2 Cor 9:6-11
Today, for the first time in my life, I will preach about tithing. Ilang buwan na tayong nakikinig sa pagiging steward ng ating katawan, ng ating time, ng ating resources. At ito lang naman po ang napaka-simpleng tanong: nasan na yung ikapu ng kinita mo?
Pagkatapos ng preaching ko ngayon, sana ito lang ang tandaan natin lahat:
My Tithe is Not Mine!
And that will be our main principle, dahil yun nga naman ang totoo, hindi sa atin ang 10% ng kung anumang meron tayo. Yung 100k na kinita mo for 5 months, hindi sayo lahat yon. Ung 1000 na kinita mo dahil sa pagbenta mo ng mga produkto mo, ung 100 don hindi talaga sayo. Sa Panginoon yon.
So My Tithe is not mine!
But Where is Your Tithe?
Ay iniingatan ko.
Tinatago ko.
Ininvest ko na.
Pinangbili ko ng Bible.
Pinambili ko ng pangkain namin.
Hindi sayo yan! Bakit mo ginalaw?
Ang tawag sa pag sabi na “ibibigay ko sayo” pero hindi binigay ay ESTAFA. Pwede kang kasuhan ni Lord ng Estafa kasi sa kanya yan, hindi sayo.
So Where is your tithe?
At Bakit hindi mo binibigay?
Sa US, in 2001, Barna Research revealed some significant trends in giving:
- Compared to 1999, the mean per capita donation to churches dropped by 19 percent in 2000.
- Among born-again adults, there was a 44 percent rise in those who gave nothing.
- The number of donors to any nonprofit or church organization declined by 7 percent.
- Four out of every ten adults gave nothing to churches . . . a rise of 15 percent among those refusing to support churches.
- One-third of born-again adults said they gave tithe in
2000, but a comparison of their giving versus their household income revealed that only one out of eight actually did.
“”Americans who earn less than $10,000 gave 2.3 percent of their income to religious organizations,” Smith, Emerson, and Snell write, “whereas those who earn $70,000 or more gave only 1.2 percent.” While the actual percentages are slightly higher for Christians who regularly attend church, the pattern is similar. Households of committed Christians making less than $12,500 per year give away roughly 7 percent of their income, a figure no other income bracket beats until incomes rise above $90,000 (they give away 8.8 percent).
In fact, in absolute terms, the poorest Christians give away more dollars than all but the wealthiest Christians.”
Alam natin itong story na ito. Mark 12:41-44
And according to tithing.com: Widows and widowers are some of the biggest tithers, with 17.6% giving 10% or more of their income to the church, compared to 8.6% of non-widowed people.
Ang pagbibigay ng ating ikapu at pagbibigay ng higit pa sa ating ikapu ay hindi na natin nappractice sa church. Kaya sabi ng iba, madaming selfish Christians kasi hindi nagbibigay, kasi nagsimula sa church na hindi nagbibigay ng nararapat para sa Panginoon.
At tayo ay naririto ngayon upang makinig sa isa nanamang preaching about tithing.
What does the Bible really teach about tithing?
In Leviticus 27:30, sinabihan ng Panginoon ang mga Israelita kung ano ang gagawin sa kanilang mga ari-arian. Maganda po na matandaan natin na galing silang Egipto at walang mga pagmamay aring lupa. At noong nakarating na sila ng sa Israel, ang promised land, minarapat ng Diyos na bigyan sila ng bata ukol sa kanilang mga pagmamay-ari.::::::::
Very important yung tithing. At sa atin ngayon minsan tinatawag na natin na tithing kahit anong action ng pagbigay. Kung ang ibibigay natin ay piso lang sa 100 pesos na kinita natin, tawag pa rin natin dun tithe, kahit hindi naman talaga 10% yun ng kinita natin. So lahat ng may kinalaman sa pagbibigay ng pera we erroneously call–tithing. Which in fact hindi naman talaga. We can call anything below 10% as DONATION. And anything above our 10% as OFFERING. But our tithe is 10%. Ayaw naman natin maging legalistic na ijujudge namin kayo kung hindi kayo magbigay sa Panginoon, pero the 10% belongs to God dahil my tithe is not mine.
The Israelites were warned that to present to their Creator anything less than the full 10 percent was to “rob God,” since the first 10 percent belonged to him, not them:
Malachi 3:8-10
At alam niyo ba, na hindi lang isang tithe ang meron sila, hindi din dalawa, kundi tatlong tithe ang commanded sa kanila ng Panginoon
Three Tithes of Israel
- Tithe for priests and Levites Numbers 18:21, 24
- Tithe for a sacred festival Deut. 12:17-18; 14:23
- Tithe for Orphans, Widows and poor Deut 14:28-29; 26:12-13
Tithe 1 and 2 are forever. And then number 3 is collected every 3rd year. So every year they actually give to the Lord roughly 23% of what they earn. Which is less than what we pay sa taxes natin. So the practice of tithing is stated by God in the Old Testament. And histroy will indicate that the Egyptians, Chaldeans, Assyrians all tithed to their gods.
Who is your God?
And we get here the value of tithing. In Deut 14:23::::NIV
We tithe so that we may learn to revere God always.
- Tithing is intended to train people to put God first in their lives.
- Before you even spend, naka-laan na ba ang dapat ay sa Panginoon? Tandaan natin, our tithe is not ours.
Who is your God?
- Tithing reminds us that all we are and all we have is from God.
- Ang pagtitithe ay nagbibigay sa atin ng perspective. Bakit mas nag dedepend tayo sa Panginoon.
- Real talk lang no. Ang hirap mag tithe. Pinag-hirapan ko yung perang yan, may renta ako sa bahay, mahal ng bigas at gasolina ngayon, tapos nagbabayad pa tuition kasi June na. Wala nang space para sa tithe. Gamitin ko nalang, will din nama siguro ni Lord na mabuhay ako ng maayos diba? Ang tanong, nung hindi ka nagtitithe, maganda nga ba buhay mo? Nung nagtitithe ka, kumusta buhay mo?
At meron tayo laging ganitong mentality hindi ba? Ayoko mag tithe. Kaya naman ng church. Kaya naman nila pastor. Madami pa akong kailangan. Mas madami pa akong kailangan hindi lang nila alam. And yes, most of the time we say::
Ayoko mag tithe, dahil:
- Tithing is legalism
- Pinipilit niyo kami mag tithe. Jinujudge niyo kami pag kulang o hindi kami nagtitithe. Para kayong yung church malapit dito na puti, talagang nagchecheck ng tithe ng mga tao. Legalism yan. Wag ka masyado dogmatic.
- Ito siguro ang baguhin nating perspective about giving back to the Lord. What can you give that He has not given?
- May ibang nagtuturo that Tithing is taught in the age of law which is the Old Testament, at tayo ngayon na nasa New Testament church, we live in the the age of grace. And Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law that’s why the law has no more effect on us. In fact sa New Testament, the word tithing is only used once by Jesus in Mark 12, the passage na binasa natin kanina. But the rest of the passages in the NT speak about giving not really tithing. In the Old testament they were required by law, but now Jesus saved us by His grace. Kaya if you are saved by Grace through faith, you should also give.
- The old hymn says, Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe
- May mga babayaran pa akong utang
- Ito ang magandang I consider. Bakit ka nga ba may utang? Si Lord ba may kagagawan niyan? Hindi ba sa Diyos ka talaga unang may utang? Hindi ba utang din ang tithe mo dahil nasa iyo pa e.
- If we obey God, he will help us pay our debts. Tutulungan niya tayo na maghanap ng paraan. Minsan sa pagbalik natin ng ating kaloob sa Panginoon, ano ba nangyayari? Nagiging clear ang lahat. Magugulat ka nalang ung nilagay mo sa offering basket, aba bumalik sayo x2 right after service.
- Mga kapatid ito lang yon: Do not rob God to pay men! Our priority is to please God first.
- Magttithe din ako, pero slowly
- Anong slowly? Para kang pumunta ng 7-11 at sinabi mo sa sarili mo, isang kitkat lang, hindi ko babayaran pero bibili ako tatlo. Robbing parin ang tawag don! And again if we don’t give what is God’s, we rob Him.
- Hindi ko afford mag tithe
- Of course you can tithe! Will ng Panginoon na ibalik mo sa kanya ang pagmamay ari niya. And he promises to provide for all your needs according to his riches in glory.
- In fact, You are safer living less inside God’s will than living on more outside of it.
- Kung hawak hawak pa rin natin yang tithe na yan, we cannot keep what belongs to God. Kung hindi natin ibigay yan, mawawala yan dahil sa kagagawan ng demonyo or talagang mawawala nalang yan. Ibibigay nalang dapat natin sa Panginoon, nawala pa.
- Kung iniisip mo ang laki naman ng tithe ko, may solusyon ako! Bawasan natin yung kinikita mo para lumiit din tithe mo. Ok ba yon?
- Luke 6:38 says:::::
- The passage tells us that when we give,
- Pressed down – more space
- Shaken together – moving and very active
- Running over – like a liquid, overflowing
- According to Randy Alcorn
If we pay our debt to God first, then we will incur his blessing to help us pay our debts to men. But when we rob God to pay men, we rob ourselves of God’s blessing and thereby dig a deeper hole.
Kaya mga kapatid, we should tithe
I should tithe because:
- My tithe is not mine
- At ilang beses na natin nasabi yan. Our tithe belongs to God. If we don’t give it, we rob God. Isang bagay na ayaw na ayaw ko sa pagttrabaho–delayed na sweldo. Ok pa sa akin yung alam kong wala, pero yung dapat sa araw na ito meron na, pero wala pa, nakakainis yon. Kung tayo naiinis sa ganon, can you just imagine what God feels if we delay naman our tithe. And ako Im guilty of this dahil paiba iba din income ko every month, minsan sinasabi ko ipunin ko ba muna or hindi. But we have to give to the Lord. The Israelites were taught to give the first fruits of their harvest to the Lord. As Christians, we should also give the first fruits of our harvest to God. Hindi atin ang 10%.
- It increases my sense of commitment
- Around the 70s to 80s, hindi required sa mga kotse ang mag seatbelt. Dumating yung time na narequire yan. Everytime naman na may nirerequire ang batas natin na something, we complain, pero nagaadapt din. Pero imagine kung hindi na irequire ang seatbelt, diba magsseatbelt ka parin? There may be some of you here who might disagree with what I said about tithing and giving kanina, but it is practical, madali din ituro na magbalik ng pagmamay-ari ng Panginoon. And yes, it increases our commitment sa Panginoon. Because in one way or another, Im sure nakita na din natin ang blessing of tithing. Hindi ba?
- God has given me so much more
- Again, what can we give that He has not given? What can we have that is not already His? Jesus Christ died for you. Isang taong makasalanan. Romans 5:8:::::
- At kung tutuusin pagmamay-ari ng Panginoon hindi lang 10% kundi ang kabuuan ng pagkatao at lahat ng meron tayo. Why not give back? Why not give more? Why not give out of your love for God?
- Mas masarap magbigay sa anak mo, sa kaibigan mo, sa mga magulang mo dahil mahal mo sila. And if you love someone, you will give. And if you love God you will give as well.
- In the abundance of God’s love for us, we should also be in abundance of giving to Him, sometimes more than 10% of what we earn.
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Cor. 9:6-8
Sinasabi ni Paul dito, na ikaw ang mag desisyon kung anong ibigay mo sa Panginoon maliban pa sa tithe mo yan. At ang pinaka magandang tanong at challenge ngayong umaga: what should I give to Him?
- You get back what you give v 6
- You decide what to give v7
- If you give, God will abundantly give v8
My Tithe is Not Mine!
Let me end today with a story
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER – THE FIRST BILLIONAIRE: The very first person to reach the status of billionaire was a man who knew how to set goals and follow through. At the age of 23, he had become a millionaire, by the age of 50 a billionaire. Every decision, attitude, and relationship was tailored to create his personal power and wealth. But three years later at the age of 53 he became ill. His entire body became racked with pain and he lost all the hair on his head. In complete agony, the world’s only billionaire could buy anything he wanted, but he could only digest milk and crackers. An associate wrote, “He could not sleep, would not smile and nothing in life meant anything to him.” His personal, highly skilled physicians predicted he would die within a year. That year passed agonizingly slow. As he approached death he awoke one morning with the vague remembrances of a dream. He could barely recall the dream but knew it had something to do with not being able to take any of his successes with him into the next world. The man who could control the business world suddenly realized he was not in in control of his own life. He was left with a choice. He called his attorneys, accountants, and managers and announced that he wanted to channel his assets to hospitals, research, and mission work. On that day John D. Rockefeller established his foundation. This new direction eventually led to the discovery of penicillin, cures for current strains of malaria, tuberculosis and diphtheria. The list of discoveries resulting from his choice is enormous. But perhaps the most amazing part of Rockefeller’s story is that the moment he began to give back a portion of all that he had earned, his body’s chemistry was altered so significantly that he got better. It looked as if he would die at 53 but he lived to be 98. Rockefeller learned gratitude and gave back from his wealth. Doing so made him whole. It is one thing to be healed it is another to be made whole.
Tithing isn’t the ceiling of giving; it’s the floor. It’s not the finish line of giving; it’s just the starting blocks. Alcorn
The power of the tithe is power from God to