Deuteronomy 14:22-29; Acts 6:1-7

Enjoying & Administering the Tithe

Preached at Sycamore RPC

Kokomo, IN

February 3, 2002

Sermon Text

22 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year.  23 “You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.  24 “If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring  the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you,  25 then you shall exchange  it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses.  26 “You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.  27 “Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

28 “At the end of every third year you shall bring out all the tithe of your produce in that year, and shall deposit  it in your town.  29 “The Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance among you, and the alien, the orphan and the widow who are in your town, shall come and eat and be satisfied, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

A sense of need is not a bad reason for electing deacons!

I have told many of you that the session did something very rare in January. We voted for something that was not on our agenda, and something that we had not spent months discussing. The pressing needs of the church led us unanimously to say we need deacons. As we read in the passage in Acts 6, it was much the same for the early church in Jerusalem. In their ministry to the poor widows in the city, some of the Hellenistic widows from the “wrong side of the tracks” (they were Greek speaking Jews who were not native to Jerusalem) were not being assisted. The apostles and elders had too much else to do and would have had to neglect the Word of God and prayer to meet this need in the church. Though on a much smaller scale, because of the growth and maturing of the ministry here and opportunities for greater spread of the gospel are developing, the elders believed we needed some help in bearing the yoke of the work. So we are calling for deacons.

“What are deacons?” some of you may wonder. Note that the church ordained these seven men to “serve tables.” We believe these seven are the first deacons of the church. The word “serve” used in this passage is diakonew ( diakonew), from which we get the word “deacon.” Deacons are to be servants of the elders in their ministry to the church. They are to give themselves to helping the needy, administering the tithes and offerings, and caring for the resources entrusted to a congregation so that the elders can devote themselves to shepherding the congregation. In the Old Testament, we are familiar with three offices in the organization of Israel – the prophets, priests and kings. In the New Testament many theologians have seen a correspondence in the church offices with these. The pastor or teaching elder has been seen in the “prophetic” role. The ruling elders have been seen in having the “kingly role.” And h istorically deacons have been seen as the NT counterpart to the priests. Whether these parallels are warranted I will not argue, but would simply note that deacons are to minister to needy people.

Next week I will discuss more fully with you the qualifications and responsibilities regarding the diaconal ministry of the church. But first and providentially, let us look at this passage in our series from Deuteronomy. For it is precisely here that we see how the people of God are to be intentionally involved in promoting life around them. They are to do so by giving and using their tithes for the enjoyment of God’s kingdom and for the care of the needy. As we study this passage, it instructs us that we need to develop further the three-fold Biblical model of tithing and compassion we see here.

I. Our tithe should be brought to the local church.

As we heard last week, through Israel we have an example (a model or pattern) that now in the age of the church we should follow (I Corinthians 10:1-3). As we remember that God’s law teaches us love (Romans 13:8), we will see here the joy and beauty the Biblical model of giving should bring, as it was patterned in Israel and through them passed on to the church.

The children of Israel, clearly an agricultural people, were to tithe on everything God provided to them each year. Verse 22 says, “all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field,” was to be tithed upon. Verse 23 states that the “grain, new wine, oil, firstborn of herds and flocks” were to have ten percent taken and given to the LORD. The tithe of all their increase was to be given.

Now whenever the subject of tithing is raised, the NT warrant for it must be addressed. Many teach that rather than Israel patterning for the church what she is to do, Israel’s system of giving has been placed with a more spiritual approach. In other words, the tithe has become obsolete and is to be replaced with “love offerings.” Yet usually these “love offerings” based on guilt rather than gratitude, and leave the giver feeling ten percent is not enough and unsure of what God really desires for him to do. Recall that Jesus did not condemn the Pharisees for tithing. In Matthew 23:23 we hear Jesus saying they were following the pattern as they even tithed on the “mint and dill and cumin.” Jesus condemned them not for tithing, but for tithing while neglecting weightier provisions of God’s law such as mercy and justice. Tithing has a purpose that they were missing as we will see in a moment.

Now note where the tithe was to be brought. In verse 23 we read it was brought to the “presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses His name to dwell.” As Israel’s history developed, we realize that the tithe was to be taken to the temple at Jerusalem. Elsewhere we read that the temple was constructed with storerooms so as to receive Israel’s tithe. Since many Jews lived at a distance, they could not take their produce or drive their herds down there because of spoilage or loss. We read in verses 24-25 they could sell locally what they had, then take ten percent of their money down to the city (usually at the time of the Passover). So the pattern was for the tithe to be brought to the sanctuary of God’s people.

Yet in the last verses we see the shadow where God indicates the coming NT obligation for giving based on this pattern. Every third year, rather than the tithe being taken to Jerusalem, we see that it was to be deposited in the town (verses 28-29). This does not mean that the third-year tithe was just dumped on Main Street. The idea is that the elders of the town sitting in the gates were to receive and distribute this third-year tithe. The picture here is important to grasp.

When God’s Law deliberately uses the term “third day” or “third year,” it is giving us an indication of the gospel truth of the New Testament. (Recall that the apostle Paul said in I Corinthians 15:3-4 “For I delivered to you of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for sin according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” You can search the OT and never find a place where it directly says that the Messiah would be raised from the dead on the third day. Paul’s statement then means that the OT teaches in shadow and inference a resurrection on the third day). We know that Jesus was raised on the third day to bring freedom and justice to the poor. This third-year tithe is not just an arbitrary number. Rather, it was chosen by God to be administered for the care of the poor and picture for us the powerful work of the gospel. As Chilton says (Productive Christians…), “In the New Covenant there is no longer a central sanctuary; thus the third-year tithe is to be the regular pattern of our tithing today.” In the NT age, Jesus has established His temple in every city where the gospel is preached and the saints are gathered in worship. The saints are to tithe there in order to honor the risen Lord who sets people free!

Do you see the pattern? The tithe is to be brought to the local church, where the elders sitting in the gates are to collect and dispense it properly. I am not speaking of additional offerings – only the tithe. As His ordained representatives, the reception of the tithe by the elders is your way of giving to God Himself what He requires. Sending your tithe to other places does not fulfill God’s purpose for it. The elders may choose to send part of it elsewhere.

This gospel-transformed pattern is seen in the NT itself. In I Corinthians 16:1-4 we read, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of every week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come. And when I come, whomever you approve by your letters I will send to bear your gift to Jerusalem. But if it is fitting that I go also, they will go with me.” Do you then not only see the pattern, but do you follow it? It is the law of God, and as the prophet Malachi says, to not give your tithe is not just to take from the needy, it is to rob God Himself. Honor Christ by bringing your tithe to the local storehouse. Then consider how it is to be used.

II. Our tithe should be spent to promote joy.

Our tithes are to be a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is what we have just established. Then how joyfully they should be brought! Yet this joy does not have to be manufactured. We are simply to use the tithe to create an atmosphere of joy.

Verse 23 says that the Israelites were to eat of their tithe in the presence of the LORD. If they had to travel far and had sold their tithe, when they got to Jerusalem they were to do what we read in verse 26. “And you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen or sheep, for wine or strong drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and YOU SHALL REJOICE, you and your household.” The first portion of the tithe was to be used in part to celebrate, to buy things to bring joy to my family and others! God is generous, gracious, and bountiful to His people. We are to emulate that. We should use our tithe in part to, well, party!

Now all of you are probably wondering, “What’s the pastor going to say about the wine and strong drink?” Will he ignore it? To avoid trouble, is he going to explain it away? To create trouble, is he going to make some outrageous suggestion? Let me say this. This is God’s command, friend, not mine. I do not have to defend it or explain it away. But I do have to preach on it. This verse speaks for itself. We are to be a joyous people who are not so pious we cannot enjoy the goodness of God. It shows us that wine is not evil, that as Psalm 104 states God has given wine to man to make his heart glad if he so chooses to moderately use this gift of God. This is seen in our Lord’s life. He went to parties and weddings where tax-gatherers and sinners were not drinking diet cokes through tight lips. Yet I am not going to suggest some of you start bringing wine to our Fellowship Lunches. It would be offensive to others. However, I will suggest this: better that than a killjoy spirit, better that than using our Sabbath-keeping (as I have seen many in reformed communities do) to make us stodgy and proud rather than humble and exceedingly grateful for the goodness of God in our lives.

O brothers and sisters in Christ, this world sees the church as stodgy and proud! They think Christians do not know how to have fun, or that when we do have fun there’s no difference between their fun and ours. So rejoice before the Lord! Bring an abundance of food to our lunches. Do not tire of the rich fellowship we are enjoying here. Remember the visitor or the poor who may need you to feed them that day. Keep leaving the Sabbath open for your brother and sister so you can spend the long hours you do in fellowship. Remember the sick and take food and visit them. This was what the “love feasts” were that the NT church enjoyed. Sure some believers got carried away and got drunk at them to their shame, and began to emphasize them above the Lord’s Supper (I Corinthians 10:17-22). But Paul did not command that they cease the feast or even the wine, but rather they consider their hungry or weak brother above all else. May we truly feast on the love for God and one another we are to have.

III. Our tithe should be given to aid the needy.

The tithe was to be used to provide for those who had needs. But I want you to notice the station of life these people were in. It is different than what we commonly consider when speaking of poor work. Consider the four categories of needy in verse 29:

The Levite – The priest had no inheritance in the land, so that he would be free to serve the Lord in “fulltime ministry.” The tithe was to support the clergy who watched over the religious life of the people. In the NT, right after a discussion about which widows were to be supported by the church, we read in I Timothy 5:17-18 Paul giving instructions to Timothy about supporting the pastors. “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.” He then uses an OT law and a NT reference to support this teaching, “For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”” The tithe then is to first be used to pay those who labor in gospel ministry.

The Alien – When a stranger came into the land, he did not have the established ties and land to provide for himself and his family. The people then were to seek to care for him. He was to be helped until he could get his own footing. Recently we have seen a beautiful demonstration of that by this congregation. We had a stranger come in who is one no longer, and you were very generous to help them and they have been very grateful. Now God has blessed them with work. That is the type of thing that is in mind here, and our new deacons will be able to help us coordinate this.

The Orphan – Children without parents were to be assisted. Though currently in our nation we do not see many children living on the streets as other nations do, many children are wandering the streets of Kokomo unsupervised. Several of them have wandered in here upon occasion. We need to have resources available to touch them and the broken families to which they belong.

The Widow – These were ladies who lost their husbands, who apparently were at least 60 years of age (I Timothy 5:9) for younger widows were to remarry usually. We should not be trusting in government and programs to be meeting the needs of the elderly in our community. We should be finding ways to care for them. We have a whole building full of the elderly across the street from our building. They really do not know we are here yet. Many of them could not access this building if they wanted to come. We have to be thinking, planning and praying toward these things. God is the God of the widow and orphan. Are we as the people of God the people of the widow and the orphan?

Understand then that the common image of a poor person, a drunken or slothful man who has wasted his life away, was not to be supported through the tithes. Other means existed to help him. He was to glean off the and so he would learn to work, be given low-interest loans to help, or be put into a beneficent servitude so he could work his way out of his troubles.

The elders desire to be more faithful to help discern the various needs in our community, and in order to design Biblical means to help them we have called for deacons. We want to use our building more fully to reach out and be an active center of distributing mercy and justice. We must find ways to engage the community and especially this distressed and downcast neighborhood in which we dwell. We want to cooperate with the Rescue Mission more faithfully. That is why we must give faithfully, enjoy our life here exceedingly, and administer tithe wisely. Often if not always it is through these types of acts of compassion that those around us are touched by the gospel of Christ.

“He who mocks the poor taunts His Maker; He who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished,” says Proverbs 17:5. As we walk through this important time for our congregation, let us pray that the LORD will help each of us take our responsibility seriously. Whether it is giving faithfully to the local church, rejoicing in gladness before the LORD, or distributing our tithes wisely, let us remember the riches God has granted us in Christ and share them gladly and freely with others.