the money to us so we could help the poor.” That sounds terribly sanctimonious, until you read what John said in John 12:6.

“He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (John 12:6, NIV)

Judas’ criticism came from the mouth of a hypocritical thief.

So Mary has given this amazing gift, and she’s getting bombarded with criticism, but then Jesus steps in.

Catch this. She was criticized by others, but she was commended by Jesus. It didn’t matter what other people thought. What mattered was what Jesus thought. And he came to her defense, telling the people there exactly what he thought of her gift.

"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me...She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.” (Mark 14:6, 8-9, NIV)

We don’t have to defend ourselves when we give generously. Will we be criticized? Possibly. But Jesus is our defender. And he’s also the only one we have to please. And in this story, we learn that Jesus is pleased by generosity. He is honored when we give extravagantly. In fact, he says that generosity is a beautiful thing to him. He defended Mary by telling Judas and all the other critics, “You’d better step back, Jack. She has done a beautiful thing to me.”

The simple truth is that giving to Jesus is a beautiful thing. When Mary poured out a whole bottle of insanely expensive perfume on Jesus’ head, he said that it was beautiful. And when we get the point of extravagant giving, he says that’s beautiful, too.

“The church only wants my money.” Well, I can’t speak for every church out there, but I can speak for this one. And if you think that we just want you to give your money to our church, that’s all we care about, you’re wrong. That’s just not true. And here’s why.

When I teach on giving, the whole point is that you’re giving to Jesus. Giving to Jesus is a beautiful thing. Church fund-raising is not a beautiful thing. Preachers who preach out of guilt, greed, or groveling…not a beautiful thing. But giving to Jesus, the Lord and Savior of our lives, is a beautiful thing. Going above and beyond, giving generously, being extravagant in your giving to God…that’s beautiful. And that’s what we’re called to do as Christ-followers.

The Bible calls it a tithe. A tithe literally means “a tenth.” Tithing has been God’s benchmark of giving for his people throughout history. He has always called his people to give extravagantly, to give a tenth of their income back to God.

But wait a minute…tithing, that was Old Testament. That’s part of the Old Testament law. We’re not under law, we’re under grace…so I don’t have to tithe. You’re right, and thanks for bringing that up.

There are a couple of problems with the “I don’t have to tithe because I don’t live under the Old Testament law” argument.

First of all, tithing predates the law. The law in the Old Testament was given to Moses. Way before Moses came along, Abraham tithed. If you don’t believe me, you can look it up in Genesis 14 and see for yourself. Tithing predates the law, so it wasn’t abolished when the law was abolished.

Secondly, and more importantly, we’re not under law to tithe. We’re under grace, so we can give more. I should never give God less under grace than I would have under law.

Once in a while, my wife will cook me up a batch of Granny’s Stew. This is my favorite dish that my wife cooks. It is awesome! But for some reason, Nicki doesn’t really care for it. It’s a lot of extra work for her because when she makes Granny’s Stew for me, she makes something else for herself…and it’s usually something simple like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I always tell her that she doesn’t have to cook this stew for me. I know she doesn’t like it. But you know what? She cooks it anyway, because she loves me. She’ll make this awesome stew for me and eat a PB&J sandwich herself because she loves me.

Love will take you further than the law ever could. Nicki is legally married to me, but making Granny’s Stew is not part of her legal responsibility in our marriage. It’s not an act of law…it’s an act of love.

For those of us who follow Jesus, tithing, giving God a tenth of our income, it isn’t an act of law. It’s an act of love…and it’s a beautiful thing.

In preparation for this series, I asked our financial ministry a specific question: how many families here at ACC regularly tithe? They gave me this spreadsheet with all the details on our giving for 2007. Now, before you get all carried away here, the spreadsheet has no names attached to it. Every family unit was given a number, so I have no idea who is giving what. The only people who have that information are those who count the offering weekly. And they are purposely tight-lipped about it. I don’t know what you give, and I don’t want to know what you give because, contrary to the popular lie, I don’t just care about your money.

Now, before we get to that report, think about these statistics. In America, the number of Christians who regularly tithe is somewhere between 2.2%-2.4%. Less than two and a half percent of Christ-followers in this country tithe.

More uncomfortable statistics. The average church in America is financially supported by 4-11 people who are bringing the tithe. On average, 4-11 people in every church in our nation are giving a beautiful, generous gift to the Lord in the form of a tithe or beyond.

The average non-Christian in our country gives 2% of their income to charity each year. The average Christian gives 2% of their income as well. As people who proclaim to know Jesus, who say that our lives and eternities belong to him, we’re not doing any better in generosity than our unbelieving neighbors. God has redeemed our souls, but a lot of times we haven’t allowed him to redeem our checkbooks.

When I broke down the giving statistics from our church, I used the average household income in Amelia as my base number. I realize that means that there is a decent margin of error for this, but based on that average income figure, somewhere between 10-15% of people here at ACC tithe. That is way better than the national average of less than 3%, which is really encouraging. What is not encouraging is that if 15% of our people are bringing a tithe or beyond to the Lord, 85% are not. We’ve still got a long way to go.

God issues a harsh indictment in Malachi 3. Listen to the hard words of God this morning.

"Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.

"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'

"In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. (Malachi 3:8-10a, NIV)

When we don’t give generously but instead withhold the tithe, God views that as robbery. God looked at the nation of Israel and cursed them because they were robbing him of the tithe. I don’t want God to look at our church here at Amelia and withhold his blessings because we wouldn’t bless him with a tithe.

Last week we talked about God’s river. God’s river of blessing is dammed up by selfishness, but it is unleashed by generosity. Think of the blessings that could flow here if we all brought the tithe.

Our children’s ministry could grow and expand beyond our wildest imagination if we brought the tithe.

Our ministry staff could expand beyond two full-timers to three, four, and beyond. Can you imagine the kind of impact that we would have with that many people focused full-time on growing our ministry? It would blow your mind! Bring the tithe.

Our facilities could be vastly improved over what they are now. We could pursue a new facility that we could use to bring a new explosion of God’s grace to our community. Bring the tithe.

You may think that your tithe wouldn’t amount to much. If it stood alone, none of our tithes would accomplish much. But collectively, when God’s people bring the tithe, God moves. If everyone who calls ACC home would bring the tithe, God would blow our minds with what he could do. Because remember, you’re not giving to the church. You’re giving to Jesus.

Do you view this church as average? I sure don’t. We run circles around average here at Amelia. We excel in so many areas. We’ve got plans and dreams to excel in so many more areas. But to fully realize God’s dreams for our church, we’ve got to excel in this area.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Corinthians 8:7, NIV)

Here at ACC, we excel in a lot of the things that Paul talks about in this verse. God’s dream for us is to excel in giving, too. To be excellent givers. To be extravagant givers.

And so here is the challenge that we’re laying down in this series. This money series is going to last for three weeks. This is week one and we’re almost done. Some of you are thinking, “Man, for the next two weeks, I’m going to go find a church where they won’t talk about money.” Go ahead. Go find a church that doesn’t preach the full Word of God and let me know how that blesses your life.

For those of us who are sold out to Jesus and committed to this church, God has a challenge for us. And it’s big. It’s a God-sized challenge. The challenge is to bring the tithe.

Two weeks from today, on the last day of this series, we’re challenging everyone who calls ACC their church home to bring the tithe. 10% of whatever you make, you bring that to the Lord that Sunday.

I know some of you only get paid once or twice a month. If that Sunday doesn’t fall in your pay schedule, you bring the tithe the previous week, or the next week.

But the challenge is for all of God’s people here at ACC to break their jars and pour out the perfume; to give extravagantly; to bring the tithe.

Personally, I think God’s gonna blow our minds. Because once you tithe once and you survive, you figure out that, “Hey, I can do this again.” You do it again, and you still have food to eat. So you do it again. But the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, right? The first step is to bring the tithe for the first time.

If you’re visiting with us today, don’t get freaked out here. This is for those of us who have made ACC our church home. If you’re visiting with us, just understand that a lot of people broke a lot of jars over the years so that you could experience God’s presence here today.

This challenge is for ACCers who need to stop robbing God and instead need to bring the tithe. For those of you who are tithing, take this opportunity to go above it. Law tells you to tithe. Love says that a tithe is a good start.

Some people are probably offended by this challenge. Some are scared. Some of you are feeling nauseous at the thought of bringing the tithe. But listen to the words of God. After he challenged his people to stop robbing him and start bringing the tithe, listen to what comes next in Malachi 3.

“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.” (Malachi 3:10b, NIV)

Most of the Bible is filled with commands not to put God to the test, but when it comes to the tithe, God makes an exception to his own rule. He says, “Test me! Bring the tithe and watch what I do in your life!”

God knows how hard this is for us, so he allows us to test him. On Sunday, November 18, we’re going to test him. We’re going to bless God by obeying his Word and bringing the tithe. You’ve got all this week to sit down and do your budgetizing or whatever you need to do, but in two weeks, bring the tithe. Some of you are going to sit down, look at your checkbook, and say, “We can’t afford to do this.” You can’t afford not to do this. You can’t afford not to be faithful in this area of your lives. Bring the tithe on November 18. Then work your on your future budget to figure out how you can make tithing a regular part of your faith walk with God.

And by the way, for those who think that all we care about is making money, you should know that we’re going to give away 10% of whatever we bring in. We’re going to tithe your tithe. We always give away 10% of our income to missions. So your money won’t just stop here at ACC. It’ll go to spread the gospel in India and Italy. It’ll feed someone hungry here in Amelia. It’ll provide resources for our local Christian camp. If all we wanted was your money, we wouldn’t be giving it away at such an impressive rate.

Bring the tithe. Not because we need your money. We don’t care about your money. I’m not interested in your finances. I’m interested in your freedom. I want you to experience the freedom that comes from obeying God in every area of your life, including your money. I want to see what God will do in our church when we’re faithful to him by giving extravagantly.

Psalm 37 says it all: “the righteous give generously.” (Psalm 37:21, NIV)

We’re not about money here. We want the people of ACC to live righteous lives. And a hallmark of a righteous life is generosity.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: giving, LIES, Malachi 3, Mark 14, money, tithes, tithing