Consider this: An archbishop was carrying more than $460,000 across the border from Lebanon to Israel in the past month. I think immediately, “What’s a religious priest doing with that much money! How in the world did he think he was going to bring this through customs!” As the priest attempted to cross the border, he has twenty suitcases stuffed with cash and medicine. While the story caught my eye, it’s likely the archbishop was bringing much-needed supplies to Lebanese Christians under the oppressive regime of the terror group, Hezbollah.
React to this headline if you will: a flashy Brooklyn bishop was robbed while live streaming last Sunday. The three masked gunmen took more than $400,000 in jewelry from the Roll-Royce-driving bishop. After reading this article, I wondered, “Who’s robbing who?” Whenever religion and money intersect, it makes headlines.
The Bible speaks with authority on the subject of money. If you were wondering to yourself, “I sure wish the pastor would preach more convicting sermons, today’s your day, my friend. I invite you to find the book of Malachi with me if you will [page 954 in your pew Bibles].
Someone said to me recently, “Your preaching has improved recently.” I told them that I am negotiating a new contract ?. Hopefully, this will make some personal headlines for each of you.
Today’s Scripture
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. 7 From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ 8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. 11 I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. 12 Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3:6-12).
That Guy
There’s probably somebody here today who is not a regular church attender, and maybe the last time you were here — months or even years ago — you heard a sermon on finances. And now you just show up today, and you’re going to hear another one. And you might go away saying, “Money, money, money! That’s all they ever talk about down there — is money!” Well, number one, our church family knows that’s not true. But, number two, if that is your case, I just imagine God brought you here because you need to hear it. You just maybe be “that guy.” Who’s “that guy?” It’s the guy who didn’t hear it the last time, and God brought you here to hear this time ?.
Do you and your spouse ever argue about money? Can anyone else hear the grass growing outside right now? I’m sure a man wrote this: “Theirs was a perfect marriage, but for one feminine flaw. He was fast on the deposit, but she was quicker on the draw.” (Author unknown)
More seriously, I’m speaking mainly to church members today. If are a guest with us, or if you're not a Christian, we’re not asking you for anything other than your attention. In fact, I invite you to listen carefully for the next few moments. See if you see a discrepancy between the Bible’s instructions on how Christians handle their finances and how we actually handle our money.
1. Come Back Home to Me
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return’ (Malachi 3:7)?
God’s people had “turned aside” from God’s words. God calls on them to “Return to me”! You see the word “return” twice in verses 7 and 8. When you see a word repeated in Scripture, the Bible wants you to pay attention to this word. Perhaps this will help you remember this: what the Bible repeats, you shouldn’t delete.
Again, God says, “Return to me, and I will return to you.” The Lord says, “I don’t want this distance between us, RETURN, come back home!” This raised a question, “How shall we return?” What do we need to do to show you that we are serious about coming home?
1.1 There’s a Pattern in Malachi
Malachi has a pattern inside this small book and I want you to see it. The people continually ask God questions after God makes an accusation: “‘I have loved you,’ says the LORD. But you say, ‘How have you loved us?’” (Malachi 1:2a).
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name. But you say, ‘How have we despised your name’” (Malachi 1:6)? “By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table may be despised” (Malachi 1:7). “You have wearied the LORD with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice” (Malachi 2:17)? “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return’ (Malachi 3:7)? “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions” (Malachi 3:8).
Again, this raised a question, “How shall we return?” What do we need to do to show you that we are serious about coming home?
1.2 Corruption
“From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return’ (Malachi 3:7)? Again, God says, “I want you to come home.”
Remember, worship practices were corrupt in Malachi’s day. The Temple had been restored just a few decades earlier. The people had been away from Jerusalem for a long time, and their worship practices were ugly. God wanted to hold His nose it smelled so bad. God wanted to shut His eyes, their worship was so ugly. The people were complacent, and the priests were corrupt. God is asking, “Can anyone please nail shut the doors to the Temple to stop this!” So God gets to work through the prophet, Malachi, in order to restore worship.
You can think of Malachi as you would a water sanitation engineer. A sanitation engineer is to keep the water supply pure and uncontaminated. Just as you need clean water when you turn on the tap, the clergy were supposed to keep worship from being corrupted and polluted. Again, Malachi is a “pull no punches” kind of prophet because he is targeting corruption among the priests. Just how bad is corruption, you ask?
1.3 Mexico Corruption
Mexico continues to have one of the highest murder rates in the world for reporters. Mexico’s President recently campaigned against corruption at levels from the federal government all the way down to the smallest villages. So far this year, twelve Mexican reporters have been murdered. One source estimated that 98% of all violent crimes in Mexico go unsolved. People continue to disappear in Mexico — estimates are more than 100,000 in the past fifteen to twenty years. These disappearances are thought to be the work of drug cartels and government officials working with the cartels to silence people who are opposed to them. Of course, there’s no corruption here in the good ole USA, right?
1.4 Corruption in Worship
Corruption in law enforcement is one thing, but corruption inside the church is on another level. How much worse is it when we worship a small god rather than the all-powerful God of the Bible? How polluted is it if we worship a God who is immoral rather than the thrice holy God of Moses, Jacob, and Aaron? How corrupt is it if you were to offer your prayers to the mother of God or even a priest rather than in the name of Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and man? How contaminated is your personal worship when you are complacent as if worship were reading the phone book? How infected is your personal worship when you are lethargic as if worship were the reciting of the IRS legal code? This is as corrupt and damning as anything a crooked cop might do.
1.5 The Lord of Hosts Refrain
Throughout the book of Malachi, we continually read these phrases, “says the Lord of hosts” and “the Lord of hosts says.” Again, what the Bible repeats, you shouldn’t delete. By my count, Malachi repeats the phrases “says the Lord of hosts” and “the Lord of hosts says” some twenty-two times in just four chapters. Twenty-two times, Malachi reminds us that this is the word of the Lord of armies! Why does he repeat this phrase so often? Because he’s tackling the corruption of the priesthood. You don’t bring a BB gun when you hunt for big game. And if you were attacking the priesthood's corruption, you fire the howitzer of “Thus says the Yahweh of Armies” loud and often. The priests must be reminded that God Himself says, “You need to hear this. You have to turn around.” You need to hear this – this is God’s very voice to you. He wants you to return to Him. He wants you to come home to Him.
1.6 Coming Home to the Lord
But again, this raised a question, “How shall we return?” What do we need to do to show you that we are serious about coming home? “From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return’ (Malachi 3:7)?
Malachi tells us there numerous ways of returning to the Lord. We can stop corrupted and polluted worship practices by worshipping the Lord with our best and from our hearts (Malachi 1:8). We can come home to the Lord when our minds are undivided, and we bring the very best passion from our hearts. We can come home to the Lord by staying married and being faithful to our vows (Malachi 2:14-16). We can come home to the Lord by cleaning up our moral and spiritual lives (Malachi 3:5). If you want come home to the Lord, the prophet Malachi says to pay your employee a fair wage – don’t cheat her and don’t cheat him (Malachi 3:5). Now, Malachi adds one more, can come home to the Lord by honoring Him with our money (Malachi 3:9-10). Could it be that God is saying to you, “return” to me this morning?
1. Come Back Home to Me
2. Stop Robbing Me
“Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you.” (Malachi 3:8-9). You see the word “rob” four times in verses 8 and 9. Again, what the Bible repeats, you shouldn’t delete. God says, in effect, one way you can come back home to me is to stop robbing me.
2.1 Robbing God
The prophet asks a pointed question: “Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me” (Malachi 3:8b). You can feel his finger being pushed into your chest. He’s all up in your face. I told you that Malachi’s message was direct.
2.1.1 A Rare Word
Hebrew experts have puzzled over God’s choice of words here because the word “rob” here is scarce. It’s not the usual Hebrew word for robbery, which, of course, would just mean taking something that’s not yours. Instead, the word used here in the middle of verse 8 is a word that means to pillage, plunder and oppress. This word is robbing, but you are stealing with force. It gives a vivid picture, doesn’t it?
2.1.2 What Is A Tithe?
The Bible instructs us to give a tithe (10%) of our “first fruits” (defined in the 21st Century as “gross income”) is recognized as the minimum biblical standard. Tithe means ten percent. It means giving 1/10 of what I receive to the Lord. If you were to say, “I am tithing $100 when I made $10,000,” you are misusing the term. What you do when you give $100 when you make $10,000 is simply giving. Because tithing off of $10,000 would be $1,000. Tithe means 10%. You don’t need a Ph.D. to tell you what that passage means. God’s word to us is as plain and straightforward as a green light on the road outside. You don’t need an explanation to understand this, but you will need the motivation to do this.
2.3 Trust
Trust means more to me than it ever has in my life. I value trust more today than any other time. One of the things many people think when they hear a sermon like this is, “I don’t know if I can trust this guy. He probably wants my money like everyone else in life.” I get it. I mentioned it at the beginning of the message, but the flashy, Rolls-Royce-driving NYC bishop having $400,000 in jewelry on his wife and him is beyond the pale. Anyone putting money in the plate has to answer the trust question. “Do I trust this ministry?” is a question that presses on us. Let me build a campfire here for a moment. On one level, God commands you to give, and you are too obedient. If you were to offer and the church abuses your gift, you obeyed the Lord. Yet, on another level, you should ask how your donation is being used. Should you write a check to a pastor driving a Rolls Royce, and he and his wife have $400,000 in jewelry while at church? Plus, I question “the man card” of any man wearing that much jewelry ?!
2.3.1 I Don’t Trust You
Let’s get serious for a moment, if you are here and you have some trust issues with NRHBC or a church, you’re saying, “I just don’t trust your ministry or you.” If that’s you, give 10% to another great ministry. Let’s call this Training Wheels Level. This command is for you and will be a blessing to you. No matter how much money you have or make, the Bible commands you to give away a minimum of ten percent.
God’s yardstick of generosity is ten percent of your income. If you want to come home to God, then handle your money by giving away ten percent of your income. Again, if you are here and have trust issues, find a ministry that loves Christ and give ten percent of your income away to this ministry.
2.3.2 Where My Tithe Goes?
The Bible tells us the tithe was given to support the temple (equivalent to the NT church, the poor (Leviticus 27:30-33; Deuteronomy 14:22-29), and to support the priests. Again, your tithe should go to support your home church, the poor, and the ministers and missionaries. Again, this is training wheels. I say this is “training wheels” ministry because you ought to have a “home church,” and you should be able to trust your “home church.” Don’t be content to stay on training wheels.
2.3.3 Do You Trust Christ?
One more item on the trust thread. Do you trust God? Many of you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ and believe on Him to forgive your sins. You believe on God to take your soul to heaven. It’s one thing to trust God with your soul that you can’t see. It’s another thing altogether to trust God with your money that you can see. How much do you trust God?
2.4 Jesus on Tithing
This is always a number of experienced Christians who object to tithing. The thought goes like this: This is an Old Testament idea. Someone says, “Wait a minute, Pastor. You’re trying to put me back in the Old Testament. You’re trying to put me under the Old Testament law. Pastor, don’t you understand that tithing is legalistic?”
2.4.1 Does Jesus Expect Me to Tithe?
Jesus NEVER abolished the tithe. Jesus never said, “You have heard, ‘Bring the full tithe into the storehouse’ but I say to you 5% will do.” In fact, what you do read is the following: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others” (Matthew 23:23).
2.3.2 It’s Right to Tithe
Jesus says, “The trouble with you Pharisees is sometimes there’s a need in the community … There’s a need out there that needs to be met financially that love or justice demands you meet, but you have this legalistic limitation. You think, ‘As long as I’m giving my ten percent, all the rest of it is mine…’” “…and you refuse to go beyond the tithe. You’re really just legalists, and you’re not being run by love and justice but simply by a legalistic code of conduct.” The Old Testament commands you not to kill. You are commanded not to commit adultery. Now since that’s Old Testament law, do you think you’re free to kill?
Conclusion
In your car and my car, there is an indicator light. When that light comes on, there’s no problem with the light; you instinctively know the problem goes much deeper than the light on your dash. No one goes to the mechanic and says, “I need you to change my check engine light bulb.” No, it means there’s something wrong with the engine or something wrong with something more vital. The indicator light is only designed to show that you must dig deeper to find out what’s wrong. In Scripture, money is used by God, from Genesis to Revelation, as an indicator light. Money is an indicator light of something much deeper. Why is money used throughout the Bible as an indicator light? Because in most people’s lives, it is the last thing they are willing to relinquish. A man might get rid of his wife before he gets rid of his money. It is the last thing that he will relinquish because it is the thing that owns so much of our affection.
