3  They gave in proportion to their means

The Macedonian's giving [verse 3] brings us to the Biblical principle of 'tithing'.  Tithing has its roots in the Old Testament and Jesus also continued to endorse it in His teaching [Matthew 23:23] alongside the weightier matters of mercy and faith.

The principle was of giving a tenth of your produce and income to God.  This was considered to be the baseline - there were a host of offerings and gifts that followed in thanksgiving for what God was doing among them.

The prophet Malachi challenged the people because they had claimed that they were spiritually dry.  They had asked why and his response was that they were not in obedience to God - in fact they were robbing Him.  When asked how they were doing this, Malachi said that they had neglected to tithe:

"Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.  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 3:10 (NIV)]

Malachi turns this into a positive - give in obedience to God and you will see that you receive so much blessing in return.  Go on, put it ot the test!

Curiously the discussion about tithing today is usually born out of legalism - how much can I get away with giving?  It's like the question "Do I tithe from gross income or net income?"  But this is not the Macedonian way of giving.  It is grace not law.  The principle is more of generosity.

When John Wesley was at Oxford in the 1700s, he had an income of £30 a year.  He lived on £28 and gave £2 away, which was 15%.  Some years later his income had increased four times to £120 per annum.  He still lived on £28 but now gave away £92, which was almost 77%.

The ministry of John Wesley sparked a revival of faith in this country that many historians say helped save England from the sort of violence that accompanied the French Revolution.  Wesley was the founder of the Methodist Church.  He would have been at home in the Macedonian church.

Remember that giving is proportinate to our income.  It's not so much what we give that is the issue, but what remains in the pocket - John Wesley is a classic example of that. 

Return to 'The Grace of Giving'