We’ve been talking on these Sundays about "Money Matters." In this series we have explored how that God is a God who counts our resources in ways that are beyond what the numbers show. He is the God "beyond-the-math." Last week we discovered some of the myths that we have believed about money. We heard, in contrast, the truth of what Jesus had to say about our accountability to God regarding our resources. In this morning’s message I’m going to do something I can’t recall ever doing in a simple straightforward way and that is to share with you the reasons why I give. I just want to tell you my story or my testimony about why I give. Let me say at the beginning this is my story based on what I believe. If you have a different story, that’s fine but this is mine. This is my story after 33 years of following Christ with my whole heart and 31 years of being involved in ministry in his church.

The verse I have chosen to use for this message is one that has been part of Kathy and my testimony regarding the giving of our resources. I am not sure how or when this verse connected with me but I do know that it was in our early days of marriage. If I may, let me read it to you in the NASV, which is the version I memorized it. " Honor the Lord from your wealth, And from the first of all your produce; So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine. (Prov. 3:9-10) In the margin of my Bible I have written "Promise: 7-3-76" and then underneath it, "It still works: 5-4-79." I can say to you today on February 12, 2006 that it still works!

Giving, for a believer, is more often than not a journey to which God has called you to join him rather than a one-time experience. It’s something that evolves over time. So, if I may, I want to weave my journey of giving into this message this morning as I talk to you about seven reasons why I find more joy in giving, honoring God with my resources, than I ever dreamed was possible.

The first reason may seem a little strange but it is true. The first reason I give is I like how I feel about myself when I give. The behavioral sciences call this "altruism." It’s that feeling you have when you have done something for someone else that just makes you feel good. There is a joy or delight that comes from giving that you can’t get anywhere else.

A few years ago I wanted to do something really special for Kathy for Christmas. I decided that I wanted to replace her very small diamond engagement ring with a larger stone. The ring I bought her in 1975 was all I could afford and I failed to give it to her in a manner that reflected my love for her—rolled up in a Kleenex in my jeans pocket with my little brother! So she was due an upgrade. Well, it took a little creativity with the truth but I was able to get her original ring to the jeweler to have her new ring made, using the one stone and adding others. That Christmas morning I had her unwrap a Pyrex dish and a couple of other things and then I presented her with what she had long deserved as a symbol of our love. I still treasure that moment and that Christmas because of the sheer joy of giving out of my love for her. It is that feeling that is one of the basic reasons I give.

Yet there is a greater reason for the feeling I have when I give and it’s this: When I give I am most identifying with the deepest part of the heart of God. John 3:16 says, "God so loved the world that he gave…." God released what was most precious to him, his very Son, and did that out of the raw generosity of his heart. Jesus, in turn, would say about himself, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13) Jesus endured the cross, the Bible says, "…for the joy set before Him" (Heb. 12:2). So when I give I am allowing myself to be most deeply connected with that part of the character of God that gave all for me. Knowing that some part of me is closely like him is a good feeling.

So when I give I just feel better about myself. There’s a second reason I give and it relates more to my giving to First Baptist Church. That reason is that I give because the One to whom I surrendered my life instructs me to give. Jesus said, " Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return." (Luke 6:38) Paul would remind us of Jesus’ saying, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). He is the one who commands me to give because he is the one to whom I surrendered my life.

I fully surrendered my life to Christ in June of 1973. I was 19 years old. I had come to the end of myself and in a moment of deep, profound contrition I fully yielded the control of my life to Jesus Christ. Later, in 1974, out of that sense of surrender I sensed God calling me to let him use me in ministry. I can recall where I was when both of those moments of surrender came in my life. I didn’t go into ministry because I thought it would be an easy "8 to 5 job with no weekends." No, I followed the call of God compelling me to obey him. Following God’s compelling into ministry was a result of being absolutely surrendered to whatever he wanted me to do.

In 1975, in the early years of that surrender, Kathy and I were married. I became impressed through the teaching that I was exposed to that because I surrendered my life to Christ I was to surrender a portion of my income. That portion I was taught was to be 10%. Kathy and I believed that wasn’t optional. We believed that this was what God expected from a life that was fully devoted to him. It wasn’t something we did because we were "guilted" into it. We just did it out of sheer obedience to Christ.

Life has a way, though, of testing your commitments and obedience. Shortly after we were married, still in college, both working, barely getting by, I had neglected to write the check to our church for our tithe. The tithe was going to be $15 and I only had $17, with no expectation of other income. I asked my friend Mark Baber about it and he told me, "You can always afford to give to God." So with some fear and sheer obedience, I wrote the check. I wrote it because I was surrendered. I wrote it because I was obedient. I wrote it because the Bible says, "Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce…." I know I’ve told you this story before but it was a defining moment for me that has guided me for the last thirty years! That wasn’t how I was raised. That wasn’t how my wife was raised but because we were surrendered we didn’t see it as an option!

As I said, this is my story but I have encountered a lot of folks in 32 years of ministry for whom that isn’t their story. One major reason this isn’t their story is that they have never had a moment in time where they experienced a full, complete, total surrender to Jesus Christ as the absolute ruler of their life. That’s where giving starts. Once that issue is settled then everything is on the table. That means what we give and how much we give comes into play. As I said, for me that means starting at 10% of what God gives me through this church.

Over the years I have heard a lot of reasons people choose not to honor God with 10% of their resources. Some say, "I make too much to give." Others say, "I’ve never earned enough to give." Another says, "I’ve overspent my income so I can’t give." Still someone else will say, "I’ve got these plans that I’m committed to right now." The danger in all of these excuses is that it shows that we have let our standard of living determine the standard of our giving. The reality is that it needs to be just the opposite. Our standard of giving must determine our standard of living. If we don’t reverse this then we will be tempted to toss God a tip of what is left over instead of a true reflection of the surrender of our life!

So whatever your reasons or rationale is about giving or not giving 10% of your income to the local church, that’s your call. You can work that out with God not me. This is just my experience and my story. It is a reflection that when I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ I gave all of it to him without exceptions. Every time I have tried to do otherwise something in my spirit sounds the alarm that warns me that I’m taking back what I have already surrendered. Again, this is my story. If yours is different, then that is between you and God.

There’s a third reason I give and it is that I give because it’s a commitment I’ve made with you. Before I came to this church I had never used or signed a pledge card regarding the budget in the churches I pastored. In the previous churches, signing a card that indicated what I would give to the church in a particular year wasn’t part of their tradition. So it was new to me when I came and it may have been new to some of you that you were asked to pledge or promise what portion of your income you would commit to the church. Yet in the spirit of "you dance with who brung ya," I began doing that as a leader of this church.

Now I will admit to you that signing the card and filling in the amount is a decision that I’ve already made. It isn’t something I wrestle with because I’ve already determined what we will give. Yet there is something significant to me about putting it down on paper where I can see it and then getting my contribution record and seeing how I’ve done. There is always that sense of accountability that rises up and asks, " Am I doing what I said I would do?" Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 says, "So when you make a promise to God, don't delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. It is better to say nothing than to promise something that you don't follow through on."

You see I believe you expect me as the pastor of this church to give in such a way that I’m demonstrating my commitment to you. I know that you don’t require that in writing and no one has ever asked me about it but I just believe you expect that I as pastor would show myself as a leader in the way I give my resources. As your pastor, I can’t do any less. To do less would be to break a commitment to you that I have made between you and God. Your generosity to me is a covenant that compels me to commit yearly to give back to this church with my whole heart. For some of you, the pledge card is not the symbol of your surrender and you are fully faithful in your giving and that’s great. But as the leader of this body, I believe signing that card is my commitment to you.

Now a fourth reason that I choose to give my resources to God’s work is, I give in order to position myself for God’s blessing and protection. This may not be at the top of the list and really shouldn’t be but the Scriptures associate our giving with a promise of blessing. Prov. 3:9-10 reflects that when it says, "Honor the Lord with your wealth…then he will fill your barns with grain and your vats will overflow with the finest wine." I don’t believe this always means financial blessing. There are people I have met in life who were faithful with their tithe and they still had financial challenges in their life. Yet it still means that God promises blessing and protection because we give.

Malachi 3:10 is one of those classic verses that reflects this. It says, " Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do," says the Lord Almighty, "I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won't have enough room to take it in! Try it! Let me prove it to you!" You look at that verse very carefully and others like it and you see that at the same time God invites his children to express generosity he is saying, "If you do this, I will bless your life. If you will honor me with giving, I will honor you with not just blessing but also my protective care over your life."

My Dad used to call our cars "faithmobiles" because we drove them so long and with so many miles. We have always bought used cars. It was nothing for us to buy a car with 30,000 plus miles on it. We still do that. Some of our most memorable and hilarious stories as a family relate to the cars we have driven. Yet in all of those times God has always taken care of what we needed. He has protected us and blessed us at times when we didn’t know if we were going to make it or not. There are times when I will get a bit anxious or concerned over certain things and Kathy will say, "We have all we need." And she’s right!

As Kathy and I have honored God by giving him our tithe he has consistently allowed us to sense his blessing and protection on our lives. Whenever I want to do something less I have to ask myself why I would want to withdraw my life and my family out from under the umbrella of God’s provision and protection on our life. That is a chance that I’m not willing to take. You may feel otherwise, but this is my story.

There is a fifth reason I give and that is I give because I believe in the purpose and mission of First Baptist Church. Each time we have Membership 101 I present a review of our Mission Statement that our church adopted in 1998. Every time I do that my heart races a bit because it is exciting to see how we are fulfilling those commitments to: nurture, challenge and build believers for service and ministry; honor Jesus Christ in a personal relationship through worship, prayer and study of the Bible; share the unconditional love of God by proclaiming Jesus Christ as Savior to the communities of our world. Each time I say those words it is as well a gut check to measure how well we are doing to fulfill our mission. It may not be that we are fulfilling those statements at the maximum of our potential but we are continually challenged to fulfill those purposes.

I sat down with our Long Range Planning Committee two weeks ago and reviewed what God has done through our church since that statement was adopted. It was amazing to realize all the things from facilities, spiritual formation, evangelism, worship, missions and ministries how our church has moved forward to fulfill our purpose. We have made a decision to stay in the downtown area. It is common in our day to see downtown churches declining and moving out; yet we are seeing God continue to bless and strengthen the life and health of our church! This church isn’t just sitting by marking time until we close the doors! It is a church that is anchored to a rich heritage but is moving boldly into the future. Trust me, the easiest thing we could have done with our property now under construction is to have made it a parking lot. Instead, we are using it for the future because we are "Building Tomorrow…Today!"

Just think back to last week and you realize the tremendous mission of this church. On Sunday our church worshipped six times in three different locations and in one other language. That doesn’t include Sunday School, the small groups or collegiate and youth activities. On Monday "CONNECTions" for women took place that is reaching across denominational lines in our city. At the same time others were meeting for growth in recovery. On Tuesday night the Huntington team was planning the next stages of development for their ministry, PACES was here serving young mothers and their children and breakaway was here for college students and 20-somethings. Wednesday was Women’s Bible Study in the day and that night was the activities for growth and ministry for every age in our church. Tuesday and Thursday was our Mother’s Day Out, which has grown to two days a week. All week long there is tutoring going on for children through the Huntington ministry.

None of that and much more happen because people need to "get out" and be busy. No, it happens because of a people who are committed to the mission of First Baptist Church. It happens because people believe and give to the mission of First Baptist Church. That’s why I give! I believe in the mission and purpose that God has given to us!

Number Six (and I knew you are counting!) I give because I want to be an example to our children. While I have told you that I personally wasn’t raised to tithe, I was taught to give. When I was growing up there was a firm routine for Saturday night. It was supper, shine our shoes, watch Lawrence Welk, study our Sunday School lesson and get our offering ready in our envelope. That was a constant in our home as long as I remember. Now Kathy and I didn’t raise our girls with that type of routine but we have taught them by example what it means to give. Now that they are grown what they give and how they give is between them and God. Yet the desire in our life has been to show them, teach them and give testimony to them that God is always faithful when we give. I believe that God has honored in each of their lives this commitment to be an example to them of giving.

Last—and this is number seven—the one you’ve been waiting for. I give because I look forward to God’s final affirmation. I want to hear God say to me, "Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy…awaiting you!" (Matt. 25:21). You know over the years I have had to continually sort out reasons for the affirmation I am seeking. Whenever I get that urge to seek the affirmation of someone other than God, it always brings conflict in my life. However, when I reflect and remind myself why I’m serving, I come down to the fact that I’m serving for his final affirmation. I just want to hear God say, "You used what I gave you at the farthest limit of your capacity and I say, ‘Well done!" That’s what I want to hear.

There’s a song that has been around for many years called "Thank You" by Ray Boltz. It’s grown maybe dated and a little corny because we’ve heard it so much but it, nevertheless, it voices something that I feel. It’s about someone who dreams they went to heaven and people whose lives they never knew they touched came to them and said, "Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord. I am so glad you gave." I don’t know if heaven is going to be anything like that but I do know that I want to say "thank you" to so many people because they gave to my life. There is an endless list of people to whom I owe my very life. People that because they gave, not just their resources but also their lives, that if they hadn’t I wouldn’t be where I am today.

At the same time I want to live my life and give my resources in such a way to hear God say, "Look whose lives you were used to change because you gave!" I want to be shocked and amazed because of what God has done with simple obedience and faith. I want to know that because Jesus promised me "true riches in heaven" that I was a responsible, accountable steward of the resources he gave me. That may not be important to you but I think it is. Any of you who know Christ and love Christ, you want to hear his affirmation, "Well done, my child," more than life itself. You can choose today to know that affirmation for yourself.

Today I have told you seven reasons why I give. They may or may not be all the reasons that you give but that is something between you and God. Yet there is something I do know is true and it is this: You don’t just drift to a higher level of generosity without being challenged to do that. Consistently someone, either God or a person, by example or verbally has challenged you to step up another level in your generosity. That’s what I want to do as we close this message today.

In your worship guide, rather than the outline, you find a card that you can cut out that says: "I will honor God with my resources by:

• Choosing to be a grateful wage earner

• Choosing to demonstrate discipline in my spending

• Choosing to plan the wise use of my resources

• Choosing to invest my resources in heaven as well as on earth

• Choosing to give the full 10% to the church I call home.

I challenge you today to pray about this. Then sign the card and date it and put it in your wallet and let these commitments guide you this year. What you do with this is between you and God. I’m not going to ask you. You can choose for yourself what you want your story to be but for me this is my story and the reasons I give to honor God with my resources.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Dr. Bruce Tippit, Pastor

First Baptist Church

Jonesboro, Arkansas

btippit@fbcjonesboro.org