How to kick-start your faith - Part 3
Return to God (3:6-12).
INTRODUCTION
You may recall that we are talking about how to kick-start our faith. Someone once said, “It’s not enough for us to have been confirmed or to have made a decision for Christ at an altar. We cannot walk successfully in the glow of that experience for the rest of our lives. Being human we need to return and renew those vows and covenants with the Lord. We need to take inventory and have spiritual checkups.”
Today, Malachi takes God’s people for a spiritual checkup, an inventory that is essential if we want to kick-start our faith. I want to invite you today to take this spiritual checkup yourselves; and to stretch out towards a more healthy relationship with the Lord.
I. THE CHARGE (vv6-9)
a. The nature of the crime.
The picture we have is that of a court in session. First of all God lays down the charge against the people. A crime had been committed and that crime was separating the people from their God. And the nature of that crime was that Israel had “turned away from the Lord’s decrees and had not kept them” (v7). Their hearts were divided.
Half the problem was that the Israelites were a wishy washy bunch who drifted in and out of their commitment to the Lord. V6 contrasts God’s immutability; i.e. his unchangeableness, with the shady heritage of the people. Malachi writes,
I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob
[that lying, deceiving cheat], are not destroyed.
However, even though this paints the Israelites in a bad light, it is a message of hope. The hope is this. Though God’s people are changeable, ie they go off the rails sometimes, God is not changeable. God has expressed his love for his people and this will never change. His love is unchanging and so he will never destroy his people.
Martin Luther once wrote, “If I were God I would knock the world to pieces!” Well it’s because God is God that we are not destroyed. By rights God should destroy us, but with his own unchangeable love he patiently waits for us to return to him.
b. The evidence for the crime.
With that reassurance in mind however, Malachi now sets out the evidence for the charge. The Israelite’s crime of “turning from the decrees of the Lord,” was outwardly shown in their reluctance to bring the whole tithe to God (v8). Admittedly they were poor and so the temptation to hold back the tithe was far greater than perhaps you and I would ever experience in our lifetime. Nevertheless they had a prior obligation to the Lord which they were not keeping. Israelite Law, as set out in Leviticus 27:30-33, suggested that;
LEV 27:30 " `A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD. 31 If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it. 32 The entire tithe of the herd and flock--every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd’s rod--will be holy to the LORD. 33 He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.’ "
Evidently the Israelites were being very selective in what they gave to the Lord - and it certainly was not the cream of the crop. They held back the best for themselves and this amounted to robbery. But they couldn’t see how foolish this was.
Malachi writes, “Shall a man rob God?” How foolish to think that we can rob God. The God who created everything we possess and possesses everything he created. The problem was not that the Israelites were not giving to God, but that they were ripping him off. They were holding back what was rightfully his. God’s reply to that was to say that only complete and undivided devotion was acceptable when making an offering to him. But the hearts of the people were divided between their own selves and God. And a divided heart is despicable to God. Jesus made this clear when he said,
MT 23:27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Let’s try and picture what Jesus is saying here. In the fields of France there are many rolling green hills and open fields, some of you may have seen them. Yet beneath many of these picturesque landscapes lies the horror of hundreds of mass graves - remnants of the many battles fought there. Imagine just one of these graves being opened soon after one of these battles when the process of putrefaction was in full effect. We couldn’t endure either the sight or the smell could we? Not even for a minute. Perhaps you’ve seen footage of soldiers burying these bodies, many covered their faces with cloths as they worked. This is what a divided heart is like to God. The outside may look like a rolling green hill, a brilliant landscape beautiful in the eyes of men. But God, who sees our true selves, turns away from this heart in disgust unable to endure the sight or smell of such a nauseous object.
How then can we expect a vital and intimate relationship with God if our hearts are divided? Fortunately for us God will still give attention to those who genuinely seek him with an undivided heart. Jeremiah 29:13 tells us that,
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
So God’s instruction for his people is that, if they wanted to once again experience an intimate and vital relationship with him then they must “return to him” (v7).
II. THE CHALLENGE (vv10a-d)
So God then lays down a challenge (OHP). His challenge is four fold.
3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house.
Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty.
That reminds of a story about giving. There was once a rich mining magnate who always gave his dad unique presents on Father’s day. One year he gave him hang gliding lessons. The year before that it was the entire Slim Dusty collection on original LP’s. But this year he felt that he had outdone himself. He purchased a rare kind of talking bird that could speak five languages and sing “I Still Call Australia Home” and “Up there Cazaly” while standing on one foot. The talented bird cost ten thousand dollars, but the son felt it was worth every penny. This would be a Father’s Day gift his dad would never forget.
A week after the special day the son called his father. “Dad, how did you like the bird?” His father responded, “It was delicious!”
a. Bring the whole tithe.
It puts a new slant on the saying, “Put your money where your mouth is.” And this is exactly what God is saying to his people. His point is that if he really is our God, and we are willing to declare that publicly, then we ought to prove it by giving him the best of everything we own. If we want to kick-start our faith and so experience a vital and intimate relationship with God, his people need to bring the whole tithe to him and not hold back.
b. Into the storehouse.
Secondly, the fact that Malachi is talking about “storehouse” giving indicates that he has the basic contribution in mind. He is talking about the minimal obligation an Israelite had to God and the temple. He was not addressing the issue of offerings, which were given over and above the normal tithe. So the people were not even meeting their basic obligations to the Lord.
So God lays down the challenge, “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse” or “Start by meeting your basic obligation.” I wonder if we have ever stopped to put the shoe on the other foot? As I thought about the issue of giving it struck me that God allows us to keep a whopping 90% of what we earn! And that he allows us to do what we like with that 90%! Naturally God would want us to take care of our responsibilities, our families and debts etc. but the rest of it is ours to enjoy. God wants us to enjoy that which we have worked hard for and he doesn’t have a problem with that.
The challenge for the Christian however, is that the New Testament does not set the Old Testament recommendation of 10% as the upper limit! In 2 Corinthians 8:7, Christians are urged to “excel in this grace of giving.” All the while remembering that they owe everything to the one who for their sake made himself nothing,
2 Corinthians 8:9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
c. So that there may be food.
Another challenge for God’s people was the perception of real need. God said, “Bring the whole into the storehouse that there may be food in my house.” Turning back to Deuteronomy we see the reason God calls his people to give.
DT 26:12 When you have finished setting aside a tenth of all your produce in the third year, the year of the tithe, you shall give it to the Levite, the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that they may eat in your towns and be satisfied.
First and foremost the tithe is to be used in the service of the Lord. The Levites were responsible for the work of the temple and were completely reliant upon God’s people for their support - none of them owned any land. By living this way, the Levites were completely free from any other responsibility and could devote themselves entirely to the work of the Lord. Not much has changed. The tithe was also used as a form of social security which enabled other landless people such as foreigners, widows and orphans to survive. Still not much has changed.
However, the point is a matter of perspective. Do we see the use of the tithe as important? If we want to kick-start our faith we need to understand the importance of how the tithe is applied. We need to understand that it is first and foremost used for the kingdom of God and also for the social welfare of the needy.
c. Test God.
Then finally, God lays down a challenge for his people to test him in this sacrificial giving.
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)
Here is what we are on about today. God is saying if you want to kick-start you faith, then test me in this. Give me the tithe and I will bless you beyond your wildest dreams - then see if you don’t have a real, living, intimate and vital relationship with me.” He leaves us with a promise - a promise with a condition - more like a contract.
III. THE CONTRACT (vv10e-12)
a. The form of blessing.
God promises to bless those who are faithful to him. So what form of blessing can we expect? What sort of return on investment will I get from my 10%?
Well, in v11 God tells us that he, will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. Well now, that’s not much use to us city dwellers at the close of the twentieth century is it? No pests, good crops and plenty of fruit - I’d rather a quick Ferrari and a limitless credit-card thank you. But there’s more to this promise than first meets the eye. What is being said here is that if we are faithful to him, God will make sure that all things will fulfill the function for which they were made.
I was out at South Perth Church of Christ this week and they have their vision statement painted on the door. It says, “Making it happen the way God intended.”
This is the promise God gives to those who are faithful to him. Our reward for faithfulness in giving - indeed for faithfulness in every area of life - is to experience a life that is just the way God intended. If we want to kick-start our faith and share a vital and intimate relationship with our creator then we need to yield every part of our lives to him, then we will be blessed with a life that is perfectly like that which God originally intended for us. There’ll be no more pests to devour our crops - i.e. all our enemies will disappear. And the vines in our fields will not cast their fruit - i.e. the faithful will experience abundant living.
b. The reason for blessing
The last part of this contract is the reason for it. In v12 the Lord says,
"Then all the nations will call you blessed,
for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.
The reason for the blessing is to bring glory to God through his people. Because of his goodness to his people, others will see that our God is an almighty God. When God’s people are completely surrendered to him and are receiving his rich blessing, then all the nations will call them blessed. They will be held up as examples of God’s goodness to every nation. Whatever goodness that happens to us should be turned into a testimony to the goodness of out God. Then other believers and unbelievers will be encouraged and drawn closer to our God.
CONCLUSION
If we want to Kick-start our faith then, and live the victorious Christian life, we need to face the charge - we do turn away from God from time to time and this is evidenced in the location of passion. Are our hearts divided or are we totally sold out to Christ?
If we want to kick-start our faith then we need to rise to the challenge - we need to bring the whole tithe, no more no less. We need to see its importance, and we need to taste and see that the Lord is good, that his word is good and that he will surely bless us if we are faithful in this.
If we want to kick-start our faith we need to accept that God promises to bless those who are faithful to him. That God promises to make life happen the way he intended for it to happen for those who are faithful to him. And when we do this we will see other believers and also unbelievers encouraged and drawn closer to our God. And that’s enough to kick-start anyone’s faith.
(Closing song: Purify My Heart).
